I’ve heard “but things are so much better!” from several sources over the last week so it seemed like a good time to check out current events.
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These tweets refer to Kaia’s arrest, but Orlando cop Dennis Turner arrested two 6-year-old students on suspicion of misdemeanor battery charges that day (story here). Apparently he felt the first graders at Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy had lost their damn minds. Did the officer just have a bad day? Well, in 1998 Turner was charged with aggravated child abuse after “disciplining” his son for bringing home a bad report card. Turner was also the subject of two internal investigations – one in 2003 for threatening the husband of a woman he was dating and one in 2016 that concluded he used excessive force during an arrest.
Turner was allowed to retire from the police department. He was later brought on to the force’s reserve unit and through someone’s gross error in judgement became a school police officer. Turner was fired from the force this week, but Kaia will forever carry the experience of being handcuffed, loaded into the back of a police car, fingerprinted, and having her mugshot taken. The little boy was released and returned to school before being officially processed at the juvenile assessment center, but he also experienced plenty of trauma.
And these are only the kids that made the news.
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The trial for the cop who killed Botham Jean began this week. A few of the things we’ve learned so far:
- The medical examiner testified the bullet entered the left side of Jean’s chest at a downward angle. She shot down at him while he was either lying, sitting, or trying to stand, throwing a real wrench in Guyger’s “he was rushing me” defense.
- Guyger’s arrest-warrant affidavit says she performed CPR on Jean, but she had no blood on her uniform and latex gloves in her pockets appeared unused. There are photos of Guyger in the hallway texting on her phone while police officers performed CPR inside the apartment.
- Photos of Guyger’s apartment show it is not at all similar to Jean’s – no wall art, prominent table, no computer desk, no bottles lining the kitchen, TV sits back against the wall instead of protruding.
- Judge allows the State to admit Guyger’s phone records showing she was checking her e-mail, Facebook, and Pinterest during that “stressful” 14-hour shift prior to entering Jean’s apartment.
- Guyger’s texts and call log prove she had a date planned with her married lover that night. They also show she continued to text him after the attack instead of rendering aid to the man she mistakenly shot.
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Lest you think it’s just big news items, here’s some everyday run ins.
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No, things aren’t better than they’ve ever been, and if we can’t look around with clear eyes then how will it ever change?
Riddle from the Middle 
I’m sorry maybe if you are a dumbass facist self absorbed racist then things are definitely better. For the rest of us they are significantly worse. If I sang on a detox diet I would be hitting the coffee and chocolate.
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Living in reality kinda bites. It’s sad how many dumbass racist self absorbed racists we have living in America.
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No, the world is not a better place. As to seeing clearly, if everyone did that, many of them would have to admit maybe they made a mistake in 2016, and that would surely be their sure demise.It all makes me want to either sleep my day away or cry.
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I’m working my way through pointless rage and heading toward furious spinning. Think I’ll hit the gym and try to burn some of it off on the elliptical.
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Probably they should reassign that school cop to the preschool. I hear those two-year-olds can be quite a handful. Big tough man like that should be able to handle things.
Now that the sarcasm is out of the way, I agree that things are not better today. When I was 6, students who threw tantrums were made to sit in a corner until they calmed down or were sent to the principal’s office (trust me, NO ONE wanted that), but of course back then teachers didn’t expect perfection from even the youngest student, and back then even the most difficult student had some respect for authority. Having said that, six-year-olds are not little adults. Even if she was the demon seed, no way should that little girl have been handcuffed and taken off the school premises, without her mother or some other responsible adult to comfort her.
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Yes, the principal’s office was like being sent to the torture chamber (mostly because I was convinced I’d actually die from the look my mother would give me when she picked me up).
I will note apparently there was physical contact — she (80 lbs) kicked and/or hit the teacher (a grown ass adult) several times. The grandmother states they’re working through problems resulting from sleep apnea but whatever…if a white kid did it the ONLY thing they’d do is call the parents to pick them up. Not the effing police. There’s so much injustice here it makes my head spin.
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Clicked “Like” for your shining light on these horrors, not for the horrors. We protect ourselves every way we can, then think the *world* is safe.
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Yes, we do. It’s awful to think people walk around in skin that puts them in danger because we can’t do our work.
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I can’t imagine why someone did not accompany that little girl. Several years ago, a man crashed his car on our street (in front of our driveway). He wasn’t hurt, but he didn’t seem altogether in a good place. When the police took him about 100 feet away to question him, I tagged along. They asked me what my role in this matter was. I told them I thought he should have someone with him. These were local police that I trust, but nobody should be left alone when things are bad.
In so many ways, things are not better today than they’ve ever been. In some ways, I can’t imagine how things got as bad as they are.
People tend to confuse “my life is better today” with “the world is a better place.”
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People tend to confuse “my life is better today” with “the world is a better place.” – This is an astute observation, Dan. I’m so glad you stayed with that man. We need more people willing to be that help.
I find those who really insist on going the distance with their argument stick with “but at least there’s no more slavery or lynchings.” They struggle when I come back with the names have just changed to prison, police shootings, & hate crimes. And that’s if you disregard the fact that lynchings still happen.
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It’s sad to accept that it’s going to take much longer than it should to get beyond these problems. The issue is that children are still being taught (by example) that prejudice, hate and in some cases, violence are OK.
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So so sad and traumatic for that girl. At times like these one is forced to think that have people really lost their minds are are they blind not to see where this is going!
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It’s been a rough road here. I’m facing the fact that the America I grew up in is very different from the reality many people experience.
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That’s true. And now the reality is changing although.
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