This is one of those issues that is difficult to get my mind around, except the certainty that people and especially Black men are being tortured and killed in the interest of White America's view of "justice." They don't have a problem being insensitive to all things Black.
On the matter of the death penalty, there cannot be ANY "collateral damage." Sadly, many people don't have a problem with getting it wrong – torturing the guilty or killing the innocent – if they can get it "right" from time to time.
There is a tragically long history of cruelty, torture and death directed at Black people, and I wonder if this context has created, to borrow your language, Dr. Tisby, a “permission structure” for a broad cultural value of grave indifference to Black suffering. From the earliest time of Transatlantic Slavery, barbaric methods of torture and execution used to keep enslaved Africans under control in what was a floating prison were common. Even the youngest of the captives were not spared. Markus Rediker, in his book The Slave Ship: A Human History, goes into detail about just what the slave voyages involved. The enslavement of Africans and their descendants in the Americas was too often attended by extreme forms of violence to maintain subjugation and force more labor from the enslaved. This cruelty didn’t end with emancipation, as Kidada E. Williams relates in They Left Great Marks On Me: African American Testimonies of Racial Violence from Emancipation to World War I. The history of lynching and the KKK and retributive violence against Civil Rights movements all the way up to continued police brutality carry this strangely determined willingness to cause brutal wounding to Black bodies.
I help to care for my best friend who is severely disabled, and over the 30 years I have journeyed with her within the medical system, I have seen the struggle of “finding a vein” and the preparatory work that is necessary for her to receive “a good stick”. Some have been helpful in this endeavor, yet others, determined to ignore her warning that it is hard to find her veins, try and try and try again, basically torturing her. She has always used that language of torture. She and I have often wondered if and when the bad experiences are due to racist beliefs about the Black body.
I think that in a system that operates within this historical context, where one cannot be certain of justice free of racial bias, and one cannot be safe from torture, the death penalty cannot be classified as a viable alternative for state ensured justice. Sorry this is so long…
Thanks for EJUSA resource! I grieve how our Black people are more "injustice-impacted" by our U.S. "Criminal Legal System**" from cops, courts, & corrections to even botched executions. I've struggled addressing the wCN perspectives disputing data. May we advocate for thriving, mutual flourishing, equity, freedom, dignity, & respect for all our people with banning the death penalty; reforming for merciful justice; & reinstating voting rights (**Human Rights Watch).
This is one of those issues that is difficult to get my mind around, except the certainty that people and especially Black men are being tortured and killed in the interest of White America's view of "justice." They don't have a problem being insensitive to all things Black.
On the matter of the death penalty, there cannot be ANY "collateral damage." Sadly, many people don't have a problem with getting it wrong – torturing the guilty or killing the innocent – if they can get it "right" from time to time.
There is a tragically long history of cruelty, torture and death directed at Black people, and I wonder if this context has created, to borrow your language, Dr. Tisby, a “permission structure” for a broad cultural value of grave indifference to Black suffering. From the earliest time of Transatlantic Slavery, barbaric methods of torture and execution used to keep enslaved Africans under control in what was a floating prison were common. Even the youngest of the captives were not spared. Markus Rediker, in his book The Slave Ship: A Human History, goes into detail about just what the slave voyages involved. The enslavement of Africans and their descendants in the Americas was too often attended by extreme forms of violence to maintain subjugation and force more labor from the enslaved. This cruelty didn’t end with emancipation, as Kidada E. Williams relates in They Left Great Marks On Me: African American Testimonies of Racial Violence from Emancipation to World War I. The history of lynching and the KKK and retributive violence against Civil Rights movements all the way up to continued police brutality carry this strangely determined willingness to cause brutal wounding to Black bodies.
I help to care for my best friend who is severely disabled, and over the 30 years I have journeyed with her within the medical system, I have seen the struggle of “finding a vein” and the preparatory work that is necessary for her to receive “a good stick”. Some have been helpful in this endeavor, yet others, determined to ignore her warning that it is hard to find her veins, try and try and try again, basically torturing her. She has always used that language of torture. She and I have often wondered if and when the bad experiences are due to racist beliefs about the Black body.
I think that in a system that operates within this historical context, where one cannot be certain of justice free of racial bias, and one cannot be safe from torture, the death penalty cannot be classified as a viable alternative for state ensured justice. Sorry this is so long…
Thanks for EJUSA resource! I grieve how our Black people are more "injustice-impacted" by our U.S. "Criminal Legal System**" from cops, courts, & corrections to even botched executions. I've struggled addressing the wCN perspectives disputing data. May we advocate for thriving, mutual flourishing, equity, freedom, dignity, & respect for all our people with banning the death penalty; reforming for merciful justice; & reinstating voting rights (**Human Rights Watch).
I wonder why Human Rights Watch doesn't include the death penalty & wrongful convictions in its 2024 U.S. election guide: “A Human Rights Guide to the 2024 US Elections,” HRW, 2.7.24, https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/02/07/human-rights-guide-2024-us-elections
I was looking for MidEast updates & saw these by The Associated Press:
"Myth of ‘Superhuman Strength’ in Black People Persists in Deadly Encounters With Police," AP, 4.26.24, https://apnews.com/article/superhuman-strength-lethal-restraint-police-b6ec5846ce18784ab99438eeb3f27eef?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share
“All Cases,” within “Lethal Restraint,” AP, "An investigation documenting police use of force” https://apnews.com/projects/investigation-police-use-of-force/all-cases/#list
I have been reading about other horrific execution methods too though hard to imagine worse than 3 hours of botched lethal