Thursday on CNN’s “New Day,” critical race theorist Ibram X. Kendi, author and contributing writer for The Atlantic, wondered what would have happened in Columbus, OH if Ma’Khia Bryant had been a “16-year-old white girl in a wealthy suburban neighborhood. Bryant was shot and killed by police after she appeared to attack another person with a knife.
Kendi said he finds it “hard” to believe the officer who took action to stop Bryant from using the knife on others “would have used lethal force” on a rich, white girl.
“So when I look at that video, I ask myself, if that would have been a 16-year-old white girl in a wealthy suburban neighborhood, would the police officer have sought to disarm this girl? Would the police officer have sought to talk her down? Would the police officer … have used lethal force? And it’s hard for me to believe that that would have happened. It’s hard for me to believe that that officer would not have responded differently for a different girl in a different community.”
“[I] know many people feel as if they did not witness police work,” he added. “They witnessed someone being killed and even potentially murdered. And, of course, like with any other case, people are going to be outraged that someone did not come and de-escalate the situation, disarm that girl, so everyone could have gone home safely that evening.”
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