On September 23, 2020, Louisville, Kentucky Attorney General Danial Cameron gave a press conference to discuss the Grand Jury’s decision on whether three Louisville officers would be held accountable in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor.
Before this press conference, the media began reporting directives sent within the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department to prepare for an uprising in protests due to the impending decision. Therefore I was not surprised to learn that justice for Breonna via the judicial system will not occur. Historical implications in the LMPD are inherently transparent and dictated to serve in favor of the officers. On July 4, I wrote an article titled What’s Taking So Long? which provides data on the LMPD officer-involved shooting cases.
One thing that did surprise me during Daniel Cameron’s press conference was how the Grand Jury chose to “Penalize” one officer with a wanton endangerment indictment. A wanton charge did not acknowledge Breonna’s life as a human being. It gave precedence to the neighboring apartments that surrounded Breonna’s home, versus the innocent Black woman who was the intended target.
Kentucky StatuteWhile witnessing the press conference, Attorney General Daniel Cameron gave horrendous responses to reporters in regards to the decision and evidence presented to the Grand Jury. For example, one reporter questioned the jury’s demographic/racial makeup, and Cameron responded, “Well, I’m Black, and hopefully that answers your question.” Meaning, he is a justifiable “Black Man,” representing inclusion and diversity on the decision not to convict the officers for killing Breonna Taylor. And the fact that we will not receive full answers on this jury’s qualitative nature is beyond reproach.
As a Black woman in America, I am numb to the treatment of my existence as a human being in this country. Our Black men are being dehumanized daily through the heinous killings by men that possess a racist genetic root that is sickening to the core.
My hope for our country is to take this anger and use it as fuel to plan, organize, strategize, and mobilize people to dig in at the roots of racism and pull out evil through our electoral vote at the polls on November 3, 2020. We have the power to bring about change and use it for good, if we all come together and start at a central point.
Racism resides in housing, technology, the law, and more. We begin to see the pollution in a more defined light as it drifts towards the surface in undeniable methods. Although we won’t diminish racism as a whole, we can minimize its effect on society and the human race.
