TheBanyanTree: Wrong Place, Wrong Time

[Margaret R. Kramer]

It was the first warm Friday evening of the spring.  Three black men were
sitting on the steps of a home on the east side of St. Paul.  Stories were
shared and their laughter mixed with the twilight.

Out of nowhere, police cars squealed to a stop in front of the house.  Their
bright lights blinded the men’s eyes and during the confusion, the two
younger men were hauled away from the steps and handcuffs slapped on their
wrists.

The police searched a car belonging to one of the cuffed men, but found
nothing but old crunched soda cans.  Women who had been having a Home
Interiors party in the house came out into the yard and began yelling at the
police.  One of the women had a camera and was frantically taking pictures,
hoping to catch one of the officers doing something stupid.

But they did nothing stupid.  They said little to their suspects.  They didn
’t answer any questions about why they were being shoved in the squad car
and why they were being taken downtown.

The men joined other men in a line up.  In fact, one of the men in the
line-up was a man who lived down the street from where the other men had
been.  This older man had been sitting on his steps having a beer and a
smoke when the cops grabbed him and ruined his evening.

The line-up was done and all the men were stripped searched and given jail
clothes and sent to dark and dirty cells.  No rights were read, no
explanations given, and no phone calls were allowed.

Several hours later, an investigator came to talk with the men.  Of course,
they were questioned separately, to make sure their stories matched.  It
seems a man just a street over had been robbed and beaten that evening and
had identified these men as his attackers.

But as the stories were told, the investigator realized these two young men
had nothing to do with the robbery, and turned off his tape recorder.

The leading story on the local news that night was about the state senator
who had co-authored the conceal and carry law that was recently passed in
Minnesota.  She had robbed someone when she was 16 years old.  According to
the standards she set in her bill, it would be up to the judgment of her
county’s sheriff to allow her to carry a concealed weapon.  Of course, she
was going to apply for the permit.  “I felt bad about what happened.  I made
a terrible mistake.  I was young and didn’t know what I was doing.  I’m glad
I had a second chance.  My situation is different.”

The men were not released from jail until noon the next day.  Fortunately,
their trip to the police station was communicated to family and friends by
way of the women at the Home Interior party, so even though there was anger
and disbelief, no one had to wonder and worry where they were.

The state senator is from white and rural Minnesota.  The black men are from
white and urban St. Paul.  They know their skin color makes them easy marks
for the police.  They know most white people, who have very little contact
with people of darker skin colors, believe they are criminals.

These men work 40 hours a week.  They feed and house their families.  They
pay taxes, but they always find the state senator in her dreams.

The young black girl is demanding money from the senator.  She’s a big girl,
full of herself, and confident she can get what she wants from this thin
white lady.  She moves closer and closer.  The senator feels the steel in
her pocket and prepares to eliminate this young girl’s second chance.  This
situation is different.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!

http://www.skywaybpw.org
Skyway Business and Professional Women
Working women connecting.

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun.
Enjoy the trip.

~Author Unknown