America's Six Million Dollar Problem

The United States of America has a $6,000,000.00 problem.

Notice the number six with six more zeros before you get to the decimals. What would you do with six million dollars? Hopefully pay off all of your debts, especially Sallie Mae and whatever unsecured credit owed.

But six million dollars seems to the be the going rate for black death in officer-involved civil settlements. Is that kind of a belated reparation, which we are worth more dead than alive? What does that show for our families and those who have to pick up the pieces after our untimely demises?

Truth. pic.twitter.com/8fwglaqjAY

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) May 25, 2016

Take a look:  The city of Cleveland announced a $6 million dollar settlement with the family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice eighteen months after he was killed by former officer Timothy Loehmann while playing with a toy gun at a park near his home.

Baltimore awarded Gloria Darden – Freddie Gray’s mother - $6.4 million as a settlement for his death in police custody. So far, two of the six officers who have stood trial were found not guilty; the other four officers’ day in court is ahead.

In Little Rock, the Ellison family got a six-figure settlement and a park bench to continue his legacy while LRPD absolves any responsibility for the retired officer’s execution.

Even in New York, Eric Garner’s family reached a $5.9 million settlement with the NYPD.

It should be made crystal-clear that no amount of money can replace a family member yet society in general casts judgment upon the recipients. Those dollars are characterized as a sense of closure and they smooth over the emotional or psychological damage incurred to the families often poor or lower-middle income. In a sinister way, hearing about the multimillion dollar settlements makes it almost acceptable to blame the victim for his or her unfortunate circumstances.

Bruh. pic.twitter.com/piKSMzoZfT

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) April 23, 2016

In other words, ain’t nobody gettin’ rich here.

Even if we were, that is 1) blood money and 2) once you average the settlement by the number of working years, it really isn’t much. Assuming Tamir would have worked from 16 to 65, that is 49 years on the clock somewhere. Divide the $6M by 49 and you’ll get a quotient of $122.4K annually during the course of his working life. With that coin, it sounds like a lot until…we factor in taxes, college tuition, raising a family, purchasing a home and its subsequent upkeep, etc. Taxes alone would have eaten a nice chunk of money! Even beyond that, attorneys’ fees and court costs eat up the bulk of the award leaving the families with little compensation from their already traumatic experiences of being victimized by the offending officer; the media; keyboard gangsters; a recalcitrant district attorney; and overzealous union members quick to protect the rotten apples who potentially could destroy the entire bunch.

The money is not going to bring anyone back from the grave, so why do we look at it like it atones for society’s sins? In the way the greenbacks are bandied around, they serve as a “sorry not sorry” apology that does not reach the root of the problem:  this is a corrupted system that does not value all lives, only a select few.

America does have a $6,000,000.00 problem today.

Perhaps it is the cost to incarcerate a man rather than to educate or protect him.

Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are. 

Don't do it! pic.twitter.com/QRGmmb7T8w

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) May 27, 2016