Michael B. Jordan (left) and Colin Kaepernick have spoken out against the Philando Castile verdict. (Edward Berthelot/Getty Images/(Scott Cunningham/Getty Images Sport)
Amid news that a Minnesota police officer was acquitted of manslaughter in the killing of Philando Castile, actor Michael B. Jordan and free-agent NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick have weighed in — and the latter has made a damning declaration.
Jordan posted on Instagram a list of several Black men and women who have been killed at the hands of police without a conviction.
“They want us to feel helpless & right now I feel it,” he wrote Saturday, June 17, before posting a list of questions wondering how to tackle the issue. “I know I’m going to be a part of the change, and not just today, every day until we see real change … I am Philando Castile.”
Castile’s girlfriend streamed the aftermath of Officer Jeronimo Yanez shooting the motorist after he reached to show Yanez his gun registration. Castile bled out in front of his girlfriend and her daughter and outrage poured in from around the nation.
Kaepernick looked at the historical implications of yet another police officer being acquitted over the killing of a Black person, comparing present-day cops to the slave patrols first developed in Carolina colony in 1704, according to Victor E. Kappeler, Ph.D. professor at Eastern Kentucky University’s College of Justice and Safety.
A system that perpetually condones the killing of people, without consequence, doesn't need to be revised, it needs to be dismantled! pic.twitter.com/BVVPVZIQyD
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) June 16, 2017
Kaepernick’s tweet drew some opposition.
I think @Kaepernick7 has done a lot of good. Comparing cops to the slave patrol is where he loses me. No better than wearing the pig socks.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) June 19, 2017
THIS IS WHY YOU DONT HAVE A JOB! Good luck in the CFL
— James Hilario (@Jameshilario7) June 16, 2017
More black men die at the hands of other black men.
— CujoBelfour29 (@cjc2929) June 16, 2017
Others backed the former San Francisco 49er and one provided evidence of the slave patrol’s existence.
https://twitter.com/RicheyxCollazo/status/876910890460762113
Why don't you do the research? Historically Kaepernick is 100% correct. https://t.co/yQKlw6ljfA
— Free Jalil Muntaqim (@BlakeDontCrack) June 19, 2017
@Kaepernick7 is right.
The Alabama Code of 1852 makes it clear that slave patrols served as the prototype for modern police forces. #fact pic.twitter.com/d4auJuYxVF
— Christopher Petrella (@CFPetrella) June 18, 2017
Slave pass addressed to police | 1843
"To the Police of Washington & Georgetown. Let my servant man, Austin Triplett pass w/o hinderance.." pic.twitter.com/v5dQdMXkp5
— Christopher Petrella (@CFPetrella) June 18, 2017
To those who claim that police forces in the "North" weren't centrally implicated in the institution of slavery:https://t.co/U7okxv7Rn1 pic.twitter.com/P4MGGMjvoY
— Christopher Petrella (@CFPetrella) June 18, 2017
