Open Call to Arabs and Palestinians in Chicagoland re: the Murder of Laquan McDonald
Within a few days, there will be a verdict in the first degree murder trial of Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer who, on October 20th, 2014, shot and killed a Black male teen named Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke is the first Chicago cop in history to be charged with first degree murder for the on-duty killing of a Black person. He shot Laquan 16 times and murdered him, even though the teen was not a threat to Van Dyke's life or anyone else's; 14 of the shots were fired while Laquan was already on his back on Pulaski Avenue near 40th Street!
Right now, understanding that there is the possibility of an unjust verdict, our people must play a role in promoting the safety of everyone in Chicagoland, especially our Black friends, neighbors, and customers who will be out in the streets facing even more police repression if Van Dyke is found not guilty.
This is why we are calling on Arabs and Palestinians across Chicagoland to join the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which is organizing an emergency protest at City Hall exactly one hour after the announcement of the verdict--regardless of the decision--to continue its call for an elected Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC), the only police reform bill that will take the power out of the hands of the police and government and put it in the hands of the people.
We are also calling on Arab and Palestinian college students to walk out of their classes and join us. And on Arab and Palestinian small business owners to close their shops and declare solidarity with the communities that they work and live among.
The U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)-Chicago, Arab American Action Network (AAAN), ACCESS' Campaign to TAKE ON HATE-Chicago, and other Arab and Palestinian organizations and individuals will be out in the streets in solidarity with Laquan, his family, and his community.
Background:
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago Police Department, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, and even the Chicago City Council are all guilty of trying to cover up the murder. They all knew of the police dash-cam video of the shooting, and never released it to the public until they were forced by conscientious journalists and activists, who sued in court to get it released. Only when it finally came out--over 400 days after the murder, and after the City Council voted for Laquan's family to receive a settlement from the city--did Van Dyke get arrested and charged with first degree murder.
Even though this was a cold blooded murder, cold blooded murderers do not easily go to prison if they are members of the Chicago police department, if they are white, and if their victims are Black. One-third of the residents of Chicago is Black, but only one of 12 members of this jury is Black. The special prosecutors trying Van Dyke accused the defense of racial bias in its elimination of all but one of the potential jurors who are Black, but the judge sided with Van Dyke's lawyers.
In addition, criminalizing the victim has been the strategy of the defense's entire case. Van Dyke's lawyers have disgustingly attacked Laquan in front of the jury, attempting to paint him as a drug addicted, mentally unstable teen who had been in trouble with the authorities before, as if any of the previous challenges in his life are relevant in this case, and as if those challenges gave Van Dyke the right to murder Laquan in the street.
Because we know that the criminal justice system in this country and this city is rarely fair and rarely just, we must be prepared for the worst case scenario, Van Dyke getting acquitted, or the second worst case scenario, a hung jury (meaning that the twelve jurors could not come to a unanimous decision, which any jury must do for a guilty or not guilty verdict)--both of which mean that the murderer would be set free. (The government would be able to retry Van Dyke if there were a hung jury, but it would mean delaying justice for many more months, and of course there would still be no guarantee that he would get convicted in the retrial.)
These worst case scenarios will likely mean that the Black community of Chicago, and its friends and allies, will rise up in justified anger at the racist criminal justice system in this city and country. We must be out in the streets as well!
And the uprising will not only be relegated to City Hall. If Van Dyke is acquitted, or if there is a hung jury, Black community members will likely rally and protest in their own communities as well--on the southside, the westside, Rogers Park, and other parts of the city and suburbs where they live.
It is our responsibility as Arabs and Palestinians in Chicagoland to understand that these protests are justified, and that the Black community has the right to fight for justice and against racism by any means necessary. We must show solidarity with the Black community the way it always has shown solidarity to our community around our own issues, whether in the case of Palestinian rights, justice for Rasmea Odeh, or fighting the Muslim Ban.
Although these cases just listed, as well as our community institutions' historical work for police accountability and against anti-Black racism, are rich examples of decades of relationship-building and political solidarity between Arabs/Palestinians and Black people in Chicagoland and the rest of the U.S., we also recognize clearly that there are challenges to this solidarity.
In Chicago, we know that there are sensitive issues related to Arab and Palestinian small businesses and their relationships with Black communities on the south and west sides. Historically, Arabs in Chicago were peddlers who sold in Black communities when white people would not. They had access to capital through family and village networks, so were later able to buy small shops at a time when Black people were not, due to the structural racism in this country that leads to economic depression in communities of color.
Today, we recognize and acknowledge that some of these Arab and Palestinian store owners have relationships rooted in racism and exploitation with the Black communities where they opened, and that there are still conflicts that are not fully resolved. We know that we must battle our own racism as strongly as we battle white racism.
But this is a historic moment in Chicago. This is the most important trial in this city in many decades. Van Dyke represents a police department and a criminal justice system that have devastated Black and Latino communities here for many years. And, as Arabs and Palestinians in Chicagoland, we must ensure that we position ourselves on the right side of history today.
This is the moment for Arabs and Palestinians in Chicagoland to declare where we stand--against anti-Black racism and with #Justice4Laquan, demanding #ConvictVanDyke and #CPACNow!
This call initiated by USPCN-Chicago, AAAN, and ACCESS' Campaign to TAKE ON HATE - Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018
