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Hands Up, Don't Shoot
By Garen Yegparian on August 30, 2014
In Ferguson, Mo., "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" has become indignant
citizens' slogan.
Four decades ago in Florida, Argentina (or other countries
participating in Operation Condor), "I'm just protesting, don't
'disappear' me" might have become the slogan if those victims knew
what was coming.
In pre-genocide days, the Armenians of Frnuz might have pleaded,
"Don't rape my wife, kidnap my son, or steal my livestock," had they
dared speak up to Turkish brutality.
What do these three situations in three different "F" towns at three
different times in history have in common?
They represent official state actions directed at citizens/subjects of
that same state that were "legal" yet self-evidently wrong and
inimical to the basic human rights of those people.
We, as humans, are imbued with a sense of right and wrong.
Consequently, we can see past official rules/laws and change those
rules over time to fit our innate sense of justness. The American
Declaration of Independence affirms this in the words, "We hold these
truths to be self-evident," and that government derives its "just
powers from the consent of the governed," and that "it is the Right of
the People to alter or to abolish it" when it becomes "destructive" of
"certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of Happiness" with which "all men...are endowed" (obviously,
I've changed the order of the phrases to weave together the concepts
in a relevant way).
I have a sense that we, as Armenians, whose arrival in the Americas
occurred overwhelmingly after the genocide, and in majority post-Civil
Rights-movement era (1950's-1970's), may be lacking a
trans-generational, personal/familial appreciation of what is driving
the events in Ferguson.
Rodney King, beaten in LA; Abner Louima, sodomized with a broomstick
in New York; Amadou Diallo, killed by 19 of 41 bullets fired at him in
New York; Aida Guzman, struck in the face in Philadelphia; Trayvon
Martin, killed in Sanford, Fla.; Flint Farmer, killed in Chicago; DWB
(driving while black/brown), the documented proclivity of police to
pull over black and brown drivers at higher rates than whites. All but
one of these crimes was perpetrated by police. "A [2007] study by
University of Chicago professor Craig Futterman found that just 19 of
10,149 complaints accusing CPD [Chicago Police Department] officers of
excessive force, illegal searches, racial abuse, sexual abuse, and
false arrests led to a police suspension of a week or more."
And now, after all the above examples and many more, plus,
undoubtedly, all the instances the public never learns about, we have
Michael Brown killed by six bullets, two to the head, in Ferguson, Mo.
Who would tolerate such indignity, such brutality, such much needless
death? And, for how long can the victims and their families be
expected to remain quiescent?
Most people's natural, understandable, bias is that the victims of
police were doing something wrong. Yet, that turns out not to be true
in many cases. And, even if it is true that the victim had committed
some offense, minor or major, is that a reason for one person, in the
heat of the moment, to carry out a death sentence on a citizen who has
not had the benefit of going through the due process provided by the
law?
Why did we, Armenians, start struggling against the Ottoman Empire's
unjust system? Why did Costa Gavras's film "Missing" (about an
American journalist who was disappeared under Augusto Pinochet's
Chilean dictatorship) garner so much acclaim? Why are we surprised and
don't understand the righteous rage felt by those demonstrating in
Ferguson? (Please don't cite the small number of violent agitators as
an excuse for the repression brought to bear by the state; given
history, they might even be planted by the authorities to cause
trouble, thus providing cover for official over-reaction).
I hope this extremely brief review of parallels engenders more empathy
within our community for those suffering injustice at the hands of
those who are supposed to protect citizens.
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2014/08/30/hands-dont-shoot/
By Garen Yegparian on August 30, 2014
In Ferguson, Mo., "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" has become indignant
citizens' slogan.
Four decades ago in Florida, Argentina (or other countries
participating in Operation Condor), "I'm just protesting, don't
'disappear' me" might have become the slogan if those victims knew
what was coming.
In pre-genocide days, the Armenians of Frnuz might have pleaded,
"Don't rape my wife, kidnap my son, or steal my livestock," had they
dared speak up to Turkish brutality.
What do these three situations in three different "F" towns at three
different times in history have in common?
They represent official state actions directed at citizens/subjects of
that same state that were "legal" yet self-evidently wrong and
inimical to the basic human rights of those people.
We, as humans, are imbued with a sense of right and wrong.
Consequently, we can see past official rules/laws and change those
rules over time to fit our innate sense of justness. The American
Declaration of Independence affirms this in the words, "We hold these
truths to be self-evident," and that government derives its "just
powers from the consent of the governed," and that "it is the Right of
the People to alter or to abolish it" when it becomes "destructive" of
"certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of Happiness" with which "all men...are endowed" (obviously,
I've changed the order of the phrases to weave together the concepts
in a relevant way).
I have a sense that we, as Armenians, whose arrival in the Americas
occurred overwhelmingly after the genocide, and in majority post-Civil
Rights-movement era (1950's-1970's), may be lacking a
trans-generational, personal/familial appreciation of what is driving
the events in Ferguson.
Rodney King, beaten in LA; Abner Louima, sodomized with a broomstick
in New York; Amadou Diallo, killed by 19 of 41 bullets fired at him in
New York; Aida Guzman, struck in the face in Philadelphia; Trayvon
Martin, killed in Sanford, Fla.; Flint Farmer, killed in Chicago; DWB
(driving while black/brown), the documented proclivity of police to
pull over black and brown drivers at higher rates than whites. All but
one of these crimes was perpetrated by police. "A [2007] study by
University of Chicago professor Craig Futterman found that just 19 of
10,149 complaints accusing CPD [Chicago Police Department] officers of
excessive force, illegal searches, racial abuse, sexual abuse, and
false arrests led to a police suspension of a week or more."
And now, after all the above examples and many more, plus,
undoubtedly, all the instances the public never learns about, we have
Michael Brown killed by six bullets, two to the head, in Ferguson, Mo.
Who would tolerate such indignity, such brutality, such much needless
death? And, for how long can the victims and their families be
expected to remain quiescent?
Most people's natural, understandable, bias is that the victims of
police were doing something wrong. Yet, that turns out not to be true
in many cases. And, even if it is true that the victim had committed
some offense, minor or major, is that a reason for one person, in the
heat of the moment, to carry out a death sentence on a citizen who has
not had the benefit of going through the due process provided by the
law?
Why did we, Armenians, start struggling against the Ottoman Empire's
unjust system? Why did Costa Gavras's film "Missing" (about an
American journalist who was disappeared under Augusto Pinochet's
Chilean dictatorship) garner so much acclaim? Why are we surprised and
don't understand the righteous rage felt by those demonstrating in
Ferguson? (Please don't cite the small number of violent agitators as
an excuse for the repression brought to bear by the state; given
history, they might even be planted by the authorities to cause
trouble, thus providing cover for official over-reaction).
I hope this extremely brief review of parallels engenders more empathy
within our community for those suffering injustice at the hands of
those who are supposed to protect citizens.
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2014/08/30/hands-dont-shoot/