I have talked about many different subjects on this blog over the years. I have never been afraid to write about any subject, but one subject that I have not covered so far are issues of race. As Leah has written on her blog, the truth is that I was scared.
I did not know enough, I was frightened of getting things wrong; saying the wrong thing. I did not want to stay silent and many times my fingers would be hovering over the keyboard as time after time I read about another black life needlessly lost. I was so concerned about saying the right thing that I said nothing at all.
But this lady has made me face my fears and speak to you today. Sandra Bland.
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Sandra was pulled over for not indicating a lane change. In Waller County where Sandra was pulled over, 29.1% of the drivers who were pulled for a traffic stop were black, despite black people only making up 26% of the county's population - source Texas has a long, long history with racism,
Sandra was ordered out of her vehicle, threatened with a taser, had her head slammed to the ground; was arrested and three days later she was dead. They claim that Sandra hung herself, but there are many questions surrounding this, one of the harrowing being that she may have already been dead when her mugshot was taken.
Why was the video footage edited? Why was her mugshot not taken with the same background as every single other mugshot (the background being the same colour as the cell floor). Why does it look like she is lying on the floor? Why did the version of how she supposedly hung herself change?
There are so many questions and not many answers.
Check out the below links:
I have read story after story of unarmed black people being physically assaulted and killed by officers in the US. Yet at the same time we see people like Dylann Roof who was arrested, given a bullet proof vest for his protection and given a Burger King.
Sandra Bland's name needs to be remembered. She is not a statistic.
