The Simmering Affects of Unjust Treatment of Black Lives
Understanding why the words Black Lives Matter are so important
When many say that all lives matter, they do not know the traumatic experiences that led to the Black Lives Matter movement. Therefore, they speak from their own experience and do not see the bigger problem. Once they hear the other side of the story, then reality starts to come clear.
This is why marches may be important, but now there needs to be a place where people will tell their stories of what they experienced that the Caucasian or European American community does not see.
This is why marches may be important, but now there needs to be a place where people will tell their stories of what they experienced in racial discrimination.
Recently, Jay Pharoah Saturday Night Live alum and an African American told his story about L.A. police officers forcing him on the ground, one putting his knee on his neck, about six months ago. He dramatized being in the exact same position as George Floyd. Police mistook him for a shooter because his clothing and skin matched the description of a violent suspect they sought. Pharoah explains he literally was just walking down the street alone when they forced him down.
There is a part of the story he does not tell and I think it is the most important. What permanent effect did it have on him? I am not talking about a political change or choosing to join a movement, but I am sure he became another victim of PTSD at that moment. The experience had to be a traumatic moment with long term affects.
These are the parts of the stories people also need to know. They need to be shared.
There is a recent case of a star college quarterback, Shai Werts, stopped by a Clinton, South Carolina police officer for speeding. According to reporters and on camera video, Werts angered the officer for not stopping immediately, but instead drove to a safe place to pull over while calling 911 to state his intentions. In the video, supplied by police, Werts acted respectfully, although the officer seems to have an attitude because Werts did not immediately stop.
The officer decided that bird droppings on Werts’ car hood were cocaine. The college junior made it clear it was what it appeared to be: bird droppings that he could not get off his car when he recently washed it. A faulty field test confirmed the officer’s suspicions, contradicting Werts.
He arrested him for possession of the drug by leaving it stuck to the hood of his car. Lab tests discovered that it was what Werts said it was: bird droppings. Prosecutors dropped charges. He was arrested, charged and dropped from his team until the test results came back confirming he was speaking the truth.
Again, considering he was, at the moment, a promising star college quarterback, he, like Pharoah, would be traumatized. Arrested for cocaine possession, worried about losing friends, family, career, education for something lab tests proved he did not do. At no time did the officer ask himself it seems: “Who spreads cocaine over their car?”
I do not do drugs but even I cannot understand why someone would think what appears to be “bird droppings” on the hood of the car and what the driver said was “bird droppings” would be cocaine.
Some evening news reports thought the whole thing was funny. Well was it? I am in Massachusetts, if that case happened here a few years ago, Mr. Werts would be in jail. Why? Because of Annie Dookhan a lab technician in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts testing drug samples. She is now doing time herself because she falsified almost thirty-five thousand samples in favor of prosecution.
There is nothing funny about what happened to Mr. Werts. I never found the case funny and I was angry it happened in the first place. Fortunately, he does not live in Massachusetts.
What makes it worse is that Mr. Werts was the victim of the stereotype of the black man driving. It is a fictional portrayal that leads to racial profiling. However, the officer fit the stereotype of the southern sheriff. Irritated because Werts, a black man, did not pull over immediately and then he searched for a reason to arrest him and came up with a pretty stupid one.
Yes, it is true that all lives matter, but there is no level playing field in this case. People of color can be at a disadvantage and it must come to an end.
Making those stories known will help to accomplish that goal.