Racism in America is Thriving

The photo has gone viral and a great embarrassment to the Galveston, Texas, police department. On it's face, without any context, it is racist. It is a despicable photo of a black man being led by two white police officers tied to a rope through the public streets.

It has since incensed people of all color for its raw depiction and reinforces the notion that white supremacy still exists in the USA in not only police departments, but just in the general public. This happened on August 3rd, around the same times as the mass shootings from white supremacists corrupted by some of the racist dialogue from President Trump.

The man being led by police is Don Neely, 43, a mentally ill man charged with trespassing, a minor misdemeanor. In the past, he has frequently slept on benches and well known in some areas of the city. A basically harmless man charged with one of least serious crimes police deal with. The Galveston police department clearly stated that what the two white officers did was within their approved police department actions, but admitted that the officers should have simply called for a police car. Yet, the two officers are clearly racist by electing to walk the man through public streets because the police department approved this sort of thing.

That is mind blowing. A police department condones walking a criminal suspect by rope through the streets. I know this is Texas, home of many white supremacists toting their guns (they are a minority), but how can a police department approve of this technique in criminal apprehension?

After the photo went viral, the police department did suspend this arrest technique. They defended the two officers saying neither had malicious intent and were not suspended from duty or that anything would happen for their racial conduct condoned by their police department.

The thing about this policy at this police department is does it specifically target only black criminals can be led through the public streets of Galveston, or just any criminal, regardless of color? Many black Americans are incensed with this photo because if you were alive before 1965, this kind of thing could have easily happened in many parts of the southern states where racism was thriving.

As for the police officers - because they knew the police department policy, they hid their own racist attitudes by hiding under the approved policy. Naturally, they would not physically hurt the man unless he resisted, so yeah, no malicious intent but they knew they could get away with it. The officers should be fired, or at least suspended.

President Trump may not think he is a racist and the vile remarks he makes of some people of color, he may not think they are racist, just is his opinion. What Trump does say does impact and resonate with some deranged white supremacists. When he does not tell his supporters at rallies to stop with the racist chants, he endorses it. While Trump does attack all people of color, he tends to target people of color more often than not. He is a man that does not like what he sees America becoming, it is no longer a white dominant nation, but it is a nation of color. So, he blames them for many of the social problems as a scapegoat and this encourages people with similar views to act.

To them, an act of war being condoned by Trump.