Dream Hampton on Renisha McBride and ‘Criminalizing Black Corpses’

In the interview, hampton articulated what's at the core of anger surrounding the case.

By Jamilah King Nov 13, 2013

Writer, filmmaker and activist dream hampton made an appearance on Democracy Now alongside Dawud Walid, the executive director for the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The two spoke to host Amy Goodman about the ongoing outcry in Detroit for accountability in the aftermath of the shooting of Renisha McBride, an unarmed 19-year-old black women who was killed by a white homeowner after she reportedly sought help following a car accident. In the interview, hampton articulated what’s at the core of anger surrounding the case:

AMY GOODMAN: So, there was a toxicology test given to the victim, to Renisha McBride’s body, but Ted Wafer was not tested? Is that the case?

DREAM HAMPTON: I mean, unless they–unless the Dearborn Heights Police Department produces a toxicology report from that night, which would, to me, seem standard procedure–if someone claims that there was an accidental shooting at their home, then it seems that–it would seem that they would be tested for alcohol or drugs. A toxicology report on Renisha McBride’s body is more criminalization of black corpses. I don’t make the analogy to Trayvon in this case. I think Jonathan Ferrell, killed in North Carolina by the police while he was seeking help after an accident, is a far–

AMY GOODMAN: Now, he was the Florida A&M football player who gets in a car accident, is running toward police, and they shoot him dead.

DREAM HAMPTON: Yes, he’s a better analogy, if we need make one; I don’t think that we need to. I think that we can deal with Renisha McBride and the life that was lost on its own merit. But this criminalization of black corpses is deeply troubling, as well. We saw this happen with Trayvon. We saw his public record, his school record, his attendance record, whether or not he had ever smoked pot–you know, this teenager, like, kind of criminalized even as he was a corpse. I’m not interested in seeing that happen again with Renisha McBride. Like the family, I’m hopeful that Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who, as you know, Amy, has a very serious reputation, will do the right thing and bring justice for the McBride family.