By Selwyn Duke

There is a racial double standard in the Eric Garner affair — one hardly anyone is talking about.

The July 17 New York City arrest incident after which the 400-pound Garner died, and which has sparked protests around the nation, was reportedly supervised by a black female commanding officer, Sergeant Kizzy Adoni. And while the focus has been on Officer Daniel Pantaleo, the white policeman who placed Garner in the much discussed choke-hold, a few are asking a question: Doesn’t the buck stop with the person in charge?

This certainly seems the point of view of another black woman, Cheryl Dorsey, a retired 20-year veteran sergeant of the Los Angeles Police Department. She says, writing at LA Progressive, “The female sergeant on scene had an affirmative responsibility to take control of the officers, the situation and thus Eric Garner. The sergeant failed.”

Of all those who believe the NYPD acted inappropriately in the Garner affair, Dorsey, interestingly, is one of the few not placing a greater onus on an underling, Pantaleo, than on the person in charge, Adoni.

Read the rest here.