Dear Readers,
Recently there have been a number of news articles published
regarding Trayon Christian, a 19 year old African American male college student
who was arrested after purchasing a $350.00 belt from at a luxury store in
Manhattan (New York City). In this
incident, the young man did not appear to do anything wrong other than shopping
and thereby was arrested for “shopping while black.”
Such incidents are becoming the new normal for
African-Americans. Consequently, certain
reactions to what can often be misread as threatening or suspicious behaviors
on part of African-Americans, especially men, are now becoming of great concern.
For example, many would consider it absurd that a person
would be deemed a threat and subsequently arrested for the simple action of waving—and yet, such an incident did
occur.
It was recently reported in the Evansville Courier &
Press (8/16/13) that George Madison, a 38-year-old African-American firefighter,
was handcuffed by police officers of the Evansville Police Department for waving
at the police officers as they drove past him while he was riding his bicycle. The
report goes on:
While riding his bike in
Evansville, IN, George Madison Jr., 38, waved to a couple of police officers
nearby. From where Madison was, the
officers looked familiar to him. After
all, as a firefighter with the Evansville Fire Department, Madison worked
closely with many officers of the Evansville Police Department.
But Madison didn’t look familiar to
the officers, and as Madison explains, the officers deemed his friendly wave a
threat. “The officer jumped out and says, ‘what are you doing throwing your
hands up at us?’ He is talking to me as
he is coming toward me. I tried to
explain, but I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.”
Madison went on to say that the
officer’s attitude made him feel angry and alone. “It was like everything had disappeared, and
I was there alone and I got scared,” he said.
Before he knew it, Madison said,
the officer had his stun device out. “It
was literally maybe inches from my face. I immediately threw my hands in the
air. I said, ‘Please don’t hurt
me.’ The next thing I know, I’m laying
down on the ground and they cuffed me.”
Once they established who Madison
was, the officers brought Madison up to his knees and let him go. Madison, who is a father of four and also a
youth pastor at Memorial Baptist Church in Evansville, filed a formal complaint
with the police’s internal affairs division.
Question: Is this the end of the story for either Christian
in New York City or Madison in Evansville, IN?
Answer: No. There is
a common theme in both incidents in which either “shopping while black” or “waving
while black” may have resulted in both individuals experiencing trauma
responses and thus carrying psychological wounds and scars.
The way in which both individuals perceive their worlds
moving forward may never be the same. It
is conceivable that Madison may be conflicted regarding whether he should
extend the professional courtesy of acknowledgement to a “fellow officer” who
is white. Or, that Christian would be
feeling apprehensive while shopping in a business establishment that sells
luxury or expensive items in the future.
Can society truly understand how these men may feel? If such an experience has never happened to
us, how can we really understand? Both
of these men are known as upstanding and contributing members of their
communities. Yet, through no fault of their own, they are forced to endure a
humiliating and terrorizing experience which they will never forget.
Can society truly sense the hyper vigilance, the high paced
beating of the heart & pulsing of blood as these men await their fate? This would be highly unlikely, unless they are
those members who have also experienced the indignities of such incidents. Furthermore, it would be impossible to clearly
understand or grasp what the trauma has taken from them.
Trauma, what trauma? What
was taken from them? What does either of
these mean? Regardless of your age,
gender, race or cultural/ethnic identification, just for a moment, imagine
yourself in the following situation:
It is a nice day, not
a cloud in the sky, life for you is as normal as it gets. You find yourself riding your bicycle or go
into the store to buy yourself a belt and then suddenly, the world as you know
explodes in your face.
Only moments ago,
You are either “waving” at a police
officer or “shopping” at the store and for no clearly identifiable reason, you
find yourself arrested, handcuffed and not permitted to move freely. Or, you are being questioned in a manner that
is clouded with suspicion, threats and intimidation.
