Recently
I came across this article entitled, “Teen shoots dog during burglary, gets 23
years.” The first thing I thought when I read this title was “he must have been
black.” I would have like to been proven wrong but, alas, I was not. Ivins Rosier committed the crime at the age of
16 but was sentenced at the age of 18 (when he could be charged as an adult)
for, "cruelty to animals with a
firearm, burglary of a dwelling with a firearm, and shooting into a building.” To make sure that my views were not biased by
what has been happening lately in Ferguson and with the recent story of Eric
Garner, I gave the justice system the benefit of the doubt and decided to look
up the average sentence for an armed burglary. To my dismay, the minimum was 5
years and the average was a little over 10 years.
I say
this is to my dismay because based on these facts, the young man’s sentence was
twice that of the average sentence for a crime like this because he killed a
dog. Just let that sink in. Michael Brown’s killer and Eric Garner’s killer were
not even indicted but this young man was sentenced to 23 years in jail for
killing a DOG. Are dog’s lives more important than human lives now? Or rather I
should say black lives. During the interrogation, Rosier’s attorney claimed
that a detective "hustled" the boy by equating the dog's death to the
"murder of a law enforcement officer." From this statement we
see that the roles have reversed. The dog is no longer seen as the animal but
is human and not just any human but a police officer whom, as we know, is given
great value in our American society. The black young man has become the animal,
the value of his life is depreciated in favor of the dog. There can be no other
explanation for his sentence.
In
the case of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, the lack of value placed on black
life in America is affirmed. The killers of these black men did not receive 23
years to life but were set free. They were not even indicted. However, the
5-year old retired police dog received his restitution. Why wasn’t a self
-defense case made on behalf of this young black man? It was enough to get
Garner and Michael Brown set free. ARE BLACK LIVES NOT WORTHY OF PROTECTION
FROM THE LAW? This is dangerously reminiscent of the time when this question
could definitely be answered in the affirmative. One has only to look at the
stories of Emmett Till and Sam Hose. Is America suffering a step back into one of the worst parts of its history?
I agree whole heatedly with everything that you said, while a dog is a living being that should be respected in is clear injustices in our "justice" system that keeps blacks subject to actions that will lead to consequences that will negatively affect the rest of their lives
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