Power disempowering

Once again, white power disenfranchises Black accomplishment and personal power.

Think about it: A busload of Delaware State University lacrosse female athletes returning home from their final game in Florida. Imagine they are excited to be heading home, talking about the last game or making plans for the summer.

And the bus gets stopped on I-95 by deputies of the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy justifies the stop because the bus driver was in the left lane. A minor infraction. A ticket, perhaps, and be on your way.

But the bus didn’t go on its way. The police weren’t finished after all. For no reasonable cause, other than the lame suggestion that school buses are often used for drug transit, they decided to search the women’s bags for drugs or contraband. “If there is anything in y’all’s luggage, we’re probably gonna find it, OK? I’m not looking for a little bit of marijuana, but I’m pretty sure you guys’ chaperones are probably gonna be disappointed in you if we find any.” - quoted from YouTube video. 

And so they took the girls’ bags out of the storage area and ransacked them, going through underwear and personal products. They had a drug-sniffing dog. And they found no drugs. And only then did they wave the bus on.

But surely the conversation and the mood in the bus was entirely different. For no reason, these women, mostly Black, were disempowered by white cops, who assumed the women’s guilt, using that assumption to justify their search. Was there a sudden silence as each young woman felt what had just happened? Did they feel the defeat that follows the assault of one’s personal boundaries? Were they too rattled to feel the justifiable anger stemming from this violation? Most likely, they weren’t laughing or celebrating a season done. Nor were they feeling the privilege of acceptance that is inherent in the entitlements afforded to all Americans. How sad to be reminded even when following the American Way, that you are the enemy, the criminal, the assumed violator of the laws.

And so the story of white male power stripping power and self-esteem from Black, brown and others continues.  

Nor does a simple “I’m sorry” take care of it. The trauma this kind of an incident wreaks goes on and on. For the victims, it isn’t merely one of those countless incidents that gets reported, lives in the news for a nanosecond, until the next news story occurs. It is not swept under the rugs of these women’s hearts and minds. The scars live on and on, become a part of their personal story, along with fear and despair, and a sense of hopelessness and helplessness. It guarantees the continuation of the process of disempowerment and alienation, the corrosive consequences of racism, designed to keep those who contributed the most to the wealth of this nation on their knees still waiting for acceptance and respect: cost-free, life-affirming benefits.

Advocating for justice is the cornerstone of the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice’ mission, and we condemn this incident and demand that justice be served for these women. In our recent edition of Black Voices, we spoke about the way power is abused. These athletes experienced just that abuse of power. Their guilt was assumed. Why?  Because they are Black?

There will be countless arguments that one cannot make the assumption that racism underlaid the search. But those arguments are made mostly by those who are unwilling to examine the systemic racism that lives and breathes in our country, exemplified over and over again in incidents like these. What will it take for us as a country to acknowledge and do the hard work necessary to change? When will we gather as a people and fight from the core of our beings for justice and equity for all people? When will we have the courage to give up power for just the few in favor of power for all?