Remember how Fox’s Empire claimed two weeks ago that people are thrown in prison for being "born black or brown?" Apparently, that wasn’t enough for this show. The latest episode now has the claim that black and brown people are constantly threatened with death by the police anytime they're called on the scene.
In the November 14 episode “Treasons, Stratagems, and Spoils,” Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) becomes concerned when she notices bruises on her sister Candace’s (Vivica A. Fox) wrists. She then suspects that Candace may be a victim of domestic abuse from her estranged husband. Candace denies any issues, but Cookie grows more concerned when Candace doesn’t answer her phone. Cookie then takes matters into her own hands and goes to her sister’s place.
To her surprise, she finds her being abused not by her husband but her nineteen-year-old son Franklin (Damon J. Gillespie). After Franklin chases his mother into the bathroom and tries to break the door down, Cookie calls the police for help. Cookie manages to calm Franklin down when the police arrive on the scene, taze him, and take him in for arrest after seeing the dispute. Afterwards Candace defends her abuser and denounces her sister saying, “You called the police on my son! You could have gotten him killed!”
If that logic doesn’t sit well with you, don’t worry, Cookie manages to make it worse. After returning home, she makes this video for her social media followers detailing the event, implying that the police are no better than a violent abuser.
Cookie: Hey, y'all. It's Cookie. Uh, I can't hide this so I might as well... be honest. Someone I love very much did this to me. No, no, no, no, no. I-it w-wasn't Lucious or my sons. It was a very troubled child. And I had to make a choice. I did something I never thought I'd have to do. I called the police because I needed to save one loved one from another. And when the cops got there, I was so scared. I was scared because... I thought I would lose someone I love so much to a cop's bullet. Well, that's what it's like to be black and brown in this country. My God... Who do we call, huh? Who do we call when we need help? Who will protect us?
If she were any more paranoid and wrong about racist police brutality, she’d be hosting an MSNBC show.
Even worse, Cookie as well as the series takes this moment to escalate racial tensions. This one-off encounter turns into a moment to claim all black and brown people are being hunted by the police. Do they think this bold-face lie does anything to help society or improve police relations with African American communities? Cookie doesn’t offer any solutions.
I doubt even this fictional scenario would have ended well without the police. The bottom line is, the police are still needed to enforce the law, especially when it comes to life or death situations like domestic violence. The last thing we need to do is turn them into monsters.
