While living in New York City in the mid-1990’s, news stories of white male police officers shooting African American males as young as ten years old grabbed my attention. The pattern was drearily predictable. A white policeman/men would shoot a black male because he/they mistook a candy bar, pocket knife, water gun, cell phone, set of keys, or other nonlethal weapon as lethal; or because a black male did something that seemed suspiciously threatening; or after mistakenly invading the wrong apartment in an attempt to find illegal drugs. White male politicians would insist that no judgments be made until the matter was investigated, usually on media outlets geared towards white men. Columnists and talk show hosts from progressive media sources and on black talk radio would interview friends and/or parents of the victim and criticize what they viewed as institutional racism within the police department. In all but one case, no charges were filed, and in that case, the police officer was acquitted after the trial was moved to a location that white people dominated.

Like most people throughout the political spectrum, I believe that most law enforcement officials do good work, often in difficult environments. Over time, though, I began wondering why only white policemen seem to use excessive force; indeed, I had never heard of a policewoman or African American policeman use excessive force when confronting a white male–

Until January 13, 2015, when I read a column on Townhall.com written by JOHN Kass entitled “WWII Vet’s Death a Textbook Case of Excessive Force, But No Hashtag for Him.”

According to Mr. Kass, the police were called to an assistive living center in July, 2013, to subdue a 95-year-old World War II veteran. The five police officers, upon arrival, thought that the veteran was carrying a machete, which in reality was a shoehorn. The 95-year-old man resisted arrest because he was “afraid and delusional” due to an untreated urinary tract infection, and might have had a knife. One of the officers “pulled the trigger again and again, firing beanbag rounds at close range into the old man’s guts”, shredding his insides and killing him.

Mr. Kass concludes his column as follows:

“And after all this time, after so much silence from authorities, after so much silence from political officials who avoided mentioning (name of victim), we’ll have something in this case I’ve been waiting for: testimony under oath.

“I told you I wouldn’t let this go. I’ll be there.”

I found Mr. Kass’s discussion of the case’s racial angle disturbing. After indicating that a black police officer had shot a white person, he wrote:

“I’m uncomfortable mentioning race in connection with this crime. I know people use it easily, but I’ve avoided it because there is no information that race had anything to do with it. … To me it’s immaterial. But I’d be lying if I didn’t wonder how this story would have been covered if the races were aligned for optimum racial political leverage.”

Dude, everyone is uncomfortable talking about race. And to say race is irrelevant to you concerning this case is silly, as you spend much of your column complaining about how it isn’t being publicized as much as recent cases in Ferguson, Missouri and Queens, New York.

Let’s bear in mind that police officers’ use of excessive force has been a major concern of the African American community, whereas my white friends and I have never expressed a fear of an African American policeman shooting us. Let’s also remember that, unlike most of the “white policemen using excessive force on a black male, justice has the chance to emerge through a jury trial scheduled to start this week. Let’s also consider that when roles are reversed, media talking heads and activists are required to do something other than regurgitate talking points — often way too difficult for these automatons.

As we reflect on Dr. King’s dream that his “four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” it is worth pondering that this character evaluation sometimes takes place in the blink of an eye, which can lead to tragic results.