We’ve barely begun to address the dragon in the room.
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A black female juvenile was violently thrown to the ground and then tossed towards a wall at a high school in South Carolina. It was done at the hands of a sheriff assigned to the school. Another student caught the incident on video. The video went viral immediately after being posted on Facebook and Twitter.
I’m not a reporter. I’ll leave that to the unbiased professionals. It’s become a headline, so you can find plenty of info with ease. I found this firsthand witness interview informative.
I am outraged. Sickened. There is zero justification for the officer’s actions. NONE. Thankfully, it appears the “powers that be” are outraged as well. Most, if not all, are requesting third party investigations. Maybe they are learning that public trust is important.
Maybe.
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How dare a black female child be defiant.
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But there are many who think it was perfectly acceptable. How dare a black female child be defiant. I find that disturbing, shockingly so.
Where to start? I can even.
There’s a part of me that wants to just walk away defeated, unable to fathom the pervasive blindness of others. There’s a part that burns though. It screams to rage, to smash ignorance and old ways of thinking. History keeps repeating itself. Our abusive culture intensifies. The dragon in the room is accepted like a fluffy house cat.
There are layers and layers of cultural ills manifesting in this disturbing event.
“This isn’t about women.”
“This isn’t a racial issue.”
“This isn’t about patriarchy.”
“This isn’t about poverty.”
“This isn’t about police culture and the militarization of law enforcement.”
“This isn’t about our educational system.”
“This isn’t child abuse.”
Bullshit.
“This is about bad parenting.”
“Kids are more disrespectful than ever.”
“Do what the police tell you to do and you won’t get slammed.”
“The video doesn’t show what led up to the incident so we don’t have enough information to draw a conclusion.”
“This is an isolated incident and does not reflect reality.”
“This is just media hype.”
“If you disagree with the officer’s actions, you hate the police.”
Bullshit.
This is about power. This is about dominion and compliance. This is about violence. You can dismiss, minimize, deflect, and deny all you want but it’s all connected. Until we see the whole and address it as such, nothing will change. Our ills will intensify, our culture will continue to decline.
Wake the fuck up.
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Photo credit: Grocerymania/Flickr
About a hundred students, many of color, held a brief walkout in support of Fields. Maybe they know something worth considering….
Cabot. Don’t inflame this any more than it already is. Leave the race out of it when you say throw this black girl to the floor. Its just a girl. A ride chip on the shoulder disruptive girl to be sure but race has nothing to do with your comment and is highlighted mainly to add fuel to the racial bullshit going on. And yes. Personally I would have gotten three adults to pick up her chair and remove it from the room. But honestly when confronted by crap like this and the emotions escalate then it gets out of… Read more »
I would think that officers (as well as any staff) working in these schools would be Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) trained. Last year we had an incident in our school (we’re contracted as an alternative school for a suburban HS district.) A 16 year old white female student was completely out of pocket, knocking things off the walls, throwing chairs in the hallways. Because her behaviors were escalating, we called the police. 4 officers arrived, two of them in plain clothes. While in the hallway, the student looked at one of the officers(dressed in street clothes) and asked if he… Read more »
Honestly, as a high school teacher. I do think kids are more disrespectful than even 10 years ago. I mean, when a 10th grader calls me by my first name and doesn’t see the problem at all when I say that’s unacceptable. He can’t even see my point of view ~ that’s a problem. When a 9th grader tells you to F off for really no reason. That’s a problem. And don’t get me started on what kids wear to school. OH my.
The adults these days have been more disrespectful in the last 15 years. Look at people like Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Donald Trump, Mitt Romney and other Republicans in how they treated the American people, President Obama and throw vile names at them. During and after the Ferguson riots, you had police officers getting fired from their jobs because they got caught on Facebook, Twitter, and on the cell phones calling the Afro-Americans a whole bunch of names. Police officers have shown disrespect even to journalist at the RNC convention a few years ago. 50 to 60 ago, that kind… Read more »
Now g. Be fair. It ain’t one sided. The culture we’re really denying is one of divide by both.
That big strong officer could have pushed the desk, student and all, out of the classroom. Disturbance ended. How’s that for starters?