The wheels of justice turn slowly for Black folks. Pleajhai Mervin is the 15-year old student in Palmdale, CA who had her wrist broken by a 300-pound security guard back on Sept 18.
Three weeks later and she is still expelled from school. Three weeks later and the security guard is still getting paid. There is a video tape showing the beat-down by the guard ... yet he is still getting paid. In fact, his parents are writing editorials to the local paper doing what parents do ... telling anyone who will listen that their child is an angel and everyone that saw the tape misunderstood what they saw.
There is a call for a gathering in Palmdale on November 19.
Personally, I tire of this disrespect by authorities for our children. When will we learn? When will we take matters into our hands and create communities that we control so that mayors, district attorneys and school principals think about Black folks at least as much as they think about the white folks? Here a Jena, there a Jena, Everywhere a Jena-Jena ....
Three weeks later and she is still expelled from school. Three weeks later and the security guard is still getting paid. There is a video tape showing the beat-down by the guard ... yet he is still getting paid. In fact, his parents are writing editorials to the local paper doing what parents do ... telling anyone who will listen that their child is an angel and everyone that saw the tape misunderstood what they saw.
"This whole incident was caused by students not following the rules of the school. Period. It had nothing to do with race. If the students had followed the rules, no one would be in this situation. Latrisha Majors, her mother, should not have made a rush to judgment. We are parents, too. We understand the need to protect our children. The worst thing she could do was to run to the school and create a situation before she knew all the facts.Parents gathered for a 3-hour town hall meeting last week. Al Sharpton flew into Palmdale to show support for the victims of this abusive behavior. The authorities are investigating the security guard ... but nobody appears to be thinking about the negative impact on the lives of the 15-year olds that are the center of the activity.
"We have watched the video over and over. Chris is not raising Pleajhai's arms behind her back nor is he twisting them. He also does not have her pinned on the table, he is standing to the side. He is not screaming at her, he looks very calm. He did not say the racial slur that he is accused of saying. There are numerous other adults in the video. If Chris was so violent as to break a girl's arm, wouldn't you think one of them would have stopped him or at least said something to him?"
There is a call for a gathering in Palmdale on November 19.
Personally, I tire of this disrespect by authorities for our children. When will we learn? When will we take matters into our hands and create communities that we control so that mayors, district attorneys and school principals think about Black folks at least as much as they think about the white folks? Here a Jena, there a Jena, Everywhere a Jena-Jena ....
