When I saw the video of the young people, and particularly the young woman, who were violently engaged by McKinney, Texas officers, my mind retreated past trauma and sadness to an old lesson on classical conditioning. As I watched officer Eric Casebolt chasing children as if he was on a laser tag field, grabbing Dajerria Becton's hair and twisting her arm, and pushing her to the ground, I was reminded of my lesson from a science class. When I watched him kneeling his full weight upon her, like some sort of inanimate and useless prayer bench in a church basement, or more rightly, like a young, scared girl coerced into torture porn, I was reminded of Pavlov and his dogs.
Remember Pavlov? In his research, Pavlov named the phenomenon he discovered when he paired meat powder with the sound of a bell as stimuli. This combination made the dogs salivate. Over time, he found he could ring the bell without presenting the meat powder, and surprisingly, the dogs would salivate anyhow. And this, friends, is classical conditioning.
In the context of the McKinney event, the bell is Black skin, and this bell has been ringing for centuries for folk who believe it their duty to behave like aggressive dogs.
I am baffled by the responses to what happened. Some act as if policing and racism haven't gone hand-in-hand in this country, as if Back people have nothing better to do than make up sobs stories even while the videos prove our horror. Black people assembled is the equivalence of a mob, and the police assume the only way to react is with violence.
Many claim no knowledge of Jim Crow laws, or admit that the residue hasn't evolved into something just as dangerous and terrorizing for Black people. Many forget that racism was legislated, and forget that the police were legally complicit in many lynchings, in violently encroaching on nonviolent protestors, and in many activities deemed righteous to maintain the social hierarchy for those of the dominant culture. The conditioning has been thorough and consistent.
The sight of Black skin is enough to cause some police officers to forget professionalism, extensive training, and the fact that someone is recording them in plain sight. The sight of black skin turns some officers into aggressive, salivating dogs who will swear their fear is more important than the safety of Black children. Black skin gives them permission to pull a gun on young people trying to save the young woman under attack. Once the bell is rung, there is no need for respectful language, for listening when they tried to express themselves, for even attempting to appear as if . As the bell resonates, Black children don't deserve the benefit of the doubt, and the officers don't even have to pretend that they aren't targeting Black children. It is obvious and ugly and loud. Passers-by will even help the police to carry out their deeds, becoming instant deputies, and claim children saying, "Call my mama," is dangerous and aggressive.
Officer Casebolt heard the bell more than likely before he arrived, and acted accordingly. He seemed to be salivating on arrival, behaved like a hungry, conditioned dog who was only concerned with his primitive need to tackle his perceived duty. Of course, this is not to say he isn't fully responsible for his actions and shouldn't be held accountable. He absolutely had the choice to be helpful and disperse the crowd in a more effective way. However, I contend that with each chapter of this endless, tortuous book of police brutality toward Black people in this country-- for us who cannot rely on safety at a pool party, who are treated as if we can hide weapons of mass destruction in a bikini--we know for whom the bell tolls.
It tolls for us.
