When I got back from my two weeks in the blue states, and as I slowly immersed myself back into bizarre red state politics, one of the strangest stories was that of Sandra Bland. I saw the video of her stop, heard of her subsequent arrest, and then ... she was dead. We appear to be debating whether her death was suicide or not. I keep coming back to how on earth a police officer could treat a citizen the way Brian Encinia did to Sandra Bland.
I have lots of feelings about officers of the law, going back to being a teen in Warwick, Rhode Island, in the late 60's. Back then they were shining lights into the car while we were "parking." And I learned very early in my driving career to be more alert for cop cars than for speed limit and stop signs. To this day when a cop is driving behind me I go into high alert, worried that even though I am going the speed limit I might get stopped if I venture one or two miles faster, or for something else entirely.
And I am a white-haired white woman.
I can't fathom being stopped for a minor traffic violation and having my attitude questioned. Or being told to put out a cigarette, in my own car. I can't begin to imagine having to worry about being taken to jail for minor violations.
I think when all the cop on black killings began to be aired after Michael Brown was shot in Ferguson we all just assumed it had been black men than were being targeted. Initially it appeared that it was police reacting to what might have been honestly perceived as a dangerous situation, but when a man was shot in South Carolina after reaching for his license during a stop for a seat belt violation, the racism inherent in the choices being made by police became obvious.
Then a group of black teens -- children -- were assaulted by police at a pool party. We've seen the bits on the news, the "most hilarious" moment when the cop has his Bruce Willis moment. But take seven minutes to watch the unedited youtube video to capture the horrific reality of what raising a black child in America is all about. It brings me to tears imagining that there are children in this country that could be treated that way.
Because I am a white-haired white woman, I tend to be treated with respect by police officers in Charleston, even when I have been speeding. And when I stepped out of my car to get my pocketbook in the back seat. I have even had an officer stop and change a flat tire for me. But I do remember that there was a time back in the 60's when cops were the enemies. I was a teen in a RI suburb, but as I got a few years older, and became interested in the Vietnam protests and saw the paranoia of the Nixon years, I became aware of the potential for violence in our police force.
So many years ago, and in all that time, violence has continued to be perpetrated against African Americans by cops. It must be so ingrained in the structure of the police force that even video cameras can't prevent the violence.
There has been such a history of police violence in our country. It runs so deep and has been so well-protected that I am cynical about the potential for change. If videos don't stop the violence and grand juries side with the cops, if a woman can be ordered to put out her cigarette in her own car and be arrested, if black men continue to be shot for totally innocent and reasonable behavior, if there are cops who will segregate children by their skin color and treat them as dangerous criminals, if there are police that will unite to protect fellow officers regardless of their behavior, what is there to do?
I imagine that much of it rests with the media. There hasn't been all that much attention to Sandra Bland. I don't know if it would be more upsetting if this were true because she is a woman or because the media has gotten tired of spending weeks focused on extreme police misconduct. Maybe she would be getting more attention if she had been shot on the scene. We may never know whether there was foul play in prison or if she committed suicide. I suspect that the arresting cop was attempting to find her emotionally unstable from the moment she questioned his motives. Calling women hysterical when they question authority has been going on since the Victorian era. And with the likelihood of publicity, I imagine each cop who oversteps begins to try to figure out justifications for his behaviors at the very scene of his crime. You could see this playing out as the various police yelled at the black kids at the pool party.
We need to keep shining light on these incidents. We need to hound the media to continue to focus on all these many crimes against civilians. With enough pressure and publicity, some towns have begun to change their policies. It will take changing hiring practices and training and supervisory techniques. It will take towns whose police chiefs see their officers as part of the community rather than seeing the people in the community as enemies. It will take a whole realignment of the perception of when violence is necessary, and that realignment is in learning to see and hear what is really going on and truly become peace officers, cops who calm a situation rather than create fear.
When a cop attacks a black child, or an innocent black man or woman, he is attacking the world we live in. He is creating disharmony, fear and hatred. He is making it harder for good cops to do their job. We need to continue to turn the attention of the country to each incident, even as they pile up and because there are so many, until there are no acceptable excuses and the face of the police in America has changed.
Showing posts with label Police shootings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Police shootings. Show all posts
Monday, August 3, 2015
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Underground Racism
It seems fair to say, despite the pontifications of Chief Justice John Roberts, that racism has not come to an end. I wonder why nobody has asked him to share his wisdom regarding the shootings of black men by white police officers. It must have something to do with that ginormous buffer zone the justices have protecting them from the actual real world. Which also explains why we would never expect Clarence Thomas to have to worry about white cops.
