Eric garner – Melanoid Nation Foundation https://www.melanoidnation.org Thu, 04 Dec 2014 08:32:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 The “Giant Negro” Hysteria Has Made A Comeback https://www.melanoidnation.org/the-giant-negro-hysteria-has-made-a-comeback/ https://www.melanoidnation.org/the-giant-negro-hysteria-has-made-a-comeback/#comments Thu, 04 Dec 2014 08:29:29 +0000 http://melanoidnation.org/?p=507 In 1897 the Kansas City Journal ran an article on the son of a former slave named John Rogan,who was referred to at the time as the Negro Giant. Rogan reached the  height 8ft 6 inches, and is acknowledged as one of the tallest men ever recorded. Rogan made a living selling photos and postcards of himself,and several newspapers wrote articles about him during his lifetime.

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There is evidence to believe that some media outlets at the time decided to capitalize on this image of a “Giant Negro”, because starting in 1897 the New York Times began  to run a series of racist, anti-Black propaganda stories designed to scare the white public.

 

From the 1890’s to the 1940’s, newspapers from around the country ran sensationalized stories about “Giant Negroes”. These were exaggerated stories about black criminality that played on white supremacist stereotypes.

The underlying theme of the stories were that black people were somewhat non-human and they were in need of more excessive violence from law-enforcement in order to be subdued. Here are some of the actual newspaper clippings from the early part of the 20th century covering the “Giant Negro” hysteria:

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Fast forward to today. In cases like the legalized killing of Mike Brown and Eric Garner by law enforcement,people have tried to justify their murders by constantly mentioning the size of these individuals. In the case of Mike Brown, officer Darren Wilson-who was relatively the same size as Mike Brown-emphasized in his police statement that he felt  “like a five year old holding onto Hulk Hogan” when he engaged in his confrontation with Brown.

In the case of Eric Garner,people have tried to justify  his murder, and lack of indictment of the police officers who committed the murder, on Garner’s massive size.

So we have to fully accept that we live in a system of white supremacy that is still judging Melanoid people as a whole based of the same dangerous stereotypes from over 100 years ago. Trying to convince the dominant society to remove these deep rooted stereotypes have been,and will continue to be futile. Instead,Melanoid people should put themselves in a position of empowerment to protect themselves from the dangers of those stereotypes.

]]> https://www.melanoidnation.org/the-giant-negro-hysteria-has-made-a-comeback/feed/ 281 Non Indictment of Daniel Pantaleo Supports The System of White Supremacy https://www.melanoidnation.org/non-indictment-of-daniel-pantaleo-supports-the-system-of-white-supremacy/ https://www.melanoidnation.org/non-indictment-of-daniel-pantaleo-supports-the-system-of-white-supremacy/#comments Thu, 04 Dec 2014 06:33:23 +0000 http://melanoidnation.org/?p=503 By Greg Bradshaw
New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo will not be indicted for his role in the July death of Staten Island, NY resident Eric Garner. Pantaleo, who is white, executed an outlawed chokehold on Mr. Garner, who is black, after the officer and four colleagues accosted Mr. Garner for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes. The non indictment comes despite Mr. Garner’s death being ruled a homicide by the city’s coroner’s office.
This edict exacerbates the strained race relations between America and her black inhabitants on the heels of the non indictment of Darren Wilson, a white former police officer who shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Mr. Garner’s death preceded showed his pleas for life when he said “I can’t breathe!” as Pantaleo ignored his requests to continue to choke the life out of him. Never mind that all five officers had Mr. Garner on his stomach.
The struggle between Mr. Garner and the officers showed the officers’ apparent lack of respect for black life. Pantaleo could have let up on the illegal chokehold because his colleagues had Mr. Garner under control. Then again, suspected white supremacists have no regard for black life. Making matters worse, on the heels of the non indictment, New York City mayor Bill DeBlasio said “Black lives matter.” Such an assertion would never have to be made if white supremacy didn’t exist. As a native New Yorker, the fact that a white police officer can kill an unarmed black man without impunity is extremely disturbing. It also serves as a wakeup call that white supremacy is on the march in 2014, and if we as black people in America don’t adapt a code of conduct to combat white supremacy fast, we’ll soon meet our own extinction.

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