“Real men do not hit women.” I have been hearing versions of that statement since childhood. Parents teach their boys from babyhood that it is not okay to hit girls. Should that statement be amended to, “Real men do not hit women, but uniformed men operating with the full power and authority of the government can do whatever they want with defenseless black women”?
Conservatives will spray you with apoplectic spittle as they denounce hip-hop, expressly, they’ll tell you, because of misogynistic lyrics. “You just do not talk about women using such derogatory terms,” they so pompously proclaim. “Women must be protected,” they preach. Isn’t it then, more than a little curious that we have heard not one word about the recent spate of incidents of white policemen beating up black women? I find it hard to believe that we’d not have a full-fledged riot on our hands if these were white women being seen to be so brutalized.
We all know that violence — especially but not limited to sexual assault — against women is one weapon in the arsenals of warring factions. The women are left with the physical scars and the shame even while sharing the psychological trauma with their families and their communities. Indeed, that was the objective in the first place, wasn’t it? To terrorize and humiliate whole communities. You watch the videos or read the accounts of how cops mistreated the women listed below and you feel real terror for the safety of your loved ones.
Bear in mind that these are cases of men beating women at the slightest provocation and sometimes no provocation at all. I have watched a lot of these videos, looking to see whether when backup arrives on the scene if one — even one — will go to the defense of the woman. No. It does not happen. If anything, the backup team is even more aggressive. A woman who is being brutalized by an officer cannot fight back. If present, her loved ones dare not intervene. She is at the mercy of the cop.
Genelle Laird, 18, may or may not have taken a knife to confront someone who she accused of stealing her phone. In any event, the cops were called to the scene. Routine call, right? Genelle’s boyfriend was present and had to watch as his girlfriend was “beaten into submission.” Their conversation as Genelle is being manhandled is heartbreaking. “I don’t want you to see me like this. I don’t want you to see me like this,” she wails. “I still love you,” he assures her.
The two police officers appear to have a hard time placing handcuffs on Laird, so she is thrown to the ground as officers deliver blows. As Laird flails around in agony, this set the officers off even more and they began to dole out knee strikes and punches. [...] As the cops beat Laird into submission, one of them begins tasering her torso and leg repeatedly. All the while Laird is screaming in agony and pleads with the cops to get off of her, saying, “I can’t breathe.”
28-year-old Earledreka White, a Texas social worker, was manhandled and handcuffed for the crime of crossing a double white line.
Nervous and distraught, Earledreka White did the only thing she thought she could to allay her fears after being stopped by a police officer in Houston: She called 911 to report the traffic stop and asked for police backup.
Breaion King was pulled over for speeding. A traffic stop happens like once every two seconds, right? No big deal. Cities need money for their budgets, cops fulfill their quotas, motorists are pissed but they know the deal. Not so cut and dry for black drivers.
“Get out of the car now,” he says, yanking her out of the vehicle and throwing her to the ground.
“Oh my God. Oh my God,” she screams. “Why are you doing this to me?”
Richter then orders her several times to put her hands behind her back.
“Oh my God. Are you serious?” King moans. “Oh my God.”
“I’m about to Tase you,” Richter says.
As he manages to get her hands behind her back, King stands up. Richter then tries to leg sweep, or trip, her. When that doesn’t work, he puts his arm around her neck.
There is a choking sound as the cop lifts the 112-pound woman into the air before slamming her down on the ground.
It was also to Breaion that one anthropologist very helpful racist explained why cops are supposedly afraid of black people.
“Violent tendencies….Some of them, because of their appearance and whatnot, some of them are very intimidating. Ninety-nine percent of the time … it is the black community that is being violent,” the officer tells her. “That’s why a lot of white people are afraid. And I don’t blame them. ”
Marlene Pinnock, a 51-year-old woman suffering from mental issues was used as a punching bag by a patrol officer.
The video shows Pinnock walking away from Andrew, who follows her, throws her to the ground, straddles her, and punches her repeatedly. Pinnock, who has bipolar disorder, suffered traumatic head injury according to her lawyer...
The officer who unloaded on Ms. Pinnock was not charged as investigators determined that he just had to punch the living daylights out of her so as to protect her, himself, and the public.
These are but a few examples of men unleashing the full force of their physical power against defenseless women. These are men armed with guns and tasers and the authority of the government. Noticed that I have not mentioned women who were either killed on the spot or later died in prison under mysterious circumstances.
An appeal to white women
White women, you have a problem. Attorney Al McSurely of the Moral Monday movement says that racism is a white people’s problem. White men brutalizing black women is a white woman’s problem; meaning that you have the power to change the dynamics at play. It’s your sons, your husbands and lovers, your brothers, your fathers who are brutalizing black women. What can you do? You may have to take extraordinary measures to get the ears of your menfolks. We need to hear you as lives are at stake.