This Rotten System Must Go
For too often, politicians think they can just say, “I’m sorry” after they are busted for doing wrong to Black people, and everything will re-set and return to business as usual. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy are just three of many politicians who think this way.
Immediately after the October 20, 2014 shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago Police Officer Jason Dyke, a yearlong massive cover-up began, which involved the entire Chicago Police Department, Mayor Emanuel and State’s Attorney Alvarez. The cover-up consisted of police officers at the scene lying for Officer Van Dyke by claiming McDonald attacked police, the police’s dash-cam video that captured the incident had its audio disabled, the District Manager of Burger King Restaurant testified before a federal grand jury that Chicago police officers deleted their surveillance video footage of the incident, and Mayor Emanuel, Police Superintendent McCarthy, and State’s Attorney Alvarez blocked the release of the police dash-cam video of the reprehensible murder of McDonald for a year.
It was only after Judge Franklin Valderrama ordered the release of video footage of the October 2014 police involved shooting death of McDonald [and] large protests by the Black community, that Mayor Emanuel got in front of cameras to say, “I’m sorry.” Well, that should’ve been said immediately after McDonald’s death, and not more than a year later. So it’s obvious that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is only sorry for getting caught covering-up a murder by Officer Van Dyke.
The ugly truth about all of this is Black people in America have been falling for the “I’m sorry” routine from deceitful politicians for so long, that politicians now arrogantly believe all they have to do is utter the magic words, “I’m sorry” when things get out of their control, and all is forgiven and it’s back to the business of exploitation and oppression as usual. Politicians play Black people for fools, and laugh behind their backs when they get out from a jam, because any person endowed with common sense knows that while an apology can be given, it means absolutely nothing if it is not followed by actions that redress the wrongs done.
The massive cover-up of Officer Van Dyke’s premeditated murder of Laquan McDonald points to a system of corruption within the Mayor’s office, State Attorney’s office and Chicago’s Police Department. The removal of a politician isn’t going to make a difference if the rotten system is still in place. Chicago’s politicians and institutions are corrupt to the core, so Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the entire rotten system must go and be replaced by the people with something new and better.
—Prison Radio, January 22, 2016