McKinney Reflection: The Training and Safety of Our Kids

In this post, I am lamenting two things that I think are important and the loss of them is evident in the events of and after the McKinney Pool Party Fiasco of 2015. The first lament is for the skill of listening. In conversations that are emotionally charged as this one, we too often let our emotions flare before really hearing a person out and trying to understand their point of view. I have found that even in the most egregious disagreement are seeds of understanding. We will never get to the point of understanding unless we can hear (and listen to) thoughts and opinions that are radically different from our own.

An acquaintance of mine, Ms. Kisa Jackson, posted a video addressing a concern about the way children are being raised today without respect for authority. Her comments were based on the viral video footage of the McKinney Fiasco. She's received several negative and threatening reactions to her views, which saddens me greatly. It is her comments and the aftermath that fuels my laments.

A few years ago, Marvin and I were down to one car. I worked in Irving and he in Oak Cliff. To ease some of the stress, Marvin rode the city bus from work to home. Each day he would tell me about how kids who attended the school on his bus route would disrespect the adults, curse loudly and dare anyone to say anything to them. Several times the DART police force had to be called because the kids were so unruly.

It is no secret that somewhere along the way, we (the African American community as a whole) lost some of the common decency that was so indoctrinated into the children of my day and before (my second lament). There was a time when authority figures were backed by the parents. That time seems to be a distant memory. Nevertheless, I do not advocate for a blind trust either way. I know of many children who endured abuse by adults because they were taught to blindly respect them. By the same token, I know many parents who have missed out on great opportunities for strengthening the citizenship of their children by enabling their bad behavior with their blind trust of them.

There is little doubt in my mind that there is some fault to be assumed by the young people who responded chaotically to both the police presence and the force in which they operated. Nonetheless, I think that their response to the police may have been informed by more than just a lack of training from the parents. Could it be that we are now suffering a consequence similar to that which we decry from racial profiling? Could it be that the narratives and actual accounts of police brutality have created a fear within our children of the police? Also, are we no profiling these children when we, from a 7 minute video, which in my opinion did not show kids behaving like the ones Marvin would tell me about. I saw kids that were confused about what they should be doing getting caught up in the whirlwind of activities from several cops trying to control a chaotic situation. What I also saw was kids reacting to what I consider to be the abuse of Corporal Casebolt of the young girl. A knee jerk reaction, unwise as it may have been (which is debatable to me.)

Regardless of the behavior of the kids, it seems to me that Corporal Casebolt over-reacted. I think it is appropriate for us to hold our public servants accountable for their conduct as we hold our children accountable for theirs. No one gets a pass on this. We all have some responsibility for the McKinney Pool Party Fiasco of 2015. Words are powerful. The ways in which we create narratives about the other cause harmful paradigms. Our lack of understanding and respect for authority inhibits our ability to work collaboratively with them for our own protection. Our children learn more by what we do than what we say, so with our words we should be careful and courageous at the same time. "Wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove."

McKinney Police... Was it Right or Wrong??? Comments are welcome. Any threats or profanity you will be reported and deleted... My name is Kisa not coon nor bit@h...
Posted by Kisa Jackson on Monday, June 8, 2015