Detroit judge who threatened sleepy teen with jail sends message to Black community
It’s bad enough that young Black folks nationally are disproportionately jailed. Now Detroit has a judge who threatened a teen with jail time for falling asleep.
And now we wonder why Black teenagers — and their older peers — don’t trust the court system to deliver justice. We wonder why so many don’t believe law enforcement will deal fairly with them, and why they run from police.
The Black Lives Matter movement is not only about abuse during arrests, but extends to justice in courtrooms throughout America, both the punishment of criminal cops and justice for those unfairly imprisoned alike.
And I’m sure that many Black folks, watching this kangaroo court on YouTube, couldn’t have faith in our justice system.
There’s a pretty big difference between “I am required to wake you up by the rules of the school (district)” and “I don’t want you to sleep because it means I am not being listened to.”
A sleepy student isn’t learning whether they’re awake or not, and if they’re that tired they’re not paying attention no matter how hard they try. Physiological needs come first. If it’s impossible for you to ensure those needs are met for your students, it is impossible to do the job you’ve been set. This isn’t a problem with the students, it’s a problem with the job.