On the comedy news program, The Daily show, Stewart talks about how comedy is more than often used in the face of tragedy saying that it acts as a catharsis, a way of processing emotions. He then says that, "If comedy is tragedy plus time, then I need more f****** time." He then goes on to restate his claim by saying that he'd really settle, "for less f****** tragedy." He addresses elephants in the room such as the Ferguson decision and how, over time, they have tried to recover using comedy. The look on Jon Stewart's face throughout the entire video shows his obvious distress over the subject which is shared with many.
Another elephant in the room that Stewart addresses is the White House's suggestion of placing cameras on an officer's person to avoid tragedies such as these. He acknowledges what a lot of people have been saying about how if an officer wore a body camera, then the footage would (shocker) look a lot like this and produce the same result. In Ferguson the grand jury tried to say that there was no crime in the death of Micheal Brown because of conflicting witness reports, or conflicting forensics reports, or some other BS like that. However, as Stewart says, none of that can be found in the Eric Garner case. There is nothing questionable or ambiguous about his death because a major portion of America has seen the video including me and it is heart wrenching to watch. The fact that anyone can be twisted enough to see no wrong in the officer's actions does not give me any reason to believe in a justice system that is supposed to protect me but fails every time.
No matter how you look at it a black man is dead by the hands of a white officer for a petty crime that would warrant only a citation with a fine or minimal jail time. Although, with them being an African American male, they'd probably go to hell and back to find a way to place them in jail for life for their minor crimes but instead they went to hell and back to protect a murderer. It's simply the way our society works today. People want to say that we have come so far from the times of slavery, racism, and segregation, but to put it plainly that's not true. Sure we don't have "Whites Only," signs of public places anymore but there is an obvious system in place that keeps the basic human rights of African Americans from being met. There have been countless back to back incidents concerning race related crimes committed by police but each time people try to stand with the officer. Officer shoots unarmed black teenager multiple times? People stand by him. Officer shoots 12 year old black boy for having a fake gun? People stand by the officer. Black man who was possibly cosplaying shot because he had a fake katana in a state with an open carry law? People stand by the officer. Officer uses the long-banned choke hold tactic to detain a black man who had just broken up a fight? People side with the officer. Officer sexually assaults 7 or more black women while saying he was conducting routine traffic stops? Of course people side with the officer and they even create an online fundraiser to get him off.
If you can't see anything wrong with this picture, then please get off of my planet.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/tasneemnashrulla/jon-stewart-got-serious-while-discussing-eric-garner
While John Stewart is often a source of comic relief in grim situations it is good to see how he stopped to get serious in a serious matter such as this. The fact that the police officer in this case was not indicted despite the fact that the whole world saw him murder this man baffles me. It really just goes to show how corrupt our current justice system is and how badly it is in need of reform.
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