CNN host Chris Cuomo said state and local governments have been slow to act on reforming police services and will continue to be slow until “white people’s kids start getting killed.”
“Shootings, gun laws, access to weapons. Oh, I know when they’ll change. Your kids start getting killed, white people’s kids start getting killed,” Cuomo said. “Take the time to consider if there is anything resembling an ‘us’ anymore. Does anyone see America the way you want her to be? Do any of you see a people with a purpose that resembles anything like the dream?”
The comment came during a Friday segment on Cuomo Prime Time in which the CNN host said lawmakers across the country have yet to act seriously on gun laws or police reform.
“’What is going on with these police? Maybe we shouldn’t even have police,’” Cuomo added. “That kind of mania, that kind of madness, that will be you.”
Cuomo then speculated that change could ultimately come about if black people begin to arm themselves and form militias.
“You’ll see a wave of change in access and accountability. We saw it in the ’60s,” he said.
Cuomo theorized that change could come about if people came together and focused on each other’s humanity. “Us and them. Us and them. There’s never a solution that doesn’t begin with ‘we. We, the people,’” he concluded.
During CNN’s next weeknight show, CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, Lemon hosted Cuomo, and the two continued the discussion on race relations and police reform.
“I like seeing black and white together. I like seeing old and young. I like seeing constituencies coming together even if they don’t share the same experience. When they get loud and yell at the police and how angry they are, nobody says everything you are supposed to say is polite, and anybody who felt that way lost that privilege after Jan. 6 when they did not speak about what happened there,” Cuomo said.
“They are taking a knee, and they are polite. When they start yelling how this is a 13-year-old kid and he turned and had no gun in his hands, how is that right? They have every right to yell and be angry about it. I would argue if you are not angry and you are not outraged, it doesn’t have the energy that catches the ear of those in power.”
Lemon said: “You know what would be great? Look, I like to see diversity, too, and people together, black and white, whatever it is. But wouldn’t it be great if it is all middle-aged white guys out there to say this to stop? Can you imagine?”
“If it were people like me whose kids were getting shot by cops, this would have ended a long time ago,” Cuomo answered.
“Or never started,” Lemon said. “I know people say, ‘Oh, white people get killed by cops.’ If it is wrong, it is wrong. It does not matter what color they are. People take videos. You see the videos of white people getting stopped by cops and running over them and dragging them around and still living.”
Author: Lawrence Richard
Source: Washington Examiner: Chris Cuomo: US won’t act on police reform until ‘white people’s kids start getting killed’
