Sandra Bland did not Commit Suicide
In today’s world, individuals love to stress the strides that nations have taken in terms of racial diversification. Since the past, blacks have openly fought against any form of oppression that individuals receive because of their skin color. Iconic figures such as Martin Luther King paved the way for the campaigns against racial discrimination and white supremacists rule. Social media has also gone to great lengths to stress the importance of diversification in the country. Social media has actively called out several acts that it deems as unjust. One particular campaign that actively stood out was the #Blacklivesmatter. The campaign actively called out law enforcers and citizens who oppressed blacks and stereotyped them as criminals because of their color. The social injustice that the victims faced ultimately led to their deaths. One particular death that sparked outrage from the activist was that of Sandra Bland. Her death was labeled as suicide by investigators despite the various anomalies that existed in the events that transpired before she died. Sandra Bland’s death was not suicide, but a means for white supremacists to try to regain power over blacks in the world we live in.
On the 10th of July, 2015, Sandra Bland was stopped by officer Encinia on Prairie View in Texas (Gillon, 2016). Sandra was initially stopped for missing a signal at a turn and would have otherwise ended with a warning. The situation quickly escalated to the point that the officer had to pull out his teaser gun to force Sandra out of her car. The officer ended up arresting Sandra for non-compliance and assault on an officer leading to booking in jail. Three days later, Sandra was found dead in her cell. Investigators closed the case by saying that it was suicide and not murder (Gillon, 2016). However, analysis of the events that transpired before Sandra’s arrest, after her arrest, and after her death concludes that the deceased did not commit suicide. Sandra was killed to eradicate any form of hope that blacks would have against white supremacists.
White supremacists enjoy oppressing others through their actions and usually have to feel in power and control over everything and anyone around them. Encinia represents a majority of the white supremacists that are in law enforcement positions or hold some form of power in society. The officer purposefully sped after Sandra after seeing that she had missed a light (Klein, 2018). However, the charge would not have held any cause for the officer to signal the deceased to stop her car. Instead, the officer decided to charge Sandra for not signaling at a turn. The charge itself was minor and would not have warranted the officer to stop her or order her out of her car. Instead, officer Encinia decided to charge her for a lack of signaling during a turn.
The confrontation that ensued between the two individuals showed that white supremacists enjoyed oppressing people based on their skin color. Officer Brian did not communicate with Bland when issuing a warning. Instead, he felt like agitating her. Trooper Brian asked Ms. Bland to put out her cigarette; instead, the latter did not wish to conform to the officer’s wishes since she felt that he wanted to oppress her. In the video taken about the incident showed that Ms. Bland was unwilling to abide by the instruction of the officer.
Ms. Bland refused to receive oppression from the officer. She felt that she had the right to do what she wanted because they felt entitled. Ms. Bland refused to put out the cigarette since she felt that she did not infringe on any laws. Officer Encinia had already approached the car and visually inspected the inside of the vehicle. He did not find any problem and just had to write a warning. The officer felt the need to force Ms. Bland to comply with hi swishes. Brian Encinia saw that MS. Bland’s refusal to put out the cigarette was a sign of rebellion against his views and overall standing. White supremacists like to control power and use it to oppress individuals (Brookfield, 2019). Any sign that seems to cut down on the power that they hold over others. They do not wish to receive confrontation from the people that they wish to oppress. Ms. Bland angered the officer for her refusal to put out the cigarette. The officer felt that the power he held as an officer and a white person was infringed on. The anger caused him to force the woman out of the car since he felt the urge to assert the power he had over her. He felt as if Ms. Bland threatened his power, although she was only a woman (Franson & Gallagher, 2019). He felt as though letting her go would mean that she had undermined his power and could do whatever she wanted.
Consequently, the trooper saw the need to arrest her for a minor charge and committed perjury to aid him in his case. Ms. Bland assaulted the officer when it became clear that he wanted to subdue the authority that he had as a white man and as a police officer. The arrest ended up in a showdown between the two individuals. The officer was forced to flash his stunner to force Ms. Bland to comply. On the other hand, Ms. Bland had to fight off the officer since she felt that the trooper was an oppressor. During her arrest, Ms. Bland wished that she would be taken to court so that the matter would be settled. In her mind, she knew that she had not committed a crime that warranted such force from the officer (Klein, 2018). She wanted the whole world to see the form of oppression that black people received. Ms. Bland showed that she dared to fight the system of oppression that Brian Encinia represented.
Moreover, the assessment of the events that occurred after the arrest of Ms. Bland showed that white supremacists did not want blacks to get any hope. The police were expected to perform a complete mental check on the prisoner. The mental check history was meant to ascertain whether a prisoner required time-to-time visual inspection and containment in a suicide-restricted cell. The cell was intended for individuals who had a history of mental illness. Vides that followed showed that Sandra was not in her right state of mind. She kept crying constantly and seemed in distress while in the holding cell. Sandra was placed in a solitary cell despite having a history of attempting suicide. Police officers were required to go an check on her cell after every hour to ensure that she did not harm herself. The booking officers did not care about the cut marks on her arm. It seemed as if the police station conspired to ensure that Sandra was allowed to commit suicide. It seemed unusual that the station police officers that were required to watch her cell did not go to watch her after more than two hours. The police officers even faked the signatures for the jail log to show that they checked her cell.
The falsified jail logs showed that the officers at the station aided in developing a falsified charge against Sandra. Michael Kelley, the first police officer that responded to the case, recently stated that officer Encinia did not know which charge would stick on the woman (Pitman et al. 2019). The officer also noted that the charges eliminated the fact that Sandra had bruises on her forehead. The details left out, and the falsification that ensued showed that the station did not care about the situation. Instead, they helped officer Encinia falsify records and arrest Sandra regardless of the small charge. Prosecutors in the case allegedly forced Michael from meeting with Sandra’s representatives. The situation also ensured that justice was obstructed (Pitman et al. 2019). The police department did not produce any evidence that incriminated any of its officers. They waited until the matter was settled in court to provide critical evidence that showed that the officers were not truthful.
In the event of her death, the video cameras installed did not show what happened in her cell, and nobody was around. The situation indicates that Sandra was killed and did not commit suicide. She was killed to extinguish any hope that the black community had of beating the system. White supremacists did not wish to accept that a woman had challenged the system. If she had gone to court alive, Sandra would have won the case making it possible for other individuals to challenge the system. Her death meant that anyone who questioned the system would meet her a similar fate. Despite the evidence presented, the suicide allegation contains loopholes that suggest that Sandra’s death was not a suicide.
References
Brookfield, S. (2019). Uncovering and Challenging White Supremacy. In Educating for Critical Consciousness (pp. 11-27). Routledge.
Franson, PhD, C., & Gallagher, C. (2019). Why All the Hate? White Supremacy, White Nationalism, and White Power.
Gillon, V. D. (2016). The Killing of an ‘Angry Black Woman’: Sandra Bland and the Politics of Respectability.
Klein, G. C. (2018). On the death of Sandra Bland: A case of anger and indifference. Sage Open, 8(1), 2158244018754936.
Pitman, B., Ralph, A. M., Camacho, J., & Monk-Turner, E. (2019). Social media users’ interpretations of the Sandra Bland arrest video. Race and Justice, 9(4), 479-497.