Amadou Diallo (3)

 Bruce Springsteen - American Skin (41 Shots)

Amadou Diallo immigrated to the United States in 1996,after he and his family, originally from Guinea, had relocated around the world for years. Amadou eventually made his way to New York City, where he attempted to find a piece of his own American dream. He sold videotapes and gloves on the 14th street sidewalk, his nights were spent studying. He was also black. And on February 14th, 1999, after removing his wallet from his jacket, Amadou was shot and killed by plain clothes NYPD. 41 shots were fired at him.
   Despite most of us being unaware, the shooting of Amadou Diallo sparked massive controversy around the nation, with the NYPD becoming under close scrutiny for the intentions behind it. According to the 4 plain clothes NYPD officers involved, Diallo had matched their description of a wanted serial rapist. When stopped, Amadou became extremely frightened. When his hand reached into his jacket, it was mistaken for a reach for a handgun, and the officers responded. After 41 close range rounds, the officers were convinced the danger passed. America responded as well, with African Americans around the country voicing their outrage, as well as Americans of all ethnicities horrified by the shooting joining the public outcry. Despite close investigation, all 4 police officers were deemed innocent, and the case was closed with respect to Diallo.
   Throughout his career, Bruce Springsteen's most prominent role in rock music has been reflecting the voice of America's often overlooked working class. His song's often focus on the darker side of American life, depicting the struggles of a people who more often than not go through life completely unheard. Naturally, he was quick to respond to the shooting of Amadou Diallo with the song "American Skin" or "41 Shots". Immediately after it's performance in memorial to Diallo, Springsteen's shows were boycotted by many. And it's their protest that reveal's the songs importance.
   The song itself sets out to give a voice to the shooting. A mother prepares her son for school, reminding him to stay safe outside. Though, she doesn't warn against gang violence. Instead, she reminds him how to act if he's stopped by an officer. She actually fears for her young son's innocent life, and the more I listen to it, the more moving it becomes. Which is where I actually start to get to my point here: we need to see the other side. We're all extremely lucky. Most of us in this school were born into a position where our opportunities are basically limitless, not to mention force fed to us. We've never had to struggle. We've never had to worry about our own survival. Sure we think the difficulties we've all experienced give us a taste of how bad life can be, but in actuality, we have absolutely no idea. And I feel like it's all too common a problem for that to be overlooked. In itself this seems irrelevant, maybe even unavoidable. But in situations like the shooting of Amadou Diallo, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and countless others, I feel like simply disregarding complaints as over sensitivity to racism is our own practiced ignorance. We have no idea what it's like, and when we're told from those who have actually experienced it firsthand, we push it aside and accuse them of exaggerating. It's not hard to see why we do this. Isn't it possible they're telling the truth, and we're simply ignoring it for our own convenience? Has racism in America been put to rest, or did we just give it new, more politically correct labels?
   They're not outraged blacks, they're outraged Americans. And we need to treat them as such. Not as a faction or a fringe group or a threat, but as another human living under the same flag as us. We need to stop feeding into this us-against-them mentality that has corrupted this country to the point where we refuse to even recognize its existence. We need to address the reality of modern racism. Springsteen said it best, "You can get killed just for living in your American Skin." We can't, but that doesn't mean those rules apply to every American. And it's about time we took their voice just as seriously