Dontre Hamilton

Today I attended a rally calling for full disclosure for Dontre Hamilton who was killed four months ago by a police officer who woke him up sleeping on bench in the public park. The family has received no information from the police about Dontre’s death, not even the name of the police officer. So they have taken to the streets with rallies and marches seeking answers to the death of this young black man by police. There is a history of District Attorney’s not prosecuting police for a killing while he or she was on duty.

Somehow I felt over animated at the rally when talking about issues or during our small group. My stereotype of being “passionate but not respectful” was partially true. I found myself too caught up articulating my thoughts and maybe not listening well to others. I am not sure what causes this affect in me, maybe not taking my medicine properly, maybe too much coffee but it is something I need to continue to work on.

Not an excuse but part of it is that I am tired of hearing the same things over and over again, like today reminders to vote Nov. 4th. What has voting Nov. 4th to do with Dontre’s death or police protecting their own? Voting does not matter in our society where 95% of the time the candidate with the most money wins. Democratic or Republican it does not seem to matter when it comes to racism or militarism.

Another not an excuse but part of my uneasiness at such events is the reluctance of using word ‘racism’ at such rallies. No matter what race the police officer was it is a ‘racist’ act to wake up a sleeping black man on a park bench and when he gets frighten to shoot him 14 times. Do you think any police office of any race would do that to a white man?

When I heard Dontre brother talk I remember all the times my son Peter told us how he was harassed and beat by police officer. Except for his white skin he might have been killed as Dontre. It is not police officers that are the problem, my other son is a police officer in another city, but it is the ‘racism’ bred into the police and people of Milwaukee that make these terrible acts possible.

Young adult black men are an ‘endangered species’ and the evil behind their deaths is ‘racism.’

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