The story of the rest of Woolman's life is but a repetition of his travels and labors in behalf of abolition. He travelled extensively, beheld the deplorable conditions attending slavery, and preached to Friends his only sermon, that "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them." -- See source description below.
First, let me review some of the important points related to racial injustice from previous posts:
We often see three key tendencies in people who have racial privilege when they are faced with racial injustice:
- Blame the culture/religion of the criminal if the criminal is of non-European origin.
- Blame the culture/religion of the victim if the victim is of non-European origin.
- Look for spokespeople to explain/defend the non-European culture/religion.
When a person of apparent African ancestry is the victim of injustice by an authority figure of apparent European ancestry, news coverage typically reports irrelevant details about the character of the victim, which leads many viewers/listeners to falsely believe that information about the character of the victim is relevant.
A recent Stanford study showed that priming European American subjects with information about racial disparities in prisons may cause them to increase their support for the justice system as it is rather than decrease their support. My guess is that European Americans falsely attribute evidence of racial disparities in prisons to greater illegal activity by African Americans and other American minorities. But, the disparity begins with us...
As the 20/20 What Would You Do video demonstrates, European Americans are more likely (many, many times more likely) to report African American men to police than men of apparent European ancestry even if the African American men are committing no crime (resting in a car, for example). And that means...
African Americans are much more likely (many, many times more likely) to be stopped and questioned by police, even if they are committing no crime (for example, legally distributing voting rights information). And that means...
African Americans are much more likely (many, many times more likely) to be arrested. And that means...
African Americans are much more likely (many, many times more likely) to go to prison. And that means...
African Americans are much more likely (many, many times more likely) to have an arrest record that interferes with securing a job, housing, and even voting rights.
And that is how the fancy napkin of justice unfolds onto the privileged lap.
Let's be real: African Americans are routinely denied liberty in the United States, which puts the purported key values of this country into question: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;"
Now, with all of this in mind, please read the text of this email that I received today from Color of Change.
********
“It’s not real.” 1
Those were three of the last words John Crawford III uttered before he was shot dead by police while shopping at a Beaver Creek, Ohio Walmart. Police were called to the store by another customer who described a “Black male about 6 feet tall” waving a gun. 2 Crawford was actually leaning on a toy pellet gun — barrel pointed down — which he had picked up from one of the store’s shelves.
Misinformation is flying around Ohio about what happened that day. Adding fuel to the fire, local news has begun the now all-too-familiar attacks on John Crawford’s character. 3 Few in the press seem interested in finding out why another young Black man was racially-profiled and killed by the police. Walmart has an opportunity to set the record straight but is ignoring the family’s request to release the tapes, allowing the police to define the narrative and aiding the officers in evading prosecution.
Walmart is standing between John Crawford’s family and the answers they deserve. Walmart should release the tapes not just because it would help guarantee justice for John Crawford but so that shoppers and workers can feel safe walking the aisles of its stores.
Demand Walmart release surveillance footage publicly to ensure justice for John Crawford III.
Ohio is an "open-carry" state, which means individuals can carry firearms in many public places (including stores) without a permit. Even if the replica pellet gun Crawford picked up from the store's shelves were real, he had committed no crime simply by carrying it. Yet in a culture that perceives young Black men as violent, he was viewed by the police — and at least one customer — as a threat.4
Attorney General Mike Dewine has selectively released audio and video to stack the deck in favor of the police and harm the chance of John Crawford’s family getting justice. 5 Thanks to pressure from local groups like the Ohio Students’ Association and others, the Attorney General did screen a selected portion of the footage for John Crawford’s father and the family’s attorney, Michael Wright. What they saw shows John Crawford talking on the phone, no other customers reacting to him and then the police arrive and shoot him “on sight.” 6 According to Wright, nothing in Ohio law prevents Walmart from releasing footage publicly but they continue to refuse.
Walmart thinks that by hiding these tapes they can avoid a conversation about their responsibility for the safety of customers and workers in their stores: they're wrong. Walmart owes John Crawford's family, Walmart workers and future shoppers an answer for why police stormed one of their stores and murdered one of their customers.
Demand Walmart release the tapes so there can be a full and public account of John Crawford’s killing.
Thanks and Peace,
--Rashad, Arisha, Matt, Aimée, Johnny, and the entire ColorOfChange.org team.
September 8th, 2014
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References
1. "Cops shoot and kill man holding toy gun in Wal-Mart," MSNBC, 8/13/14,
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3831?t=7&a
kid=3628.604202.Y3C4MT
2."Dueling demands in Walmart shooting case," WDTN, 8/26/14,
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3832?t=9&akid=3628.604202.Y3C4MT
3."UPDATE: DeWine Says Walmart Suspect Carrying MK-177 BB/Pellet Rifle," ABC22 8/11/14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3833?t=11&akid=3628.604202.Y3C4MT
4. "John Crawford Case: It’s Open Carry for Whites and Open Season on Blacks," , 8/21/14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3843?t=13&akid=3628.604202.Y3C4MT
5. "Wal-Mart shooting: Family of Ohio shopper killed by police criticizes DeWine, seeks federal probe," Associated Press, 8/26/14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3834?t=15&akid=3628.604202.Y3C4MT
6."Video shows police shot Ohio man ‘on sight’ as he leaned on toy gun in Walmart, attorney says," Raw Story, 8/26/14,
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3835?t=17&akid=3628.604202.Y3C4MT
********
Now, please hear my plea: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them." Please take a step toward justice for all African Americans: Demand the surveillance footage from Walmart.
Source Description:
John Woolman's Efforts in Behalf of Freedom
G. David Houston
126-138 p.
Lancaster, Pa.; Washington, D. C.
The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Inc.
1917
From The Journal of Negro History 2, no. 2 (April 1917), 126-138.
Call number E185 .J86 v. 2 1917 (Davis Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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