For Whom the Bell Tolls: Fear and Black Vilification Revisited in the Sean Bell Verdict

And it happened again. The same AmadouDialloOusmaneZongo black nightmare, simply in 2008 form, occurred on April 25 when Gescard Isnora, Michael Oliver, and Marc Cooper, three of the five officers involved in the 2006 Sean Bell shooting, were acquitted of all “wrist slap” charges held against them: manslaughter, reckless endangerment, and assault.

Joseph Guzman, Trent Benefied, and Sean Bell, three unarmed black men, were shot and one killed as the result of fifty bullets escaping from the weapons of officers who believed that one of the victim’s companions had a gun. Yet no gun was found, a man is dead, and the end result: the officers involved get paid leave and no more guns, guys. And yet another man is dead as the result of societal indoctrination to fear the black male.

Yet the same question always erupts: was it race related, decidedly more loaded since officers of color were involved in the shooting of the projected black villain. But is this even a question worth asking when both blacks and whites have been brought up in a society that believes in the inherent violence, savagery, and criminal urges of the black male?

The answer is no according to a little online test from The University of Chicago that suggests this very idea: that both blacks and whites can be equally affected by Black vilification. The test features a series of 100 images of both black and white men holding either guns or cell phones/wallets. It is up to you to quickly discriminate between the two and either shoot or holster based on your perception. And discrimination is exactly the result as on the whole, both blacks and whites who’ve taken the test have shot at blacks fractions of seconds quicker than at whites. Now if a simulated experience can have these results, is it so shocking that these real-life situations occur so often? http://backhand.uchicago.edu/Center/ShooterEffect/

Maybe shocking to some but old and sad news to the rest of us who clearly see the effects of the black viewed as despised/feared in members of our very own community (think McGruder’s “Uncle Ruckus”). The alleged actions of Sean Bell: accelerating the car while intoxicated and crashing into an unmarked police vehicle, in no way shape or form can be used to justify such actions taken against him. Nor can the larger issue of white fear ( created by whites and subsequently projected onto all members of American society), excuse its devastating results. But it explains why the bell will continue to toll for black males in American society. And why until this bigger problem is addressed, Tills Zongos Diallos and Bells will continue to occur in new forms.