(ThyBlackMan.com) Dear Judge Kemp it is important for you to realize you failed all of us in your attempt to be “compassionate” to convicted murderer Amber Guyger. This woman was convicted of killing a black man as he sat in his own home in cold blood. There are so many things that is wrong with that scenario. I understand that you are supposed to be impartial and allow the then defendant a space whereby she would have a fair trial by a jury of her peers. You were not serving in the trial as a citizen…you are, as you know, the presiding officer of that court. Did you consider how your actions would affect those that sat on the jury, the family of the victim, black citizens of the City of Dallas that know that there is an issue with the abuse of power by police, and did you consider the actual defendant? Your actions implied you didn’t consider any of this, and chose to step into the roll of a citizen verses remaining in that of a judge. Compassion in our courts is very necessary, it’s something black people don’t receive much of, however, compassion should not stand in the way of the courts functioning as they should.
You stated in an interview that you don’t believe you would have received this backlash had you hugged a black woman. Well, Judge Kemp have you hugged a black woman that was convicted of murder in your court? Have you hugged a black man that was convicted of murder in your court? Have you hugged a white man convicted of murder in your court? I your answer is no to any of these questions your concern is a non-factor. The issue is not that we want to decide who we should have compassion for; the issue is you chose to give said compassion in a space that was out of order. Furthermore, let’s be honest…we know this compassion is not reserved for black people in the judicial system. Judge you know the stats, and the facts by which we are discriminated in the courts; it is a blatant insult for you to question compassion in a space that doesn’t exist for people that look like you.
Whether you realize it or not judge you didn’t do the Amber Guyger any favors. She killed a man in cold blood and more care was given to her than the family of the man she killed. The problem is the weight of her verdict was not allowed to be felt without a buffer. The bailiff was consoling her, and you ended up hugging her. What she did was wrong. When she shot Botham Jean in his home, did she stay to try and render care? Did she care that this man was dying, or was she concerned about trying to cover herself? That is a problem, so she should have had to feel the weight of the court without assistance. She needed to know her tears would not absolve her crime; as a police officer she should be held to a higher standard. The community should have been able to trust her, and that trust was violated. Far too often in this country white people, especially white women, have someone there to absorb some of the weight of the heinous crimes they commit. Someone will create the excuse that no one group can use or offer a compassion that no other group can experience. Unfortunately, that isn’t an opinion. You could have helped her understand the gravity of her life changing actions by allowing the court procedures to function as normal.
Lastly, please don’t think I don’t understand the spiritual obligation of forgiveness, and that we should lead others to Christ. If this was a matter of ministry there are so many other ways this could have been handled by which we would not have an issue. Judge you could have gotten this woman a bible or wrote her a letter of encouragement if you so chose to when this proceeding was over. The bottom line was you didn’t have to step outside of the capacity of your job to preside without bias. Though you may feel there was no bias…to the public it looked like a judge was bias towards a cop. The very bible you gave her cautions us to “shun the appearance of evil”. This is not about forgiveness.
This concept of forgiveness as a Christian virtue has been used against black people far too often in these kinds of situations. Please keep in mind when Jesus was on the cross he forgave the criminal, but the criminal still served his sentence. Your commentary was disturbing to me as you have been on this earth, and black in this country longer than me. You know what we face as a people, but yet and still you choose to speak on what we might not fuss about if she were black. Honestly, I feel like you know why your actions were disturbing, but I’ll error on the side of maybe you just don’t understand.
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
May connect with this sister over at Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/christian.pierre.9809 and also Twitter; http://twitter.com/MrzZeta.