(ThyBlackMan.com) There are three things, I have learned in life so far; a picture, is not always worth a thousand words, the truth matters, and the ending of a problem is always better than the beginning of one. The last saying could not be more true, when it comes to the illegitimate killings of black citizens of the United States, by police officers and their proxies. We want to see these illegitimate killings brought to an end.
You may ask, what does Gucci have in common with the illegitimate killings of Black Americans? The connection has to do with implied racism and a suggested approach to a Gucci problem. Gucci created an uproar in February, when it introduced a sweater that looked like a black face. By the way, the sweater retailed at $890.00. The sweater, a black turtle neck with a red cut out for the mouth was introduced on the Gucci web site and was immediately criticized. Black face started after the Civil War in America. White minstrel performers played characters using black face, that dehumanized and demeaned African Americans. Here is the link to the piece regarding the sweater and information about other items, meant to demean blacks: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gucci-blackface-sweater-gucci-removes-890-blackface-sweater-apologzies-after-receiving-backlash/.
As bad as black face is, this article is not about black face, but the remedy recommended, to Gucci, which it adopted, so as to prevent offensive clothing from becoming a part of its production, and how Gucci’s remedy could impact the killings of blacks.
Gucci’s was told, it needed to hire more blacks or put another way, racially diversify its work force. Diversification, would add more voices to the decision making process, when it came to which clothing outfits would reach the market place and whether those outfits are racially insensitive. Gucci’s management, according to the article agreed, to use racial diversification, as one of the means to correct their problem.
Diversification, when it comes to racial issues has had a long history of success. The United States armed forces can be held up as one of the more successful examples. Closer to home, other examples are the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). The advocation of a national recruiting program, to attract more blacks into law enforcement, creating more diversity, when it comes to the killings of black citizens (98 percent of the killings are white on black), you would think would be a no-brainer, if financing for such a program were available, because of its past success. Additionally, for police departments, that want to be more professional, racial diversity is, as you can see, based on the following articles, a no-brainer for them, also.
https://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/policing-diversity-law-enforcement-faces-challenges/article_c113d598-c20d-5908-9384-4be0c6572240.html
and
https://newsok.com/article/5617114/minority-recruiting-a-challenge-for-oklahoma-city-police
Nevertheless, there is no suggestion by me, or informed professionals in law enforcement, that just having more black police officers, is in anyway the final answer to stopping or reducing the abuses and killings of African American citizens, at two and one half times the rate of whites.
In a 2016 article, regarding making racial diversity work, when it comes to police officers, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner, said this “… it helps to involve minorities in recruiting. It also helps to promote minorities (once they are hired). “Twenty-three of the 43-member (of his) command staff is black, including himself,” he added.
However, if racial diversity is part of the answer to putting a dent in the high rate of abuses and African American killings and the discriminatory practices of Gucci (and sweaters by the way, aren’t shooting and killing African American citizens), it begs the question, what would a successful national recruiting program look like and how would it work? Would it be complicated to establish and operate?
So, let’s take a look at the frame work of such an operation. As Chief Turner said above, “It helps to involve minorities.” High profile blacks of integrity, even professional athletes, representing the recruiting program, would visit institutions like junior colleges, colleges and universities, and job fairs, with local police representatives and at these gatherings extol the virtues of a law enforcement career to prospective candidates.
Interested applicants would be asked to fill out index cards with their name, address, age, telephone numbers, and educational level. These index cards would, then be sent to a central processing recruiting office, where recruiters would take the information and enter it into a computer system.
The recruiter’s job would be to call the applicants and further qualify them, based on whatever standards and requirements law enforcement agencies have outlined. Once, determining an applicant is a good candidate, the recruiter would contact the law enforcement agency, interested in making a new hire. It would not make any difference, as to what city or state the law enforcement agency was located, as the recruiter would have vetted the candidate in regard to, whether he or she is willing to relocate. If the law enforcement agency and the candidate are satisfied with each other initially, it would be the recruiter’s job to set up an interview and do the necessary follow-up. There, you have it, a general outline of such a business.
So, where do we go from here. Well, here is what we know. Malcolm Jenkins, who heads the Players Coalition, accepted $89 million from National Football League (NFL) owners to fund social justice work through that organization. He has refused to spend any of that money on projects that could directly impact the killings of African Americans. And, Colin Kaepernick recently settled his collusion grievance suit against the league. It has been speculated the amount of the settlement, which also included Eric Reid, could be as low as $10 million or as high as $60-80 million.
And to add insult to injury, when it comes to the issue of directly doing something about the killings, Malcolm Jenkins has been tapped as a honoree of the McSilver Award by New York University, and is scheduled to be honored on June 10, 2019, according to the McSilver Institute web site. He is getting this honor, because he is part of a “vanguard of social justice,” activists. Be that as it may, an inconvenient truth, that is, if the truth matters, past actions of Mr. Jenkins indicate, he has no respect for the integrity of the movement to stop the illegitimate abuses and killings of black citizens (https://thyblackman.com/2018/11/19/hinky-and-deceptive-the-nfl-nflpa-video-pulled-by-cbs/). Perhaps, that perception is no longer applicable. Maybe, Mr. Jenkins’s position, when it comes to diversity has evolved, in light of the meaning of what the McSilver Award stands for, and the contributions of the other recipients of the award to social justice. Only time, will reveal this to us.
Finally, here is the conclusion of this whole matter.
1) We have a tragedy currently impacting the African American population, that is unique to them; “they are being illegitimately killed,” by errant police officers and their proxies.
2) Police agencies from Oklahoma to Georgia have stated on the record, that they believe part of the solution to this problem, is to pursue more racial diversity among law enforcement agencies (click on the links above).
3) Conservatively, $100 million of capital or money, is now under the control of current and former African American players of the NFL. Money obtained, as a result of the killings, either directly or indirectly. The cost of establishing and operating a national recruiting program aimed at blacks, to create more racial diversity in law enforcement ranks nationally, would be less than 10 percent of the $100 million under their control.
Haughty, indeed, are these “Vanguards of Social Justice,” to ignore diversity, as part of the solution, when it comes to the killings of African Americans, by police officers, when they have the money, to put such a program into action, wouldn’t you think?
Staff Writer; James Davis
Mr. Davis is a leading expert and consultant in Financial Analysis and Social Dynamics. He is a graduate of Florida A. and M. University(FAMU), a former stockbroker, and a human rights activist who resides in Sanford, Florida. He was awarded the prestigious Governor Haydon Burns Scholarship to attend FAMU and while at FAMU was awarded the first Martin Luther King Scholarship. He is the author of three books, among them is “The Fix This Time,” Boost Your Retirement Income! Simultaneously Create Jobs and Spur Consumer Demand (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MI3PD2M).
He can be reached through his blog @, (http://www.thefixthistime.com).
