by J. Pharoah Doss, For New Pittsburgh Courier
Critical Race Theory (CRT) has been debated over the past few years, but defining the theory is a slippery task, and CRT often gets mischaracterized.
However, there’s an offshoot of CRT that can’t be mischaracterized. It’s called “critical race thinking”. Professor John L. Jackson Jr. previously described this thought process as “hunting for racial wolves in sheep’s clothing” in his 2008 book Racial Paranoia.
“Critical race thinking” ranges from extreme to subtle.
The Extreme
Recently, in Syracuse, New York, a bystander recorded three White policemen placing a screaming 8-year-old Black boy in the back of a police car after the boy allegedly stole a bag of chips.
This image went viral.
On ABC’s Good Morning America, journalist T.J. Holmes reported that one of the officers knew the child from previous interactions. Holmes also said, “The child was not handcuffed, he was not arrested, the police drove him home to his father, and he’s not facing any charges. It seems like [that] should be the end of the story.”
It became a story because of the “critical race thinking” of the bystander, a Black man, who tried to intervene on the boy’s behalf. The bystander offered to pay for the item the boy supposedly stole, and he offered to walk the boy home.
During the bystander’s exchange with the policemen, he told them he was recording them “to help make sure you all don’t kill him because that’s what you all do.”
On Good Morning America, Holmes expressed “critical race thinking” when he told the audience it’s impossible not to see a video like this through the prism of recent history and trauma. (Referring to the police killing of George Floyd)
For the “critical race thinker” the situation looked racist and wrong. That didn’t mean the police officers were doing anything racist or wrong, but according to Holmes, it’s “impossible” to think otherwise.
The Subtle
During the first week of April, Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was fatally shot in Michigan by a Grand Rapids police officer. The police officer pulled over a vehicle for improper registration. Lyoya got out of the car. The officer ordered him back inside his vehicle. Lyoya attempted to flee. The officer tackled him. CNN reported, “After the officer said ‘Let go of the taser’, the two continued to wrestle on the front lawn of an unidentified residence. Roughly 90 seconds later, the officer is heard yelling, ‘Let go of the Taser’ followed by ‘Drop the Taser’ … Less than three seconds later, the officer is heard shooting Lyoya.”
The officer’s police powers were suspended, and he is on paid leave. A criminal investigation is being conducted by the Michigan State Police.
Michigan’s Black state senator Adam Hollier stated Lyoya was dead because “the license plate didn’t match the car he was driving. And when confronted by the police, he failed to comply with the instructions he was given and ran in fear.”
Hollier’s subtle “critical race thinking” is captured in the word “fear”.
Since it’s impossible not to see police encounters through the prism of recent racial history, it’s natural for a Black man to be so afraid of the police that he’d run. This is reminiscent of the theme of Richard Wright’s 1940 novel Native Son. Part one was called FEAR, and the main character lived in fear of the racism society inflicted on Black Americans.
But Patrick Lyoya’s not a native son of America.
The police forces in DR Congo are notorious for brutality, bribery, murder, and forced disappearance. After these state-sanctioned acts of violence, there are no investigations, and police officers aren’t prosecuted. (The recent World Internal Security and Police Index ranked Nigeria the worst police force in Africa. DR Congo was number two.)
This is a police force to fear. It’s hard to believe someone that fled this environment would initially fear the American police.
At a press conference, Lyoya’s father lamented, “I knew that if you met with a police officer in America, you would be safe … What makes me cry more is that my son was killed by a police officer.”
If Michigan state senator Hollier was correct, and Lyoya ran out of fear, then the fear that led to his demise was subtly produced by Americanized “critical race thinking”.
About Post Author
