I am so tired of this double standard and/or laws that are especially made up, set aside, drummed up and/or dusted off for "JUST-us", Black folks that is... The women in both these stories are Black officers draped in blue uniforms. They are being persecuted and scapegoated for virtually what seems an impossible and unwinnable situation wherein they were to be judged wrong and held accountable no matter their decision...
One was terminated for doing exactly what the other did while the other was terminated for failing to do what her peer did in the same situation. SMH... One incident however is more grotesque than the other because that offending White male officer also assaulted his Black female officer peer, which seems not to have been a violation of department standards as she, not he, was terminated and lost her career and pension of 19 years. She is now a truck driver to support her five children, her assailant continued working and abusing other "suspects" until such time he retired, with his pension I am sure, and upon where official charges were ultimately lodged against him for shooting a Black youth with a BB gun...
So whether we agree with decisions made by these Black ladies in blue now or in the past, we must not silently sit by and allow this to happen to them without lifting our voice(s). Links to their stories are attached below. Click on the bold headlines to read.
Choke hold Incident: November 1, 2006 (Buffalo, NY)
By VICE News
December 22, 2014
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| Officer Cariol Horne |
MEANWHILE, in the SAME state, department charges have been brought against a Black Female officer in the Eric Garner case. She has been placed on modified duty, stripped of her badge and her gun pending the outcome of an investigation of her "failure to supervise" acts of a subordinate officer who choked Mr. Garner to death and against whom the department has yet to file charges...
Choke hold Incident: July 14, 2014 (Staten Island, NY)
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, January 8, 2016
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| Sergeant Kizzy Adonis |
If in fact the offending officer has not been found culpable of any legal wrong doing by the grand jury, and if after 18 months the department (NYPD) has failed to bring forth any charges against this officer for official misconduct or violation of any department procedure (i.e. use of choke hold), then exactly for what behavior or action taken by her subordinate is Sergeant Adonis accused of witnessing and failing to stop? I'm Confused...
Are we to believe that while Sergeant Adonis heard Eric Garner begging for his life, stating 11 times that he could not breathe, that somehow the officer actually choking him could not hear his pleas for his life? Really?
And how convenient is it that a decision to discipline Sergeant Adonis occurs on the eve of satisfying her probation period for her present position? This is happening at a time when she is most professionally vulnerable and has no job protection or readily available remedies to aid in her to fight to keep her job. Like Officer Horne in Buffalo she risks termination losing her career and her pension...
Does anyone else find it at least a bit disconcerting that a decision to hold Sergeant Adonis accountable for the far graver acts committed by a fellow officer whose actions directly resulted in the death of an innocent Black man comes on the heels of the officer in the Sandra Bland case, whose unprofessional conduct and racial profiling precipitated her being detained and eventually found dead or murdered in her jail cell, being terminated and charged with the simple offense of perjury? On both counts, although horrific acts have been completed by law enforcement, only insignificant charges have resulted. It seems that the public is being pacified and thrown a bone to appease us. Certainly, Sergeant Adonis is being made the scapegoat or sacrificial lamb while the offending officer remains employed and free of accountability. No one can believe that a charge of perjury does anything to address the unexplained loss of life of a Black woman arrested and jailed for a minor traffic offense, failure to signal a lane change, that is barely worthy a written citation. This is crazy...
On Saturday, I rushed over to the National Action Network to hear Al Sharpton's live radio address feeling certain he would address this issue. Flanked by Mr. Garner's widow and his Mother, he regurgitated the department's justification for the urgency of these charges against Sergeant Adonis because of the proximity of completing her probation. Sooo is Brotha' Al advocating the termination of this Black female when in fact the offending officer who actually committed the crime that took placed 18 months ago has yet to be held accountable? Surely not... He continued by essentially telling his audience to be patient with the police department as it is taking the long road to justice as it awaits a decision regarding this matter from the Justice Department investigation before taking any further actions of discipline beyond Sergeant Adonis. Really Brotha' Al? I left his event in sheer disgust and feeling more agitated than when I arrived...
Seems the NYPD is playing both sides of the fence and throwing us, the Black community, a bone in the form of a Black female sergeant scapegoat while at the same time, virtually exonerating the VERY culpable and murderous officer who choked Mr. Garner to death. Is it any coincidence that the only other person who has been charged with any wrong doing in this matter is the young man who filmed the actual choking of Mr. Garner? Hmmmm....
Was there or was there not a departmental violation committed by the officer who ended Mr. Garner's life? We should be intolerant fo the department standing in both arguments. If no departmental or legal wrong doing has been committed, as is suggested by the collective non-action against the offending officer by the NYPD, the prosecutor and the grand jury, then how is it that Sergeant Adonis can be charged with the wrong doing, seemingly a departmental infraction of "failing to supervise" a presumed "non offense" by her subordinate? I'm Just Askin'...
We must not allow that this Sergeant hang from the noose all alone, with no protection, without lifting our voice to speak against use of the age old and much too widely accepted double standard. Did she play by what are otherwise accepted rules of Blue engagement? If her action/inaction is wrong and punishable for her, then it must be wrong and punishable for all others in blue. Yes, this is a wake up call for her and the other Blacks in blue who seem to have misplaced or at least conflicted values. I get that... But let's not lose sight of the fact that it is not all about what she did or did not do, but also about who she is and our not accepting that she be made scapegoat and/or judged by a double standard reserved only for some...
This special brand of Just-Us is not justice for Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Officer Horn in Buffalo nor any of us...
Time that we spit out the Kool-aid folks and start asking the right questions and demanding answers! Or at the very least, it is high time that we insist on a more tasteful flavor of Kool-aid...
I'm Just Askin'... What the what?
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