Hey Mr. President, Police Abuse Black Women Too
- Details
- Category: Lifestyle/People
- Published: Wednesday, 20 August 2014 04:21
- Written by Katrina Waters, Ph.D.
by Katrina Waters, Ph.D.
Today, President Obama said, "In too many communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement; too many young men of color are left behind and seen only as objects of fear."
Mr. President, I must say that this applies to black women too.
In Los Angeles, a California Highway Patrol officer pummeled a black woman lying face up on the ground on the side of a freeway. He whaled away at her face. This brutal attack was caught on video.
In Arizona, video caught an Arizona State University police officer body-slamming a tenured and respected black female professor to the ground as she crossed a street.
Another video caught a Clayton County, Georgia off-duty office spitting on and calling a black female
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motorist a N (word).
And just last week here in Orlando, a young black woman who works at city hall was arrested while in a movie theater and man-handled by police while in handcuffs. Videos show her being slammed against a wall and a second time being thrown to a concrete floor.
It causes one to ask; what kind of psychopath abuses a woman? Any woman!
The bigger question is what role does race and gender play in these repeated assaults on black women. The horrid history of racial stereotyping that indelibly links crime and violence with black people can't be ignored in trying to answer the question about why black women are now fair game for physical abuse by police officers.
While black men are frequently profiled as violent, criminal, drug dealing gangstas, black women are typed as sexually loose, conniving, and untrustworthy. Authorities identified the black woman brutalized in California as a woman who had drug and mental challenges.
These characterizations of the female victims of police abuse reinforce the belief that black women offenders are menaces to society too. Many in law enforcement are conveyors of myths, misconceptions and hysteria about black woman. They do so to cover-up their own inhumane misdeeds.
We read about this in history when the slave owner made his way to the slave shacks to have his way with his slave winch. Then he would beat her. Psychologists explained this with the looking-glass-self concept. The term refers to people shaping their self-concepts based on their understanding of how others perceive them. They perceive what they have done as wrong, so they must put the blame on the victim to absolve themselves. The wrong must be punished and so they beat the victim.
So it is not only black men being abused, it is black women too.
As the nation is examining what is happening in Ferguson, Missouri, on live television; we in Orlando must examine our law enforcement as well.
Just weeks ago, while young black men and women in the Parramore area were celebrating the lives of their fallen love ones, the Orlando Police Department swarmed in on them in full riot gear with heavy armament.
The local police went from zero to 60mph in response to a peaceful celebration. No one can even begin to imagine that kind of response to white young adults in one of Orlando's well-healed communities.
That kind of response and the documented treatment of black women in Orlando raise serious questions. And Orlando must be mindful of this. If not for human or moral reasons, city leaders need to consider their vital economic reasons. City Beautiful depends on those 90 plus million tourists who grace Orlando annually. The real reasons for change should by ethical reasons, but I know whom we are dealing with.
All it takes is the right spark and Orlando will be national news.
We, as black people, must demand; and city leaders aught to want, a complete review of police policies regarding black Orlando. The Orlando Police Department should partner with the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) to immediately begin racial and gender sensitivity training. There must be an increase of black officers promoted to command ranks. And, there must be a disparity study of arrest by ethnicities. It is a given that the study will show that black people are arrested disproportionately in caparison to white people. But, we must have the numbers to activate solutions and justify federal intervention.
It is well known that black communities around the nation are cordoned off socially and economically. Our business can't get loans due to redlining. Our schools are under assault. School boards are closing historical black schools and stealing students and the dollars that are attached to them and assigning them to white area schools. Jobs are limited and our elected officials are under constant attack.
We are living under occupation! And don't let anybody tell you different. If they do: they are liars, their feet stink and they don't love Jesus.
The time has come that we must stand up. Dr. King said, "the man can't ride your back when you stand up." We must speak out. As Martin Luther (King's namesake) would say, "we can't be mealy-mouthed." We must make it known that enough is enough. You can't treat us any kind of way. You must respect our women. Are women are not whores. Our women are not thugs. Our women are not objects to be abused. And anyone who abuses a woman is a psychopath and does not deserved to be employed with our tax dollars as police officer.
And if city leaders wont weed them out, we must weed out the city leaders. The ultimate answer is the vote. If we don't like the way the police treat us, we can fire their bosses by voting them out of office. If the city leaders allow the police to treat our women as animals, then we must vote their Asses out.
I am reminded of an old joke that goes, what do they call a black woman with a Ph.D.? Answer: A N(word)!
I have no illusions. I know what they harbor in their hearts. Now, it is time they know how we feel. And we must show them how we feel with our votes. We must share the pain. We hurt they hurt. No violence necessary. Voting is a civil peaceful demonstration that counts.
Yes, the time has come. No Mr. President, it is not only black men that they kill and abuse; it is black women too.
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Dr. Barbara Jenkins, 'Kat' Gordon and The OCPS Board voted to transfer over 2 million dollars away from Jones High School during school year 2013-2014. Over the last 10 years, OCPS Board has effectively transferred over 30 million dollars away from Black schools in District 5 and District 6. Save Jones High and save our community by denying the half penny tax extension. |