The Death of Tyre Nichols and So-Called Colorblind Justice
His death at the hands of Black police is the same problem with the same color.
Tyre Nichols was young.
Tyre Nichols was Black.
Tyre Nichols was killed by five Memphis, Tennessee police officers who beat, tazed, and pepper-sprayed him, and two Memphis Fire Department paramedics who did not provide him with “proper care.”
The five police officers who killed him were Black.
The five police officers have been fired and charged with murder and kidnapping.
There are many racists who are crowing on social media that there won’t be race riots or protests against police because the killers were Black like their victim.
Once the police video of the killing is released, who knows how the public will respond?
But this is what I do know.
The absolute minimum standard for anyone in law enforcement should be to protect and serve everyone. Not as a slogan on the side of some police vehicles, but a low-water mark that should be hardwired into anyone wearing a badge.
Race, religion, gender, country of origin, sexual identification – none of this should matter to public servants, and especially law enforcement.
You can’t say you protect the public if there are segments of the public you don’t like.
You can’t pretend that you are upholding the oath you take as a peace officer if you’re hellbent on disregarding the humanity that doesn’t look, pray, or love like you.
Whether you are the same or different than the person you’re victimizing, the result is the same.
A person who has been given authority to enforce the law, and with that, the power of life and death, is misusing their authority.
I wouldn’t have wanted the Memphis officers to give Tyre Nichols a pass if he was breaking the law.
If he was breaking the law, his transgressions shouldn’thave led to his death.
I won’t watch the video when it’s released.
It worse than watching a movie knowing how it’s going to end.
Especially when it ends with a death.
An all-too familiar death.
By all accounts, the officers should have been fired and should be prosecuted and jailed for the rest of their lives.
Race matters when and if we make it matter.
This is not one of those times.
Five men who were supposed to serve and protect Tyre Nichols made a choice to kill him.
Justice in America isn’t colorblind because we aren’t colorblind.
As a retired paramedic/nurse, I am sickened by this, "two Memphis Fire Department paramedics who did not provide him with “proper care.” I have given medical care to murderers, rapists, racists, as well as ordinary citizens without regard for who they were, what race they were, their financial situation, what they did, or how horrible of a person they were. I had a responsibility to respond and provide care to those who called. These paramedics should lose their certification for their actions. I did not have to take an oath to be a paramedic like I did when I became a nurse but I had excellent teachers who stressed I was there to provide the best care I could to everyone I was called to help, nothing less than my best would be acceptable. Of course, I am appalled at what the police officers did and am happy that it appears some sort of justice will be delivered to them despite the fact it will not bring Tyre Nichols back to his family.