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Why Are The Deaths of Black People Invisible in America?
Black people are killed by the system and nobody cares
Back in the early part of 1999, I was a newbie in New York City, having moved there in the late summer of 1997 — and in those days, breaking news was delivered the old-fashioned way, which meant via TV, radio and newspaper.
The violent murder of African immigrant Amadou Diallo — who died at the age of 23 after being pummeled with 41 bullets by four plain-clothed police officers, right in front of his Bronx apartment in the dead of night — was a shocking and frightening realization of the deadliness of police brutality towards Black people.
Diallo, who was born in Guinea, was returning home from a neighborhood eatery, and was approached by the four cops who assumed he was the rape suspect they had been trying to capture for over a year.
The scenario that played out matches pretty much every case that involves police shootings and the victims of color, that are almost always deemed guilty until their blood spills and innocence is confirmed too late.
After being physically hit with 19 bullets, as punishment for reaching into his pocket for the wallet that contained the documents, that were supposed save his life, Diallo died, and his dreams for a better life in…
