Record Killings by US Police in 2023 & Trump Refuses to Sign Oath to Not Overthrow the Government
Nikki Haley Says US Has Never Been Racist, Parenting Is The Most Humbling Human Experience, Two of the Best Mystery Shows on TV, Les McCann Sings "Compared to What"
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Parenting may be the most humbling experience a human goes through.
2023 Saw Record Killings by US Police. Who Is Most Affected?: After 26 million people marched against police brutality in 2020, we’re worse off than before.
Trump Didn’t Sign Illinois’ Pledge to Not Advocate for Government Overthrow: He’s signed it twice before—so why not now?
Nikki Haley Says US Has ‘never been a racist country’: Slavery? Segregation? Police brutality? What would make it racist to her?
What I’m Watching: Television: True Detective: Night Country and Monsieur Spade are two of the best mystery shows on TV.
What I’m Reading: Graphic Novels: Ed Brubaker strikes again with Where the Body Was, one the best books of his career. And Black Solstice is an original satire that is funny and insightful.
Kareem’s Video Break: This song from The Book of Mormon musical is wonderfully entertaining. It always makes me laugh.
Les McCann Sings: “Compared to What” was jazz great Les McCann’s masterpiece, a statement against the Vietnam War to compare with Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.”
Kareem’s Daily Quote
If you don’t have kids, you might not know that to have them is to be confronted daily with the knowledge that you will fail. There is no great parenting; there is only good enough.
Timothy Simons, actor, comedian
Becoming a parent is fairly easy, but becoming a good parent may be the most difficult challenge in life. The intense nuclear level of love you feel is often seen by your children as nothing more than the fizzling sparks from a lighter that doesn’t light. The horrid irony that every parent learns is that their kids will never totally understand the no-win decisions of daily parenting until they have children of their own. That knowledge is little comfort when parents are knee-deep in the big mud of parenting.
Being a parent may be the most humbling experience a human endures. It reminds me of a wonderful quote from one of my favorite movies from director François Truffaut, Day for Night. In the movie, a director (played by Truffaut) says, “Making a film is like a stagecoach ride in the old west. When you start, you are hoping for a pleasant trip. By the halfway point, you just hope to survive.” It’s the same deal with parenting. You start out wanting to be the best parent who ever raised a child, hoping that their lives will be filled with maximum joy and minimum pain—and you end up just wishing you didn’t screw them up too badly.
For me, my guiding principle was to try to give them as many wonderful childhood memories as possible and as many educational opportunities as possible. I knew that my fame would put tremendous pressure on them, which was a burden they didn’t ask for. But I hoped the perks would mitigate it. I’m still hoping because even when your kids are grown adults with their own kids, you still agonize about what you could have done better.
I miss the days when I could make them happy with a tickle, a dumb joke, or a small gift. But there comes a point when you have to accept that your influence has waned and you are no longer shaping them. All you can do then is give advice when they ask for it (definitely not when unsolicited!) and support their choices whether they heed your advice or not. For most of us, we are merely a voice on the phone or a text on the screen.
We have to come to terms with the fact that they are neither your creation nor your failure. You did your part, now they have to do theirs. You made mistakes, which they will remind you of. Now, all you can do is love them, not because they turned out the way you wanted, nor despite them turning out different than you wanted but because they need and deserve love for whoever they are. That’s when you know you still got it as a parent.
2023 saw record killings by US police. Who is most affected? (The Guardian)
SUMMARY: Police in the US killed at least 1,232 people last year, making 2023 the deadliest year for homicides committed by law enforcement in more than a decade, according to newly released data.
Mapping Police Violence, a non-profit research group, catalogs deaths at the hands of police and last year recorded the highest number of killings since its national tracking began in 2013. The data suggests a systemic crisis and a remarkably consistent pattern, with an average of roughly three people killed by officers each day, with slight upticks in recent years.
…The record number of police killings happened in a year that saw a significant decrease in homicides, according to preliminary reports of 2023 murder rates; one analyst said the roughly 13% decrease in homicides last year appears to be the largest year-to-year drop on record, and reports have also signaled drops in other violent and property crimes.
“Violence is trending downwards at an unprecedented rate, but the exception to that seems to be the police, who are engaging in more violence each year,” said Samuel Sinyangwe, a policy analyst and data scientist who founded Mapping Police Violence. “It hits home that many of the promises and actions made after the murder of George Floyd don’t appear to have reduced police violence on a nationwide level.”
MY TAKE: As the son of a decorated police officer, I tend to be sympathetic to the many challenges they face in their jobs and in dealing with public perceptions. But that doesn’t make me ignore the facts. Three findings were especially disturbing:
In 2023, 445 people (35% of all cases) were killed while fleeing police. “The majority of cases have not originated from reported violent crimes. The police are routinely called into situations where there was no violence until police arrived and the situation escalated,” said Samuel Sinyangwe, a policy analyst and data scientist who founded Mapping Police Violence.
More killings by police have been taking place in rural areas more than in urban settings, which is a difference from previous years.
Minorities are killed at a higher rate than White people: Blacks at a 2.6 higher rate, Native Americans at a 2.2 higher rate, and Latinos at a 1.3 higher rate. These groups are also more likely to be killed while fleeing.
Despite the massive Black Lives Matter marches against police brutality in 2020 being the largest protest movement in U.S. history (with up to 26 million protestors), not much has changed. From 2013 to 2022, 98% of police killing civilians did not conclude with any charges brought against the officers involved. Joanna Schwartz, University of California, Los Angeles law professor and expert on how officers evade accountability for misconduct, explained why: “Even with public attention to police killings in recent years and unprecedented community engagement, it’s really business as usual. That means tremendous discretion given to police to use force whenever they believe it’s appropriate, very limited federal and state oversight of policing, and union agreements across the country that make it very difficult to effectively investigate, discipline or fire officers.”
Three and a half years ago millions of Americans took to the streets to demand accountability from police on the unnecessary violence that threatens us all, but especially People of Color. We didn’t get that accountability. Should we just shrug our shoulders and slink off, hoping it’s not us or our children who are on the wrong side of police violence? As we’re now seeing, ignoring the problem didn’t make it get better but worse. Maybe instead of banning books and drag shows, the politicians we elect might start banning unnecessary killings of civilians by police. Except they don’t want to look weak on law and order or offend police unions. Although, they’re okay with looking weak on education and offending teacher’s unions. Not the priorities we need.