It was inevitable that we in South Carolina would have our turn in the national spotlight over a police shooting. In fact it happened too briefly a year ago, and other times before that.
I was surprised to hear an MSNBC reporter yesterday note that of over 200 police shootings in South Carolina, none were convicted of a crime. I recalled the terrifying dashcam video of last summer's shooting of an unarmed black man who was reaching for his license and registration after being stopped for not having his seat belt on. It turns out that the officer involved was fired and charged with assault and battery, but not yet tried. It seems we need to keep a close eye on that case.
Because it should be obvious to anyone other than five members of the Supreme Court that racism is alive and well. And not just in the south. The stereotypes of dangerous black men and black women who live high off the welfare system haven't died; they had just gone underground. It may be that it took a black president to bring the paranoia out in the open. And it took authorities like the majority of the Supreme Court to give their blessing to racially motivated aggression.
Where was all that racism before it became legal to deny blacks the right to vote via the voter ID bandwagon and selectively limiting polling places, hours and locations? And we hadn't had quite such a rage against people on welfare and food stamps since Ronald Reagan's bullshit about the welfare queen in the Cadillac. While the media was enjoying the Obama birth certificate nonsense, the racists were beginning to crawl out from under their rocks.
As a white woman, I can testify to the fact that there has always been racism. Because every now and then, someone would say to me something along the lines of "You know what they're like." Wink, nudge. I find it bizarre, and yet, if you're like me, when it's happened to you white folk who are reading this, you may not have said, "No, I don't," or, "Yeah, probably like me." We don't confront the crazies because, well, they are crazy. After all, they've made assumptions that all we white folk are like they are and believe what they know to be fact. So, like me, you probably backed away from the conversation, maybe discretely shaking your head as you went.
We know the racists are out there. We know the stereotypes. The only way to change that nonsense is for white and blacks to live, work, go to school with each other. We've known that for a long time. And yet even when schools are integrated it is pretty likely that the social groups aren't. And even a liberal democrat such as myself finds that I am in a social group with white women.
So we self-select. But we still need to talk among each other. We need to share space. And most important, we need to stop the racists from perpetuating the racist myths. We need our politicians to stop playing to our fears. We need to insist that our judges don't hold ridiculous stereotypes. We definitely need to screen those who hold racist beliefs out of our police forces and our schools.
My mother used to tell the story of a teacher in her elementary school (circa 1925) who hated Italians. She thought they were dirty and stupid. As my mother walked down the stairs, this teacher gave her a little kick to help her along. We've mostly all been there. These days it's the Hispanics who are called dirty and stupid. Segregating ourselves from others who are different, stereotyping those we don't know well enough to understand, this may be the human condition. But we are all in a position to step up and stop the nonsense when it happens. The media needs to do it, the courts need to do it.
But I don't see that on the horizon. Fox News, the right-wing politicians, and big corporate powers like the Kochs have too much to gain by fueling the hate. Until our authorities step up, as Lyndon Johnson did when he said no to racism and put his full power behind the American law and a true belief in equality, we will have to whip out the cell phones and make the cops wear body cams. It won't end racism, and the cameras won't be enough. We've had blacks shot and strangled on camera, and the cops gotten off by not-so-grand juries and prosecutors who were on the side of the cops. It will take vigilance, protests, media focus to stop the killing of innocent blacks that has gone on throughout the country's history. It is good that the tragic killings of Trayvon Martin and of Michael Brown in Ferguson woke us up from our delusions. But we need to understand that those talks that dads have with their black sons about the police have always gone on, and we need to know that the society that makes that necessary has got to change.
It was inevitable that we in South Carolina would have our turn in the national spotlight over a police shooting. In fact it happened too briefly a year ago, and other times before that.
I was surprised to hear an MSNBC reporter yesterday note that of over 200 police shootings in South Carolina, none were convicted of a crime. I recalled the terrifying dashcam video of last summer's shooting of an unarmed black man who was reaching for his license and registration after being stopped for not having his seat belt on. It turns out that the officer involved was fired and charged with assault and battery, but not yet tried. It seems we need to keep a close eye on that case.
Because it should be obvious to anyone other than five members of the Supreme Court that racism is alive and well. And not just in the south. The stereotypes of dangerous black men and black women who live high off the welfare system haven't died; they had just gone underground. It may be that it took a black president to bring the paranoia out in the open. And it took authorities like the majority of the Supreme Court to give their blessing to racially motivated aggression.
Where was all that racism before it became legal to deny blacks the right to vote via the voter ID bandwagon and selectively limiting polling places, hours and locations? And we hadn't had quite such a rage against people on welfare and food stamps since Ronald Reagan's bullshit about the welfare queen in the Cadillac. While the media was enjoying the Obama birth certificate nonsense, the racists were beginning to crawl out from under their rocks.
