Unarmed Black Man Being Killed by Black Police Officers is a Sign of Tremendous Progress, Say Civil Rights Leaders
Memphis, TN — Tyre Nichols, an unarmed Black man, being beaten to death by five Black police officers rather than racist white ones is a huge indicator of progress according to Black community leaders.
“A generation ago, this would’ve surely been a hate crime committed by an all-white police force. We’ve fought long and hard to get to a position where it’s uniformed, Black police officers killing someone with excessive force,” said Van Turner, President of the Memphis Chapter of the NAACP.
“We truly have come a long way, but there’s still much progress to be made. We won’t be satisfied until there are more Black sergeants turning a blind eye to their departments’ brutality, and more Black police commissioners trying to keep body camera footage from being released,” continued Turner.
Civil rights leaders say that this savage beating is just the latest example of how efforts to have a militant, angry, barely-trained police force that better reflects their communities, are in-fact working.
