Does Walter Scott Killing Reveal A Shocking Racist Truth About U.S. Police?
Walter Scott, an apparently unarmed black man, was shot to death by a white police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina. Walter Scott was stopped for a minor traffic violation and ran off when the police officer turned his back.
As a result, police officer Michael Slager fired eight shots, hitting Mr. Scott five times in the back as he fled. Police later released footage from the patrol car dashboard camera, and officer Slager claimed that he fired because Walter Scott had made off with his Taser after a struggle.
Shockingly, the Telegraph reports that a bystander also shot video of the incident and that video shows Walter Scott fleeing on foot, empty handed. It shows Slager drop his Taser, shoot Scott in the back, and then retrieve the stun-gun. Slager then places the Taser next to the fatally wounded Scott, who is handcuffed face down in the dirt, presumably to ensure that he could justify his shooting of an unarmed man.
Officer Slager has since been arrested and charged with the murder of Walter Scott.
According to the Daily Mail, two other police officers join Slager next to Walter Scott. None of the three make any attempt to administer first aid to Scott, and almost three minutes elapse before Slager makes any attempt to find out if Scott is alive or dead.
Anyone with even a passing interest in current affairs will be aware that the killing of Walter Scott is just the latest in a very long line of such incidents in the U.S. According to the New Yorker, a white police officer shoots a black man about twice a week. USA Today claims that on average, white officers have shot and killed around 100 black men each year since 2006. In total, over 400 people a year are shot to death by police in the U.S.
By contrast, Channel 4 in the UK reports that in 2011 and 2012, UK police discharged a firearm five times and killed two people. In 2012 and 2013, UK police killed no one. Of course, in contrast to the U.S., the police in the UK do not routinely carry firearms, but the differences do seem startling.
Predictably and rightly, each time there is an incident like the killing of Walter Scott, there is an outcry and much soul searching. The killings are condemned and the clarion cry that “we must learn from this” rings out. However, the Telegraph claims that the reason so many of these incidents occur is very simple: racism.
Rebecca Carroll writing in the Guardian supports the view that racism is endemic in American society, U.S. law enforcement in particular. She claims that racism is part of the fabric of life and is designed into state institutions.
“No matter how much we encourage our black boys, men, girls and women to love themselves, to walk in strength and power and to believe in the equality we’ve long been promised, somehow, somewhere, a trigger still gets pulled and another black life gets extinguished. Despite the beloved credo that we are all human, our shared humanity always plays second string to who has supremacy in the hierarchies that humans create.”
Carroll’s argument is a simple one: Until such time as the scales of justice are properly balanced and all people are treated as equals, the killing of people like Walter Scott and so many others will continue.
[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
