The killing of Ahmaud Arbery as well as the effort to re-open states despite COVID-19 ravaging black communities has displayed how little America values black life. Now, an NAACP chapter president in Nashville has revealed that police didn’t take him seriously when he found a threatening sign on his property.
According to NBC News, Keith Caldwell found a bullseye displayed on the fence around his home on Saturday night. Caldwell is a pastor and has been president of the Nashville chapter of the NAACP for two years now. Caldwell filed a report with the Metro Nashville Police Department but said he was met with dismissiveness from the responding officer. The officer inquired as to who put the bullseye on his fence. “I said, ‘That’s what I’m calling you for,’” Caldwell told NBC News. “He said, ‘It’s pretty cool.’” Caldwell went on to express how, as a black man and NAACP president, the sign felt threatening.
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Caldwell told the officer: “‘I’m a black man in this country. I’m the president of the NAACP.’ He was still dismissive.” The officer didn’t seem to care and left, Caldwell said.
It was only after Caldwell posted an image of the target on Facebook that the police department decided to take any kind of action. “It’s been a complete 180,” Caldwell told NBC News. The department released a statement saying that the officer’s conduct is under review.
Why do we have to work so hard to receive any kind of justice? Why did Caldwell have to put the department on blast for them to finally do their job?
That question was rhetorical; sadly, we know why.
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