One more time, the killing of a black American by a white American police officer escapes indictment. On Wednesday, the grand jury in New York state let off a white police officer, Donald Pantaleo, for chokeholding Eric Garner, a 43-year-old father of six, who was illegally selling cigarettes on Staten Island. Just last week, a grand jury in Missouri let off white police officer Darren Wilson who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. The two instances once again point to the foundational racial divide in American society.
The centuries-old racial prejudice, which America so painstakingly pretends it has conquered, may yet be its own worst adversary. Irrespective of the other disciplinary measures that await Pantaleo, the fact that he used a manoeuvre on Garner that was banned by the police department in 1993 speaks volumes about how the strong arm of law flexes it muscle. Under the circumstances, US President Barack Obama’s talk of “a strengthening of trust and strengthening of accountability that exists between our communities and our law enforcement” does not amount to much for America’s black community.
