What Most of You Got Wrong About Spring Valley High

Put aside your prior knowledge of teenagers and their attitudes or ability to have one. Put aside your prior knowledge and belief that black people are savage beasts who need to be tamed. Put aside your prior knowledge and belief that cops are good people who uphold the law and are here to protect and serve.

I want you to think like a human being first, and parent, second, and finally think about what you see with your eyes, because your eyes will never lie to you.

Unless you live under a rock, or are so totally self-absorbed that you just don't give a damn, many of you have seen the disgusting video footage of the school resource officer, Ben Fields, of Spring Valley High in Columbia, SC. He not only physically grabs a young black girl, but then pulls her and her desk to the floor in an attempt to physically remove her from a classroom. He drags her across the floor like an animal.  That is all you need to know!

I asked you to think like a human being first, because what human deserves that type of treatment? Remember in this same state, just four months ago, Dylan Roof, a white teen, got a private plane ride and Burger King, when he murdered nine people. This young girl was sitting quietly and non-threatening in a desk. I don't care what you have heard about her supposed infractions or why the police were called, I see a grown man dragging a child, and that is enough for me.

I asked you to think like a parent, second, because as a parent, if you had video footage of someone dragging your child across the floor with a desk on top of them, what would be your reaction? I have seen some of you, lose your shit over your child not making an athletic team, or being bullied, or for an adult just chastising them, so in what warped world, is it okay for this grown man to drag someone else's daughter?

I asked you to think about what you see with your eyes. My eyes show me a young girl sitting in a desk, not saying or doing anything, an officer violating her personal space and safety, who proceeds to grab her, hurl her and the desk to the floor, and then drags her across the very same floor. Now what makes this okay? Is it okay because she is black, and the officer is the equivalent of "massa" from slavery of old? Is it okay because you would do the same if given the opportunity? Is it okay because it is someone else's child and you just don't give a shit?

Would it change your mind to know that this officer has such a violent past with students that his nickname is Officer Slam? Would it change your mind if you knew that just two years ago, he slammed a veteran in the same manner? (Imagine that, you fought for your country, and to have your rights violated like this, by someone sworn to protect and serve, and everyone knows how much we love and respect our veterans right? Insert eyeroll here!). Would it change your mind to know that just a few months ago, this young girl lost her mother, is currently in foster care, and is at a brand new school, with few friends, and very little, if any, familial support? Probably not, because she is just another unruly black kid, who had to be put in her place right?

I am tired and weary from these types of stories. Yes, Ben Fields has been fired, but he will just get a job somewhere else and continue on with the same abuse and harassment. I want criminal charges, because let's face it, if you or I had assaulted someone with such anger and disregard for the law, we would be in a jail cell. Why should police, whose salaries our tax dollars pay, get special treatment when they abuse their authority and break the law?

Until next time.....