Dirty Dancing To Sordid Injustice

Two opposable thumbs up for the “Dirty Dancing” performance at the Straz. Pure fun, especially for someone who grew up in doo-wop Philly and still remembers the lyrics to “Duke Of Earl,” “Love Is Strange,” “In The Still Of The Night” and “Do You Love Me?” Speaking of:

“You broke my heart, ’cause I couldn’t dance. You didn’t even want me around.                           And now I’m back, to let you know. I can really shake ’em down. Do you love me?”

Now, those were some lyrics. Thanks again, Contours.

But in the midst of a shout-out to the music and moods of the ’60s, there was also an added back-story element not in the coming-of-age, 1987 movie.

Yes, the family of teenaged Frances “Baby” Houseman was vacationing in the Catskills’ Borscht Belt, and that was faithfully and effectively rendered. And, yes, “Baby” had a crush on a gigolo dancer that did justice to the Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze dynamic. But while “Baby” had an idealized side that envisioned the Peace Corps one day, the stage musical added extra 1963 context: the civil rights movement and freedom rides.

Cue: “We Shall Overcome.” Literally.

It proved beyond ironic as this country and this downtown were grappling with the incomprehensible Eric Garner case and prospective, “die-in” demonstrations. I doubt that my wife and I were the only ones who were grounded in mid-reverie.

Frankly, reveries may be a luxury we don’t societally deserve until we all get this one right.

I’ll forego elaborating on the ironies of “Black Lives Matter” and black-on-black crime rates. I’ll also editorially pass on the implied extortion that is “No justice, No Peace” signage. This isn’t Michael Brown and partisan cherry picking. To paraphrase Richard Pryor, “Who you gonna believe, the grand jury or your lying eyes?”

How do you leave the Straz humming “Time of My Life” when no one was indicted for the take-down, choke-hold, chest-depressing videoed death of a black guy accused of selling untaxed cigarettes on a Staten Island sidewalk?  How do you square a grand jury’s vote not to indict with the New York City medical examiner’s labeling of Garner’s death a homicide?

How do you not see this as a watershed moment for America? Why are there not permanent special prosecutors for such high-profile, flashpoint cases? Or is the fealty between police officers and prosecutors not worth noting?

Why do we still tolerate–via our grand jury system–a police-coddling culture when it comes to police officers killing civilians?  The benefit of the doubt to those who put their lives on the line for the public? A tie-breaker in our post-9/11 world?

Understandable. But not in the context of an “I can’t breathe” video showing a fatal choke hold followed by EMS indifference.

If justice is to ultimately prevail, it will have to come from Washington. To that end, President Barack Obama, who’s not about to roll out the bully pulpit on this one, has set up a task force on policing. More importantly, a Justice Department investigation is underway in New York. Intriguingly, it is being led by U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch. Recall that Lynch is the no-nonsense, African-American nominee to replace Eric Holder as attorney general. Talk about a crucible.

The upshot must be this: The legal system has to be the same for everybody. Black or white. Civilian or uniformed. There’s no dancing around that reality.

This is 2014. Not 1963. We haven’t overcome nearly enough.

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