What Van Jones thinks about Black officers charged in Tyre Nichols case

In a recent opinion piece on CNN. Com Van, you wrote, The police who killed Tyre Nichols were black, but they might still have been driven by racism. And I was struck by the part of the piece where you wrote this. One of the sad facts.

About anti-black racism is that black people ourselves are not immune to its pernicious effects. Society's message that black people are inferior, unworthy and dangerous is pervasive over many decades. Numerous experiments have shown.

That these ideas can infiltrate black minds as well as white. Self hatred is a real thing. So you believe this racial bias played a role in the officer's behaviors? Yes, I do.

Because first of all, black people are at risk from police no matter what color black, white, brown. You talk to African-Americans, they'll tell you it doesn't matter. There's this pervasive view from law enforcement that if you're black or dangerous and I think some people think, oh,.

Also a white police officer going after a black person, you understand the racial implications. The problem is there are whole neighborhoods that in many cities are just considered by police departments of war zones and anything goes there.

And so I think we have to have a more nuanced view of what's going on to root out a racism. It's not just about having black cops or white cops or brown cops. It's about having cops that are trained to respect everyone and who are disciplined.

And punished when they don't. And we don't have that in place. Black people are at risk no matter the color of the police. Officer. If for some reason your opinion has been a bit controversial, at least from what.

I've seen on social media. What has the backlash sounded like and what is your race, your response to your critics? Oh, well, listen, I think some people say, hey, listen, you guys just want to find race no matter what. You're just going to scream racism,.

Even if it's all black again, scream racism. And I understand it does seem weird when we're saying there is a racial dimension here, even though the police are African-American. But I think what's important.

For us to be able to do is this is about power. It's not about black. It's about blue. It's about power. And when you have when you have police officers who know in certain neighborhoods, they better not act that way.

But in other neighborhoods, they can't act that way. That's about power. That's about domination. And so I think it's important that we use this as an opportunity to get more nuanced and more clear about the dangers.

That African-Americans face from police officers, period, when there is not accountability. Yeah. And you also make the point, Van, that at the end of the day, it is the race of the victim who is brutalized.

I'm quoting your article, not the race of the violent cop that is most relevant in determining determining whether racial bias is a factor in police violence. How do we as a society all the way from the federal government down to individual police departments in our communities.

Prevent this from happening again from adding to this long list of black deaths? Unfortunately, tragically, in this country? You know, unfortunately, after George Floyd, we had people marching of all colors. There were Black Lives Matter protests.

Where there were no black people. There were people of all colors, white people saying something needs to be done. Unfortunately, the federal government still has not passed a single piece of legislation since George Floyd to make a difference. Thankfully,.

President Biden did do x some executive orders. It's not enough. And so I think it's time now for us to relook. Here we are almost three years later, there has been no federal change in the law to make this stuff go away. And so I think that.

This should be a chance for us to relook at it. I also just want to say, you know, human rights abuses happen all around the world. And often the human rights abusers look exactly like the people they're abusing the Philippines,.

What the law enforcement's doing there with this unbelievable attack on the community around drug enforcement. Those people, all look the same. They talk the same. Human rights abuses are about power, often discredited and marginalized.

Minorities get the brunt of it. But it's about power. And so we have to start saying we don't want human rights abuses in the United States from any color cop. And we don't want the black. We continue to bear the brunt of it. You know, I know that a pivotal moment in your life.

As a human being, as a black man and also as a lawyer was the Rodney King beating, what, 30 some years ago. I remember being in California watching these images as a kid play out. Yes, very traumatizing. And I know you dedicated much of your career.

To to helping reform the system. I'm just curious to know what impact this Tyree Nichols case has had on you as a human. You know, because I've seen reactions from the black community, from friends of mine who told me.

That they refused to watch the video. They couldn't do it emotionally because it would just bring them back to reliving the trauma of seeing yet another black person being treated in this way.

Did you watch the video and how how has this changed you or impacted you? Well, you know, I wouldn't have watched it except I had to because I work at CNN. So we all watched it together and we all have the same impact. You know, this is it's hard.

Because, you know, I have black sons and they're not unlike Tyree. You know, Tyree is a skateboard kid. He's a Starbucks aficionado. He's an Instagram photographer. He's he's he's a good kid. He was a good kid. And I got a kid that loves know,.

Rip stick and and Starbucks and all. And it's every black parent's nightmare that you're a kid who has never been in trouble before, gets somehow in a situation where his humanity cannot be seen and his humanity cannot be honored. And you saw him. You were saying,.

You know, sir, and hey, calm down. The only calm voice in that entire thing was Tyree trying to calm the police down and the fighting, the brutality got so bad, the pepper spray, which is a horrifically caustic chemical, got to him. He jumped up and ran, and it cost him his life.

You know, that should not happen for a traffic stop. And so, again, it rips back the scars. It rips off the scabs. My sister said she couldn't watch it. A lot of people just couldn't watch it. I frankly wouldn't have watched it, except it was my job.

But to see him being pummeled and beaten and stood up and punched in the face over and over again, it was horrifying. And, you know, I I hope this galvanized some action. I am proud that the city of Memphis, after George Floyd.

Changed some of their rules and regulations and policies so they could take swift action. And you saw that swift action, but the swift action shouldn't just come in this one case with by black cops. People are being beaten right now, conceivably in similar situations.

They may have a video camera, but bad things are happening and we need a chance to do something about it. Yeah, something absolutely needs to change. Van Jones, really appreciate this conversation. Thank you so much.

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