Nov. 1, 2015

Condemning Blackness Again
By Dr. E. Faye Williams 

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - In 2011, Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Executive Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, published his book, The Condemnation of Blackness. I would suggest it as required reading for anyone interested in historical dynamics that’ve led to our contemporary position of asserting that Black Lives Matter. Dr. Muhammad sat for an interview with noted journalist, Bill Moyer.

He gave his insight on why, from the inception of the Republic to the present, African Americans were the recipients of disparate and unjust treatment.  He said:

"Thomas Jefferson penned ‘Notes on the State of Virginia’ in 1787, which was… one of the first scientific arguments for why black people should be treated differently from whites, by virtue of their racial inferiority.

"In other words, the scientific notion that black people were fundamentally different, whether it was in hair texture or in body odor, which is all part of Thomas Jefferson's analysis, gave birth to the enduring justification that even in America, even in a place that represented a tradition of republicanism in the world, the first modern democracy, that you could actually reconcile freedom and slavery, as long as the people who were enslaved were not equal citizens, were not made of the stuff of equal humanity."

Later in that interview, he discussed his understanding of law enforcement and criminal justice in the United States:

“It tells you something about the invention of the criminal justice system as a repressive tool to keep Black people in their place.... It's still with us, because ultimately, as a social problem, crime has become like it was in the Jim Crow South, a mechanism to control black people's movement in cities.”

As I reflected on the treatment of the Black teen at the hands of the South Carolina Deputy, my thoughts went back to that interview.  I grieved in the thought that, in the face of overwhelming evidence, a significant portion of our population cannot see the disparate and, frequently unjustified, brutal treatment of African Americans in circumstances that would’ve elicited an altogether different response had the "suspect" been white.  Regardless of the infraction, I challenge any reasonable adult to justify the excessive force used by Deputy Fields to gain control in that classroom.  I challenge any adult, Black or white, to imagine the same force used against a similarly situated white female teen.

What is all too clear, in our society, is that ALL Black people have been stereotyped and characterized by too many law enforcement officials as dangerous criminals.  Without regard for age or gender, Black people are perceived as lethal threats to public order and to law enforcement officials.  Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown stand in evidence of this fact.

Without regard to whom he dated, the important questions are, "What thought process did Fields use to justify his actions against that teenage girl?  Was he in such fear for his life that he could rationalize throwing her across the room like a rag-doll?  There seems to be no plausible answer to either question.  Fortunately, the student didn’t suffer any life-threatening injuries. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about potentially life-altering injuries to her psyche.   Lest we ignore her classmates, we must anticipate that this was a life-changing experience for them, as well.

Foreshadowing where society is today, Dr. Muhammad spoke with great enlightenment:

"Why race matters today...is really about saving black people. And this is a colorblind public safety agenda because no white community in America would tolerate this kind of treatment in the name of public safety in its communities, period."

"There's no moment in time…where race is not a primary factor in the treatment of black people."

We must stop tolerating this kind of behavior!

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is National President of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc.  www.nationalcongressbw.org.  202/678-6788)

Oct. 28, 2015

Black Women Leaders Outraged By Police Violence Against S.C. Student
By Hazel Trice Edney

Dr. Julianne Malveaux

Barbara Arnwine

Melanie Campbell

Dr. Elsie Scott

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Leading Black women across the nation are expressing outrage this week over the videotaped violent incident showing a White police officer in Columbia, S.C. grabbing a Black 16-year-old female high school student around her neck, flipping her desk; then dragging her across the floor and tossing her across the classroom.

“I was shocked and immobilized to watch the brutal officer physically abuse a young girl because she ‘disobeyed’ his orders.  She may have been disobedient, but she did not deserve to be dehumanized and, indeed, defeminized,” said Dr. Julianne Malveaux, a Black press columnist and former president of the Bennett College for Women. “Imagine the national outcry if a young White girl, blonde hair streaming, was so brutally tossed about in a classroom.”

