Black in Blue; A Critique of Black Policing

African Americans are the top targeted people in the world, by both ourselves and the powers that be. We are seen as threats in the eyes of officers. We are tormented because of our color, and in the eyes of many, we are guilty by default because we “look like criminals.”
We offend and scare white officers when reaching for our wallets, IDs, Skittles, etc. When approached by the men in blue we are assuming the worst and are prepared to be “guilty.” But what happens when someone Black is in blue?
The unfortunate reality is that Black police officers are no better. They are still serving a system that makes our skin a target. They demand respect due to the color that they wear, but forget the color that they are. They become a part of the system that they serve, which validates their belligerent behavior to invalidate the ‘disgraceful’ color of their skin. The same color they beat black and blue for “resisting arrest”.
This is the same color skin of victims who are killed in cold blood while they are resting peacefully in their sleep. The same color skin they pin down to the ground with their knees into their backs as we gasp for air and plead to stop because we “CAN’T BREATHE”. The same color they wear when they are now in blue. When the uniform is off, they are the same people that are convicted of crimes that they did not commit.
When black is in blue, they are stripped of their Negro status for as long as they do the same as their peers. They are now part of a gang that criminalizes the melanin of their sons and daughters and dehumanizes their ancestors. Simply put, they are just as accountable as their co-workers.
They are now a party to the system that can’t see past the pigment of their skin, regardless of the bad that they do, as long as those silver bullets are taking the lives of the “guilty”. They are protected by the badges that protect their disorderly conduct and that commends them for incarcerating their own. When black is in blue, they are no longer protecting and serving the people of their communities. Instead they are protecting and serving their badge; the same one that refuses to see their blackness because of the blue.