Subject
Black Men; America; Racism
Description
The attempted murderer, Andrew Lester, shot innocent 16-year-old Ralph Yarl twice, for no legitimate or lawful reason. The reason he gave was fear.
The attempted murderer, Andrew Lester, shot innocent 16-year-old Ralph Yarl twice, for no legitimate or lawful reason, after the boy went to Lester’s house and rang the door bell under the mistaken belief that his younger brothers were there.
Ralph Yarl was at the wrong house. That was his mistake. He didn’t try to break the door down. He didn’t try to attack Andrew Lester. He didn’t yell at him. The 16-year-old didn’t have a weapon. After ringing the doorbell, Yarl stood, waiting for the door to open, looking like the quintessential honor student that he is. Instead of being greeted with a “hello”, he was greeted with two gunshots – one to the head another to his arm. For no other reason than Ralph being Black, Andrew Lester shot the 16-year-old without even opening the storm door – twice, through the glass.
Now, Andrew Lester, the shooter, is trying to use the excuse that he has undoubtedly heard used successfully by many other racist murderers and would-be murderers, “I feared for my life.”
This lame excuse for murderous behavior has been a way for racists to legitimate hundreds of years of criminal behavior. In fact, for most of this country’s history, the “I feared for my life” justification has been sufficient to get away with murder especially when the shooting victim is Black. It has justified police killings as well as civilian killings of Black people.
At times it has been profitable to use this justification. A hundred and fifty years ago, slave patrols and bounty hunters used it. In fact, for many families, it was the family business, passed down for generations.
Creator
Source
https://www.laprogressive.com/racism/fear-of-black-men
Publisher
laprogressive.com
File
