# Sandra Bland video **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 22, 2015, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859 "2015-07-22T05:50:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 79
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1561 "2015-07-31T21:00:42Z")
> [@camille](#): > > Okay, try this: > > [Sheriff in Sandra Bland Case Was Fired in 2008 After Racism, Brutality Allegations](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/07/16/sandra_bland_sheriff_fired_racism_allegations_sheriff_glenn_smith_accused.html) > > That incident involved the arrest of a black man named Cory Labba; the Chronicle says Smith “acknowledged he used profanity and was unprofessional” during Labba’s arrest but denied race was a motivating factor in his behavior. A Chronicle story later in 2008 on Smith’s campaign to become Waller County sheriff said he may have been fired because of “incidents involving police misconduct toward African-Americans,” mentioning a department raid on a home that was targeted in error and an incident in which young black men were publicly strip-searched. I’d like to add that I don’t see evidence that this type of racism was responsible for the outcome of this case. However, in my experience - and there are studies that show this - white people will often perceive black people as being more hostile, angry, and dangerous than they actually are. Especially if the white person was raised in or continues to live in an insular environment. This type of misconception could also apply to a black person’s perceptions (or any race/culture perception of an outside race/culture). That may have contributed to the interaction getting out of control the way it did. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1562 "2015-07-31T21:16:06Z")
Just look how ridiculous some race hucksters sound: > **[Texas Trooper’s Behavior Called ‘Catalyst’ in Sandra Bland’s Death (Published...](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/us/texas-troopers-behavior-called-catalyst-in-sandra-blands-death.html)** > > Trooper Brian T. Encinia behaved rudely and failed to de-escalate a confrontation with Ms. Bland, the head of the state police told lawmakers. But Mr. Coleman, a Democrat from Houston … demanded that Mr. McCraw [director of DPS] instruct his officers: “Don’t ever throw a black woman on the ground again. Don’t ever do that again.” Pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1563 "2015-07-31T21:23:53Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > So just to be clear, you simply made it up based on your feelings. I’m OK with that. Ha. I was being nice to him by saying he was “embarrassed” You’re free to give your version. You haven’t ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1564 "2015-07-31T21:30:24Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > 1877 thru 1950? That’s certainly relevant to the Bland case, somehow. Or not. OK I’ll hold your hand through this. The rest of the article linked goes on: Through the 20th century Waller County’s black population had to resist efforts to blunt black political participation. In recent years students at Prairie View A&M University – Sandra Bland’s alma mater and a college established specifically to train black teachers – have complained about voter intimidation and a lack of voter access for low-income people in the county. Lawsuits in 2004 and 2008 called for additional early voting sites in the county. Another recent controversy involved the unofficially segregated cemeteries in the county. DeWayne Charleston, a former Waller County judge, ordered a black funeral home to handle the burial of an unidentified white woman in 2007. The order sparked controversy and local activists demanded that the woman be buried in a white cemetery. Another federal lawsuit, alleging that Hempstead was neglecting historically black cemeteries while maintaining white ones, was settled in 2004. “This is the most racist county in the state of Texas,” said Mr. Charleston, in an interview with The Guardian earlier this month. “You’ve got racism from cradle to the grave.” One of the main targets of racial animosity in the wake of Bland’s death has been Glenn Smith, the Waller County sheriff. Mr. Smith was suspended for two weeks in 2007 and ordered to take anger-management classes after using profanity and pushing a black man during an arrest. He was fired as Hempstead police chief in 2008 and then elected county sheriff. Despite calls for his resignation, Smith said he plans to seek re-election next year. “I’m not a racist,” he said at a press conference last Thursday. “Black lives matter to Glenn Smith.” I was giving the grounding. And the legacy has an effect. It’s the fruit of the poison tree. How many cases where pro law enforcement people were “afraid” for their lives while with a Black person. Those are real **men** we’re talking about eh? How many didn’t have cameras on them? Would you be willing to be black without a camera and take your chances? ---
