Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

Freedom Rider: Stephan House, Draylen Mason, Stephon Clark: Terror Victims
Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist
28 Mar 2018
Freedom Rider: Stephan House, Draylen Mason, Stephon Clark: Terror Victims
Freedom Rider: Stephan House, Draylen Mason, Stephon Clark: Terror Victims

“Business should not go on as usual when the police act as the 21st century slave patrol.”

The word terrorism is both over used and useless. It generally refers to the actions of the American government’s political enemies. It is rarely used to describe the wanton killing that is committed by this state or accepted by the dictates of white supremacy.

Two black men, Stephan House and Draylen Mason, were killed by a white man in Austin, Texas. The perpetrator is dead too, killing himself with the same explosives he used against House and Mason. The bomber should have been called a terrorist but law enforcement never used the word. Not only did he escape the politically charged moniker but he was given dignity and respect despite being a cold blooded murderer. The press spoke of his family’s religious faith. He was described as “quiet and nerdy.” Police who listened to his taped confession described him as a young man with “challenges in his personal life.”

Not so Draylen Mason. The closed captioning on an Austin television station quite literally labeled him as “that monkey.” Claims of a faulty algorithm and profuse apologies cannot erase the insult heaped on the talented young musician. Stephan House was the first victim and police initially suspected him of exploding the bomb that tore shrapnel through his body.

“The over policing of black neighborhoods means that home is no safe haven.”

Clark met an equally horrible but more common end. He lost his life at the hands of the police. It happens on average three times every day in this country to people of different races, but one of those people will be black. Usually the victims are erased and forgotten but sometimes we learn the details of the crime.

Clark was a 22-year old black man living in Sacramento, California, the father of two small children. He was in the backyard of the home he shared with his family, a place he had every right to be. But the over policing of black neighborhoods means that home is no safe haven. While allegedly chasing a petty thief the cops encountered Clark and killed him with 20 bullets. They turned off their body cameras, questioned Clark’s grandmother, and said nothing about killing him right outside her door.

The collective outrage over Clark’s killing is justified. It is all to the good that mass protests took place in Sacramento. Business should not go on as usual when the police act as the 21st century slave patrol.

“They questioned Clark’s grandmother, and said nothing about killing him right outside her door.”

Just a few years ago police murder spawned a political movement. The words Black Lives Matter became ubiquitous and it appeared that the uniformed assassination squad might be curtailed. But a confluence of events stopped the movement before it could achieve any long lasting victory.

The organization Black Lives Matter was itself problematic. Its politics were merely liberal when revolutionary work was called for. Barack Obama also helped to dampen the anger over police murder. He directed the Justice Department to stand down and only two killings committed by police were prosecuted during his eight years in office.

Obama shamefully hijacked BLM with stunts such as a July 2016 televised town hall called “The President and the People.” One BLM founder called it a “shit show.” “It was honestly one of the worst experiences you could’ve put families through. It was all about apologizing about the cops, it was just a mess.” Obama’s goal was to silence protest and give everyone amnesia about the death toll. Only the revenge killing of police by Micah Johnson and Gavin Long moved Obama to do that much. Absent their actions he would not have even bothered with this hypocritical gesture.

“Only two killings committed by police were prosecuted during Obama’s eight years in office.”

The mass movement dwindled and hundreds of victims, more than 300 black people every year, were disappeared too. It has been a long time since any victim was given as much attention as Stephon Clark.

The proof of white supremacy cannot be denied. Individuals like the Austin bomber are given protection even after they kill. The young white man who murdered nine black people at a Charleston, South Carolina church was treated to lunch by the arresting officers. Obama intervened in that instance too, appearing at a funeral and singing Amazing Grace, quieting the justifiable anger and mollifying the credulous.

While hundreds of thousands recently marched to protest gun violence committed by individuals, the state’s victims were forgotten, those at home and around the world. The top down acceptance of terrorism when committed by those in uniform trickles down to the entire society.

