The armadillo has a reflex that is deadly to it. When it becomes frightened, it jumps straight up. If a driver attempts to spare an armadillo’s life that is crossing the highway, he may straddle it with his vehicle. The armadillo becomes frightened and jumps straight up and is struck by the undercarriage, killing it. Stupid kills.

Of all the highly publicized slayings of blacks by the police today, I see one common thread in all of them — they did not obey the orders of the cops. They either fought with the authorities or tried to run away from them. They became frightened and jumped straight up, if you will.

Unlike the armadillo, humans are supposed to have overriding intelligence to quell their reflexes and maintain sensible behavior. If people do outstandingly stupid things that removes their gene pool, they become eligible for the “Darwin Award” in accordance with the Survival of the Fittest theory.

Many police officers have had military experience with hand-to-hand combat training and have learned very effective restraining techniques. In addition, they carry a charged taser and loaded weapon on their hip. To fight or flee from someone with these attributes is absolute idiocy. When someone does, in my opinion, it makes them eligible for the Darwin Award and will likely have their gene pool removed.

When I have been stopped by the police (and everybody has), I attempt to be as pleasant as possible in hopes of not being ticketed. If I am cited, I take the ticket and go on my way — end of story. Those who fight or run away are apparently involved with some sort of criminal activity that makes them do crazy things or perhaps they are just plain crazy. In either case, they should be investigated.

Today, we don’t look at the people who commit the crimes, we concentrate on police brutality. All of the muck-rakers and camera hogs who are supposed to be leaders are running this hum-drum into the ground. Many people are getting tired of seeing the police always get the raw end of the deal and are developing an attitude of “who cares, just do what it takes to keep my neighborhood safe.”

However, I do believe that the outcome of this latest confrontation in South Carolina was uncalled for. No one, police or otherwise, should ever shoot someone in the back. If the perpetrator had gotten away, he would not have gotten very far and we could have seen why he wanted to avoid the police with such vehemence.

The bottom line is that this hullabaloo is all about getting votes in next year’s election. Don’t be misled by this or you too may somehow become eligible for the infamous Darwin Award.

 

Ed Field

Natchez