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1565 "2015-07-31T21:30:54Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Just look how ridiculous some race hucksters sound: > > [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/us/texas-troopers-behavior-called-catalyst-in-sandra-blands-death.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/us/texas-troopers-behavior-called-catalyst-in-sandra-blands-death.html) > > But Mr. Coleman, a Democrat from Houston … demanded that Mr. McCraw [director of DPS] instruct his officers: “Don’t ever throw a black woman on the ground again. Don’t ever do that again.” > > Pathetic. It’s pathetic that you feel the need to use an ellipsis to distort what he said: But Mr. Coleman, a Democrat from Houston, said he was not satisfied. He expressed what he said was longstanding anger over the agency’s attitude on race, telling Mr. McCraw that he once walked into a department office that had wallpaper with the Confederate flag. Mr. Coleman also said he was driving recently when he was stopped for a minor traffic violation and the officer was “rude and nasty” and “treated me like a boy.” “I get afraid when there’s a law enforcement officer around,” Mr. Coleman said. “I don’t see them as people who are trying to protect me.” “We have moved backwards in attitude,” he added. Mr. Coleman blamed Mr. McCraw’s agency for what happened to Ms. Bland, saying that “the catalyst” for her death “clearly came from the traffic stop.” “What he did triggered the whole thing,” Mr. Coleman said of Trooper Encinia. He demanded that Mr. McCraw instruct his officers: “Don’t ever throw a black woman on the ground again. Don’t ever do that again.” ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1566 "2015-07-31T21:32:14Z")
> [@camille](#): > > Okay, try this: > > [Sheriff in Sandra Bland Case Was Fired in 2008 After Racism, Brutality Allegations](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/07/16/sandra_bland_sheriff_fired_racism_allegations_sheriff_glenn_smith_accused.html) > > That incident involved the arrest of a black man named Cory Labba; the Chronicle says Smith “acknowledged he used profanity and was unprofessional” during Labba’s arrest but denied race was a motivating factor in his behavior. A Chronicle story later in 2008 on Smith’s campaign to become Waller County sheriff said he may have been fired because of “incidents involving police misconduct toward African-Americans,” mentioning a department raid on a home that was targeted in error and an incident in which young black men were publicly strip-searched. From your linked article - \*Sheriff in Sandra Bland Case Was Fired in 2008 After Racism, Brutality Allegations By Ben Mathis-Lilley An ABC Chicago affiliate reported late Wednesday that a Naperville, Illinois woman named Sandra Bland died in police custody in Texas on July 13 after having been arrested three days earlier following a routine traffic stop. The sheriff’s department in Waller County, Texas says Bland apparently killed herself, and sheriff Glenn Smith appeared on ABC’s report to say she’d been arrested after a stop for improperly changing lanes because she was “combative.” However: Video shows Bland complaining that she’d been abused by the officers arresting her, those who know her don’t believe she committed suicide, and now activist-journalist Shaun King of daily kos has found that sheriff Smith was fired from a previous job as police chief in 2008 after several allegations that he and members of his department had engaged in racially biased behavior and police brutality. Details are relatively sparse, but pieces by the Houston Chronicle and an area TV reporter indicate that Smith was fired by the Hempstead City Council after several allegations of police misconduct, not all of which involved racial issues. The council did not name a formal reason why Smith was terminated, but the Chronicle reported the year before the firing on an incident in which council members suspended Smith “for two weeks without pay after viewing videotapes and hearing allegations of racism from local residents against him” and other officers.\* Wow, Ben Mathis-Lilley of the daily babble managed to convert sparse details into a whole story. He states that the sheriff WAS previously fired for racism based on ALLEGATIONS made by U]activist-journalist Shaun King. What is an activist-journalist? Someone who makes up stories, or someone who spins stories? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1567 "2015-07-31T21:34:27Z")
> [@camille](#): > > It’s pathetic that you feel the need to use an ellipsis to distort what he said: I removed the irrelevant parts. Like NYT removed other irrelevant parts from what he said. Demanding from the DPS director that he instruct his officers: “Don’t ever throw a black woman on the ground again. Don’t ever do that again.” is ridiculous, and the worst kind of race baiting. Are they allowed to throw black men on the ground? White men? Anyone at all? You supporting this is even more pathetic than him saying it. He is probably just dumb as a rock. You should know better. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1568 "2015-07-31T21:42:17Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I removed the irrelevant parts. Like NYT removed other irrelevant parts from what he said. > > Demanding from the DPS director that he instruct his officers: “Don’t ever throw a black woman on the ground again. Don’t ever do that again.” is ridiculous, and the worst kind of race baiting. > > Are they allowed to throw black men on the ground? White men? Anyone at all? You supporting this is even more pathetic than him saying it. He is probably just dumb as a rock. You should know better. Lighten up Francis. He was upset and defending a (woman) citizen. It was his proscription. It’s not a law that was passed. Nobodys coming to take your little pocket constitution. Isn’t this coming down to progressive vs conservative? It’s kind of leaking out of the seams of these posts. ---
