Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 11-3-15 Edition

Editorials
Historic Black Towns Revisited
R. Johnson. Slaves from the community of Davis Bend, Mis- sissippi, a plantation slave com- munity formerly owned by Joseph E. Davis (brother of Jefferson Davis), formed the town after an agricultural de- pression, falling cotton prices and white hostility caused fore- closure of Davis Bend.
Montgomery led founding of Mound Bayou in 1887 after clearing a wilderness in Northwest Mississippi and acquiring ownership of the land, Black farmers owned 66 percent of the land, but by 1920, the continuing agricultural de- pression and high debt had caused most of the Black farm- ers to lose their land and to be- come sharecroppers.
The town experienced eco- nomic depression until 1942 when a hospital opened there and offered healthcare to thou- sands of Blacks in the Missis- sippi Delta.
Mound Bayou became hometoDr.T.R.M. Howard, one of the wealthiest Black men in the state and Medgar Evers (for a while) who would become a well- known Civil Rights activist and NAACP leader.
During the trial of Emmett Till’s killers, Black reporters and witnesses stayed at Dr. Howard’s home. Howard also paid for armed escorts for them to the courthouse in Sum- ner.
In the heat of segregation, Bayou Mound was integrated; its residents voted, and the city boasted credit unions, a hospi- tal, five newspapers, insurance companies, a zoo, many busi- nesses and the first swimming pool for Blacks in Mississippi. So, now you know. Harrambee!
been misusing their authority for centuries. The advent of new technology, that allows for the average person to document every aspect of life 24-hours-a- day, has simply allowed for the rest of us to see what usually takes place when they believe no one else is looking.
What is unfortunate is that it’s highly unlikely that we’ll see less of these types of incidents in the future. That is largely due to the fact that the law enforce- ment community has a ten- dency to attract a segment of the population that often harbors hidden issues. For the kid who was bullied in high school, the control freak with an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and the guy who may feel inadequate with the genitalia God gave him, being a cop is a profession that allows them to compensate for their shortcomings and personal hang-ups.
Giving any one of these per- sonality types a gun and author- ity will always end badly. And, since those doing the hiring more than likely fit the same profile, the only relief we can hope to get will come on the day that someone finally decides to replace at least some of these a— holes with robots.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Company.
Anyone wishing to con- tact Clarence Barr can email him at: realityonice@yahoo.com.
As part of our Black History, many people are still not aware of the extent to which free Blacks, runaway slaves, and freed slaves in America went to declare their independence be- fore and after the Civil War. As many as 500 Black towns were settled beginning as early as 1830 through the end of World War One. With at least 50 of these towns having formed in Oklahoma and other Midwest- ern states, I wrote about those towns in earlier columns. Knowing the history of these towns confirms the resilience, creativity, entrepreneurship, in- dustriousness, intelligence, and strong will of Black Americans.
While whites considered the Black towns as freedom from integration, Blacks viewed their segregated towns as freedom from racism, discrimination, vi- olence, and hatred. Interest- ingly, these towns had virtually no crime, had two-parent households, and possessed a spirit of unity according to one source.
However, many of the towns were destroyed by racial violence, re-routing of railroads and roadways, or became ghost towns due to the migration of younger residents to cities and integration in the 1960s.
Among some of the more in- teresting Black towns was Africa Town, Alabama. This
I imagine that almost every parent, who witnessed the video of the school resource officer in Columbia, S. C. manhandling a 16-year-old girl inside of a class- room last week, probably had the same “Thank God it wasn’t my daughter” thought running through their mind as they watched the uncomfortable im- ages that were circulated world- wide.
And I’m sure this is mainly because no one wanted to be placed into a position where they had to fight off the urge of wanting to place hands on a member of law enforcement for mistreating his or her child.
The sight of the officer flip- ping the young lady out of her desk and onto her head was so disturbing that it was hard for me to view without wincing. What bothered me the most was how easily the young woman could have suffered a broken neck as a result of being the re- cipient of such brutal and un- necessary force.
The entire episode, once again, reminded me of the very real issue we have today with
town was formed in 1864 by African-born ex-slaves who wanted to live separately from white Americans and African Americans with whom they often clashed.