Melanie Campbell, convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable, described this kind of treatment of students as “unconscionable and unjust.”

She said the Black Women’s Roundtable is “extremely troubled” by the video “showing the attack displayed by an off-duty police officer man-handling a young Black female student in his attempt to arrest her for not leaving the classroom fast enough…Our children are our most precious commodity and their education and safety are paramount.”

The outrage grew this week as it was learned that the officer, identified by students as Deputy Ben Fields of the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, has a record and a reputation for violent conduct; including previous public charges of excessive force and battery.

The Department of Justice and the FBI have said they are investigating Monday’s incident, videotaped by students in the classroom. Posted on multiple social media platforms, the viral videos were quickly picked up by national news outlets. 

It has become a familiar scene. In recent years, such videos have led to escalating protests of police misconduct in Black communities.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott has told the media that the deputy, assigned to the Spring Valley High School as a resource officer, went to the classroom after being summoned by school officials who said the teen was disruptive and refusing to leave. The incident reportedly sparked from her refusal to put away her cell phone.

Fields, reportedly the recipient of a commendation from another school, was first suspended from the Sherriff's department without pay, pending completion of an investigation. Lott, who said the teen swung at the officer as he grabbed her, announced Wednesday that Fields has been fired. He said he will focused solely on his conduct, not the teen's behavior. Lott said the actions of the officer upset him, largely because they were not according to police training.

Barbara Arnwine, president/founder of the newly formed Transformative Justice Coalition had called for the “immediate firing” of Fields, saying she saw no need to wait after seeing the video.

“There is nothing she could have said to justify the body slamming of her and the physical assault by Deputy Fields.  Even a refusal to leave the class could not justify these abusive actions,” Arnwine said.  “The Transformative Justice Coalition opposes zero tolerance policies and the routine presence of police in schools as it contributes to the school to prison pipeline. We call upon all Americans to decry this incident and demand justice.”

Said to be known to students as “Officer Slam”, Fields can be seen on video warning the student that if she does not leave he would remove her. Then he suddenly grabs her, toppling the desk. He dumps her on the floor, drags her from the desk and tosses her across the classroom floor. He then leaps into the air with his hands spread by his side like a wrestler before crouching over her, placing her hands behind her back and making the arrest.

Another student, Niya Kenny, 18, who told her classmates to tape the incident and openly voiced her disdain for the violence, was also arrested.

“Seeing her being thrown across the classroom like that was really traumatizing. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like that in my life and it just really broke my heart to watch it,” said Kenny, interviewed with her mother and attorney on CNN. She was also arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. “We’ve heard about his reputation and we’ve heard about he’s a really…dangerous man to get involved with.”

Kenny was arrested after the 16-year-old was escorted out of the classroom. He returned asking, “‘Do you want some of this too?’” she recounted. Fearing his violence, she said she peacefully placed her hands behind her back.  

Other students in the classroom appeared stunned and immobile as they watched the scene unfold. Malveaux said the demeanor of the male students reminded her of how Black men have historically – including during slavery – “been forced to watch the denigration of Black women,  who have been raped and beaten to ensure that the men of our race will stand frightened and mute in the face of oppression. Watching a classmate brutally torn and tossed from a desk, anyone with the inclination to speak up must have feared brutal retaliation.”

As people across the nation awaited the fate of Fields this week, Black women, known nationally for their leadership, continued to condemn the treatment of the teen, some calling for policy changes.

“I read an article earlier this year that referred to Black girls as ‘Pushed out, over policed and under protected’. This came to my mind when I saw the video,” said Dr. Elsie Scott, founding director of the Ronald W. Walters Leadership and Public Policy Center at Howard University.  “The young lady was pushed out of school by a police officer who clearly seemed to be using more than necessary enforcement.  Then when I saw the Black male teacher just standing by, I felt bad that she had no one to protect her.  We are seeing increasingly more cases where Black girls and women are being subjected to abuse and over enforcement.  We must start placing more attention on the plight of females in the criminal justice system.”

