Vincent L. Hall
As it pertains to the questionable queries as to what happened to Sandra Bland, one thing is quite clear. As a matter of facts and familiarity her death is “distinctively similar” to so many others that have taken center stage in America this year.
I have to admit that I heard Bishop TD Jakes turn that phrase; “distinctively similar.” Jakes explained as he used the term that it was an oxymoron. Basically admitting that to parallel and juxtapose the meaning and inference of the words distinctive and similar on its face is a literary oddity.
But for the sake of this conversation it’s pretty simple. Although the information we have gathered around the death of Sandra Bland is distinctive, in the end it is similar to all the other police killings that have become the nation’s latest trend.
We could probably argue whether or not the decedent, one Sandra Bland could have been more forthcoming during her arrest in Waller County Texas. But the law and the constitution do not compel any of us to be docile, timid, or to allow our right to be subrogated by someone who wears a badge and carries a gun. There is the law and then there’s the LAW!!
Many of you old-school Negro thinkers say that Sandra Bland was too lippy or had an attitude. Some believe that she was contumacious. Bland should have arrested her rights on the scene. Maybe Sandra Bland had been watching videos on Facebook.
Maybe she witnessed how great a number of White men in similar situations openly assaulted police officers and had nothing at all done to them. This latest episode of police malfeasance is distinctively similar to so many others. But one has to admit it has some twists.
First and foremost, the dash cam video of the original arrest by Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia has an obvious and glaring glitch in it. It appears to even novice been tampered with. Encinia threatened to “Light up” Bland with a taser for not getting out of her car. A preliminary investigation found that Encinia violated both the traffic stop and courtesy protocol policies.
Trooper Encinia has only been on the job for one year and now an arrest he made is part and parcel of a homicide investigation. He has become infamous for all the wrong reasons. His name and his features appear to be Hispanic, which may be the only reason that Conservatives don’t have a defense fund established for him. Hmmm!
If that was not as bad as the “distinctive but similar” cases we have had before, all of a sudden Waller County discovered a new problem. After releasing the body of Bland to her family in Chicago, Waller County realized that they botched the original autopsy and needed to take another one.
Can you imagine how a family who has to face a funeral in three days also has to contend with this type of inept and inhumane insult?
The Christian Science Monitor, which is known and regarded for progressive thought and balanced, reporting, headlined a story that asked an interesting question. “Sandra Bland death: is Waller County the most racist county in Texas?”
My personal answer to their very honest question is also a question, “Who gives a damn?” The larger and more important question is; “Is there anywhere in America where a Negroid, (male or female) can drive and not get killed by police? Can Blacks at least expect to be treated with the level of care and concern you would expect poor white folks to receive?”
The death of Sandra Bland is “distinctively similar” to so many others. But in the case of Sandra Bland, it’s a lot more similar than it is distinctive!
Editor’s Note: This is a 10-year anniversary reprint
A long-time Texas Metro News columnist, Dallas native Vincent L. Hall is an author, writer, award-winning writer, and a lifelong Drapetomaniac
