Sean Bell and the NYCP

So, what, NOW I can suddenly post? Evidently, my account is accessible again, although blogger has been claiming for months now that my passwords are invalid and my e-mail doesn't exist.
Well, I exist now, I guess, right in time for a rant about the latest "resurgence of American racism"- a case from 2006, in fact, though I haven't heard anything about it until recently - the shooting of New Yorker Sean Bell, who was killed the night before his wedding.
Since Bell was black, or, as the more politically correct sources will tell you, "African American", (I hate that phrase. I don't go around having people refer to me as "European American", do I? Why not get more specific? Why not "Mostly-Irish-with-traces-of-German-and-Scottish-American?") many have stated that the shooting was, of course, the result of racism.

Ok, first of all, I do think the police, in this case, were too violent. Bell was out celebrating his bachelor party when one of his friends was heard threatening to shoot one of the women in the club they were attending. Fearing violence, the police came by the club as Bell and his friends were leaving via car, ordering Bell to stop his vehicle and put up his hands. The intoxicated Bell, however, accelerated and drove his car into another vehicle. What did the police do? They opened fire, not stopping until an even 50 bullets had been sent through Bell alone, naturally.
I know Bell had a past criminal record, but he did not deserve to die for being drunk and stupid. On the other hand, answering those who claim that Bell wouldn't have died if he were not black, two of the three police officers who gunned him down were black themselves.
But, hey, this is America, so race MUST have had something to do with it, right? Yes, I think the police should try arresting drunk drivers instead of killing them, but it still makes me sick to think that people will try to pull non-existant racial tension into any situation to make it more sensational.