Temitayo Adewusi Period 7 1/31/2023

 Temitayo Adewusi

Period 7

1/31/2023

Socio-political Consciousness

I want to bring attention to the murder of Tyre Nichols because it is a crucial story that deserves more recognition. I will not be discussing whether the murder was justifiable because it was not. On January 7 2023 in Memphis Tennessee at about 830 PM cops pulled over a car that was suspected of reckless driving. Tyre Nichols was the driver of that car. There was a confrontation, he fled on foot, police officers pursued him and 5 cops savagely beat him for over 3 minutes as shown on body cam. 3 days later on January 10th, Tyre Nichols passed away from his injuries in the hospital. He was 29 years old. An immediate investigation was launched between January 10th and January 18th. The officers were fired on January 20th. The family was able to witness the body cam footage on January 23rd, stating that it was an “unadulterated, unabashed nonstop beating of Tyre for over 3 minutes.” The officers were charged on January 26th with second degree murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, and several other charges. 

The comments made by the Memphis police chief, where she suggested that the race of the 5 officers who killed Tyre somehow negates the racial issue in law enforcement, are absurd. These comments, in fact, reinforce the notion that racism exists in law enforcement, as the issue is not that racist individuals become police officers, but rather individuals become police officers and are then trained to act in a racist manner. The fact that the officers involved were black does not diminish the racial implications of the case, as job titles override racial affiliations. 

I am very confused as to why the officers were dealt with very quickly. I’m not saying I don’t want them to be arrested or that they should have received different treatment because being black doesn’t take away from the fact that policing in America in and of itself is racist. From the moment this story broke, the images of the black officers were associated with it. The faces of the officers were out there from day one. There’s usually a group who is very loud about situations like this that I haven’t heard a peep from. That group is Blue Lives Matter. Normally in a situation like this, as soon as it’s even implied that an officer could be responsible for the death, especially of an african american, they lose their minds. “NOOO. You don’t know what they’re going through. You always say murder. Why didn’t they comply? What was his record? What did he do?” There’s always victim blaming, but all of a sudden there’s crickets. There are people who believe that when you join law enforcement you’re no longer black, brown, or white but blue. But it seems like when the officer is black and then there’s an alleged crime committed to a certain group he becomes black again. Those are just my outward thoughts about the situation. My prayers and thoughts go out to Tyre’s family.