Dear Editor,

Situations such as the tragic murder of Tyre Nichols at the hands of police in the US happens in Jamaica all the time.

Was it racially motivated? Yes, of course, just as it is in Jamaica, with a social class element too.

Is it about power? Exactly so, which is what differentiates prejudice from racism.

Was it committed by bad apples? Perhaps, but it is also systemic, in that the bad apples are rarely removed.

It has been some days since the murder of Tyre Nicols. Only now am I hearing that it has, after all, a racial component. From the start it was clear that a young white man would not have been treated so badly by the police and that medical assistance would have been rendered more quickly. Also, did the Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis feel she had to dismiss the black officers quickly to prove that as a black woman she wasn’t biased? Would five white policemen have been dismissed so quickly without this race factor at play? Would the system have protected them anyway?

In a discussion on CNN, Ibram X Kendi, co-author of How to Be a (Young) Antiracist, agreed that beyond the racist aspect, such incidents in the US are about the abuse of power, and abuse which only thrives when there are no effective sanctions, when the system itself is also abusive. He elaborated in a way that is so applicable to Jamaica. When the powers that be hold certain people or groups of people in contempt, not deserving of respect, the operatives will follow their lead and feel justified in their abusive actions, whether they are of the same race, or not. This is yet another example of blaming the victims, which is a common ploy of those struggling to maintain their version of order — an unjust one that means there can be no peace.

In Jamaica, the untouchables are the working-class male youth who apparently have a right to be hounded by the security forces, swept up, and detained for extended periods before most are released without charge. Worse still, the police act as judge, jury, and executioner, aided and abetted by the statements, ancient and modern, of various senior politicians.

And now the Jamaican police force will be emboldened not just by their guns but also the new Road Traffic Act. Remember, Tyre Nichols was pulled over by traffic police for no other reason than he was “driving whilst black”.

Also on CNN tonight was the interview with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s yet-again prime minister, whose attitude towards Palestinians is exactly the same as these other power-corrupted racists. He described Palestinians as loving death as opposed to the Israelis who love life, such that he dismissed a two-State solution because Palestinians could not be trusted to have security responsibility in any such arrangement. Not too different to what the British would have been saying not too long ago about their unruly, unready colonial subjects.

There can be no peace without justice. But justice requires challenging the system, speaking truth to power. The powers that be choose whether the process will be ugly, or not.

Paul Ward

Oracabessa

pgward72@gmail.com