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.
— 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.
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
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