Kneeling to venerate hate: The meaning of a police killing in Minnesota

[guillaumeb]

From the article:

…..America needs to understand that when we see a white police officer kneeling on a black body, squeezing the breath of life out of that body, we are witnessing an act of worship. It is an act of worship that honors the demons of racist hate and murder — a form of veneration deeply rooted in the American nightmare that is the underside of the American dream.

Beginning at the end of Reconstruction, hate and racist murder defined the rise of terrorist organizations that sought to enforce white supremacy and the rise of Jim Crow. Large crowds attended lynchings, watching as the breath of life was choked and burned out of black men and women. The perpetrators celebrated their deeds by posing for pictures, pictures that were later sold and turned into postcards to be shared with friends and family.

To read more:

https://religionnews.com/2020/05/27/kneeling-to-venerate-hate-the-meaning-of-a-police-murder-in-minnesota/

[Mike 03]

1. Profound and chilling

Fleeing the violence of the South, black Americans landed in ghettos in the North, where policemen became principal agents of violent white supremacy. The officer who killed Floyd was unfazed by the crowd of bystanders memorializing the slaying with their cellphones. His exhibitionism is reminiscent of the lynch mobs who sought the visibility provided by photographers as they proudly displayed their dead black victims.

[guillaumeb]

2. And the police officer has no fear of being punished.

The police force had its start in the American South in the form of slave patrols.