I’m tired of White people and the Media pretending that there isn’t a war on Black people

[sheshe2]

10. That makes me cry, Cha.

As does this!

Michael Brown case: Black shooting victims face trial by social media



Shortly after Michael Brown was gunned down by police in Ferguson, Missouri on Saturday, an image of him wearing a red tank top, a serious face and throwing up two fingers, began circulating in the press. Social media users wondered whether the image had been selected to make Brown look intimidating, as a way of justifying the use of lethal force on an unarmed teen.

A competing image of Brown, looking shy and self-deprecating inside what appears to be some kind of arcade, began circulating as well. Black Twitter users began posting their own contrasting images of themselves under the hashtag #iftheygunnedmedown, exposing the shortcomings of reducing a human being to a single out of context picture.

snip

Even after their deaths, black victims of shootings face trial by social media. Shortly after Trayvon Martin was killed in 2012, supporters of George Zimmerman, who was later acquitted of murder charges in connection with shooting Martin, began circulating tweets and photographs that they believed “proved” Martin was not the sweet innocent teenager being portrayed in the media. A popular chain email featured a photograph of rapper The Game as the “true” Martin, tattooed and muscular, a delusional retroactive justification of his death. Accounts describing Renisha McBride, who was shot to death on a Michigan porch for the crime of seeking help after a car accident, seemed to emphasize her blood alcohol level even after her shooter was convicted of murder.

It’s as if lethal force is justified not by the objective circumstances, but by whether or not ancient racial fears have made the use of such force seem reasonable. Victims are not only put on trial, but pronounced guilty based not on their actions but on whether or not they fit a stereotype.

Read More: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/black-shooting-victims-face-trial-social-media