This will not be a column about Sandra Bland, although it could be. Certainly there is cause for outrage over the way a Texas state trooper escalated the routine traffic stop of an indignant African-American woman into a violent arrest; she died of an apparent jail cell suicide three days later. But Chuck would say that…
Anyone who is over 50-ish can easily recall the devastation left by the police state troopers from Berkeley to choose-your-devastation college area during the 60’s and 70’s. As a kid in my early 20’s, just finishing a B.A. degree in Detroit, having high hopes for the future, terrible riots broke out on 12th Street and beyond. The cause was no different than what’s going on now: white cops, black folks entertaining at an after-hours joint, and 10-12 black kids hog-tied and murdered on Philadelphia Street near 12th. It’s etched in my mind as one of the worst police state events in my lifetime. MY own brother, who has been retired as a police officer for almost 20 years now regrets his involvement what they had him do at the time. It was literally a war zone, and our family prayed that he would stay safe. He did, 43 others did not. I don’t believe the situations between the races has changed very much in the interim. It breaks my heart that because your skin color is different than mine causes us to be mad at one another.