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1569 "2015-07-31T21:48:24Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I removed the irrelevant parts. Like NYT removed other irrelevant parts from what he said. > > Demanding from the DPS director that he instruct his officers: “Don’t ever throw a black woman on the ground again. Don’t ever do that again.” is ridiculous, and the worst kind of race baiting. > > Are they allowed to throw black men on the ground? White men? Anyone at all? You supporting this is even more pathetic than him saying it. He is probably just dumb as a rock. You should know better. I know better than to accept your quotes without checking the article for context. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1570 "2015-07-31T21:55:32Z")
> [@camille](#): > > I know better than to accept your quotes without checking the article for context. There’s no context that could make that an appropriate instruction to a cop. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1571 "2015-07-31T21:56:58Z")
> [@camille](#): > > I know better than to accept your quotes without checking the article for context. Speaking of quotes, it would be most helpful if you posted links to the original source, like the actual _Chronicle_ article, instead of Slate, so that the readers can evaluate the facts for themselves, rather than relying on Slate’s take on things. TIA. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1572 "2015-07-31T22:00:39Z")
> [@camille](#): > > I know better than to accept your quotes without checking the article for context. Explain: under what context is demanding from the police: “Don’t ever throw a black woman on the ground again. Don’t ever do that again.” anything other than stupid race baiting? ---
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1573 "2015-07-31T22:04:32Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Explain: under what context is demanding from the police: “Don’t ever throw a black woman on the ground again. Don’t ever do that again.” anything other than stupid race baiting? When it’s an emotional response after a specific incident that involved a black woman and police officer who admittedly behaved inappropriately and violated protocol. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1574 "2015-07-31T22:10:21Z")
> [@camille](#): > > When it’s an emotional response This is not some man in the street. This is a national politician, at a hearing, race-baiting. Inexcusable. Well, you apparently excuse it. I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1575 "2015-07-31T22:11:19Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Explain: under what context is demanding from the police: “Don’t ever throw a black woman on the ground again. Don’t ever do that again.” anything other than stupid race baiting? From the same article: The criticism of the state police cut across racial lines. “Liberties were stomped on,” Representative Jonathan Stickland, a Tea Party-backed Republican from Bedford, in the Fort Worth-Dallas area, who is white, said to Mr. McCraw. “Do you understand the outrage on this issue?” Is that stupid race baiting too? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1576 "2015-07-31T22:36:44Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > From your linked article - > \*Sheriff in Sandra Bland Case Was Fired in 2008 After Racism, Brutality Allegations By Ben Mathis-Lilley > > … However: Video shows Bland complaining that she’d been abused by the officers arresting her, those who know her don’t believe she committed suicide, and now activist-journalist Shaun King of daily kos has found that sheriff Smith was fired from a previous job as police chief in 2008 after several allegations that he and members of his department had engaged in racially biased behavior and police brutality. > Details are relatively sparse, but pieces by the Houston Chronicle and an area TV reporter indicate that Smith was fired by the Hempstead City Council after several allegations of police misconduct, not all of which involved racial issues. The council did not name a formal reason why Smith was terminated, but the Chronicle reported the year before the firing on an incident in which council members suspended Smith “for two weeks without pay after viewing videotapes and hearing allegations of racism from local residents against him” and other officers.