Injustice Anywhere Is A Threat To Justice Everywhere

This week we would like to share something, that quite interestingly came to our attention. As I was glancing through a magazine sent by Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, I was shocked to find out the little booklet contained no images that resembled me. I guess I probably would not have recognized it on the average week. Still, with this month being the time Black History is celebrated, it caught my attention that this publication was devoid of minority images, except for the hands of a Black woman.

The first thing that came to mind was the thought this publication shows the insensitivity that has been shown to Black people down through the years. I called Pee Dee Electric and was told I would need to speak with the representative who was responsible for the magazine publication. I was then transferred through to the representative’s voicemail. Prior to the transfer, I was told the representative would return my call. That would be where this story ended if I didn't have this article to call this to the public’s attention.

If I am not mistaken Pee Dee Electric is a co-operative, meaning it is owned by the shareholders who live in certain designated areas. If you are wondering why this type of oversight would trouble me, it is because it dawned on me that a publication of this nature is probably looked at, if not approved by several people before it goes to print. That would suggest an intentional slight was done. Anything coming from a company that represents the masses should, at the very least, reflect the diversity of the people it represents.

That leads me to another issue that came to my attention while watching the trial of the police officer who shot a Black man with a real gun that she allegedly thought was a taser. The problem with this defense is that a grand jury of her peers indicted her on two separate counts of manslaughter. After being found guilty of the crimes, the judge in that case heard from several family members, as well as the prosecuting attorney, who all were deliberately asking for a sentence that would carry with it the message, “We, as a society, do not condone the shooting of innocent folk under any circumstances.” But what we got was a judge who wanted to play, judge, jury, and executioner.

The judge handed down a sentence that did not reflect the seriousness of the charges of which the defendant was convicted. And, to add insult to injury, she proceeded to give a seemingly misguided rationale for why she sentenced the officer to only 24 months, with a recommendation she only serve 16 months of that in jail. To that I caution not to be too quick to call her out as the bigot she probably is. No, let's ask for her record to be checked and see if she has been that lenient on Black men she had sentenced in the past.

We thought there were sentencing guidelines given to judges to keep this kind of thing from happening. I can assure you, she didn't make an impassioned plea for understanding her sentencing of those others as she did for this officer. It was as if the officer had two attorneys representing her. One who had the extra benefit of sitting on the bench. It was as if she tried to go into the defendant's mind and say what she obviously perceived the defense attorney had not said. It almost makes one wonder what would have been the sentence if it had been an Asian American who was murdered.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT, the time has come for us to stop looking the other way when judges try to take the law into their own hands and meet justice the way they see fit. We are calling for that judge, Judge Regina Chu, to be removed from the bench. Because she seems to have a bias in favor of the police. WAKE UP! And know that one injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Sincerely Yours,

Sick And Tired of Being Sick And Tired,

Elder James W. Williams

Chairperson, Advocacy Organization, LifeLinePlus