Every life lost at the hands of the police will be mourned by those who loved them, regardless of the circumstances under which they lost their lives. When an innocent person is killed at the hands of the police as apparently happened recently in Oklahoma, it is particularly heart wrenching for those close to, and who knew the person killed when they learn of the circumstances under which their loved one died. One cannot imagine the heart ache that a mother feels when she gets the news that her son has been killed, wives will be inconsolable, children will sob their hearts out when they learn that daddy will never be coming home again.  Friends and other family members will be in a state of shock as they ask the eternal question. Why?  It will be heartless to dismiss the raw emotions that people feel in the aftermath of these circumstances. No one with a conscience or a heart can be so cruel to discard what these people go through in their moment of grief. It is no comfort to tell a grieving relative that this type of stuff only happens once in a while; that it is no big deal, stuff happens. These words mean nothing to those suffering the sudden, unexpected loss of a loved one. As a people (Americans), we must empathize with those who find themselves in these unfortunate circumstances. Investigators must leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of the issue.  Authorities must ensure that justice is dispensed.

Despite the need to empathize with the unfortunate and the grieving, it is important to not let the whole discussion get hijacked by those whose only interest is to stir racial discord amongst the people. The unfortunate loss of a young black man’s life at the hands of the police under unfortunate and tragic circumstances presents another opportunity for members of the victocracy to rage against the imaginary epidemic of police killing innocent black men. The race hustlers will be out in full force once again, preying on the unwarranted fears of many in the black community. This incident is likely to go from being an isolated case that needs to be addressed, to discussions about the targeting of black men in America. We must not allow the Eric Dysons, the Lamont Hills, the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of the world to be the preeminent voices that manage to shut out all others.

Many members of the black community because of this incident may once again look outward, expending a lot of emotional energy, channeling a lot of rage in the wrong direction for the problems that ail the black community in America. The voice of reason must be there to challenge the promulgators of dissention who often spew a lot of bile in times of tragedy, distrust and uncertainty. Many of these charlatans spend their time looking for reasons to be offended. They relish the spotlight and the opportunity to spread their message of deception.  The real problems facing many in the black community that need to be addressed will continue to be neglected and ignored.  As the victim class continues to expresses outrage, dissatisfaction, and their disgust at the system, the race pimps will be snickering to themselves, incredulous that once again they have managed to pull the wool over the eyes of the victim posse, while laughing all the way to the bank. Many black people, blissfully unaware of being duped will continue pushing the narrative that black men are under siege.  Perspective will mean nothing to the mob; the application of critical thinking will not even be an afterthought, emotions above all else is what will rule. Evidence, be damned! There is none so blind as those who will not see.

From all appearances, it looks like the police clearly shot this man while he was not a threat to their lives in any way. That is the issue. Let us deal with that fact, but we do not need, nor do we have to inject race into the matter like we do every single time without knowing the facts. It is bad enough that this man lost his life, there is absolutely no need to exacerbate the situation and turn it into another false crusade against police brutality. To repeat a broken record, in a country of three hundred million people, with the police having hundreds of thousands of interactions every day with the public, there is a very high probability that something will go wrong. Police work by nature is dangerous, and it is stressful. The police are human, they get scared, sometimes they make mistakes and other times they do the wrong thing. These people interact with the dregs of society on a level that most of us will never experience in our lifetime.  Let us deal with the situation at hand and not let this degenerate into another Ferguson or Baltimore.