The incident also recalled another videotaped police incident in McKinney, Texas earlier this year when a Black teenaged girl wearing a bikini at a pool party was dragged across a yard by a White police officer. In the face of national criticism, that officer resigned from his job.

The Rev. Omarosa Manigault, a reality television star who pastors in Los Angeles and is active in civil rights, called for White female counterparts in civil rights to rise up.

“Where are the women's rights organizations like the National Organization for Women when little Black girls are being treated in this inhumane way? Where is the outrage?,” Manigault said. “This young lady was treated like a thug or a thief - instead of a pupil sitting in a class room behaving like a regular teen.”

Many fear the growth of such incidents unless corrective action is taken. Says Arnwine, “Black women and girls are the victims of police killings, sexual assault and abusive treatment. We cannot [stand by] as Americans allow more Sandra Blands, Natasha McKennas and our girls to be assaulted at swimming pools and while sitting in class. We all must #SayHerName!”

Nov. 1, 2015

Where Are Our Women? Where Are Our Educators?
By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Richland County Senior Deputy Sheriff Ben Fields seemed to think the only way he could get a young black girl out of her seat was to fling her across the room.  His brutal attack on her was filmed by one of her classmates, and it’s a good thing he documented the incident.  It was said that the young lady punched the officer before Eddie Robinson, Jr. started taping, but he indicates that she was quiet and simply refused to get out of her seat.  He said she had only taken her phone out for a minute and “she didn’t do anything wrong”.

On Wednesday, October 28, Sheriff Leon Lott announced that Fields had been fired because his behavior was inconsistent with the training he had.  But in response to a question at the press conference he held, he reported that Fields did not feel remorseful, that he was sorry the incident happened, but he was “just trying to do his job”.  Not only did he brutalize a young girl, but he also arrested another young woman who simply asserted that the officer was wrong to treat her classmate so roughly.  No other student said a word, and they were perhaps frightened to speak up.

Where are our women’s organizations?  Where are our African American and civil rights organizations?  Or our African American educators?  Granted, this is just a few days after the fact and perhaps some of these folks will speak up eventually.  Perhaps they are waiting to hear “the facts”, but as Sheriff Lott said there was no excuse for a young lady to be dragged in the way that she was.

Sheriff Lott said his community, a suburb of state capital Columbia, South Carolina, was an “orderly” community.  He said there were no marches, no confrontation, because “that is not how we do things here”.   While the Sheriff did the right thing by firing Ben Fields, his own attitude could stand some adjusting, and perhaps a march might be a way to express dissatisfaction at his approach (and that of the school system).  In his press conference, he said that Fields’ behavior was inappropriate, but he basically blamed the young lady for her plight.

While civil rights leaders routinely turn it out when black men are beaten or killed, far fewer seem to care about what happens to black women.  From the time that video hit the airwaves there ought to have been cries of outrage (and perhaps they are coming).  Ben Fields’ actions should not simply be called “unacceptable” but also criminal.

Why did the school call the police anyway?  From what I understand, the young lady was not making noise or disrupting class.  She failed to comply with a request regarding her cell phone (some say she was asked to put it away, others said she was asked for the phone). Either way, the penalty for noncompliance should not have been arrest.

Last year, the Department of Education released a report that showed that African American and Latino students were suspended or expelled far more frequently than their white counterparts, often getting a different level of punishment for the same offense.  Some of the suspensions and expulsions even happen at the preschool level – meaning that three and four year old children are being kicked out of school simply because they are little children (who frequently misbehave).

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, around 43% of our nation’s public schools had police officers on their grounds during the 2013-2014 school year, including 63 percent of middle schools and 64% of high schools.  Why are officers of the law on school grounds?  How often is their behavior inappropriate?  It is unlikely that is the first time former officer Ben Fields behaved so badly toward a student.  Indeed, the student who was arrested for speaking up (he said she was disruptive) indicated that Fields had a bad reputation.  He was the subject of at least two complaints for excessive force.

