Belaboring the narrative.
Among the most odious rhythms of this distinctly American ritual of ours is that we will know the criminal history of the deceased hours if not days before we know anything about the disciplinary history of the involved officers.
The mythology that we have created, the mythology we suffer beneath and under which black communities suffer most of all, has two venomous heads–the first being that anybody who has chosen to don the uniform and responsibilities of police work is inherently noble and heroic, and the second being that any person of a historically oppressed minority is a threat, waiting for their moment to strike. The narrative begins by default at the notion that any person killed by police officers probably deserved to be killed, no matter how often it’s been shown otherwise, no matter how many videos from bystanders are released.
I have no power in my voice at this moment and I am sorry. All I have is my understanding of storytelling and my ability to provide critique–to point out when the story is, yet again, being told very poorly.
Creative Control 