Cops Hunt Blacks like they are Prey.

Buck Fever - is a phenomenon a hunter will experience. The hunter sees a prey and starts shooting aimless , excited with their adrenaline rising and they go into a frenzy. In many cases the shooter gets crazy. There is no regard to where he/she is shooting, no thought of consequence.

Last night  Philando Castile was shot for having a busted tail-light and for being Black.  A couple of days before that Anton Sterling   was killed for selling CD's and for being Black. In both cases the police were quick to fire their guns multiple times. 

It is a  common occurrence through the United States and it matters not if you are man or woman or even a child (Tamir Rice).   The police have really been active in killing Black people.  Do you wonder why?



Is it these Black people are criminals? Do they ask for it?  You may think yes or perhaps if they just listened to the police instructions, they would not have been shot. There is really something going on here and its not just police procedure.  It is a culture; a culture of fear anger and resentment.
Society does not see the Black person as a part of the community meaning they are not seen as people. This of course is true of what is thought of the Muslim and the Indian (Indigenous folk).  Blacks (and other  non-Whites) are not seen as part of the wider community - the White community.  So in many instances if they are not seen as part of the community - who are they? It is abundantly clear in the eyes of law enforcement (and the "community") Blacks (and other non-Whites) are prey. With the police (and community watch folk  - Trayvon Martin) the culture is that of a hunter - in many cases stalking prey or happening upon prey.  With hunting there is always the risk of getting excited, the blood pressure rising, the fear of the prey, the frenzied actions. That is Buck Fever and the police have it. They don't see Sally their neighbor or Bob the neighbor who will throw weekend barbecues; they see something else. They don't see the kid Tommy playing with toy in the park. The result is what you see - Blacks shot in the midst of  a frenzied zeal. 

With Mr Castile he was lucky in the sense that his girl friend Ms Reynolds had the bravery and calm to live stream her boyfriend dying next to her and her child. For her actions she was handcuffed, arrested and treated in a horrible manner. Reminds me of the situation with Ipperwash and the family of Dudley George. The police killed Mr George and treated the family in a horrible manner, stopping them from taking him to hospital and arrested them. Ms Reynolds was arrested and detained for what?  The police didn't see her as a person - just part of the equation - part of the hunt - part of the prey. 

So  what now?  Do the Black people and their supporters stand around and shout slogans and get soundbites in the media?  Where there is a culture in society to protect the hunter and to discount the prey? 

There is a culture of disconnect in the US with Blacks and in Canada with the Indigenous-Indian. The wider community does not see them as people- part of the community. Look at what happens in Canada where an Indian man is killed with passive actions (Brian Sinclair - left to die a slow painful death in hospital emergency). They didn't see him as a man. They "compassion fatigue" him to death.  In Canada Indians are the Savage, the shiftless drunken bum.  Not human. In Canada a young Indian was raped and killed. The justice system took and put her vagina as part of the evidence. Just think about it. She was brutally killed and mutilated, the justice system removed her vagina as evidence to be displayed in court. Would they do that a white person.  Not people. In the US the Black person is seen as the criminal, the Negro and not a person.  

The Celebrity Black is still  not seen as a person. They are seen as part of the show/game. As part of the entertainment for real people. 

Let me ask you this if a young White boy is playing with a toy gun in a playground, what do you see? You see a young child playing. So if you saw him as a child, a person  wouldn't you take more than two seconds, two seconds to check out the situation?  If you don't see a child you see what?  Prey? Criminal? Less than a person?  That is what happened with the young child Tamir Rice. And just let the sink in while you look at the shoot out in Texas with White Bikers. They sat around texting and visiting after the police arrived?  And you know why? Because even criminal groups like the Bikers (and white supremacy groups) are considered people first.  Not the Black person.  There are so many examples of this and if you don't see it? 

The main stream society, the average White person does not see a Black person as a person, a neighbour, and part of the community. Even the regular non-racist person will see the color first and not the person. Its deeply ingrained in the culture of western society. You really think slavery and colonial oppression was long ago? Those sentiments are not easily erased. 

And if you think there is no hunting fever - buck fever going on in the States - there is really something wrong with how you see the world.  

PS. I know the word "buck" has different meanings - both for the Black and for the Indian. 

* Since this original post  there have been  more suspect shootings of Black people by police and citizens.