What Feminists Should be Doing About Eric Casebolt

Is it just me, or does that cop Eric Casebolt look nothing short of ridiculous as he rolls across that now infamous McKinney, TX, lawn, where he pulled his gun on a teenager's pool party? A young white male records this daredevil dancer as he does his choreography, throwing gas on to the engine that makes this showman truly shine. But is he rolling around in the grass for no reason? Maybe we should really break this all down well and good for those without the teeth to chew on it. Because in the words of the "Corporal" to a group of 12- to 15-year-old adolescents, forced to sit on the curb and watch this man take affirmative action, "I've got f*cking 30 pounds of gear on out here in the sun." So, that makes him putting his knees on the back of a seemingly 100-pound young girl justifiable, right?This must take quite the effort, the roll I mean. But I guess putting on a show is just part of the job.

According to Merriam Webster's definition, a corporal is a military officer ranked in between a lower-ranking enlisted man and a sergeant, so I suppose in this situation he feels obligated to prove himself worthy of his service in the field of justice. Hmmm, makes sense. I wonder if Casebolt became a navy officer and joined the police force to execute criminals or to simply look cool in front of his friends. But, sadly I guess the world will never know now that he as resigned, and therefore copped out of being tried (pun intended).

Still not surprised by the way. Why not, you ask? Well, after all of the stories I've heard from my Mom, my uncles, aunts, grandparents and friends, I guess I figured that officers like Casebolt must try really, really hard to lay down the law for the sake of all civilians out there. You think so too? Oh, relief! So let's try this: imagine that a cop in your neighborhood is using that good 'ol "affirmative action" as an excuse to execute racial profiling, abuse of authoritative power and harassment. Would you find that hard to believe? Or maybe you already can relate! Could this be possible ... that someone besides a member of the African-American community can relate?

OF COURSE IT IS!

See, when you're not only a black person living in the United States, but also a woman, being harassed by the cops is not uncommon in the slightest. In fact, the White Supremist Cop/Black Civilian scenario is commonly used as an ice breaker at social gatherings. My African-American and Indian grandmother, who has lived in a predominately white neighborhood for over 30 years of her life, recalls the time a white officer arrested her 12-year-old son because the bike he rode was believed to be stolen because "a bike was [coincidentally] reported stolen an hour prior."

There's also the time that two white male cops followed my mother as she walked home from the grocery store, yelling at her to "get in their vehicle," or the times my grandma and her sisters, growing up on the West Side of 1950s and '60s Detroit were held up at bus stations by the white male cops of the previous generation and ordered to "come with them" before they could barely escape.

In all of these examples, the people being harassed were not only black, but also kids. So no, hearing about a young black girl being dragged across cement and grass, seeing her body being slammed down three times as blood smears from her face down on to the sidewalk, no, it does not surprise me in the slightest, because it's been happening for generations. Hundreds of years, actually. The only difference now is that through the use of social media these everyday scenarios of violence against black youths are being highly publicized. So, I guess my question is ... How come, out of all of the feminist blogs and friends' profiles that I follow, the only ones cracking down on the Casebolt video are black?

I mean really, where did we go wrong? If all of my fellow feminists believe in equality, not just between men and women, but for the LGBT community, the poor, the disabled and for everyone of every color, then how does this issue NOT concern them? One cannot say that they always listen to what their friends say to them, but then, exclude one of them from the conversation. That is hypocritical, it is degrading, and it is highly unethical. I mean, I'm telling you, ignorance is NOT bliss. You cannot shame the young men today, who out of ignorance, create a "Meninist" Twitter page and attempt to fight back when it is taken down, if you too, in your blissful ignorance, decide to ignore a girl being slammed down and sat on by a man three times her size. That, you see, is a literal oppressor, and by scrolling past the video because you'd "rather not see it," or not posting your angry response to your self-righteous blog because it is not your feminism makes you nothing but a hypocrite.

So do yourself, your sisters, your cousins, neighbors and friends a favor—don't exclude them.