As a white woman, I can testify to the fact that there has always been racism. Because every now and then, someone would say to me something along the lines of "You know what they're like." Wink, nudge. I find it bizarre, and yet, if you're like me, when it's happened to you white folk who are reading this, you may not have said, "No, I don't," or, "Yeah, probably like me." We don't confront the crazies because, well, they are crazy. After all, they've made assumptions that all we white folk are like they are and believe what they know to be fact. So, like me, you probably backed away from the conversation, maybe discretely shaking your head as you went.
We know the racists are out there. We know the stereotypes. The only way to change that nonsense is for white and blacks to live, work, go to school with each other. We've known that for a long time. And yet even when schools are integrated it is pretty likely that the social groups aren't. And even a liberal democrat such as myself finds that I am in a social group with white women.
So we self-select. But we still need to talk among each other. We need to share space. And most important, we need to stop the racists from perpetuating the racist myths. We need our politicians to stop playing to our fears. We need to insist that our judges don't hold ridiculous stereotypes. We definitely need to screen those who hold racist beliefs out of our police forces and our schools.
My mother used to tell the story of a teacher in her elementary school (circa 1925) who hated Italians. She thought they were dirty and stupid. As my mother walked down the stairs, this teacher gave her a little kick to help her along. We've mostly all been there. These days it's the Hispanics who are called dirty and stupid. Segregating ourselves from others who are different, stereotyping those we don't know well enough to understand, this may be the human condition. But we are all in a position to step up and stop the nonsense when it happens. The media needs to do it, the courts need to do it.
But I don't see that on the horizon. Fox News, the right-wing politicians, and big corporate powers like the Kochs have too much to gain by fueling the hate. Until our authorities step up, as Lyndon Johnson did when he said no to racism and put his full power behind the American law and a true belief in equality, we will have to whip out the cell phones and make the cops wear body cams. It won't end racism, and the cameras won't be enough. We've had blacks shot and strangled on camera, and the cops gotten off by not-so-grand juries and prosecutors who were on the side of the cops. It will take vigilance, protests, media focus to stop the killing of innocent blacks that has gone on throughout the country's history. It is good that the tragic killings of Trayvon Martin and of Michael Brown in Ferguson woke us up from our delusions. But we need to understand that those talks that dads have with their black sons about the police have always gone on, and we need to know that the society that makes that necessary has got to change.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Not Too Bright, But Busy
Arlo Guthrie once said about Ronald Reagan that he doesn't mind our President nodding off because, "The more he sleeps, the safer we are."
These days I am wishing that folks like South Carolina state senator Lee Bright would take a few naps. He has been using his pent-up anger and frustration at being passed over for Congress (in favor of the ultra-liberal Lindsey Graham) by redoubling his efforts to fill the state dockets with the same worthless bills he failed to get through in the last legislative session. In fact, he has thus far already sponsored some forty bills.
Why this self-aggrandizing good Christian can't take a break for the Christmas holiday just defeats me. He sure could stand to say a few prayers for guidance.
The bills he has sponsored (and co-sponsored with fellow idiot Larry Grooms) are mostly anti-abortion and pro-gun bills, with a smattering of anti-Obama. Not too bright, and no new ideas, but enough vitriol to keep all his right-wingnut supporters happy -- well, actually, to keep them angry. Maybe if he can raise the level of ugly just a little tiny bit more he'll be able to oust Graham in six more years.
Lee Bright's dream for South Carolina is a state where the fed'ral gub-mint keeps its hands off our weapons, and the state is free to stick its business in women's private parts, if you know what I mean. Don't need the feds to help make sure the women -- and the girls -- stay pregnant and stay home; South Carolina has been fighting hard to maintain that status quo all by its own self.
Here is what I want to know: why do our reasonable legislators (and we really do have some) always seem to be in the position of chasing after the nutcases? People like Lee Bright clog our legislature with destructive bills, bills that attack freedom of religion, right to privacy, the right of licensed medical professionals to provide the best care without government interference, the right to be safe from people of poor judgment carrying weapons, the right to vote. We could wallpaper the State House with bills that seek to prevent the state of South Carolina from having to follow federal laws.
I would like to see our reasonable legislators (have I mentioned that we do have some?) pre-filing bills that would enforce federal health care laws and force the governor to accept Medicaid funding, assure voting rights to all, bills that would require that the government not invade the privacy of women in their doctors' offices, and that medical professionals are allowed to practice freely and without fear of government intervention. How about bills that keep guns out of public places? And bills that require additional police training in use of physical force and weapons so that citizens no longer risk getting shot by a panicked officer as they reach for their license and registration.
