On Air Fresheners, Auto Pilot, Policing, and Black Mortality
Daunte Wright is dead at the hands of the Brooklyn Center, Minnesota police because of an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror that the police felt blocked his view, prompting their pulling him over.
An air freshener.
Daunte Wright is for all intents and purposes no longer with us over an AIR FRESHENER.
A DAMN AIR FRESHENER.
Daunte's murder has already been deemed a mistake, an "accidental discharge" of a police firearm from an officer who went for their gun instead of a taser or pepper spray or anything even remotely non-lethal.
Daunte's killer is on video saying, "Holy sh--, I shot him," after realizing she went on auto-pilot and went for the lethal option to stop Daunte from resisting.
The officer that killed Daunte Wright will likely face no real penalty for killing Daunte. She'll be reprimanded and placed on some kind of work probation. She'll be told she has to take some class or training that'll wipe her slate clean. She'll continue her career.
Meanwhile, Daunte Wright will still be dead because of the events that occurred after he was pulled over by Brooklyn Center, Minnesota police because of an AIR FRESHENER.
A DAMN AIR FRESHENER.
Look, I don't care if Daunte had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. He had no weapon. He attacked no one. White people do what Daunte did every day and do not have to wonder if today is their day to die. Hell, white people go on shooting rampages and get escorted into their local precinct and apprehended with not one hair on their head out of place. But Daunte?
Daunte is dead because of an AIR FRESHENER.
Where do we go from here, y'all? What does white U.S. America want from Black folx? Because I don’t know. I’m lost. I’m tired. I’m sad that living as a Black person in the United States consists of understanding that you will face trauma every day, personally and peripherally. Real talk?
I’m at a loss for words and action.
If we protest? We die. We die or endure high levels of harm.
If we speak out and speak up? We die or endure high levels of harm.
If we want the police to be held accountable for murdering us without a second thought? We’re vilified and told that we are the problem.
We’ll keep doing all three of those things, though, even if y'all threaten our lives while we do them. Everything I just stated above won’t stop us from fighting. We’ll keep fighting because that’s all we can do. We may not see the fruits of those labors in our lifetimes but maybe future generations will.
But when y’all are willing to kill us over air fresheners?
What do you say or do about that?
I guess we can add "driving with an air freshener on your rearview mirror that the police might mistake as something that is obscuring your view" to the "Things You Can't Do While Black" list.
