In the wake of the two incidents of officers shooting and killing black men, tensions were running high around the country. And instead of helping to cool off the people’s tempers CBS sought to fan the flames on Evening News, in the name of listening to the community. “It seems all of America was talking about this today,” said anchor Maurice DuBois, “We end tonight by listening.” But the only side CBS was listening too was that of people skeptical of law enforcement.
CBS showed four interviews they conducted with various people and all of them said they didn’t think the police had their best interests at heart.
“Basically the police have become the monster under the bed. They're the boogieman. That's who they are to young black people and it's terrifying because there's nothing I can do about that,” stated Tamar Manasseh the Founder of Mothers Against Senseless Killings.
Rachel Garlinghouse, the mother of three black children, said she was raised to fear their authority and trust they could help her. Yet she feared she could not say the same for her children:
But in the case with my kids, I'm not really sure what I can tell them. In this case and in this racial climate, I don't know that I can tell them if you go to a police officer, you are going to receive help. You might be perceived as the guilty party simply by running up to a police officer because you're a person of color.
Transcript below:
CBS
Evening News
July 7, 2016
6:55:59 PM Eastern [2 Minutes 50 Seconds]MAURICE DUBOIS: Protests in St. Paul tonight over the fatal police shootings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana. It seems all of America was talking about this today. We end tonight by listening.
TAMAR MANASSEH: The latest killings in Baton Rouge and in Minnesota are sickening and they're terrifying. Basically the police have become the monster under the bed. They're the boogieman. That's who they are to young black people and it's terrifying because there's nothing I can do about that. It's almost like when the police start to understand that their safety and their lives are tied up in the lives of the people that they need to protected, maybe they'll do better. We're at the tipping point. The pot is boiling over. And unless police start to believe and start to see themselves as part of the communities that they patrol, you're going to have major problems.
RACHEL GARLINGHOUSE: I was raised to respect police officers, to honestly be fearful of their authority to some degree, but to trust that if I were to call 911 or if I were to approach a police officer that they would help me. But in the case with my kids, I'm not really sure what I can tell them. In this case and in this racial climate, I don't know that I can tell them if you go to a police officer, you are going to receive help. You might be perceived as the guilty party simply by running up to a police officer because you're a person of color.
JERMAINE KELLEY: I'm often a victim of racial profiling. It's hurtful. It becomes rage after a while. You become filled with rage and hate toward them. I know several people in my neighborhood who have been assaulted by police officers who never even made it to become a case, it never became a issue. Like I watched them drag my friends out of cars and beat them until help comes, stand on their necks.
If you are a good cop and you're out there and you're listening to this, step up, speak out, engage into the community. Let them know you, let them be friendly with you so they won't have a problem coming to talk to you about the violence going on in their hood and you won't have to beat them senseless to get them to talk.
JEFF JOHNSON: I woke up this morning to a gut punch that I don't think I ever could have anticipated. Waking up and seeing another man die, another pool of blood on a t-shirt, another officer standing over a black body. I'm pissed off that I have to sit with my children and explain to them what that means and the fact that I can't tell my kids to automatically trust the police is a problem for me, because I know good police officers. I know great police sergeants, but because I have to have this conversation with my children makes me feel less American and at the same time it reminds me that America hasn't changed as much as we would like to say she has.
