I have been haunted lately by the images I've seen both on social media and the media at large - the mistreatment and death of people who look like me. There was Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray. Rekia Boyd. Countless others and then, for me, the coup de gras, #SandraBland. Sandra's death has set me ALL the way off. Not to say the other deaths didn't hurt, but her death hit in a different way. Sandy could have been me. She was college educated, young, Black, and full of potential and purpose. Just a few years younger than me, she was about to move into a new state, new job, new career. How exciting is that?!
And then...she gets pulled over for doing what many of us have done - moving out of a police officer's way. I've done the very same thing when a cop has been tailing me. I don't remember if I signaled, but I've never gotten a ticket for it. OK, so beyond that point, let's get to the interaction between Sandra and the cop. I have heard all sorts of stuff about her attitude and it's all nonsense. She wasn't sweet, docile, or meek, but WHO CARES. Being pissed off, irritated, or just being a jerk is not a crime in and of itself. If that were the case, a lot more people would be in jail.
Sandra was educated enough to assert her rights and the fact that it rubbed the officer the wrong way is his problem. She answered his questions and she wanted to take her ticket and go about her business. She was pissed about it, but life goes on right? Nope, not for Sandy. Dylan Roff killed NINE people in cold blood during evening prayer and he gets Burger King because he's hungry and a bullet proof vest to protect him. Sandy gets pulled over for failing to signal and gets threatened with a taser when she refuses to put out a cigarette in the car she bought with her own money and subsequently wrestled to the ground. What's the difference? Race and gender.
Yes, I'm pulling both cards and flagging the play! This is straight doo doo and anyone SHOULD be able to see it. Instead, the media finds a way to make minority victims look like criminals. They rarely use smiling pictures that would make the victim seem approachable, but mugshots or pictures of the person looking unwelcoming in some way are used. If you have any priors, the media will spin it as if you had it coming. Prior guilt = present guilt. Even in the language, "Troubled teen..." "She had traces of marijuana in her system..." I simply CANNOT with the attack upon character.
Regardless of what happened to Sandra Bland in that jail, Officer Encinia violated her rights and breached protocol. Let's focus on that! Indirectly or directly, Sandra's blood is on his hands and it will stain ours too if we continue to let this happen. Let's stop vilifying victims in death. Can we please look at this case without the lens of white privilege and see Sandy as a woman who died a senseless death?
