Page 12
February 27, 2019
O PINION
Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We
welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com.
Police Forfeit Benefit of Doubt Argument
Commitment to
accountability is
what’s needed
l akayana d rury
Our city made na-
tional news with the
explosive release of text
messages between a po-
lice lieutenant and lead-
er from Patriot Prayer,
an alt-right group with
white
supremacist
sympathies. Was this an egregious
breach of protocol or just a misin-
terpretation of standard conduct? It
depends on who you ask.
I spoke with a police officer who
said there weren’t enough facts to
determine the situation. I spoke with
community members who sent me
articles showing that this was just
standard police procedure. I spoke
with others who were alarmed but
not at all shocked. What concerns
me most was how quickly and confi-
dently people were willing to extend
the benefit of the doubt to police.
Who is afforded the benefit of the
doubt in our country? At face value
it would seem that everyone should
be afforded the benefit of the doubt.
But when we take a closer look we
see that the benefit of the doubt is
closely tied to privilege and domi-
nant culture.
In light of the text incident, I was
alarmed by the number of people
who were willing to give the Port-
land Police Bureau the benefit of the
by
doubt. Considering the history of
Portland as a safe-haven for white
supremacists, the fact that the po-
lice bureau is under a Department
of Justice settlement for excessive
use of force, and its troubled history
of race relations, why are
Portland police given the
benefit of the doubt that
this was just another gross
misunderstanding?
The fact is that black
people and young black
men in particular are nev-
er given the benefit of the
doubt in our country. Tray-
von Martin was not given the bene-
fit of the doubt when he was walk-
ing home with a bag of skittles and
ice tea, minding his own business.
Tamir Rice was never given the ben-
efit of the doubt when he was shot
and killed by the police in a park in
Cleveland, Ohio before it was later
discovered that the suspicious object
he was holding was a toy gun.
Quanice Hayes was not given the
benefit of the doubt as he crouched
down on all fours here in Portland.
Jermaine Massey was not given
the benefit of the doubt when he
was speaking on the phone with
his mom in a Portland hotel lob-
by. Black people are never afford-
ed the benefit of the doubt; not at
Starbucks, not when we are holding
our personal belongings, not when
we are in school. So why are we so
willing to be lenient with the police
and willing to consider the situa-
tion and facts when that same right
is not afforded to black people and
people of color? From jokes about
shooting black people, to use of
force when other options are avail-
able, the Portland Police Bureau is
continually given the benefit of the
doubt. In the larger scale of society,
white people and white men in par-
ticular and white culture as a whole
are also always given the benefit of
the doubt. Whether it be clothing
that masquerades with racist imag-
ery or politicians that make racially
charged comments or white people
who commit crimes, the benefit
of the doubt is always extended to
them immediately and insulates
them from criticism.
On the other hand, black people
are almost always presumed guilty
or in the wrong. For whites, the ben-
efit of the doubt is a matter of a slap
on the wrist or jail time, for blacks,
it can often be life or death. I chal-
lenge us as a community to replace
that benefit of the doubt with the
commitment of accountability. The
benefit of the doubt is an unearned
privilege that must be rejected and
further damages the relationships
within the community. Accountabil-
ity holds us responsible and unites
communities.
The commitment of accountabil-
ity means that instead of asking,
“In this situation, was the officer
overly friendly with a leader of an
alt-right group?” to instead asking,
“How does PPB hold its officers
accountable and reform policies to
stand against white supremacy?”
Accountability isn’t just about dis-
ciplining the individuals who com-
mitted the act as much as it is about
changing the policies, systems and
culture that gives those individuals
the power to act in the first place.
The benefit of the doubt protects in-
dividuals whereas the commitment
of responsibility challenges institu-
tions and systems and holds individ-
uals responsible for their actions.
I am less concerned with the
individual officer in this incident
and more concerned with how PPB
plans to change policies and institu-
tional culture so that it firmly stands
against white supremacy. I am less
concerned with the officers on the
street and more concerned with the
policies that shape how they re-
spond to calls and what behaviors
are tolerated. The benefit of the
doubt focuses on intent and com-
mitment to accountability centers
on the impact.
The impact of the “text incident”
is that it fuels the narrative that PPB
is not to be trusted in communities
of color and that they are colluding
with or at the least sympathetic to
alt-right organizations. Many in the
city are working to improve rela-
tionships between the police and the
community including myself, and
events like this make our work that
much more challenging and lead us
to question how invested police are
to this process. The Portland Police
Bureau must take the commitment
to accountability seriously and focus
not only on explaining the context of
the messages and disciplining those
involved but more importantly make
a clear statement on where it stands
in regards to white supremacy. They
should not shy away from the inci-
dent nor deflect blame but step bold-
ly into the situation and firmly clarify
where they stand.
The community should not have to
doubt whether its police force stands
against white supremacy and to have
any doubt should alarm us all. PPB
must focus on policy reform, trans-
parency and work culture to change
the current power dynamics. At ev-
ery opportunity they should reject the
benefit of the doubt argument which
weakness trust and does not address
institutional racism and bias. White
community members must also re-
ject the benefit of the doubt plea and
not hand it out whenever controver-
sy arises. The police must realize the
racial roots of this benefit and realize
that this benefit is not extended to
their black neighbors.
