Just yesterday, I was telling my coworkers about my love for Future’s new song, “Where Ya At?” Even though the a majority of the song is performed in another language, (Future doesn’t speak English.) I still dig it. And apparently, I’m not the only one.
A woman in Los Angeles, allegedly under the influence of drugs, reportedly stole a car and led police on a wild chase before coming to a stop, jumping out of the vehicle and dancing awkwardly to Future’s latest single.
Initially, when I saw the video, I gave it my “White-people-are-a-trip” chuckle. But the more I watched it, the less funny it became.
After a couple of minutes, I was more resentful than amused.
While Black women need police escorts for laughing too loudly on trains, White women can lead police all over the place before jumping out to do a jig in the middle of the street. I kept thinking what would have happened if her skin had been a little bit darker.
Her White skin gave her the benefit of presumed innocence even though she had stolen a car and was lifting and tugging on her shirt as she exited it. She could have had anything under those layers of t-shirts.
Sandra Bland’s cigarette was a problem.
Sandra Bland was called defiant and arrogant but this White woman taunted the police with dance moves and it was funny. And more importantly, as far as I know, she’s still alive today.
This video is a bit of a slap in the face to me. It shows us how carefree and unbothered White people can be in the face of police, knowing that, in most cases, they’ll leave the interaction alive, even if they were involved in criminal activity.
I’m not saying I wanted anything to happen to this woman. She seems like a fun girl, even if she’s going through something right now. What I am saying is I wish we were all afforded these luxuries…this type of compassion and empathy. I’d love to see a video of a Black person dancing gleefully in front of the police after stealing a car, snatching a cigarillo, failing to signal, playing with a toy gun, walking back from the corner store, or standing on the corner and live to tell about it.
You can watch the video of the incident in the video below.
