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Thursday, March 28, 2024

I am Sandra Bland

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Had I ever met Sandra Bland, I am sure I would have liked her. She is described as an advocate for justice who had embraced her purpose to fight racism. She is described as a sister who knew her rights. She was well-educated, assertive, and a resource for her people. She was dragged out of her car for failing to signal a traffic lane change because Texas Highway Patrol Trooper Brian Encinia chose to abuse his power and violate her rights. Because he could.

Three days later, Bland was dead. The police call her death a suicide. Her family is disputing the autopsy. Encinia is responsible for what happened, since there was no reason to arrest Bland and put her in jail.

Bland was an ā€œuppityā€ Black woman from suburban Chicago who would not kowtow to Trooper Encinia. Perhaps he preferred a woman who said ā€œyes, sir,ā€ and humbly accepted her ticket. Certainly, while it was not against the law to take a smoke, he preferred that Bland put her cigarette out. Why? Because he needed to order a woman around who asserted her rights.

Trooper Encinia was exceedingly and outrageously out of order. His voice escalated to unnecessary shouting when he yelled, ā€œI will light you up. Get out. Now. Get out of the car.ā€ He grabbed her, threw her on the ground, and shoved his knee in her back so sharply that evidence of bruising was visible in her autopsy three days later. He arrested her with the false charge of assault because she did not acquiesce to his brutality.

The Prairie View A&M University graduateā€™s You-Tube posts show her as a strong, assertive Black woman who is keenly aware of racial disparities, and committed to social and economic justice. Former police officer Harry Houck, commenting on this case on CNN, described her as ā€œarrogantā€ because she would not extinguish her cigarette. Houck did not know Bland, so how did he surmise that she was arrogant? Isnā€™t that how some whites describe Black people when we fail to grovel in the face of their power?

What did Trooper Encinia see when arresting Bland? Did he, like Houck, see a woman who was not intimidated, a woman who, though not rude, was not ā€œhumbleā€? Did she scowl when she was stopped? Probably. Was she unfriendly or ungracious? Possibly. Was she deferential? Not at all. But there is no law that says that someone who gets a ticket is supposed to be grateful. Most folks who get a ticket are annoyed, and have a bit of an attitude. She did not bow and scrape, or say, ā€œYes massa,ā€ so now she is dead.

African-American women are often stereotyped as angry Sapphires with chips on their shoulders and a penchant for confrontation. A Black woman doesnā€™t have to raise her voice or swivel her neck to be considered angry. All she has to do is express herself, or fail to smile.

I know Sandra Bland, because she is every woman. She does not conform to the majority cultureā€™s stereotype of what a woman should be. We, Black women, rarely conform.

Forty-six percent of African-American families are female-headed. Black unemployment is higher than White unemployment, and Black wages are lower. We work harder for less pay than other women. In the words of Fannie Lou Hamer, we are ā€œsick and tired of being sick and tired.ā€ Sandra Bland accepted her calling to fight for justice. She is not dead because she failed to signal when she changed lanes. She is dead because she knew and asserted her rights.

Every woman who is an activist is Sandra Bland, the Christian, the organizer, the advocate for justice. She is dead because she dared talk back to a brutal officer. Sandra Bland is every assertive Black woman. I am Sandra Bland.

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist. She can be reached via Juliannemalveaux.com.

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