Princewill Odidi|12 July 2016|8:05AM
Racism in America is not really what most people think about. Racism does not mean when you walk in American streets you get shot by the police, or white people will detest you or wont be your friend.
Have you ever wondered why Africans living in America hardly talk about racism? It is because it is practically a non issue for them.
Living in America, if you decide to work hard and earn a living, racism is the least thing that bothers you. When you watch television and read about American police shooting black men, there is the other side of the story no one wants to talk about. That is doing the right thing, following the rules, and respecting authorities. Let me try to explain.
If you are driving a car in America, and the police decides to stop you, in civilized paths of America where people understand the law, once you are stopped by police, do the right thing, stop.
Next, before the police leaves his car and decides to walk towards your car, he has entered your license number into his car computer, so before he walks to your side window, he knows what to expect, but not in full details. But at least he knows basic things associated with your number plate. He knows if the owner of the car is a violent criminal, his race, and to an extent his criminal and driving and traffic history.
Next as the policeman is walking towards your car, keep your two hands on top of your steering high enough so that the police can see your hands. Do not put your hands below and do not put your hands in your pocket to bring out your license unless the officer ask you to do so.
One main reason why too many black people are shot by police is because, in most cases, the police cannot see their two hands, so the police approaches them with caution.
Next, in most cases, some blacks because they do not understand police engagement rules, as the policeman is approaching they attempt to bring out their wallet so as to get their license, that is when the police get frightened, thinking a gun is being brought out and they shoot. Dont forget in America anybody can carry a gun, it is considered a constitutional right.
This is why whenever the police shoots a black-man, in most cases, when they go to court, the policemen are set free and the world will shout racism, but there is more to it that remains untold.
In another instance, when you see the police tackle someone to the ground and eventually they are dead or killed, what the public hardly talks about is, the people tackled to the ground disobeyed the police in the first instance.
Usually, when the police approaches a suspect they want to arrest, they give out instructions, they will ask you to either lift your hands up, lie on the floor with your hands behinds so they can get you handcuffed.
The police man will not shoot anyone if you follow this instructions. But in most cases, some American blacks not all, will want to prove to the police their civil rights, instead of taking instructions, they will refuse to lift hands up their hands when instructed, they will refuse to lie down when instructed, and when the police tackles them down and it eventually becomes fatal we cry racism.
Again, when the police stops you, the law requires that you sit in your car until the police comes to you, but most blacks will open their car doors ignorantly to approach the officer. A scared officer in most cases will shoot. Dont forget anyone can carry a gun in America, and its so easy to buy a gun with very minimal criminal checks just as it is easy to buy a plate of food. So the policeman get scared of his life if you open your car door or walk towards him, rather than him being a victim, he shoots the on coming person.
It is rare for a black police officer to shoot another blackman even in scenarios similar to this. The reason is that Black policemen, are not scared of blacks and understand that most blacks takes actions ignorant of the law of police engagement.
Now, dont get me wrong. This does not mean we do not have racism in America. What we have more prevalent is what we call psychological racism and structural racism.
A typical case of psychological racism is a type of fear most whites have for some blacks. Note, i said most, not all. example, if a white woman is walking on a trail alone with no other person in sight and sees a blackman stereotypical looking haggard with dreadlocks, sagging pants and gold tooth walking towards her, the white woman will almost freeze. That is psychological racism even if the black man looking that way is an innocent harmless priest.
I cannot blame the white woman here because, most criminal profiles are people with such description, and i cannot blame the man because his looks is typical of what some in his community would identify with a great guy and sometimes a role model. A typical example of one mans meat another mans poison.
I as an African, there are times i see black Americans walking towards me, i change my route because sometimes they are scary. Will you say, myself being a Nigerian-American I am racist? No, its all about the psychology of fear associated and misrepresented as racism. Too many people associated with crime sometimes looks a certain way, and if you confront someone looking that way you are bound to be careful.
Sometimes when I am driving and my petrol finishes, there are certain neighborhood in Atlanta i will never stop by to buy petrol. This neighborhoods in most cases are often reported on television associated with petrol station robberies, drugs sales, gang shoot outs, and many more. So the fact that i prefer to drive past such neighborhoods as a Nigerian does not make me racist. So sometimes we associate the psychology of fear associated with keeping away from a certain population as racism.
On the other hand we have what we call structural racism.
Structural racism is a significant part of our challenge as a city and state – it is not necessarily about “bad people” but about bad policies and policies that have huge “unintended consequences” based on racialized behavior. I believe Trayvon Martin’s death is an example of a “perfect storm” – existence of a law that provides distinct advantages to non people of color and negative unintended consequences to people of color.
A stand-your-ground law is a law that allows a person to use deadly force when threatened without attempting to retreat. In some cases, a person may use deadly force in public areas without a duty to retreat. The age long discrimination associated with American history can be blamed for structural racism. Nevertheless, more public interactions in workplace and schools between black and whites over time will reduce the effect and impact of both psychological and structural racism in our polity.
I do not in any way support racism, but we will do better, if black leaders provide more education and enlightenment on how blackmen can relate to police. At the end of the day, I align with Barack Obama reasoning, while we say Black Lives matter, we should rather say “All Lives matter”.
Princewill Odidi
Is a Social Commentator writing from Atlanta