How would his mom's accent counteract them trynna assassinate his character? I thought we were all black?
I meant no disrespect when I wrote that.
I'm just thinking strategically here. I (think) we all agree that the DPD's strategy here is to try and put Botham in the worst light possible. That's usually the cops' opening move anytime there's a white officer that kills a black man - it helps prejudice the jury pool against the innocent victim and improve the chances that the officer is acquitted. Remember what they did with Trayvon, Mike Brown, etc. Straight from the white cop defense textbook.
His mom speaking publicly helps counteract that - that accent of hers helps "soften" Botham's image among potential white jurors. Like I wrote, whites associate that accent with positive life experiences, and don't find it "threatening" they way they do a standard AADOS accent. That's just reality. I hate that it's that way, but it is what it is.
Does her island accent make potential white jurors
empathize with Botham? No. He's still black, and they're still white - I'm not expecting some magical reversal of hundreds of years of oppression. But it
does let the Jean family reclaim some ground in the battle for white public opinion - he goes from "thug"
(what the DPD
desperately wants to paint him as
) who couldn't possibly deserve anything but a bullet from a cop to "random black dude." Random black dude status
still isn't even ground as far as seeking justice...but it's a huge improvement over "thug."
I just want Botham's family to have the best chance at putting this bytch on death row. From what I can see, his mom speaking out helps accomplish that.
So, essentially what you're saying is, you'd like Botham's family to receive justice, even if it has to be done on the backs of AADOS? That you'd like to carve out a 'Police, don't kill ME, I'm not the one you want' set-aside for black foreigners?