Extemporaneous musings, occasionally poetic, about life in its richly varied dimensions, especially as relates to history, theology, law, literature, science, by one who is an attorney, ordained minister, historian, writer, and African American.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
low-level hustle lethality
LOW-LEVEL HUSTLE LETHALITY
Eric Garner was choked to death while selling loose cigarettes to passers-by on a public street in New York. That was his light hustle.
Alton Sterling was a CD and DVD seller who was on private property with the owner 's consent in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Light hustle once again, when he was shot and killed.
Both black men were killed by white cops, who thereafter were given paid vacations--"administrative leave"--with pay, all while gaining celebrity.
Taking away administrative leave and, indeed, revamping the entire training process, hiring, firing, promotion process is most necessary for the 50 states to undertake immediately!
Both of these men were trying to make money. Is it a crime for black men to hustle for a living? Why?
State regulators and regulations have stifled entrepreneurs in urban areas, needlessly. There are no low level jobs for these men, so let them hustle as others have hustled before them!
What right have police to interfere with a low-level hustle? None ideally!
The state legislatures need to rein in their police! Their laws and policies are what the cops are pretending to be enforcing and/or interpreting that leads to so much lethality or violence against low level hustles as described above. State laws afford a pretext to approach these low entrepreneurs, who are just selling trying to survive !
There are 50 states. Each one must take away low level hustling from the purview of police to allow breathing room to these unemployed persons!
And these legislatures also must weed-out white supremacists police, prosecutors and judges, who have massively entered the ranks for hire without their white sheets to kill, brutalize, to terrorize black citizens!
This must be done in every state now!