As a young black man who spent a lot time running the streets of downtown Minneapolis, George Floyd’s terrible death Monday on those same streets really hurt.
I grew up on those same streets where Floyd died this week.
Minneapolis is not just where I grew up, it's a town where I poured my heart and soul into the sports, community and culture. I am a former Minnesota Viking and Gopher and in 2018 Mayor Jacob Frey awarded me the Key to the City of Minneapolis.
It all feels so personal to me.
In the aftermath of Floyd’s death, I was once again reminded of the reality many black men face as a result of a broken cop culture that has historically exonerated police officers who commit blatant hate crimes. And as a national spokesman for the Police Athletic League, I pray that we don’t let a handful of evil cops take away from the amazing things many law enforcement officers bring to communities across our nation.
I must admit, it’s emotionally draining to write this often about unarmed black men losing their life at the hands of evil individuals who are supposed to be defending and protecting their fellow citizens.
It’s even more draining to continue to watch polarization and identity politics being used to divide us following a brother or sister’s tragic loss of life.
This is definitely a war -- I just hope we keep our eye on the actual enemy.
If we take our eye off fighting the evil of racism to focus on politicizing identity, then we will continue to lose this spiritual war.
According to Fox News, “The Justice Department said Thursday morning that it has made the federal investigation into George Floyd's death a ‘top priority’ and assigned experienced prosecutors to investigate the death of the Minneapolis black man. Floyd died after he was handcuffed by a white police officer.”
That’s how we honor the loss of a fellow American brother. Seeing fabricated photos and posts from prominent black leaders like Ice Cube and others depicting the evil murderers of George Floyd as a racist Trump supporter is just not how we should proceed. And it’s certainly not how we are going to win this fight against the evil spirit of racism that is at the root of years of racial oppression and civil rights injustices.
If we take our eye off fighting the evil of racism to focus on politicizing identity, then we will continue to lose this spiritual war.
Most decent, God-fearing Americans cringe at the sight of a cop pressing his knee into the throat of a handcuffed man. White, black, green or purple.
After watching Trayvon Martin’s killer avoid federal hate crime charges from the Obama administration’s Department of Justice, I began to really lose faith in our system.
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When pro athletes kneel or protesters take to the streets demanding justice, the more tangible solution is something different.
What’s needed is a full prosecution by local law enforcement as well as the DOJ enforcing federal hate crime laws.
The sad reality is that, over our history, this has just not happened.
The federal definition of a hate crime is: "An offense involving actual or perceived race, color, religion or national origin. Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion or national origin of any person."
Additionally, any offense committed against an individual because of actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability is also a hate crime.
Despite the mainstream media’s attempt to spin when it comes to police brutality and hate crimes perpetrated against unarmed black men, the truth may not be what you expect.
From Trayvon Martin to Freddie Gray to Michael Brown to Eric Gardner to Alton Sterling, no rogue cop or racially motivated citizen’s arrest was ever charged with a hate crime under the Obama administration’s Department of Justice.
As shocking as all of this may sound to folks like Ice Cube and others, President Donald J. Trump’s Department of Justice became the first in over a decade to prosecute a police officer for a hate crime in 2018.
At the time this also surprised me and seemed unlikely, as former Attorney General Jeff Sessions made a direct attempt to shield police officers from the Department of Justice.
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Then came AG Bill Barr, who wasted no time upholding justice for Americans of all races, colors and creeds.
On his last day in office, Sessions signed a memo in an attempt to limit the DOJ’s ability to federally enforce cases that dealt with local law enforcement.
His memo stated, “These guidelines are designed to ensure that consent decrees with state and local governments are narrowly tailored to remedy the alleged violations and are not used to extract greater relief from the state or local government than the Department could obtain through litigation. They are also structured to ensure that, where appropriate, responsibility is returned to democratically accountable state and local institutions.”
This should not be a surprise, as Sessions was against reversing many of our nation’s most oppressive policies toward blacks, which included being adamantly against the passing of the historic First Step Act.
This deepened his already well-established credentials of being perceived as an old school establishment racist.
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Under the direction of the Trump administration, Barr has not allowed partisan politics or racial bias to erode justice, as displayed by wasting no time to prosecute the recent lynching of Ahmaud Arbery as a federal hate crime.
Following this week’s murder of George Floyd, the FBI is already investigating this tragedy. Now the nation needs to rally together to call on the Trump administration’s Department of Justice to quickly pursue hate-crime charges against the four Minneapolis police officers.
Black men like myself shouldn’t have to look over our shoulders at cops. We shouldn’t have to worry about our black sons getting pulled over while driving to the store.
And shall I mention that our main issues are not all black and white. The same pain we feel when a cop kills an unarmed black man is the same hurt we must feel with a black man kills another black man in the inner city. It’s simply the golden rule of loving thy neighbor as thy self.
Since his terrible death, I’ve spoken with people who knew Floyd. He put out messages to black youth in Texas to stop killing each other. He was a security guard who always wanted to resolve issues, not invoke violence.
It is sad and it’s not right for protesters to be igniting violence and looting in the name of a man who was so loving and peaceful.
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America needs to heal and we all need to do deep soul searching in order to come together as one nation under God.
We must keep our eye on the real enemy if we are ever going to win the war on racism.