We don't need to always be finding ourselves on the defensive. Our legislators need to be as passionate about protecting the rights of South Carolinians as are idiots like Lee Bright about taking away those rights.
So sharpen your pencils and get out the paperwork. Maybe while Lee Bright is at Christmas mass schmoozing with the holy rollers we can get some good bills filed, and give him and his buddies something to keep him so busy he won't have time to file another stupid bill.
These days I am wishing that folks like South Carolina state senator Lee Bright would take a few naps. He has been using his pent-up anger and frustration at being passed over for Congress (in favor of the ultra-liberal Lindsey Graham) by redoubling his efforts to fill the state dockets with the same worthless bills he failed to get through in the last legislative session. In fact, he has thus far already sponsored some forty bills.
Why this self-aggrandizing good Christian can't take a break for the Christmas holiday just defeats me. He sure could stand to say a few prayers for guidance.
The bills he has sponsored (and co-sponsored with fellow idiot Larry Grooms) are mostly anti-abortion and pro-gun bills, with a smattering of anti-Obama. Not too bright, and no new ideas, but enough vitriol to keep all his right-wingnut supporters happy -- well, actually, to keep them angry. Maybe if he can raise the level of ugly just a little tiny bit more he'll be able to oust Graham in six more years.
Lee Bright's dream for South Carolina is a state where the fed'ral gub-mint keeps its hands off our weapons, and the state is free to stick its business in women's private parts, if you know what I mean. Don't need the feds to help make sure the women -- and the girls -- stay pregnant and stay home; South Carolina has been fighting hard to maintain that status quo all by its own self.
 |
| No new ideas from Lee Bright |
I would like to see our reasonable legislators (have I mentioned that we do have some?) pre-filing bills that would enforce federal health care laws and force the governor to accept Medicaid funding, assure voting rights to all, bills that would require that the government not invade the privacy of women in their doctors' offices, and that medical professionals are allowed to practice freely and without fear of government intervention. How about bills that keep guns out of public places? And bills that require additional police training in use of physical force and weapons so that citizens no longer risk getting shot by a panicked officer as they reach for their license and registration.
We don't need to always be finding ourselves on the defensive. Our legislators need to be as passionate about protecting the rights of South Carolinians as are idiots like Lee Bright about taking away those rights.
So sharpen your pencils and get out the paperwork. Maybe while Lee Bright is at Christmas mass schmoozing with the holy rollers we can get some good bills filed, and give him and his buddies something to keep him so busy he won't have time to file another stupid bill.
 |
| Praying for a good idea |
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
A Deadly Proposition
Yet another person shot by a police officer. As of September 22, there have been 34 officer involved shootings in South Carolina, promising to beat last year's 42. I am thankful that my son and daughter are not police officers. And I hope that they are never in a potential conflict situation with one. Because shooting has become the default option for police.
And while I hold the individual officer responsible for shooting innocent members of the community they patrol, the situation they find themselves in is not their fault.
The NRA is happy to promote the need for more guns to defend ourselves from threats that are unlikely to materialize -- unless we allow more people to indiscriminately own and carry guns. They have made lemonade out of the blood of victims for years, increasing the profits of the arms manufacturers that they truly represent. They seem to be having a great time doing it, too, filling their own coffers and convincing our pols that it is the NRA that is really in charge.
Which leads us to the other group that has been bought off by the arms industry, our very own legislators. We can laugh at Lindsey Graham's hysterical wanderings, once again recently featured by Jon Stewart. When Graham suggests that mothers should be armed with assault rifles at home:
it's fine to snicker, but we must also remind ourselves that he is one of the idiots that has the power to make our laws.
More locally, we have addressed the situation of gun violence with the bizarre legislation that allows those who feel naked without their guns to frequent bars and restaurants with their muzzles by their side. And in a partnership from hell, towns all over South Carolina and the nation have lined up for military gear, including tanks as well as assault rifles, from our own federal government, who despite all that talk about budget deficits just can't stop buying these things. And once you own a grenade launcher, doesn't your finger just itch to use it? The downside being the cost of training and practice, and, by the way, the lack of call for those particular services.
All the post 9-11 paranoia that has led to arming our local community governments for war naturally has resulted in a backlash of fear from citizens, with more and more instances cited of warrantless (and unwarranted) acts of violence against citizens. When you are all suited up for battle and have no terrorists to fight, it seems the next best thing is the local pot smoker or poker game, and sometimes the family dog becomes the collateral damage. In the case of the Texas German Shepherd Vinnie in 2013, the officers were at the wrong address in the wrong neighborhood, looking for someone wanted for god's sake for an expired vehicle registration.
