Black Lives Matter, Police and Shootings: A perspective

Mending The Relationship Between Police Officers and Black People, and Finding a Solution to the Shootings.

This is a long post because many lives are being lost on both sides and I deeply care about all of them.

Written by Irene Pierce Panayi

Normally, I would begin a topic like this discussing police first because I greatly respect anyone who puts their life on the line to help me. This doesn’t just go for police, but for men and women in service, and firemen/women as well. When we run from danger, they walk into it and they put their lives at risk in the process. I don’t take that lightly so I am truly grateful for their service and want to help them in return, too. That being said, I am going to start this topic by focusing on black people first for reasons I will explain herein. 

A term that we often hear is white privilege. The question is, does white privilege really exist? To be honest, as a person who was on welfare for a period of time when I was a child and who had to work hard for everything I acquired in life, I didn’t experience white privilege so I didn’t think it existed until the day I realized what white privilege actually means and then everything changed. 

Let me ask you a question: Are there areas in your state that you avoid because they aren’t safe? If the answer to that question is yes and you get to drive past them instead of having to live in them, then you are experiencing privilege. And the term is often referred to as white privilege because these “bad areas” are predominately comprised of black people. The response as the ticket out of these areas is often to “get a job” but the stark reality is that it takes years of earning minimum wage/low income to earn the money needed to afford a move out and how can one earn more than that without a degree or work experience?

In the meantime, these poor areas are mini war zones where guns, violence and the possibility of getting shot to and from school and work are real. The areas that we don’t feel safe driving through in our car with the doors locked are places where we allow people, including single women and young children, to live without trying to help them get to safety. A common response is “they shouldn’t carry guns,” but it’s important to remember that not all people in these areas do carry them and we still aren’t helping them. Another unfortunate fact is that as with all mini war zones, some people may feel the need to carry a weapon to try to protect oneself but if they get caught with it, they may face prison so their life is at risk either way; Whether they carry a weapon or they don’t. 

Selling drugs seems to be the fastest way to earn the big bucks needed to get out of this horrible way of life and at some point, that option may become an attractive one to some individuals because with death and prison already on the table, it doesn’t seem like one has much more to lose to try something else in the hopes that it may work. Given that the people living in these areas don’t have the means or money to manufacture the drugs, it’s clear that someone is sitting in a comfortable office someplace counting their cash as they try to take advantage of people who they know are desperate for help.

The black people living in these areas aren’t just living with violence and the risk of being shot, but they are living in decrepit conditions as well where some houses are so run down that it looks as though a roof or porch may collapse on them. Given that many of the people likely don’t own the house but are only renting it, the conditions may be because landlords know the tenants have no recourse and no options so they can get away without doing repairs. If someone does own the house, they likely need the money for necessities over repairs, especially if one knows that a well-maintained property will make you appear like you have money and put a bigger target on your back.

In high-crime poor areas, even simple things start to get impacted. For example, while we walk into a convenience store and peruse the shelves to purchase whatever we want, some stores in poor areas have plastic shields covering the entire entrance so patrons have to tell the cashier to get the items they want and then money is exchanged through a hole—Real and physical barriers are formed between the love and human connection that we all experience. Security police stand in places like McDonalds as everyone immediately starts to size each other up wondering who will be the next one to steal or hurt someone because that is how life is in a mini war zone where the assumption has to be violence and survival because it’s the reality of what one is living through. Even if you don’t want to live life on guard, your natural biological human instincts will make you that way. Think about how you feel even driving through a “dangerous area.” You become worried, nervous, stressed and are ready to react faster until you drive out of the area. Imagine if you could never leave and were forced to have this become your way of life. People live on edge in these areas because they have no other choice but to do that. And one act of desperation or one mistake can quickly lead to a response and a response can quickly set off a cycle. With no one to break the cycles, the violence continues. 

When groups of people live near each other, they start to assimilate in various ways. For example, in Nashville you will find a lot of cowboy boots, denim and hear people say “Y’all” while in Boston you may find more preppy clothes and hear “Carrrr or garrrage.” Poor areas have their own style, too, which often includes baggy pants and slang but instead of that “culture” being considered unique, cool or cute like the others, the assumption is often trouble and violence. The violence is not because of who they are, but it’s the conditions in which they are forced to live and instead of getting help out of those conditions, they get judgement and a label. 

Black music—wrap—could be a safe ticket out of poverty but they are judged for their music too, as some think it glorifies sex, drugs, violence and guns. But here’s an important point to remember: Every musician out there writes music based on personal experiences because that’s all you have to work with. Personal experiences also makes your music personal, real, raw and relatable. The experiences of black people living in mini war zones is unfortunately violence so it’s no wonder they write about it. For some, it’s a way to cope and deal with the losses that they are experiencing and for others it may be a way to try to get attention and help. It doesn’t mean they like violence, it just means it’s the reality of the life experiences that they are having. 

