(ThyBlackMan.com) Without a doubt, the biggest news of the past few weeks was Election Day 2020 for the general elections of federal public officials. Understandably, the most attention on Election Day is reserved for the race for the President of the United States. Democrat Joe Biden defeated incumbent Republican Donald Trump in this year’s presidential election. There was a lot of happiness for a lot of people throughout the country who viewed Trump’s presidency with such fear and vitriol because of his personality and actions.
The Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his anti-Black Lives Matter rhetoric regarding police brutality against unarmed Black people were major focuses around why many people wanted him out as U.S. Commander-In-Chief. Most Black voters decided against voting for Trump for various reasons and many Black sports figures celebrated that he will not have consecutive U.S. presidential terms. But police brutality and harassment still exists in America as LSU football player Koy Moore learned not long ago, which led to some eye-opening comments that show a fascinating post-election perspective.
Koy Moore is a true freshman wide receiver for LSU from Kenner, Louisiana. Like most true freshmen football players, he isn’t a major factor in his team’s success as he has produced just eight catches for 70 receiving yards and no touchdowns this season but those numbers do not mean that he will not become a starter or have a higher ceiling in the future. Moore learned a difficult and troubling lesson as he released a statement detailing an incident last weekend in which he said that police drew guns on him and “violated” him. Regarding the incident, Moore wrote on social media, “As some celebrate the election of a new president understand the real problem have not changed. If I didn’t tell those incompetent officers that I was a LSU football player there’s no telling if I would’ve been here to tell the story! Yesterday wasn’t a victory for America it was only a distraction.” There are several reasons why Moore’s statements are eye-catching.
No one knows whether Koy Moore was for or against a Joe Biden presidency but the chances are that as a Black man that he isn’t pro-Trump despite more Black men voting for Trump in 2020 than in 2016. Moore’s incident with the police included him alleging that the police assuming that he had a gun and drugs and the police taking away his phone as he attempted to document the incident. It is interesting that someone as young as Moore would be able to view Trump’s presidential exit as not significantly solving the police brutality issue and not a victory like many people did. It is probably more accurate that Moore was aware of Biden’s major role in the mass incaration of Black and Brown people during the 1990s. It doesn’t help that his Vice President, Kamala Harris, labelled herself as a ‘top cop’ in the past.
Moore’s statements came on the same day that Milwaukee NBA player Sterling Brown reached a $750,000 settlement agreement in his civil rights lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee. Back in 2018, Brown was tased and assaulted by Milwaukee police outside a Walgreen’s store for a parking violation. Black athletes have been assaulted by police under a Barack Obama presidency as well as with incidents involving former tennis player James Blake at a New York hotel in 2015 and NBA player Thabo Sefolosha at a New York nightclub when NYPD police broke Sefolosha’s right leg and ended his NBA season. Trump was a war criminal, vile, and spewed hatred throughout his presidency but young people like Koy Moore remind us that life under police surveillance will not be much different under the presidency of Joe Biden.
Staff Writer; Carl Brown