The recent deaths of Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota were more than tragic. Beyond the action of the ICE agents who took their lives, their deaths were completely unnecessary and preventable, too. Without President Trump and his draconian immigration, i.e. mass deportation policies, none of this happens. Measured by the size and frequency of mass demonstrations, no one wants ICE there.
But there are also many other issues at play that, quite frankly, may have gotten us in this predicament in the first place.
Although I am very encouraged by the activism and resistance to the increasing tyranny imposed on the American people by the Trump Administration, I can’t help but wonder how it took the death of two white people to get the point of outrage being expressed by mainstream America.
It has taken the death of a legally gun-carrying white man (Pretti) to get the powerful NRA lobby involved in the victim of a police officer shooting to express their “outrage.” It’s not like gun violence doesn’t happen on a frighteningly regular basis in minority communities, right? But I suppose that, according to the NRA, as long as it stays there, everything is OK.
Do you remember Philando Castile? He was a 32-year-old Black man who was shot and killed in front of his girlfriend and children by the police, also in a Minneapolis suburb, in 2016 during a routine traffic stop. It seems that like Mr. Pretti, he was legally carrying a handgun, which he immediately informed the police he had in his possession. He then reached for his identification, which was required by the police. As he did so, he was shot dead. The officer who fired the fatal shot “feared for his life” in the presence of Castile’s gun and was later acquitted at trial.
I don’t recall a single protest coming from the NRA. There were no mass demonstrations. His name is mostly lost to time. And this has happened and continues to in Black and Brown America ALL OF THE TIME. So NOW we’re outraged? What makes what’s happening so different than the times it has happened repeatedly in minority communities?
Apparently, until it affects us, i.e. our tribe, we lack interest. But when it does, we’re willing to do almost anything to win back our privilege. To paraphrase Lutheran Pastor Martin Neimoller:
First they came for Castile…
This whole Trump presidency has exposed an ugly side of America, one that, unfortunately may have been with us since our inception and may be with us until our demise. After all, America has always been an experiment. And by their very nature, experiments are wrought with both success and failure. Combating racism, bigotry, and xenophobia will remain a challenge we haven’t met.
Frank LoBuono is a Nyack resident, photographer, blogger and retired CBS News journalist.
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Photo credit: Frank LoBuono