On Nov. 2, a 19-year-old Black woman was shot in the face in Dearborn Heights, a Detroit suburb. After crashing on a residential street in Detroit, McBride emerged disoriented saying that she wanted to go home. Hours later at about 1 a.m. and about six blocks away from the site of the car crash, McBride knocked on Theodore Wafer’s door, a white homeowner, where Wafer proceeded to shoot McBride in the face with a shotgun.
Needless to say, in the days following McBride’s killing, tensions have arisen between the Black community in Detroit and the whiter suburbs. Protesters organized a vigil outside the home where McBride was brutally shot; at the time, the shooter had not been publicly identified. Family and friends of McBride wore shirts that read “Justice for Nisha,” because in the days after the shooting, the shooter had yet to be arrested.
It is difficult to ignore the comparisons between this case and other racially motivated cases such as that of Trayvon Martin. Martin, a 17-year-old unarmed African American, was shot by George Zimmerman in February 2012. Zimmerman claimed that Martin looked “suspicious” and “threatening.” Zimmerman pursued and shot Martin, facing no legal consequence until 44 days after the shooting when he was arrested. In July 2013, Zimmerman was acquitted for Trayvon’s murder. Anti-racists knew this verdict ould give rise to many more George Zimmermans. Much of the same rhetoric is being used in Renisha McBride’s case; the authorities claim that Wafer believed McBride was trying to break into his home. Again, there is the potential for an argument for self-defense, as was used by Zimmerman.
On Nov. 15, the county prosecutor charged Wafer with second degree murder and manslaughter. This case brings up many questions and inconsistencies. Some may ask why Renisha McBride was in a white neighborhood knocking on doors. Others may ask why hours passed between the car crash and her knocking on Wafer’s doorstep. Yet others focus on the fact that Renisha McBride was intoxicated when she crashed. Yet, none of these facts address the most important question: Why did Theodore Wafer feel justified in shooting a young Black woman in the face with a shotgun?
Killing a Black man, much less a Black woman, does not result in legal repercussions for the attacker. Trayvon Martin, Shantel Davis, Sean Bell, Islan Nettles, Ramarley Graham, Reynaldo Cuevas, (and the list can go) are all Black and Brown people who were killed by those who felt entitled to police the existence of oppressed people. The racist, capitalist system we live under does not care about the lives of Black women—their bodies are viewed as disposable and only valuable when being exploited to bring profits to capitalists.
We must organize and fight back to demand justice for Renisha McBride. McBride’s family deserves justice and we cannot allow another racist killer to walk free with impunity; we must protect the lives of Black and Brown youth.
