In April, a Milwaukee police officer shot and killed mentally ill black resident Dontre Hamilton. Though the cop was fired for the unjustified shooting, protesters last week in a hearing told Police Chief Edward Flynn it wasn’t enough. Outside, reporters asked Flynn why he was on his phone for part of the hearing. His response: "I was following developments with a 5-year-old little girl sitting on her dad’s lap who just got shot in the head by a drive-by shooting. And if some of the people here gave a good goddamn about the victimization of the people in this community by crime, I’d take some of their invective more seriously. The greatest racial disparity in the city of Milwaukee is getting shot and killed. Hello! Eighty percent of my homicide victims every year are African-American. Eighty percent of our aggravated assault victims are African-American. Eighty percent of our shooting victims who survive their shooting are African-American. Now they know all about the last three people who’ve been killed by the Milwaukee Police Department over the course of the last several years. There’s not one of them that can name one of the last three homicide victims we’ve had in this city. Now there’s room for everybody to participate in fixing this police department, and I’m not pretending we’re without sin. But this community’s at risk all right. And it’s not because men and women in blue risk their lives protecting it. It’s at risk because we have large numbers of high-capacity, quality firearms in the hands of remorseless criminals who don’t care who they shoot. I’m leaving here to go to that scene . . . and I take it personally, OK? We’re going there and there’s a bunch of cops up there processing the scene of a dead kid. And they’re the ones who are going to be out there patrolling and stopping suspects who may have guns under the front seat. They’re the ones who are going to risk their lives to clean this thing up. All right?
We’re responsible for the things we get wrong and we take action. We’ve arrested cops, we’ve fired cops, and so on. But, the fact is, that the people out here, some of them, who had the most to say, are absolutely MIA when it comes to the true threats facing this community."
A few days ago a rookie NYPD officer mistakenly shot an innocent man in a dark stairwell in a housing project. My first reaction was not "What a shame" but "The agitators have more ammunition." Black leaders do not speak out enough against the violence men of color perpetrate against each other. In fact, they hardly do so at all. I sense they are so flabbergasted by the problem, so helpless and embarrassed, that they deflect attention from it by harping on those rare instances of police malfeasance or deadly mistakes, which often dominate the headlines, while the typical murder is forgotten the next day. It's a shame.
And on to insignificant matters: It all broke right for the floating book shop today. An advantageous parking spot became available as soon as I rolled up to Bay Parkway, which made the physical aspects as easy as can be. And people, perhaps invigorated by the warmer temperature, were in a generous mood. I even broke out the Armor All and cleaned my car while waiting for customers. My thanks to the buyers, especially the gentleman who purchased four boxes of nails. Recently, I found a whole cache gathering dust in the basement. And while I was packing up, B.S. Bob approached and asked if I'd take him to Home Depot, saying he would rather give the money to me than a car service guy. He's building a desk for his grand-daughter, a pre-teen aspiring writer fascinated by old typewriters. The news isn't all good. A young Polish immigrant I hadn't seen in a couple of weeks is now homeless and looking for a roommate. That didn't stop him from buying one of those thrillers he enjoys so much. If I'd been thinking right, I'd have given him a copy of A Hitch in Twilight. Next time I see him.
Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f
Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/
Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
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