Without the means to travel and enjoy all of the outings and excursions that middle class America can afford, the only options in poor crime-ridden areas comes down to violence and sadness or sex, pleasure and love and almost nothing in between. If they get pregnant, they are judged as having too many babies without a father. If they didn’t have the baby and had an abortion, they would be judged for that, too. They experience judgement in every direction.

‘Generational conditions” is a real thing. The wealthy pass on wealth to their children while the middle class can at least pass on help to their children by allowing them to live at home for awhile to save money, helping them to set up their first place, or by contributing towards college tuition. But what do you do when you can barely help yourself let alone your children and there is nothing to pass on? Black people started out in this country as slaves and laid the foundation of wealth that many get to experience . They were taken from their homeland and stripped of everything they owned and many families have not been able to make it out of generational poverty that has plagued them yet. Many can’t escape the judgement and labels either. Many families just need one fair chance and one fair shot so that they, too, can have a chance at a good safe life and help their youth in return and change the generational tides. But they haven’t been able to get that help yet. Sending cash, a phone or discounted college tuition into a war zone isn’t saving lives. 

Since we aren’t getting them to a place of real safety, the next best thing is to at least try to keep the violence down and the only group that is helping to do that are police officers—And they are risking their lives to do that as well. They are actually the only group really helping black people which is the reason the riff between black people and police is so unfortunate. Without the help of police, the violence would be much worse. Instead of getting respect and appreciation for their help, police often get judgement, too.

What’s the source of the shootings (on both sides)?

Are there some police officers who don’t have good intentions and who abuse the power and trust that has been placed in them? Yes. Are there some black people who don’t have good intentions and want to hurt? Yes, just as their are some white people in this category and people from all other groups as well, but I like to think that the overwhelming majority of people in all groups and in our world at large are good people with good intentions. I don’t think anyone necessarily goes into a situation wanting to shoot anyone because no one wants to face losing their own life or time in prison. If that’s the case, why are there so many shootings?

To understand the problem with shootings in poor crime-ridden areas specifically, one has to also think about how the brain is wired as well. Research shows that when one is relaxed and at peace, processing happens in the prefrontal cortex section of the brain, which is our higher-level of thinking. When one is put in a position of danger and survival, the brain processes information through the amygdala, which is a more reactive and emotional response that is driven by fight-or-fight. Fight or flight is our instinct to survive. Thus, in essence, we have a situation where people are living in a position of danger and their lives are at risk and we send police into the same area so their lives are at risk now too, and we expect all of individuals on both sides to react with a calm (pre-frontal cortex) response instead of a fight-or-flight response. You can’t fight biology or biological instincts. People sometimes react to survive. It’s important that everyone tries to fight an emotional or quick response of course, but it’s not always going to be easy to do that. When the amygdala (fight or flight) mode kicks in, decision-making becomes more emotional and reactive, which increases the chance of error and when guns are in that mix, mistakes can get costly. The answer is not to leave people in dangerous situations and expect them to react calmly, but the real answer is to help get people out of dangerous situations altogether and help them get to safety. We leave people in bad situations (black people and police) and then we sit back from the comfort and safety of our living rooms judging how they act and what they do while they try to deal with conditions that we can’t even begin to comprehend.

The group in the most danger are black youth. The fact is this: The prefrontal cortex in our brains is not even fully developed until the age of 25 so black youth living in an area where guns is prevalent have the greatest chance of being influenced by what they see and experience, and of making a mistake. Even if they don’t go near guns or violence at all, as most of them don’t, the negative judgements and labels that are applied to black youth will make people think that they could be violent anyway and, thus, may not give them a job or opportunity. The cards are stacked against black youth. They need help to have a fair, safe chance at life and this goes back to the start of my blog post. 

As I said, I care deeply about the lives being lost among police officers, too. When they are out trying to help stop crime and put their lives at risk doing that, they have children and families to think about, too. All lives matter. But the one thing about black people that is really tough is that they never get a break from dangers and violence. Police at least get breaks from the danger and violence when they go home at night and when they relax on days off, and they also have a choice about whether to be in the profession at all. Black people are forced to live in dangerous areas without any breaks, without getting real help, without being given a choice, without any proper gear to try to survive the dangers they face and many lives are being lost as a result, especially among black youth. It’s tragic. They need a fair shot at life. It’s time that black people living in poor crime-ridden areas get the help they so desperately need and have been waiting for. Once we break up poor crime-ridden areas altogether and get people to safety once and for all and give them a real chance at a good life, we won’t only save black lives, but we will save the lives of police having to go into crime-ridden areas as well so their lives will be saved too. We can’t just drive past dangerous areas anymore. We have to try to help the people who are stuck living in them and are trying to survive in them. 

Written by Irene Pierce Panayi

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