{"id":4254,"date":"2015-10-28T10:35:37","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T15:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?p=4254"},"modified":"2015-10-28T10:35:37","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T15:35:37","slug":"why-didnt-she-just-act-right-the-assault-at-springvalleyhigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/10\/why-didnt-she-just-act-right-the-assault-at-springvalleyhigh.html","title":{"rendered":"“Why Didn’t She Just Act Right?”: The Assault at #SpringValleyHigh"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"SpringValleySummer\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

On Monday afternoon at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, school resource officer Ben Fields assaulted a 15 year old student while she sat in her seat in class. Many in social media expressed outrage. We here at R3 collected some of those \u00a0reflections and expressions below. If you would like to share a reflection, please email us at rhetoricraceandreligion@gmail.com<\/em><\/p>\n

If your first thought is, \u201cwhat did she do,\u201d or, \u201cshe should have obeyed,\u201d or, \u201cwe don\u2019t know the whole story,\u201d or, \u201ckids need to respect authority,\u201d then you and I need to part company. Would you ask those questions if she were white? Would you ask them if she were your child?\u00a0Unless she was waving an effing gun, this is bull. Oh, wait. You can shoot up a movie theatre, a school, and even a church, and make it out alive. With a bullet proof vest. And a meal from burger king. If you\u2019re a white dude. But if you\u2019re an unarmed black girl who\u2019s being mouthy or just quietly recalcitrant, you get assaulted and slammed to the ground, at pool parties, in classrooms, and in your own home. Got it. No wonder one of my students said this video reminded her of slavery days.\u00a0The disrespect of black persons, female and male, young and old, has a long history. The belief that black bodies are property that can be manhandled has a long history. The idea that black children are never really children, and that protection is for \u201cladies\u201d (who are always white) and \u201cinnocent little kids\u201d (who are always white), has a long history. Educate yourselves. Ask. Read. Think. Be slow to speak. <\/span>That is all.-Amrita Chakrabarti Myers<\/a><\/p>\n

I am writing to express my outrage that a young African American female student could be assaulted while peacefully sitting in her desk! In these times of heightened tension when anti-black policing is a topic of public outrage, it is important that local law enforcement agencies send the message to their employees and the communities with which they collaborate that such racist behavior is not acceptable. Officer Ben Fields is taking part in these times. He is a witness to the kinds of conversations and protests that are happening in our contemporary society around policing. And yet, Fields made the decision to brutalize a young woman publicly in front of other minors and state employees. What a blatant disregard for black life! And, (what is unfortunately but most likely to appeal to the parties addressed here) what a reckless occupation of the public position he holds as a state employee! Fields\u2019 actions reflect poorly on the entire district and state which he represents, and he should be terminated immediately. Black children have the right to be treated as fully human. Black people have the right to be treated as fully human.\u00a0\u202a#\u200e<\/span>BlackLivesMatter\u202c<\/span><\/span><\/a>.-Todne Thomas<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

And THIS is what America doesn\u2019t have the BALLS to say: \u201cThat baby girl was body slammed in that classroom because Black girls are inherently evil. They are not female or human. They are potential monsters who must be policed in body and soul. They are criminal at best and the reason for the downfall of civilization at worst. They have no feelings because they don\u2019t feel. They have no pain because they\u2019re not human. They are society\u2019s convenient scapegoat. They must be contained unless they\u2019re needed to personify the evil others refuse to hold to their own account. They are the prostitutes that carry society\u2019s workforce. They are angry without a cause. They must be neutralized\u2026..unless we need them tomorrow.\u201d\u00a0What recourse do we have? You don\u2019t want blood in the streets, yet you gladly spill our blood anytime you feel like it. You want the right to bear arms without infringement, but if we take up arms we\u2019re nothing more than domestic terrorists. How long do you think we will continue to forgive your terrorism? Your refusal to treat us with humane dignity is asking us to go to war. Oh America, you are pushing us very close to responding with blood and fire.-Kimberly Joy Chandler<\/span><\/a>-R3 Contributor<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Monday afternoon at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, school resource officer Ben Fields assaulted a 15 year old student while she sat in her seat in class. Many in social media expressed outrage. We here at R3 collected some of those \u00a0reflections and expressions below. If you would like to share […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2251,"featured_media":4251,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[46,260,102,29,255,261,16],"class_list":["post-4254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blacklivesmatter","tag-amrita-myers","tag-kimberly-chandler","tag-race","tag-spring-valley-high","tag-tonde-thomas","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"\n"Why Didn't She Just Act Right?": The Assault at #SpringValleyHigh<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On Monday afternoon at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, school resource officer Ben Fields assaulted a 15 year old student while she\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/10\/why-didnt-she-just-act-right-the-assault-at-springvalleyhigh.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Why Didn't She Just Act Right?": The Assault at #SpringValleyHigh\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Monday afternoon at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, school resource officer Ben Fields assaulted a 15 year old student while she\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2015\/10\/why-didnt-she-just-act-right-the-assault-at-springvalleyhigh.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-28T15:35:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/543\/2015\/10\/SpringValleySummer.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"773\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andre E. 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