The death of Philando Castile happened nearly a year ago, but the outrage over the police shooting and eventual acquittal of the officer involved continues to burn. The release of dash cam footage on Tuesday — following the trial and acquittal of Jeronimo Yanez — only helped to strengthen critics who feel that Castile’s death was unjust and possibly murder. The footage does not fall in the favor of police, but it also isn’t the first or last time we will see such an incident take place.
That’s what seemed to inspire this clip from The Daily Show, where Trevor Noah discussed the incident, the newly released video, and how it compared to his own experiences as a black man living in America. Noah has only lived here for six years but has been pulled over by police “8 to 10 times” in that period. And this is while splitting time on both the east and west coasts, driving rental cars, his own personal car, and even a Tesla. He’s still getting pulled over by the police for a variety of reasons and going to extreme lengths to ensure nothing happens, including putting both arms out the window.
And Noah’s experiences, in his short time here, seem to be the norm for black Americans when they encounter the police. He places the blame on racism, but not in the sense that most usually want to use it as a label. Instead, he singles out police practices as inherently racist, evolving over time and adapting parts of history to become what we see today. To support this, Noah only has to cite the past few years of incidents involving young black men, be it Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, or Castile. As Noah says, there’s almost no way to avoid getting shot and there’s always an excuse.
It’s certainly not a new take on recent events, but it is an effective way to put personal experience out there for a national audience to understand.
(Via The Daily Show)