Obviously, what happens next is we all need to get armed to protect ourselves from our own government, hence, all the phony fourth amendment nonsense. And when scared citizens get armed, and you have scared police wielding weapons, you have the daily barrage of unnecessary death in a war zone of our own invention.
On September 18, in Georgia, police shot a man who was handcuffed in their cruiser after being arrested, when they failed to find the gun he was carrying in their search.
And South Carolina made international headlines in March when a York County officer shot a 70-year-old man who was reaching into the back of his car for his cane at a traffic stop.
The community response to the shooting of Michael Brown in St. Louis is a reflection of the national fury over a country that encourages its citizens and its defenders to see each other as potential combatants.
So it's really a matter of who will be next. Police get shot at by fearful citizens, who are too quick to shoot at citizens for fear they will be shot.
And meanwhile we have the NRA cheering on fools like Lindsey Graham for stoking that fear, and our federal tax dollars buying so many military weapons that they are trickled down to our local governments. For our local police, it may seem like Christmas, but they may want to rethink the situation when faced with a frightened citizen. And we just might want to elect lawmakers who are less likely to want to fan the flames of distrust encouraging an armed citizenry and militarizing those whose mission should be to protect and defend.
And while I hold the individual officer responsible for shooting innocent members of the community they patrol, the situation they find themselves in is not their fault.
The NRA is happy to promote the need for more guns to defend ourselves from threats that are unlikely to materialize -- unless we allow more people to indiscriminately own and carry guns. They have made lemonade out of the blood of victims for years, increasing the profits of the arms manufacturers that they truly represent. They seem to be having a great time doing it, too, filling their own coffers and convincing our pols that it is the NRA that is really in charge.
Which leads us to the other group that has been bought off by the arms industry, our very own legislators. We can laugh at Lindsey Graham's hysterical wanderings, once again recently featured by Jon Stewart. When Graham suggests that mothers should be armed with assault rifles at home:
“One bullet in the hands of a homicidal maniac is one too many. But in the case of a young mother defending her children against a home invader — a real-life event which recently occurred near Atlanta — six bullets may not be enough. Criminals aren’t going to follow legislation limiting magazine capacity. However, a limit could put law-abiding citizens at a distinct disadvantage when confronting a criminal.”
it's fine to snicker, but we must also remind ourselves that he is one of the idiots that has the power to make our laws.
More locally, we have addressed the situation of gun violence with the bizarre legislation that allows those who feel naked without their guns to frequent bars and restaurants with their muzzles by their side. And in a partnership from hell, towns all over South Carolina and the nation have lined up for military gear, including tanks as well as assault rifles, from our own federal government, who despite all that talk about budget deficits just can't stop buying these things. And once you own a grenade launcher, doesn't your finger just itch to use it? The downside being the cost of training and practice, and, by the way, the lack of call for those particular services.
All the post 9-11 paranoia that has led to arming our local community governments for war naturally has resulted in a backlash of fear from citizens, with more and more instances cited of warrantless (and unwarranted) acts of violence against citizens. When you are all suited up for battle and have no terrorists to fight, it seems the next best thing is the local pot smoker or poker game, and sometimes the family dog becomes the collateral damage. In the case of the Texas German Shepherd Vinnie in 2013, the officers were at the wrong address in the wrong neighborhood, looking for someone wanted for god's sake for an expired vehicle registration.
Obviously, what happens next is we all need to get armed to protect ourselves from our own government, hence, all the phony fourth amendment nonsense. And when scared citizens get armed, and you have scared police wielding weapons, you have the daily barrage of unnecessary death in a war zone of our own invention.
On September 18, in Georgia, police shot a man who was handcuffed in their cruiser after being arrested, when they failed to find the gun he was carrying in their search.
And South Carolina made international headlines in March when a York County officer shot a 70-year-old man who was reaching into the back of his car for his cane at a traffic stop.
The community response to the shooting of Michael Brown in St. Louis is a reflection of the national fury over a country that encourages its citizens and its defenders to see each other as potential combatants.
So it's really a matter of who will be next. Police get shot at by fearful citizens, who are too quick to shoot at citizens for fear they will be shot.
And meanwhile we have the NRA cheering on fools like Lindsey Graham for stoking that fear, and our federal tax dollars buying so many military weapons that they are trickled down to our local governments. For our local police, it may seem like Christmas, but they may want to rethink the situation when faced with a frightened citizen. And we just might want to elect lawmakers who are less likely to want to fan the flames of distrust encouraging an armed citizenry and militarizing those whose mission should be to protect and defend.
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