U. VA. student didn’t deserve to be beaten up
6th April 2015 · 0 Comments
If a store official told me I couldn’t gain admissions my next move would be simply to walk away. When rules are presented no matter what I think to the contrary, I get to “steppin’.” Some of us may squawk a little bit but for the most part we leave the scene.
Martese Johnson, a 20-year-old Black student at the University of Virginia did not get the chance to walk away.
The story goes that ID problems led to the club official telling Johnson he couldn’t gain admittance. Kevin Badke was the co-owner of the Trinity Irish Club who denied Martese Johnson admission. Badke said, “He was just disappointed he didn’t get in. He was just acting like a normal college kid. It was very cordial. I actually asked him what high school he went to.”
Now to my mind none of the aforementioned statements sound confrontational at all. In fact the exchange between the two of them almost sounds friendly.
Martese Johnson is young, black and male. These three descriptors seem to be a catalyst for chaos and confusion these days. In addition, Johnson is a third year honors student and a student leader. Yet even with these credentials, he found himself on the wrong side of the law on St. Patrick’s Day no less.
Almost immediately after this “cordial” conversation between the co-owner, Badke and Johnson, the U. Va. Honors student, Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control officers show up on the scene. What happens after they show up is what’s troubling so many of us.
Martese Johnson is slammed to the ground, face first. This resulted in his face becoming a bloody mess. This incident took place outside of the bar. Now for me the questions come pouring out. First and foremost, if the conversation was that cordial who called the beverage control guys? Second, why didn’t the beverage control guys assess the scene before immediately letting someone’s face collide with the sidewalk? Lastly, what is the penalty for this type of behavior by the officers?
Reports say that Martese Johnson took the alcohol breath test and the results were negative. Do these tests matter or does it depend?
This type of beating is an outrage and should be condemned at the highest levels. I just wonder what these three ABC officers were thinking. It is abundantly clear to me that they were not thinking.
It appears as if every 60 days some accident or incident happens which involves young African-American males. This for me is just sickening and outrageous. Do officers who carry guns take diversity and sensitivity training? Of course they do and the majority of them use those tools to curtail violence. However there seems to be a growing number of officers who only pay lip service to diversity and sensitivity training.
When Martese Johnson was told by his family to work hard, stay out of trouble and you will be OK, he believed them. Young men who look like Martese Johnson are experiencing another side of America.
Because it appears unnecessary force was used against Johnson, the three officers in question have been reassigned other duties. I guess that is how the system works. You smash a young man’s face into the ground even though reports say he was docile and was not causing any trouble.
Where is the justice in having them reassigned? Why not have the officers suspended until the investigation is completed. It is my opinion that Martese Johnson was victimized by those officers.
This case is receiving national attention. The governor of the state of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe is keeping an eye on this case. In fact there will be a lot of eyes on this case. Will these officers receive some type of punishment? We will just have to wait and see.
These incidents involving young men of color just continue to happen. The circumstances in my opinion are all suspect. However the results are still the same. Young black men are killed and in this case severely beaten and injured.
Our country is almost becoming immune to I can’t breathe and Black lives matter.
So what is the solution to tragedy after tragedy? We have formed councils and committees to study the issue but the brutality keeps on happening. We have had city, state and national officials offer apologies but the inhumanity keeps on occurring.
The moral compass of our America is now severely skewed in the direction of hopelessness and lost lives. Yet we cannot give up the fight for right.
Let us be advocates for right in this country. Maybe the message will spread.
– James B. Ewers Jr. Ed.D.
This article originally published in the April 6, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
