Bob Avakian on Richard Pryor (tags)
Recently I was reading reports of police assaults on Black people and of Black people fighting against the police in Memphis and Miami. This called to mind a story I was told a while back. A rookie cop was riding in his police car with his veteran partner when a report came in that there was a Black man in the vicinity with a gun. As their car screeched around the corner, a young Black man suddenly appeared sprinting up an alley--into a dead end. "Shoot him!", the older cop screamed, "Go on, shoot him-- it's free!" "It's free!" Think about that for a second. "It's free!" In other words, here's a chance that gets a pig to sweating and salivating with anticipation--a chance to "kill a nigger" with the already provided cover that a Black man--a Black man, any Black man--was reported in the area with a gun. This is an opportunity too good to pass up: "Go on, shoot him--it's free!"