\* > > Wow, Ben Mathis-Lilley of the daily babble managed to convert sparse details into a whole story. He states that the sheriff WAS previously fired for racism based on ALLEGATIONS made by U]activist-journalist Shaun King. > What is an activist-journalist? Someone who makes up stories, or someone who spins stories? It’s quite common for city councils to offer no formal reasons for firings. Do a search of “city council” and “reasons” and “fired” (or something similar) and you’ll find many examples. The reporter looked for any evidence that might exist in the public record on the topic of the Hempstead City Council’s interactions with the sheriff in question (Glenn Smith), and found racism named in at least one such interaction. Offering this information seems well within the bounds of good journalistic practice. Any grandstanding about Making Up Stories is certainly inappropriate in this instance. ---
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1577 "2015-07-31T22:55:05Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > From your linked article - > > \*Sheriff in Sandra Bland Case Was Fired in 2008 After Racism, Brutality Allegations > By Ben Mathis-Lilley > > An ABC Chicago affiliate reported late Wednesday that a Naperville, Illinois woman named Sandra Bland died in police custody in Texas on July 13 after having been arrested three days earlier following a routine traffic stop. The sheriff’s department in Waller County, Texas says Bland apparently killed herself, and sheriff Glenn Smith appeared on ABC’s report to say she’d been arrested after a stop for improperly changing lanes because she was “combative.” > > However: Video shows Bland complaining that she’d been abused by the officers arresting her, those who know her don’t believe she committed suicide, and now activist-journalist Shaun King of daily kos has found that sheriff Smith was fired from a previous job as police chief in 2008 after several allegations that he and members of his department had engaged in racially biased behavior and police brutality. > > Details are relatively sparse, but pieces by the Houston Chronicle and an area TV reporter indicate that Smith was fired by the Hempstead City Council after several allegations of police misconduct, not all of which involved racial issues. The council did not name a formal reason why Smith was terminated, but the Chronicle reported the year before the firing on an incident in which council members suspended Smith “for two weeks without pay after viewing videotapes and hearing allegations of racism from local residents against him” and other officers.\* > > Wow, Ben Mathis-Lilley of the daily babble managed to convert sparse details into a whole story. He states that the sheriff WAS previously fired for racism based on ALLEGATIONS made by U]activist-journalist Shaun King. > > What is an activist-journalist? Someone who makes up stories, or someone who spins stories? Sorry, I missed your post when I was responding to Terr. There are more articles about this. Here is an original article from 2007: [Hempstead police chief accused of racism](http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Hempstead-police-chief-accused-of-racism-1806018.php) The predominantly black Hempstead City Council voted to suspend Smith for two weeks without pay after viewing videotapes and hearing allegations of racism from local residents against him and the other four officers. After a lengthy council meeting that lasted until 2 a.m. today, council also placed Smith on probation for six months and ordered him to take anger management classes but declined to take action on the other four officers. He was eventually fired. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1578 "2015-07-31T23:26:47Z")
> [@camille](#): > > [INDENT]Is that stupid race baiting too? No. Do you know what race baiting is? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1579 "2015-07-31T23:33:19Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > It’s quite common for city councils to offer no formal reasons for firings. Do a search of “city council” and “reasons” and “fired” (or something similar) and you’ll find many examples. > > The reporter looked for any evidence that might exist in the public record on the topic of the Hempstead City Council’s interactions with the sheriff in question (Glenn Smith), and found racism named in at least one such interaction. Offering this information seems well within the bounds of good journalistic practice. > > Any grandstanding about Making Up Stories is certainly inappropriate in this instance. What is the relevance of the sheriff to the arrest? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1580 "2015-07-31T23:52:44Z")
> [@camille](#): > > When it’s an emotional response after a specific incident that involved a black woman and police officer who admittedly behaved inappropriately and violated protocol. Bland died on July 13, Coleman’s remarks were made on July 30. He’s had time to put his emotions in check, and act like a responsible public official. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859.md?page=78) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859.md?page=80)