The views expressed in this piece are fictional and do not represent the views of the writer.
Good afternoon everyone,
There is an issue and I’m here to fix it. I’m here today because of a horrible shooting that took place. The main issue everyone thinks we have right now is one of our officers, and they’re being called a “racist”. But what I really want to defend is America. One of my officers has shot and killed a black man, for an unthoughtful decision he decided was smart to make. Some people may think the current United States Policies are still like Jim Crow laws other outrageous things that make us look like horrible people. I can easily debunk this. Jim Crow ended a long time ago, and I shouldn’t even need to start on anything else. Jimcrow is widely recognized as a gross violation of human rights and dignity. How can you compare what we’re doing to any of that? The same goes for anything else like Jim crow, which may I remind you the Jim crow laws would put much fear in black people. The law did many other things, separating them, treating them as half a human, not letting them vote etc. As a representative of the United States we would never let any person of color live in any fear. Our job is to make sure everything is fair and we are here to protect all people regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation them like anyone else.
It’s time to face the facts of the situation, these things have ended many years ago. We would never hurt anyone for their color, we have evolved as people and we know it’s horrible to kill anyone because of color. At the end of the day what happened was a sad situation. No one wants to see a life taken away, but at the end of the day the officer has a family at home like most people. Simple instructions were listed, and were not followed. When you’re in these types of neighborhoods as in low income ones which are sadly mainly black, it’s only human to react the way the officer did. This is simply because
In the black community, there is a lot of drug abuse and gun violence.
It is a fact that certain factors such as poverty, unemployment, lack of access to healthcare, and discrimination can contribute to drug abuse happening in these types of neighborhoods.
So in conclusion, America has done nothing wrong. We are not jailing black people because of their race, gender, or sexual orientation. We did what needed to be done. We did not intend to take his life, we did what we thought was necessary to preserve the officer’s life. While this was a tragic event that has caused such anguish and hardship to many people, it was not racially motivated. We hope to continue to build trust in the communities we serve.
this is very different then what we are doing for our post. I feel like it is an interesting idea but seems like it would be difficult to write out and post! Kudos to you for trying something from a different lense
This was really different than what our class is doing, interesting!
I was not expecting the discussion to be the complete opposite of what my class and I have been doing, but it took a bold approach to the other POV. Writing this out must have been a struggle but you did an excellent job executing it! Was this something assigned or did you come up with this idea for a post on your own?
Writing from this point of you must have been challenging but an experience nonetheless. what were your thoughts while writing this?
I would like to say sorry on behalf of my classmates. This assignment was clearly fiction, and I’m sorry that they did not see it that way. You wrote this piece very well and I praise you for that. Keep up the good work. But in all honesty, how do you feel about what’s happening in our country at the moment?
I found it interesting how you infused your piece with your personal opinions. It enhances the narrative and infuses your point of view with your personality…
Being able to write in this racist pov was probably hard for you but I definitely give you props for this. I know it probably wasn’t easy, but how was it for you to write this?
your piece is well written, I like how you were able to adopt a mindset many would not agree with in order to bring your writing to life. well done.
i apologize on behalf of my peers for the misunderstanding my b bro
It’s quite intriguing how you adopted a racist’s point of view. Despite the fact that I completely disagree with the sentiments stated by your fictitious character, I must applaud you for having the courage to embrace their viewpoint. Your writing was very good and brought tolife.
I would like to apologize on behalf of my classmates and the SLABeeber community. I apologize for the hateful comments and for the misunderstanding of what you had to do this for this assignment
I would like to apologize on behalf of SLA@Beeber and the comments that were made, and how it affected you.
Your writing didn’t deserve the negative comments it received
I would say that even though this is a mock trial and not your own views I wouldn’t take your side because or come to agree with you, America needs to understand what they are doing to the African American people. But the way you had had deepen your character was amazing
I would like to formally apologize on behalf of the SLA Beeber community for what has happened to you. We’re truly sorry for all the things that were said, but the fact that everyone thought that you were writing your true thoughts just goes to show how compelling and elegant your writing is. You were able to write from the perspective of a character with whom you share no real opinions or values with just goes to show talented you are. I hope you’ll take this opportunity to not be discouraged and improve upon your writing skills to make them even better.
It’s quite intriguing how you adopted a racist’s point of view. While I do not agree at all with your crafted character’s remarks, I must admire you for being bold enough just to take on a fictional character’s view point.
I like how you developed a character that obviously did not do any study before making any of his assertions.
I definitely commend you on being able to write a piece from a perspective that may not represent yours. Something that stood out to me is the statement “Jim Crow ended a long time ago, and I shouldn’t even need to start on anything else.” I think from the character’s perspective, or anyone for that matter, it is kind of an ignorant thing to say. Even though jim crow laws seem to be “over” it still affects black people today in a plethora of ways. Another statement that stood out to me was “Jim Crow is widely recognized as a gross violation of human rights and dignity. How can you compare what we’re doing to any of that?” Majority of the time these kinds of incidents stem from people’s rights and dignity being violated. Whether that’s an unjust traffic stop or a stop-and-frisk search with no reasoning.
First of all I would like to commend your attempt to approach this mock trial differently and for being brave to write this from a point of view that is not your own.
The fictional opinion that your character expresses is utterly disappointing. His view is bereft of thorough and intellectual introspection to a point that it is almost importunate. You did a great job of creating a character who must not have put any effort into researching before making some of his claims!
“We would never hurt anyone for their color, we have evolved as people and we know it’s horrible to kill anyone because of color.”
Philando Castile? Daunte Wright? Manuel Ellis?.. Come on! There are too many documented evidence of contrary evidence that I wonder how your character came up with his conclusion.
