Why The Daunte Wright Verdict Means Something Different to Black People
Goodbye white female fragility.
As I write this today, Kim Potter, the police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright in Minneapolis almost one year after the George Floyd incident, was found guilty of first and second-degree manslaughter.
Her case made headlines in April as she “mistook” her firearm for her taser, shooting and killing 20-year-old Daunte Wright — as a 26-year veteran on the police force.
First of all, I’m glad some sort of justice was given to Daunte Wright’s family.
However, I was surprised that a guilty verdict was reached. The same reason why I was surprised is the same reason why this case means more to the black community than the George Floyd one — no more white female fragility.
Let me explain.
White Women Are a Special Type of White
The George Floyd case was more clear-cut than this one. It’s a no-brainer that Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd in broad daylight with his knee on George’s neck.
For Daunte Wright, one could make the case that he “resisted arrest” and jumped back into his car. I thought they would take this moment and use it against him in court. PLUS (and this is one huge plus), this is a white woman we’re talking about.
We all know the story of Emmett Till.
I still get traumatizing chills just thinking about it.
If you don’t know, Emmett Till was 14-years-old when he visited his uncle in Mississippi. He came from Chicago.
Long story short, he “whistled” at a white woman while getting candy in a store. Her husband and his friend hunted down Emmet, took him to an obscure place near a lake, and did HORRENDOUS acts to him — killing him in the most brutal way imaginable. So bad that you couldn’t even recognize his face in the funeral pictures.
This happened in 1955, only for the lady Emmett “whistled” at to come out almost 70 years later in a book to say she lied about the whole thing. Both of the men that killed Emmett were tried and acquitted and the woman who encouraged those disgusting men to do her bidding wasn’t even on trial.
That’s just a taste of the destructive nature of white female fragility — and I thought it would prevail in this case.
Maybe We’ll See More Change Down The Road
I don’t want to come off as overly optimistic.
There is still TONS of work that needs to be done to abolish the racist criminal system that still plagues the black community, but I have more faith that SOME changes are getting done.
Think about it.
- She was a 26-year veteran on the force
- Some people could make the case that Daunte Wright “resisted arrest”
- She was the president of the local police union
- AND she’s a white woman
For her to be convicted on BOTH manslaughter charges is pretty miraculous if you ask me.
Is this a drop in the ocean compared to the thousands of other black people who have been shot and killed by police? Yes. But is this jab at the white female fragility that has protected white women for so long? Yes.
And that’s what helps me sleep a little better at night.
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