Goin' back to Dallas, take my razor and my gun
If there are people lookin' for trouble, sure gonna give 'em some
I load up my revolver, sharpen up my knife
Some redneck messin' with me man, I'm bound to have his life
Down to Dallas, take my razor and my gun
Man, people there lookin' for trouble, sure gonna give 'em some
"Dallas" Johnny Winter
American segregation wasn't just the attempted physical separation of blacks from whites. It was the zealously enforced rule that black people were inferior and had no right to contradict whites, talk back to whites, displease whites, complain about being cheated by whites, testify against whites or do anything that would set their will against any white person, regardless of age, gender, status, right or wrong.To do otherwise would be to be considered "uppity". And to be considered uppity meant that a black person ran the high risk of assault or worse by local outraged whites, often with the tacit assistance or open cooperation of law enforcement. Supposedly the changes which took place in the 1950s and 1960s put an end to that sort of foolishness. But unfortunately racism doesn't just go away because the law changes. There are still a lot of white people who really do hate black people.
And when that hate is combined with a badge and a gun, bad things can happen. Recently in Texas (and why am I not surprised about this) a white police chief and his friends behaved as if this were 1917 and not 2017.
Miss Black Texas 2016 is calling for a North Texas police chief to be removed from his job after he allegedly called her a “black bitch” and unlawfully arrested her for passing his 14-year-old daughter on the road. Carmen Ponder, an intern at the Hunt County district attorney’s office and a recent graduate of Texas A&M University, tweeted Tuesday that she experienced “road rage” from Kerry Crews, the police chief in Commerce, Texas.
Ponder says she was on her way to a local Walmart when a black truck cut in front of her and began driving erratically. She says she decided to pass the vehicle to avoid a potentially dangerous situation because she believed the driver to be drunk. She had parked her car outside the Walmart before realizing the black truck had followed her, she says. Crews, who had not identified himself as a cop, apparently yelled at Ponder for passing his daughter, whom he had been teaching to drive at the time.
“Whatever, you black bitch,” Crews allegedly told Ponder after she reminded him that it’s “illegal” for a 14-year-old to drive. Ponder says she walked away from the confrontation and made her way into the store. She alleges that Crews, his daughter and at least one other man were waiting for her when she returned.
One of the men allegedly informed Ponder that Crews is a police chief and that she should apologize to him for being disrespectful. Ponder refused and began walking to her car, apparently prompting the man to grab her by the arm and tell her she was going to be detained. When more police arrived on the scene, Ponder approached them for help. But she claims the man who initially grabbed her told the officers that she was resisting arrest and instructed them to detain her.
Ponder was handcuffed, put in the back of the a police car, and detained for roughly 24 hours. She was released but still faces a charge for evading arrest.
Ponder says she was on her way to a local Walmart when a black truck cut in front of her and began driving erratically. She says she decided to pass the vehicle to avoid a potentially dangerous situation because she believed the driver to be drunk. She had parked her car outside the Walmart before realizing the black truck had followed her, she says. Crews, who had not identified himself as a cop, apparently yelled at Ponder for passing his daughter, whom he had been teaching to drive at the time.
“Whatever, you black bitch,” Crews allegedly told Ponder after she reminded him that it’s “illegal” for a 14-year-old to drive. Ponder says she walked away from the confrontation and made her way into the store. She alleges that Crews, his daughter and at least one other man were waiting for her when she returned.
One of the men allegedly informed Ponder that Crews is a police chief and that she should apologize to him for being disrespectful. Ponder refused and began walking to her car, apparently prompting the man to grab her by the arm and tell her she was going to be detained. When more police arrived on the scene, Ponder approached them for help. But she claims the man who initially grabbed her told the officers that she was resisting arrest and instructed them to detain her.
Ponder was handcuffed, put in the back of the a police car, and detained for roughly 24 hours. She was released but still faces a charge for evading arrest.
Now think about this for a moment. Armed agents of the state, who may well have been breaking the law themselves, insulted, harassed and arrested a citizen for the crime of what exactly? Oh yes, refusing to apologize to a white man. So where are all of the libertarians, Gadsden flag waving "sovereign citizens", Tea Party anti-government types and live free or die folks who flocked to the Cliven Bundy ranch to express their outrage over government bullying/abuse of power and draw guns on police and other government employees. Well I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them to rally to Ponder's defense.They tend to be pro-government just as long as that government is humiliating, arresting or killing black people. This is outrageous. We can talk about retraining, consent agreements and lawsuits all we want. That hasn't worked. The only way we're going to stop this thing is by making sure the police know that they can catch a bullet just like anyone else. Citizens should not be afraid of the government. The government should be afraid of the citizens. The problem is that in 1817, 1917 and even in 2017, a great many whites, not all of whom are in Texas, had and have problems accepting blacks as full citizens.
