2021 Gumbo final - Book - Page 90
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mansion protest
M
ore than 100 protestors rallied outside of the
Governor’s Mansion, demanding police reform
and advocating for transparency in multiple cases
involving police violence fatalities.
Groups from across Louisiana including The Village 337,
NAACP, ACLU of Louisiana, BR for the People, Democracy
at Work LSU and the New Black Panther Party traveled to
attend the protest.
The National Chair of the New Black Panther Party, Krystal
Muhammad, does not think legitimate change is happening
regarding institutional racism and police brutality across the
country.
“Change is not happening at all,” Muhammad said. “There
is a lot of forward movement toward change, but there is
no change. We have institutional racism going on; we have
domestic terrorism of the Black community by the hands of
the police.”
Muhammad also expressed frustration with the inaction
of the U.S. government to protect its Black citizens.
“The police are paid to protect the properties of the
ruling class, and they are being paid to terrorize the Black
community,” Muhammad said.
Muhammad called for the creation of legislation to better
police law enforcement and for international entities to hold
the U.S. responsible for domestic crimes.
“There needs to be state and federal legislation and
ordinances that hold police to a higher standard of criminal
punishment than the citizens because they are trained to
kill, and they do kill,” Muhammad said. “There should be
an International Court of Criminal hearing held against
the United States government for the genocide and ethnic
cleansing that has taken place.”
Friday’s protest comes during a time when most of the
country has experienced protests and riots of its own, but
LSU creative writing senior Hannah Michal believes the issue
of racism is more prevalent here due to the history of racism
against African Americans in the South.
“Louisiana is very racist as it is,” Michal said. “It’s still a
problem nationwide, but I think it’s worse in the South.”
Activist Jamal Taylor of The Village 337 called for the
removal of Colonel Kevin Reeves, Superintendent of the
Louisiana State Police, citing his department’s systematic
failures.
“His police officers murder people and for 17 months
nothing happens,” Taylor said. “But when the news gets
it, he (Chris Hollingsworth) magically gets fired. There is
obviously something wrong if you feel like you needed
to terminate an officer. So, Colonel Reeves needs to be
terminated.”
The protest occurred hours after a funeral for a Louisiana
state trooper who was under investigation for the death
of Ronald Greene in May 2019. Greene died after what
Louisiana police described as a struggle to bring him
into custody, resulting in police chase, according to the
Associated Press.
Greene’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this
year alleging that Louisiana police “brutalized” Greene and
covered up the actual cause of his death, according to the
Associated Press.
Baton Rouge resident Arielle Stephens wants to see
reformations of law enforcement agencies in the hope of
quelling the trend of police brutality toward minorities.
“Not everybody is as big of a threat as they make them out
to be,” Stephens said. “They signed up for a job where they
are going to risk their lives, but if anybody moves a muscle,
they get scared.”
Bishop John Milton from Lafayette believes all actions
committed by police officers are a direct product of American
society.
“The actions of the police department are a reflection of
the reality of America, which has the original sin of resting in
white supremacy and the devaluation of Black life,” Milton
said. “What we need is a complete transformation of that
ideology, and we can live in a true equal and just society
where everybody can be free.”
Milton said progress is unattainable in any other aspect as
long as Black communities still face neglect and racism.
“What we expect of police officers is to do what they are
supposed to do, which is to protect and to serve,” Milton
said. “I don’t give a hoot if a Black man is on crack, if they
have a mental illness, [a police officer’s job] is to protect
and to serve. If when you call, somebody has to leave dead,
how are you going to call that protecting and serving and
considering that an accomplishment of your mission?”
Raees Unis, who traveled to the protest from Lafayette,
wants police to treat him fairly and not discriminate against
him based upon the color of his skin.
“I want to see them talk to us like normal people,” Unis
said. “If I get stopped by an officer I don’t want to have to be
afraid. Eventually they’ll have to make some change, because
the protests are just going to keep becoming worse if they
don’t.”