You find yourself attempting to
explain, yet no one is willing to listen or believe what you have to say. Then
either a weapon is being placed directly in your face or you find yourself
being placed in the backseat of a patrol car.
You are scared. You are alone. People are passing by, staring, pointing and
taking your picture or taking videos with their cell phone. Your heart is about to explode in your
chest. You feel helpless. So you pray, and ask that someone to wake you
up from this “nightmare.”
In either occurrence, you may have experienced a little of
what Madison & Christian felt. This is trauma. This particular form of
trauma is defined as the “just world” theory.
In the “just world” theory, people have a need to believe in
a “just world,” one in which they get what they deserve and deserve what they
get.
The just world theory corresponds to the principle of
“goodness” and that the goodness of an individual is the primary factor
determining one’s lot in life. Trauma shatters
the just world theory because the traumatic response occurs as a result of an out-of-the-ordinary
event that presents itself as a threat to survival and self-preservation. Imagine
what could be more out-of-the-ordinary than being arrested for waving or buying
yourself a belt.
Let’s return to the scenario for a moment. You have been
held in custody for a period ranging from minutes to hours. Then, without warning
or introduction, a stranger approaches, saying:
The incident was a “huge misunderstanding
and a communication problem.”
Members of society, look within the “psychological self”
i.e. your inner being, and ask the following:
·
How does this statement make me feel?
·
Does this statement remove the memory of the
traumatic experience?
·
How does this statement prevent this incident
from occurring again?
·
What did I do to deserve this?
·
Why me?
(Why did this happen to me?)
Members of society, I will leave it to you to respond to
questions 1 through 3. Please allow me
to answer questions 4 & 5.
Responses:
·
(What did I do to deserve this?) I did
nothing. Absolutely nothing.
·
(Why me?)
It is not about you. It’s about
“living in fear”.
Living in Fear? Yes.
Fear is nothing more than a feeling or emotion.
It is for the individual member of society to determine how to respond
to fear. The incidents in the scenario
are both situations in which the responding police officers were going by
prejudgments based on their own, and society’s, internalized feelings of “living
in fear.”
Such incidents will continue to occur, resulting in innocent
persons being psychologically and emotionally wounded and scarred. The terror
of a fearful society will cease only when its members seek to empower itself
and in doing so, transforms its mode of behavior towards one which seeks to balance
its prejudgments and move towards “living with fear.”
However, until this transformation (i.e. from living in fear
to living with fear) can occur, it is upon all of us, regardless of race,
ethnicity, or gender, to take steps that will assist in maintaining our safety.
We have common goals with the police-- we too want to return home to our loved
ones.
Therefore, when interacting with either the police or
members of law enforcement agencies, and you feel fear based on aggression from
or the intimidating stance of the police officers, it is advisable to take the
following actions:
·
First, upon realizing the aggressive or
intimidating stance being taken by the police officers; assume a posture that
reinforces your physical vulnerability & physical exposure. An example of
this is keeping your palms up and hands raised away from your body. Maintain your psychological composure while
the police control the scene.
·
Second, follow the directions given by the
police officers without question or hesitation.
It is imperative that they be in control of the situation or individual
who for whatever reason, they consider to be a danger to themselves. Failure to immediately follow their directive
may serve to heighten their fear for their safety.
·
Third, never ever resist or give the impression
that there is a desire to resist. Any
such action on the individual’s part may lead to coming to face with the use of
deadly force or actions by the police officers that could result in physical
injury or death.
In closing, as one stands at the crossroads, it is for the
individual, as a member of “society”, to decide whether to seek a new path, one
based on optimism and hope for the future or remain on the old road of the
past, holding tightly to that which continues to divide us.
If we are willing to seek balance then we can work to
understand the following:
·
Fear is an emotion. Fear can be good.
·
Learn to live with fear and not in fear.
·
Learn to embrace fear and not allow fear to be
used against the psychological self.
The journey continues……
Dr. Micheal Kane
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