The benefit of the doubt argument
is tone deaf and privileged. White
people must be allies to communi-
ties of color as we work to dismantle
systems of oppression and demand
the commitment of accountability
from our institutions and leaders.
We in the black community do not
want the benefit of the doubt either.
We want to benefit from life: To
work, play, sit, talk and live like ev-
eryone else. That benefit starts with
a commitment to accountability.
Lakayana Drury teaches social
studies at Rosemary Anderson High
School and is a community activist
on efforts to build more positive
relationships between young black
men and law enforcement.
They’re Still Angry about the Pharaohs and the Moors
Why white people
hate us so much
l egrand h. c legg ii.
Several months ago, I
wrote an article claiming
that one of the driving forc-
es behind White racism and
animosity toward black
people is that of retaliation.
In summary, on a deep,
subconscious level the white collec-
tive has inherited from its ancient and
medieval ancestors an entrenched
resentment of black people that was
originally caused by black ostracism,
domination and enslavement of prim-
itive whites when Africans ruled the
world. Given the fact that this is Feb-
ruary of the Black quadricentennial
year (1619-2019) of enslavement in
America, and given recent racist
events in this country, I have chosen
to revisit and elaborate on my theory
of global white resentment and retri-
bution toward people of African de-
scent.
The latest FBI crime statistics
(2017) reveal that African Ameri-
by
cans remain the chief victims of hate
crimes in the United States. School
segregation is as pervasive as ever.
Republican legislators are suppressing
black votes and gerryman-
dering local and statewide
districts. Black people still
suffer the highest unem-
ployment rates and have the
lowest net worth in the na-
tion. African Americans are
given the most severe sen-
tences for criminal violations and are
more likely than any other group to be
victims of violence at the hands of the
police. Furthermore, President Trump
has condemned peacefully protesting
black athletes as “sons of bitches.”
In our confusion over the per-
sistence of white racism across gen-
erations and in our effort to become
accepted as ordinary American cit-
izens just as everyone else, we, as
black people, have appealed to the
white collective with demonstrations,
protests, petitions, prayer vigils ,etc.;
none of which has led to a genuine
cessation of racism on the part of the
white establishment or masses.
Rather than continue these modes
of thought and action, I believe we
as a people should pause, gather our
wits about us and calmly evaluate the
true nature of white racism toward us.
From such analysis we will find that
today, as in the past, we are not just
facing racial prejudice and intolerance
but, rather, a deep-seated, visceral, re-
flexive loathing of black people by
whites on a global scale that appears
to defy all logic, has persisted over
the centuries and is gaining renewed
momentum during the age of Trump.
I theorize that this persistent white
behavior toward people of African
descent, which we call racism, is a
result of at least three thousand years
of black Pharaohs and generals (in-
cluding Sesostris, Thutmose III, Ra-
mesis II, Taharka, Batricus, Hannibal
and the Moors) raiding, invading,
conquering, dominating, colonizing,
oppressing and enslaving various Eu-
ropean and Asian populations.
These periodic incursions and ex-
tended colonizations culminated in
the European exploits of the great
Carthaginian general, Hannibal; in the
nearly eight hundred year reign (i.e.,
711 A.D. to 1492 A.D.) of the Black
Moors over the Iberian Peninsula
(Spain and Portugal) and in Moorish
naval fleets dominating the Mediter-
ranean Sea during the Middle Ages.
Although the Muslim Moors civ-
ilized Spain and Portugal (just as the
ancient Egyptians civilized the white
Greeks), ushered Europe out of the
Dark Ages and laid the foundation
for her modern hegemony, Europe-
ans deeply resented Moorish rule. By
1492, the Spanish regained power, be-
gan driving the Moors from the Iberi-
an Peninsula and exterminating many
who remained. (Some black scholars
believe that the Spanish bull fight and
bull run are symbolic reenactments
of Europeans driving the Moors from
Spain).
When the tables were turned and
the Portuguese and Spanish began
enslaving Africans, whom they called
Moors, the longstanding European ha-
tred and resentment of their former Af-
rican masters morphed into contempt
and animosity toward black people
in general. his sentiment became in-
stitutionalized and spread throughout
Western Europe, crossed the Atlantic
and reached the New World during
the African slave-trade. For centuries
this internalized sense of white enmity
and racism -- which I describe as sub-
conscious vengeance -- that has been
widely manifested toward people of
African descent, has proven itself to
be virtually impervious to change in
the face of black appeals and agitation.
Therefore, I humbly suggest that we,
African Americans, cease appealing
to the collective white conscience for
change and, instead, utilize our vast
consumer power to withhold our fi-
nancial patronage (boycott) in wise
and strategic ways, just as our revered
leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., did
with the successful Montgomery Bus
Boycott of the 1950’s that led to the
end of segregation in public transpor-
tation. This is truly the best way to ef-
fectuate change in a capitalist system
dominated by white supremacy and
racism.
Legrand H. Clegg II is the city at-
torney emeritus for Compton, Calif.,
president of the Western Region of the
Association for the Study of Classical
African Civilizations, and producer of
the documentary “When Black Men
Ruled the World.”