Originally Published in Madras Courier
Editorial Note
Without a willingness to confront uncomfortable realities surrounding the myth of white victimhood, the United States risks remaining colour-blind.
Amadou Diallo, a black immigrant from Guinea, was standing on his apartment building stoop in the Bronx, shortly after midnight, when he was confronted by four NYPD police officers of the Street Crime Unit (SCU). As Diallo reached for his wallet to present identification, the officers indiscriminately fired at him 41 times, of which 19 bullets struck and ravaged his body. His death sparked a nationwide outrage over police brutality, racial profiling, and the phenomenon of “Contagious Fire”.