African slaves who had been smuggled into Mobile, Alabama as late as 1860 found difficulty in adjusting to the language, re- ligion, and customs of Ameri- can-born Blacks and jointly formed their own town upon the Emancipation in 1866. Even though the Africans had differ- ent ethnic and cultural back- grounds, they bought land collectively as a group and dis- tributed it for use among the residents.
They built a church (Union Baptist Church, which exists today), a school, homes, busi- nesses; chose a chief to be their leader instead of a mayor; and used a medicine man to provide healthcare. Africa Town resi- dents continued to speak their native languages and practice traditional African ceremonies, which they taught their chil- dren. The town existed until World War Two began.
Another interesting historic Black town is Mound Bayou (Bolivar County), Mississippi, a community founded in 1887 by former slaves led by Isaiah Montgomery. Today, the town has a population of 1,533 and its current mayor is Darryl
policing in this country. The in- dividuals who are hired to serve and look out for our best inter- ests seem to be completely clue- less about how to resolve any situation without resorting to some form of violence.
It wasn’t long ago that I sub- scribed to the idea that this kind of brutish behavior by officers of the law was reserved exclusively for Black people. But, after see- ing two videos recently of cops using lethal levels of force against young white people also (the most recent incident, coin- cidentally, also occurring in South Carolina), I’ve come to the realization that this isn’t just a Black Vs. blue problem.
This is a conundrum that clearly has the men with the night sticks on one side and everyone else on the other. A Jerk with a badge, as it turns out, doesn’t give a damn about anybody.
The sad thing is that this bla- tant abuse of power by those trusted to protect the commu- nity is nothing new. People who’ve been charged with the duty of keeping the peace have
the
Us Vs. Them
Police Brutality Or Juvenile Delinquency?
No, it did not look good at all . . .as millions of viewers around the world watched another white police officer (school resource officer) drag a Black female teenager kick-
ing and screaming out of her chair and slamming her against a wall as the officer ejected her from a high school class- room. Yes, that’s what millions of viewers saw, but is that re- ally what happened?
So, here’s what we saw: A disruptive student who just happened to be Black and female was asked to leave the classroom. The reason why she was asked is immaterial after the request had been made. But the teenager refused to move at which time, a school resource officer (South Car- olina deputy who just happened to be white) was sum- moned.
He asked the teenager to leave and when she refused, was forced to separate her from her seat and literally drag her out of the classroom. Could he have done it differently? Could he have said “please?” Could the student have adhered to the teacher’s demands and left the classroom willingly?
Veteran educators who remember what it was like in the trenches will understand our questions. No doubt, the offi- cer had an option of calling the girl’s parents, or simply wait- ing until the standoff deescalated. But whatever he did would not change the fact that the student had glued herself to her seat. (And this was certainly not a Rosa Parks mo- ment.)
No, it didn’t look good. And because of the inhumanity of the moment, perhaps the deputy had every reason to lose his job. But if he’d been Black, would the world have blinked? Try to look beyond what you thought you saw. If the student had done what she was supposed to do, would there have been a problem?
If the deputy had been a little more polite or never had been called at all, would the situation have solved itself? Who or what is to blame? Perhaps, the culprit is our contin- ued unwillingness to face the reality in our classrooms.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5
Body Cameras Reduce Use Of Force
We are at a loss to know how many scientific studies must be required before police chiefs across America will be sold on body cameras. But what we do know is that
at least two scientific studies released in the past year have shown that the use of force and complaints against police of- ficers was reduced when police officers wore body-cams.
The first study completed by Police Chief William Farrar of the Rialto, California Police Department in cooperation with Cambridge University (UK) found a 59 percent de- crease in the use of force by police and an 87 percent de- crease in complaints against police when body-cams were deployed.
A second study recently released by the University of South Florida, found a 53 percent reduction in the use of force and a 65 percent reduction in complaints against offi- cers of the Orlando, Florida Police Department.
The studies found that the use of body-cams “appeared to create self-awareness in the officers, which apparently made them more accountable for using excessive force.” Furthermore, researchers found the technology to be “most effective at actually preventing escalation during police- public interactions whether abusive behavior towards po- lice or unnecessary use of force by police.”
Most officers participating in the studies felt the cameras should be used by all officers, and that body-cams helped them deescalate confrontations, collect evidence, remember events, and reduce errors.
Consequently, if police departments are truly interested in improving relations between police and communities they serve, there should be no further delay in implement- ing the use of body-cameras.