The McKinney Pool Fiasco of 2015: A Clarion Call for Action and Conversation

On Friday, June 5, something happened in the suburban town of McKinney, Texas that would add fuel to the fires of the national conversation on police brutality. A pool party turned into a horrid scene of police officers attempting to control a group of predominately African American teenagers. In particular, a video surfaced on the internet, captured by 15-year-old Brandon Brooks, of Corporal Eric Casebolt throwing a teenaged girl (unnamed), clad in a two piece bikini, on the ground by her hair and neck, dragging her on the ground and putting his knee into her back (or one her neck) pinning her to the ground. Corporal Casebolt also drew his firearm at other teens that were frantic and reportedly non-compliant to the police officers commands. The only person arrested during this altercation was a young man who has been charged with evading arrest after he complied with Casebolt’s command to leave the scene, as claimed by the young man’s lawyer.

Two rallies were held in protest of the officers’ actions and one counter-protest rally was held in support on Monday, June 8. I attended the rally that was held at the police department, the smaller of the two protest rallies. Upon arriving, I noticed that the organizers of the rally were not black people and the community of protesters was a conglomerate of diverse races, religions, socio-economic statuses, and ideologies. All who attended stood in solidarity on one issue: police accountability.

I attended the rally with some reservations. First and foremost was the fact that not all of the information about the event was available or corroborated by credible sources. Yes, videos do not lie, but out of context a video could mean many things. So, I went to listen, to learn, and to stand in solidarity for the cause. Quite by accident or providence, I ended up on the front line because I was the only one willing to lead the National Anthem to open the rally. (I wonder if this is what it means for your gift to make room for you.)

What I appreciated most about the rally was the fact that so many different voices were heard that night. Not everyone agreed with each other about the details and the desired results, but every voice was respected and heard. Out of this conversation came a ranging of topics that cry out for community conversation. Here are some of the topics that I heard:

• Police accountability to the community
• The silence of good cops when bad cops act bad
• Community autonomy and national solidarity
• The training and safety of our children
• Systemic and structural racism
• The demeaning narrative and projected images of black people
• Diversity in solidarity
• The expectations of a tax-payer funded police force

I want to donate some time to reflect on these topics in this blog. They are too complex to give justice in few words, so each will be given an entry by itself.

I pray that the rallies are a beginning to more community conversations. I pray that someone, some people will accept the charge to provide forums where we can learn from each other. By building relationships with each other, our communities can only become stronger. There may be those who are unwilling to change their bigoted views and behaviors, but they will be left behind in this world that is more and more seeing that we are more alike than we are different—we are all human. In the words of Ella Fitzgerald, “We are all here together.”