I Am Ashamed of The Color Of My Skin

The catalyst for this article was, by coincidence, an article that was published on Politico, about a city in crisis.  The article quotes the police union Chief of Cleveland, Steve Loomis, in all of his ignorant glory.  He starts out the interview by stating the only people left in the area are the “dregs of society”.  He then goes on to state that “99% of those people run” and, because Tamir did not, he was responsible for his own death.  What people would “those” be, exactly, Mr. Loomis?  Generalizations like this one are repugnant and archaic. He also claims that Tamir Rice “was in the wrong”.  Not the wrong place, but in the wrong.  Period.  

What is most disturbing is this article was published on February 23^rd, but it took another 5 days for Loomis’ remarks to be scrutinized.  Five days in which the nation’s attention was captured by the colors of a dress.  An ugly blue/black or white/gold dress.  A dress of such magnitude that it trumped an article of greater importance; or an article that should have been of greater importance. 

Finally, when the City of Cleveland backed their police chief, in their response to a lawsuit filed by the family of Tamir Rice, Loomis’ quotes came to light. The City agrees wholeheartedly with Loomis.  Tamir Rice’s injuries “were directly and proximately caused by the failure of Plaintiffs’ decedent to exercise due care to avoid injury.”  The decedent, let me remind you, is a 12-year child.  

Victim blaming runs rampant among rape cases; this is a common tactic used in court by defense attorneys to turn events on the victim.  That a city would use this tactic to explain the killing of a 12-year old (I cannot emphasize that enough) is horrifying to me.  Everything about the statement from Steve Loomis, the clown chosen by the Cleveland Police to represent the Cleveland Police, is laden with racism and a need to cover the City’s ass.  He refers to Tamir Rice as “menacing” –the exact word used by Darren Wilson to describe Michael Brown.  

As children, we are told repeatedly to own our mistakes and to make amends for harm we cause others.  This smacks of “circling the wagons”.  These statements neither hold anyone accountable nor even begin to make amends to the family who lost a child.  Loomis attempts to paint Tamir Rice as an older kid who looks like an adult.  Tamir Rice was barely on the cusp of adulthood.  He was doing what my brothers and so many of their friends did when we were growing up – pretending, playing with a toy gun, as a child would in a park.  

I have grown weary of white mentality.  I know that “these people” make up a small percentage of the white population, but they make up 99% of bad press and ignorance.  Selma, the end of segregation and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech happened in order to change things.  While improvements have been made, laws overturned and equality instituted, mentalities and beliefs remain archaic. 

Written by: Allyson Johns