Stop and Frisk: Jamel Mims Belongs to History

Mississippi Sheriff Laughs At His Trial for Lynching

John Lewis Treated to Southern Hospitality

Mayor Bloomberg's Sheriff of Nottingham

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Queens DA have apparently colluded to make an example of a Black man who had the temerity to point out the simple truth that stopping a Black man for being Black is an assault on the liberties of all men, Black and white.  

In some parts of New York City, evidently, walking while Black is the equivalent of  looking suspicious . 

Mr. Bloomberg and his DA, Mr. Brown, have,  to all appearances, joined that pantheon of white officials , including Lawrence Rainey, a Mississippi sheriff who laughed at his trial for murder of a Black man, knowing the white Southern jury would never convict him.  Also included in that perverted group of white men in power are the three beautifully attired police manhandling the man who would become Representative Lewis from Georgia. 

Police acting as an arm of racism is something you expect in Mississippi, Alabama or South Carolina, or South Africa,  but The Phantom is stunned to learn police can behave the same way in New York City.

This is not the way The Phantom remembers New York's finest. The Phantom got to know a few New York City police,  and he liked them. They had a raw, cynical view of life which comported well with The Phantom's own understanding of what the underbelly of American society can be like.  And watching the NYPD in action, most of the time, The Phantom was impressed with the good sense and professionalism--they kept things moving, in control,  with a minimum of force. They seemed to respect the power they had been given; they did not abuse it. They were, in a word, reasonable. 

But of course that was then, and The Phantom is white.

What the Jamel Mims case looks like, from afar, is a disturbing revelation. And the most revealing part of it is what it says about Michael Bloomberg.  The Phantom actually liked the mayor inveighing against supersized soft drinks, liked the vest pocket parks which made for a better street experience in Manhattan.  

But it must be recognized now, when a billionaire mayor decides he needs to give vent to his controlling personality by ignoring the idea of a free society, when "security" and "statistics" become an excuse for using police to humiliate citizens for being Black, Mayor Bloomberg has shown his very most dark side.

Add Jamel Mims to the Honor Roll