The deaths of Clark, House and Mason make a mockery of the Marching for Our Lives charade. No one marches for black people’s lives except black people, and even we can fall short unless all of the stars are aligned.

Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Rekia Boyd, Corinne Gaines, Jordan Davis, Austin Sterling and nameless hundreds are terror victims. The killers may wear uniforms or the simple uniform of white skin privilege. Because of them a black person shouldn’t pick up packages from their front porches, let white people into their churches, or even stand on their own property. Doing anything at all, no matter how mundane, can lead to death at the hands of a terrorist.

Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com . Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.

Police brutality

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Black Alliance For Peace
From George Floyd Back to the Structural Violence of Capitalism
28 May 2025
With the ritualistic murder of George Floyd by the occupation forces referred to as the police that roam the streets and barrios of the Black a
Aisha
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Aisha Beliso-De Jesús’ Book, “Excited Delirium”
14 August 2024
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Eric Umansky
How the N.Y.P.D. Quietly Shuts Down Discipline Cases Against Officers
03 July 2024
Police Commissioner Edward Caban has often relied on an obscure authority to intervene when officers are accused of serious wrongdoing, often h
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Boss Tweet’s Trial V. Trial of a Freedom Fighter
22 May 2024
Writhing—tossing, turning—
Students for Justice in Palestine
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Repression of Campus Palestine Solidarity Reveals the Nature of the State
01 May 2024
Campus protests in solidarity with Palestine have been met with brute polic
Pan-African Community Action
Pan-African Community Action
DC’s 2024 Crime Bill Is More War on the Black Working Class
14 February 2024
The DC Crime Bill is a continuation of the assault on the Black working class, created to expand control over Black communities via surveillanc
Little Rock Antioch’s RICO blu klux klan
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Little Rock Antioch’s RICO blu klux klan
06 September 2023
Little Rock Antioch’s RICO blu klux klan (For Franklin, the Families, and Antioch’s Fightback)
Memphis Police Chief Trained with Israel Security Forces
Alice Speri 
Memphis Police Chief Trained with Israel Security Forces
08 February 2023
The chief of the Memphis, Tennessee police department took part in trainings in Israel.
Solve Tomorrow’s Uvalde in nano seconds…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Solve Tomorrow’s Uvalde in nano seconds…
27 July 2022
                                                                                                    Solve Tomorrow’s Uvalde in nano seconds
Protesting for Jayland Walker
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Protesting for Jayland Walker
06 July 2022
The number of bullets used to kill Jayland Walker have sparked an outcry, but police kill one Black person every day in this country.

More Stories


  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Black Refugees Unwelcomed! Gaou Guinou Balewa, 1973
    02 Jul 2025
    “Haitian refugees and political exiles find themselves being refused the hospitality granted others.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Aggressors Unnamed in Rwanda-DRC “Peace Agreement”
    02 Jul 2025
    Rwandan and M23 forces are the aggressors in the DRC. They are integrated under Rwandan command.
  • Jon Jeter
    Mamdani’s Train is Running But Blacks Wonder if There is Space for Them
    02 Jul 2025
    Zohran Mamdani’s democratic socialist vision won NYC’s primary but lost Black voters to scandal-plagued Cuomo by 20 points, exposing the left’s racial blind spot even as Wall Street prepares to spend…
  • Maurice Carney
    Donald Trump’s Congo Venture: A Scramble for Minerals Under the Guise of Peace
    02 Jul 2025
    Trump’s ‘peace deal’ between Rwanda and the DRC is a corporate resource grab disguised as diplomacy, rewarding Rwandan war crimes while U.S. investors stake claims to Congo’s coltan mines.
  • Hanna Eid
    Mariategui and American Labor
    02 Jul 2025
    Capitalism’s accelerating crises demand a pan-American labor revolt against Trump’s plundering, bipartisan imperialism, and the neoliberal NAFTA. José Carlos Mariátegui’s century-old warnings are…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us