We hear the same story on a different day over and over again. This time, it may be the same story. But there’s a different tune. A different melody and definitely a different verse. Maybe it isn’t the same tune after all.

In the recent news, the city of Philadelphia was the death place of yet another police officer. Office Christopher Fitzgerald was a son, husband, and father. He was a police officer for Temple University. I’m the midst of doing his job to try to stop crime, he became the victim of one more heinous. Although this story is all too familiar, there are different characters in the story of Office Fitzgerald’s untimely demise.

Miles Pfeffer was in the midst of committing a robbery when he was stopped and which resulted in him  becoming a cop killer. Miles was not a young man of color from the slums and ghetto of the inner city. Nor was Miles the child of a crack addicted mother or absentee father. Nope. That false narrative that men of black and brown hues are painted with does not apply in this crime. Miles was in fact the son of a medical doctor and resides outside of the City of Brotherly love in an affluent suburb. So now that we know the story ain’t quite the same, how will the rest of it play out?

We have seen with our own eyes what happens to far too many king black men when encountering the police. And this isn’t to say that others should receive the same criminal mistreatment when apprehended. But why can’t our black and brown men be treated so delicately as those who are apprehended from the other side of the tracks? Why is the media so blatant in their reporting disparities when given the description of murders that look like John F. Kennedy’s grandchildren vs those grandchildren of Malcolm X? Or is it just fair to see equality is an illusion?

We pray for the family of Officer Fitzgerald as they now belong to a club of which no one ever seeks admission. Losing a family member in any capacity can  be a tough pull to swallow, but imaginable more difficult when it’s a senseless vicious crime. Those men and women take on a job where they know their lives are on the line daily, yet they still do it daily. 

Rest in Peace Officer Christopher Fitzgerald. 

Check out Episode 111: The Other Side of the Tracks. Like, comment, share and subscribe. Don’t forget to follow @act2_thepodcast. 

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