Gayle King Says It Feels Like ‘Open Season’ On Black Men After Racial Incidents
During Tuesday’s broadcast of “CBS This Morning,” Gayle King appeared visibly shaken up on-air while viewing footage of two racially charged incidents that occurred over the weekend.
The first video showed the encounter between New Yorker Amy Cooper and Christan Cooper. The woman was walking her dog when Christan asked her to put a leash on her pet while in Central Park. While being confronted, Amy who is white can be seen calling the cops on Christan, who is black while falsely claiming that he was threatening her life. Following a wave of backlash, she was fired this Tuesday from her job.
The second video showed the heartbreaking moment a black man dies following his arrest on suspicion of forgery. A clip from the incident shows George Floyd being held down by a police officer who is pressing his knee down on the man’s neck. Floyd can be heard telling the police “I can’t breathe.” He eventually loses consciousness and later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Four of the officers involved in the Monday incident have been fired. “Once again I say thank goodness that there’s videotape,” said King after viewing the footage. “As the daughter of a black man and the mother of a black man, this is really too much for me today.” She went on to say,
“I’m still rattled by this last story and she’s practically strangling her dog to make these false accusations against another black man,” she continued, referencing the Minneapolis incident as well. “I’m still so upset by that last story where the man is handcuffed underneath a car where people are pleading he can’t breathe and we’re watching a man die.”
She added,
“So we go from that story to this story, where she falsely accuses a black man on television,” continued King. “I don’t even know what to do or how to handle this at this particular time. I know that this is … I am speechless. I am really, really speechless about what we’re seeing in television this morning. It feels to me like an open season and it’s not sometimes a safe place to be in this country for black men and today it’s too much for me.”
“So we go from that story to this story, where she falsely accuses a black man on television,” continued King. “I don’t even know what to do or how to handle this at this particular time. I know that this is … I am speechless. I am really, really speechless about what we’re seeing in television this morning. It feels to me like an open season and it’s not sometimes a safe place to be in this country for black men and today it’s too much for me.”
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