Two Young Females Are Crossing the Street..
June 17, 2010 by blackgirlgrown
Filed under black women, race
By now, we’ve all seen or heard about the video showing a police officer punching a woman in the face. It is ugly all around. But these women are not blameless. A Belle in Brooklyn has captured my thoughts exactly. There is no defending the actions of this police officer. But the incredible gall of these teenagers to shove a police officer. I mean, seriously. The way I was raised, you show respect for authority until they provide you a reason not to. And handle yourself with respect, dignity, and accordingly – that would be the not shoving a cop part!
No pass for the cop. But we certainly cannot excuse the behavior of these young females (note I did not say ladies or women!).
So I watch the video. It’s all manner of disturbing to see a man man-handling a woman, and then later, punching one in the face.
The President of Seattle Police Officer’s Guild has made it clear that he defends the officer:[Officers Guild President] Rich O’Neil told KCPQ-TV that punching her in the face was an appropriate use of force as the officer [Ian P. Walsh] struggled with two women and a crowd formed. O’Neil says it’s wrong to call the punch police brutality or racist.
The chick shouldn’t have pushed the cop. Her and her girl were out of control, partially logical ticked off-ness for getting stopped for jay walking, partial stupid teenage entitlement/ angst and not knowing when to shut up. That said, the cop shouldn’t have tried to arrest the chick. I seriously doubt she put her hands on him first. (and if she did, he’s all manner justified for arresting her. There’s certain ish you just don’t do no matter how right you think you are.) He just seemed to be having a bad case of ego.
But even with alladat. A punch? I dunno. I’ve watched the video 10x and I wonder what else he could have done. Trying to restrain the smaller woman wasn’t going so well, then the bigger woman, strong enough to actually push him off the first woman, gets involved. What was he supposed to do?
Yes, he could have walked away. It’s the sensible thing to do and what most of us who have been socialized properly would expect any man other than a cop to do. Is it okay for that to be his reaction because he’s a cop? Or does that reaction make all of this so much worse?
Was there another response that would have been appropriate (other than walking off)? One that we could watch on video and think, “he did the right thing!” I don’t think so. By the time, the cop had begun trying to arrest the first girl— I call her such because she is 19— the situation was so far out of control that it had to end in a mess.
Entitled and LOUD teenagers? Ego-driven cops? It’s the perfect storm for disaster. And that’s what happened.
Shaking my head…..
blackgirlgrown
