Read Killer Mike op-ed on Ferguson, police militarization and the future of America
‘Whatever this country is willing to do to the least of us, it will one day do to us all’
If you’re unfamiliar with Killer Mike - the outspoken rapper, the community activist, the business owner, the college dropout and guest collegiate speaker, the wise giver of counsel, the card-carrying NRA member, the former drug peddler and son of a policeman - then you might lack the context necessary to understand why his latest screed in response to the continued civil unrest in Ferguson is a must-read.
As you might recall, the Atlanta-based MC born Michael Render took to Instagram last week to post his thoughts on the denigration of humanity he saw in the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown. This week he presents an op-ed, written for Billboard magazine, in which he addresses the need for demilitarization.
Whether you agree or disagree, or find yourself somewhere in the middle, he offers plenty to consider. He has a lot of things to say about the future of this country, the direction in which he feels it’s headed, and the risk we all run by turning a blind eye to injustice. The text begins below.
I have searched all night and day for new and better words that could express my feelings and fear for the people of this country. I found no new words. I have no hope-filled insight to deliver. I only have this warning to all Americans: Whatever this country is willing to do to the least of us, it will one day do to us all.
The police are paid by the public and carry a public trust, and they take an oath to protect us as citizens. The police have lost sight of that and must be reminded that we pay them to protect us, not to simply engage and cage us.
We trust police with the power of life and death and with that trust comes a greater responsibility to be better than the current standard of policing I see across America everyday. Being a cop must be hard. My dad was one, and never wanted any of his children to follow in his footsteps. Being a cop is often seeing the worst of the human condition and behavior. With all of that said, there is no reason that Mike Brown and also Eric Garner are dead today - except bad policing, excessive force and the hunt-and-capture-prey mentality many thrill-seeking cops have adapted.
This week I have seen tanks, rubber bullets and tear gas used by police against the citizens that pay them. This is not Egypt or Syria or Palestine, but today it feels that way. It feels as if death can come, without reason, from a uniformed government official and, if we do not press back against this Blue Wall of Silence and gang-like mentality of our local police, we all are in danger. Whether it is illegal rd stops & checkpoints, where your rights are being violated - through being forced to answer questions that the 5th Amendment protects you from, or illegal stop-and-frisk that the 4th Amendment is designed to protect you from - all of our rights are violated and in danger when any American’s rights are violated.
Read the conclusion of Killer Mike’s op-ed at Billboard. He’s scheduled to appear on CNN today to further discuss the views in his op-ed.