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Enough with the indecent, pornographic juxtaposition of a holiday season – that everything’s going to be OK – against the bleak reality of our current American nightmare – that nothing really is, especially if you’re a person of color. (Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters)

The Eric Garner Decision Confirms a Holiday of Horrors. 'Tis the Season for More Protest, Not Less

Pretending that we should keep calm and carry on – that we even can – is a bigger fantasy than Santa Claus

Steven Thrasher

 by The Guardian

On Wednesday evening in New York City, as dusk fell into night, another grand jury failed to indict another police officer for killing another unarmed black man in America – this one a bona-fide homicide caught on camera. On Wednesday night in New York City, we protest. And then they planned in this same town – on this, the same night in America when the law continued to allow cops to kill black men – to light the most famous Christmas tree in the country.

Some will say protesters need to be peaceful, to be respectful. They will say this after Daniel Pantaleo, the police officer who choked Eric Garner to death with a forbidden chokehold, walks free – news that is not any more surprising than the news that Darren Wilson was not indicted for the shooting death of Mike Brown.

And, yes, the protesters should be peaceful – but we need to be disruptive. Because the same structural racism exists in New York City that does in Ferguson, as it does everywhere in the United States. As President Obama said on Wednesday night: “This is an American problem.” And no holiday lights should be lit while the light of justice is snuffed out for so many.

Read the full article at The Guardian.

© 2020 The Guardian
Steven Thrasher

Steven Thrasher

Steven W. Thrasher is columnist for the Guardian where he offers reported commentary on equality, social justice and more. Follow him on Twitter: @thrasherxy

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