“When you’re in these types of neighborhoods as in low income ones which are sadly mainly black, it’s only human to react the way the officer did. This is simply because In the black community, there is a lot of drug abuse and gun violence”
How does your character exonerate an officer for unlawfully ending a life on the basis of profiling a community? How did he ignore the officer’s incompetence and blame the victim solely?
In hindsight, I do like that your character tried to defend the American system which I do agree has evolved over the century bu there is definitely enough room for improvement and the police brutality rate could be so much lower. The US leads the entire globe in the rate of police killings per 10 million residents at a staggering 33.5% rate in contrast to 9.8% of Canada in 2nd place.(https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124039/police-killings-rate-selected-countries/).
Think about it.
I understand this is a mock trial and that these views are not your own.
The character you are pretending to be needs to be made aware that our city’s brutal policing is a by-product of something called “slave patrols,” which is very self-explanatory.
After abolishing the Black Codes, policing is literally became way for black people to be systemically and physically attacked.
There is a lot of information that doesn’t fully support your fictional character’s reasoning for supporting your country.
For the sake of your time and mine, I just want to say that I’m impressed that you were able to show what racist perspective looks like.
Hearing this fictional character express these views so confidently makes it clear what we have to join together and fight.
Keep it up, kid.
This was for a grade. We had an objective and went with it.
The character you made up says: “One of my officers has shot and killed a black man, for an unthoughtful decision he decided was smart to make.” As I’m sure you know, this sentence lacks basic common sense. How is an unthoughtful decision smart to make?
i enjoyed reading this fictional post in the first point of view. It allowed me to feel like i was listening to the conversation. I do agree with something your character when he says that the black communities has a high gun and drug rate, but is that a good enough reason to turn the problem onto the victims? The post was somewhat well written and I do not agree with what your character says!
I commend you on your work. The image was intriguing.
It’s very interesting the way you took the perspective of a racist person. Although I do not agree at all with your made-up character’s statements, I must commend you for being brave enough to take on such a fictional character’s point of view. When your character speaks about America being “stuck in the past”, what exactly do you mean? Yes, we ARE stuck in the past, but not because we keep thinking that Jim Crow laws are still evident today (because they are), but because this country was built on racism and still continues to hold onto these ideals centuries after it was formed. Cool picture too!
There’s one thing that I think your made-up character is right about: our black community is filled with so many of the wrong things. What do you think can be done to gradually remove these things from within the community?
I really like the picture you included
This was really powerful, do you think this can also be linked to generational trauma?
Do you think your fictional character’s claims that this death was due to racism are being made since Black people have a history of having minor offenses with the police resulting in their deaths?
period
Akira,
Damn! You really nailed it. I understand that your fictional character doesn’t represent your views, but it made me think.
I didn’t want to say it in my own post, but there are some things the black community, and by extension America, has to reconcile before moving onto bigger and grander issues such as the inner-city violence of minority communities coupled with the rampant drug abuses across these cities.
Even though it’s not your opinion, the statement your character makes is solid. There are several things I can agree on this made-up post, including the fact that America is a country that is worth defending, and many people are stuck in the past when it comes to evaluating America’s character. One area of improvement I would recommend to your fictional character is that he just need to give this post, and his ideas more thought, time, and commitment to really make his argument something even more worthwhile.
Overall–even though I know it’s not real, that you are taking a point-of-view that you probably don’t agree with–I think it is still interesting to see what it would sound like if a person actually chose to post a dissenting opinion by choosing to defend America as opposed to ridiculing it like many other post commit to doing here. With that being said, I just wanted to ask you one question, what compelled you to write this post? What are your own opinions about what the character you created says?
Great post, thanks for sharing!
When the character you made up said “We are not jailing black people because of their race, gender, or sexual orientation. We did what needed to be done.” Was he considering the fact that black people are seven times more likely to be wrongfully convicted for serious crimes than white people?
you mad and for what? Facts hurt I know
Let me present you with the facts your made-up character might need to consider:
While Jim Crow laws may have officially ended, the United States has a long history of systemic racism that continues to impact people of color today. This includes issues such as unequal access to education, housing, and healthcare, as well as disproportionate rates of incarceration and police brutality against Black and Brown individuals.The shooting of a Black man by a police officer cannot simply be attributed to the fact that the community he lived in experiences high levels of drug abuse and gun violence. It is important to acknowledge the role that systemic racism plays in perpetuating these issues and to address the root causes rather than simply reacting to their symptoms.While it is true that poverty, unemployment, and lack of access to healthcare can contribute to drug abuse, it is important to note that these issues are not unique to the Black community. People of all races and ethnicities can experience these challenges, and it is unfair to stigmatize an entire group based on the actions of a few individuals.
While reading your post, I noticed that your fictional character brought up some very shocking topics, that interested me. I’m curious to understand why this made-up character repeatedly points out negative factors towards the black community, like poverty and drug abuse, yet the point he sets in this fictional post is discrimination against color does not exist. It seems as though your character is explicitly stating that black neighborhoods are the only problem, and not including what the cop had done was wrong. If it was not racially motivated, then why add derogatory factors to make the black community in the wrong?
I assume this is for a mock trial and not your opinion. There are a few points your character has no standing in this context. He explicitly points out how the Jim Crow laws were made to instill fear into black people, but then he says that America is not racist, nor did it do anything wrong. He says that an officer killed a black man to protect himself, but he doesn’t speak of the context in which he was killed. He talks about a singular perspective and not both of them. He can defend the officer and boil down the rest of the issue to “how black communities are.” He does not state why there are issues such as unemployment, lack of access to healthcare, or drug abuse in these communities. Still, they are explicitly discriminated against due to their race and their race alone. These systems that are still in place stem from white supremacy. How can this fictional character say that America has done nothing wrong when he has clearly stated all of the mistakes that they have made?