TABATHA HOLLEY: Why Ferguson matters in south Georgia

What I love the most about what is happening and what has happened in Ferguson, Mo., for the past several months has been an organized, pragmatic response to years of state-inflicted racial violence. Despite the attempts by the mass media to exemplify Ferguson protesters as angry, violent, and out of control, the residents of Ferguson and activists have brought a century-long issue to the top of America’s agenda — state violence on black and brown bodies.

It is a crying shame that Michael Brown’s wrongdoings on the evening of the shooting was all the prosecutor needed to justify his being shot over five times by a police officer. For the purpose of bringing the facts of the matter home, I argue that state violence on black and brown bodies must become a topic of discussion in Southwest Georgia as well. On Oct. 23, 2013, 42-year old Tracy Clyde was shot and killed by Lee County police Capt. Monterey Moody after Tracy Clyde was on the run from police after committing a violent robbery. The Albany Herald quoted these facts of the case:

Clyde was shot around 4 p.m. Monday when Moody, a 17-year police veteran, encountered Clyde in the vacant Pine Avenue home where Clyde was hiding out, officials say. According to Moody’s account, he and Clyde entered into a physical altercation, during which Moody attempted to “tase” Clyde. The Taser malfunctioned, officials say, and that’s when Moody shot Clyde.

What makes this case different from what occurred in Ferguson? The news reports say that the “authorities” found that the evidence proved that the Lee County shooting was justified. And why is there civil unrest in Ferguson, Mo., and across America? The prosecutor did not do his job, which was to indict. The grand jury has made it’s decision and this officer will never go before a jury of his peers. This case is over, unless federal charges are brought against the officer.

In the case of Tracy Bernard Clyde, the GBI conducted an investigation, presented the evidence to the Lee County District Attorney’s office, and this case did not even go before a grand jury. According to news reports, “authorities” say that the evidence shows that this shooting was justified. As of March 2014, the Lee County police officer was back on duty without testifying before any jury, let alone a grand jury.

Here is why Ferguson should matter to Southwest Georgia:

(1) “Authorities” are not held accountable for dismissing these types of cases where lives are lost, victims families are not given closure while perpetrators receive paid leave and return to police forces. There seems to be no expectation that prosecutors do their jobs as they do them so well in the case of “real criminals,” which is to build cases and indict.

(2) Police officers must be held accountable by their departments and communities to protect communities in ways that preserve lives, not harm them. Communities need to feel as though they can trust police to do their jobs, without being threatened by bodily markers of difference such as skin color, body type/size, confrontational tone, and visible mental illness. Again, citizens assume that police officers are trained to deal with a multiplicity of circumstances and should be well accustomed to interacting with individuals who are perceived as criminals in a way that reflects their humanity, not just their authority. Michael Brown and Tracy Clyde were both humans. Yes, it should be expected that police officers remember they are armed and must control personal tempers to avoid unnecessary violence, just as gun-owning citizens are expected to. Period.

(3) We should be concerned because if we don’t address these matters soon, like Ferguson, Southwest Georgia will end up on the front pages of Times Magazine and The New York Times. With a host of national attention on the loss of black lives, (Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, and now 12-year old Tamir Rice), all it will take will be the loss of another black or brown body done by law enforcement “justifiably”, creating even greater racial tension, trauma, and negative national attention that Southwest Georgia, apparently, does not need.

It is best to be affirming of the African-American community’s outrage, acknowledging that race matters, while holding our individual selves accountable for accepting this brutal, but honest truth. It is a rather bitter pill to swallow, but better now than never, or worse, when it is too late.

Tabatha Holley of Dawson is a junior enrolled at Spelman College, where she is pursuing a major in comparative women’s studies with a minor in political science.