Hello World,
First of all, I must say outside of launching my debut novel “Destination Wedding” and writing OWN “Greenleaf” recaps, I don’t have much else bandwidth to write on complicated issues on this blog. (After December, God willing, I will be posting as normal.) However, I’m sure you saw Brandt Jean hug Amber Guyger, the convicted murderer of his brother Botham Shem Jean, as gesture of forgiveness last week in that Texas courtroom. It was breathtaking. If you haven’t, see it below…Following this video is my Facebook reaction to it…
I think the discussion (click on the post to see the full discussion) that happened as a result of my post encompasses all of the variables that influences my complicated reaction…What say you?
Also, here is my original post about Botham Shem Jean in September 2018…
White Greenville Oaks Church of Christ Lead Minister Collin Packer Shares Support of Black Slain Worship Leader Botham Shem Jean…Any thoughts?
I can’t judge Brandt Jean’s behavior towards Amber Guyger because I haven’t lost any of my siblings due to gun violence or by a cop. If forgiving Amber and hugging her helped him heal, then I can’t be mad at that because everybody deals with grief differently. So I feel bad that he is dealing with backlash because nobody is in his shoes so let him be. Now as for the Judge, that’s a different story. I was PISSED at Judge Kemp and the black bailiff who rubbed Amber Guyger’s hair to comfort her.
I know for a fact that Judges are supposed to be impartial, and Judge Kemp’s actions contracted everything. Amber Guyger was CONVICTED for Murder, and hugging Amber sends true mixed messages of who is the bad person. It’s like if the jury found a person innocent and the judge who disagrees with the findings says out loud “Well although you’re found innocent, I still think you’re guilty and an evil person.” That’s uncalled for. The smarter move for Judge Kemp is to hug Amber Guyger in private without the cameras. She could’ve easily done that, and there wouldn’t be as much backlash. Why did she do it in front of the cameras? That’s one of my big questions. The most powerful move is for her to hug Brandt and Amber together because the media spins the situation to look as though she only hugged Amber Guyger and not Botham Jean’s family. For her actions, it looks as if she was on Amber’s side throughout the whole hearing. Judge Kemp was the one who brought out the suggestion of the “Castle Doctrine” for the defense when it didn’t really apply to Amber’s circumstance.
I actually live in Dallas, and I know they better be lucky that I wasn’t in the jury because I’m so immune to “white woman tears.” I guess the thing that I’m frustrated about is that if Judge Kemp showed that type of compassion to a murderer, then why doesn’t she do that to ALL convicts in her court. We all know that Judge Kemp doesn’t hug all the convicts in her court and give them a bible. It’s extreme favoritism which is why so many black people are angry. The primary thing that I know exists because of what happened in this case is “Police Privileged” Amber Guyger got special treatment because she was Dallas cop.
For example, it took 3 days since she killed Botham Jean to get arrested. They didn’t book her in Dallas but in Kaufman county. I remember watching the court case online, and I saw the black female bailiff rub her head as a form of support. I shook my head and thought if the murderer was a black woman or black man who killed her sibling, would she have done the same thing too? They really do protect the Blue, and that’s why I don’t agree with slogans “Support the blue” or “Blue Lives Matter.”
It’s very tragic, and an unnecessary event that took place. The only good thing about this case is that there’s one less bad cop in Dallas. That’s all I can say about that. We have stay prayed up and protect our brothers and sisters. Love you Sis. Jackie.
As you said, I kind of taken aback by the judge hugging the Amber Guyger and I thought it was just inappropriate for the bailiff to stroke her hair…As you said, if you do it for one convicted murderer, then it should be done for all… I respect the work of the police, but there are some bad police officers out there. It doesn’t have to be Black Lives Matter v. Blue Lives Matter although many have made it that way…Love you too Sis. Ilyssa 🙂