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist based in Washington, D.C. Her latest book “Are We Better off? Race, Obama and Public Policy” will be released in November 2015 and is available for preorder at www.juliannemalveaux.com

Oct. 25, 2015

Kristen Clarke Named President of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

(TriceEdneyWire.com) The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has named Kristen Clarke of the New York Attorney General’s Office as its new president and executive director, effective January 1. Clarke  will succeed Barbara R. Arnwine, who led the organization for more than 26 years. Arnwine resigned last spriing and has founded a new organization, the Transformative Justice Coalition.

Clarke currently serves as the head of the Civil Rights Bureau at the New York Attorney General's Office, where she spearheads civil rights enforcement on a range of matters including criminal justice issues, education and housing discrimination, fair lending, barriers to reentry, voting rights, immigrants’ rights and LGBT issues, a Lawyers' Committee press release states.

The release credits her leadership with “landmark agreements with banks to address unlawful redlining, employers to address barriers to reentry, major retailers on racial profiling of consumers, police departments on reforms to policies and practices, and one of the country’s largest school districts concerning issues relating to the school-to-prison pipeline.”

Lawyers’ Committee Co-Chair James P. Joseph said Clarke emerged as the candidate best suited to lead the Lawyers’ Committee after vetting a “stellar and diverse” pool of candidates.

“As African-Americans and other minorities nationwide continue to grapple with racial injustice and inequality, our new president will be critical to advancing our mission of securing equal justice for all under the rule of law,” Joseph said.

Clarke is being warmly welcomed by the national civil rights community.

“Congratulations to both the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and to the entire civil rights community. The Lawyers' Committee has selected a deeply and diversely skilled litigator as its new president. Ms. Clarke is both an accomplished advocate and an NAACP Legal Defense Fund alumnus. We welcome her with appreciation for her service thus far and anticipation of her service to the nation to come,” said NAACP President/CEO Cornell Brooks.

National Urban League President/CEO Marc Morial described Clark as a “seasoned, passionate civil rights lawyer, and is an excellent choice for the new leader of the Lawyers’ Committee.”

Arnwine also weighed in, “On behalf of the Transformative Justice Coalition, I extend congratulations to Kristen Clarke.  My best wishes to her as she picks up the mantle for justice envisioned by President Kennedy and carried forth through the years by dedicated leaders.”

The Lawyers' Committee was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy. It aimed to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination.

According to the release, Clarke has a wide range of civil rights and racial justice experience. They range  from her work at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), where she served as a program director coordinating work in the areas of voting rights and election laws across the country, to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice where she worked before LDF.

“AT LDF, where Kristen led our voting rights work, we knew her as a brilliant and strategic thinker and litigator.  Since then, she has showed tremendous creativity and innovation in heading the Civil Rights Bureau in the New York Attorney General's office.  We can think of no better partner for LDF to have as we face the next challenges in civil rights.  Kristen is a consensus builder and universally beloved by all those who work with her,” says Sherrilyn Ifill, LDF president and director-counsel.

As a federal prosecutor in the Criminal Section of the DOJ, she handled police misconduct, police brutality, hate crimes, and human trafficking cases. She also worked on voting rights and redistricting cases through the Office’s Voting Section, the release states.

Her honors and awards include being recognized as of the New York Law Journal’s 2015 Rising Stars and receiving the Best Brief Award for the 2012 Supreme Court term from the National Association of Attorneys General.

Clarke states, “I look forward to building upon the Lawyers’ Committee’s tremendous legal and civil rights legacy. I am honored to be selected as president and executive director to lead and work alongside a brilliant and committed staff in the fight to secure equal justice and equal opportunity for all.  Humbly, yet boldly, I embrace this historic opportunity to lead and serve, as the organization continues to combat systemic discrimination and racial inequality across our country.”