As more information is unfolding in the case of the arrest of University of Virginia student, Martese Johnson, it is looking more like a case of a false or wrongful arrest coupled with race bias and possible excessive force by Alcohol Beverage Control police. When the arrest video was released, few details were known. Police charged Johnson with public intoxication and obstruction of justice (without use of force). Johnson was refused entry into a pub due to under age. New information has surfaced that he did not present a fake ID. Johnson, 20 years old, was too young to enter, according to the policy of the pub and entry was refused. When the ABC police confronted him, they chose to ask questions which he allegedly answered correctly on his name, address and zip code. But somehow that led to the ABC police to arrest him and in the process and bash his head causing the need for 10 stitches. The ABC police have been mostly silent and an investigation is under way. … [Read more...] about Martese Johnson: A Case of False Arrest and Racial Bias
Archives for March 2015
Why the Case of U VA Student Martese Johnson Matters
The case of 20 year old University of Virginia (“U VA”) student, Martese Johnson, beaten, arrested and charged by police with obstruction of justice, public intoxication and swearing should matter to anyone who cares about justice in this country. Mr. Johnson is lucky to be alive today. He could have died a senseless violent death at the hands of the Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control (“ABC”) Board police for being denied entry to a bar on the early morning hours of March 18. The ABC police in front of witnesses bashed Johnson’s face as evident by his bloody face in photos. Eric Garner died at the choking hands of a New York police officer while stopped for allegedly possessing illegal cigarettes. And Michael Brown died a violent death in Ferguson, Missouri for running away from police officer Darren Wilson. Twelve year old Tamir Rice died a violent death for playing with a toy BB gun on a playground in Cleveland as his sister watched nearby. And countless other unnamed young … [Read more...] about Why the Case of U VA Student Martese Johnson Matters
America is so Post Racial Since Selma that it Hurts
There is no denial that the U. S. has changed for the better in terms of racial relations since the Selma March 50 years ago when blacks were tear gassed, beaten with bully clubs, bitten by dogs while some lost their lives fighting for the right to vote. For those who deny that racial change has occurred in 50 years, listen and speak with Congressman John Lewis as he challenges those to walk in his shoes over the last 50 years. There is a difference between racial change and racial harmony as the “post racial” word suggests. I first heard the term post racial when President Obama was first elected in 2008. And even before his election, there were clear signs that while America would elect an African American president after the failed Bush years, they would not always respect him on account of the color of his skin. The racially polarizing politics of the country since President Obama’s first election have made it possible for many Americans to express publicly their … [Read more...] about America is so Post Racial Since Selma that it Hurts
Selma 50 Years: Then and Now
As this weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the Selma March, which culminated in the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the focus was on the past in contrast with the present and future. Congressman John Lewis, who was once beaten and jailed 50 years ago while marching and fighting for civil rights and voting rights for African Americans on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, returned walking alongside of President Obama on Saturday. While some African Americans and others complain that race relations have deteriorated and not changed, they only need look to or speak with John Lewis and those individuals who 50 years ago risked their lives, endured indignities, beatings, even death, tear gas, and multiple times in jail to know that things have changed in America. We are far from a perfect union. The gap is not as wide as it was 50 years ago when it was unimaginable that a black man could become President or Attorney General. But the gap still persists. As history … [Read more...] about Selma 50 Years: Then and Now
DOJ Finds Rampant Racial Bias with Ferguson Police
The U.S. Department of Justice has learned what probably the residents of Ferguson, Missouri knew all along—that the majority white Ferguson Police Department engaged in a pattern and practice of violating the constitutional rights and civil rights of African Americans in Ferguson. While the Justice Department report will not be released until Wednesday, portions are said to reveal a scathing racially biased system against blacks. What is known so far more than aptly reveals why the residents of Ferguson were especially overcome and boiling over with anger and raw emotions this past summer over the killing of unarmed Michael Brown. Michael Brown was one person of many others targeted in a city full of racial bias by its police force. The numbers are startling to say the least and show a pattern of what amounted to rampant civil rights violations. The African American population of Ferguson is 67%. 93% of all people arrested were African American. 90% of all tickets and … [Read more...] about DOJ Finds Rampant Racial Bias with Ferguson Police