Are young black people ever allowed to be children? Do we ever get the chance to experience adolescence? It seems that black youth are not allowed the same experiences of teenaged angst that we see on TV shows or movies. Furthermore, black people are usually not portrayed in these depictions, or we are tokenized. We don't get the chance to slam our doors, talk back or challenge authority, often because we have been taught to fear them. Furthermore, merely surviving in a world that often tries to erase our presence is an act of resistance in itself. Yet, we aren't allowed to act out because we've already been stereotyped with being immoral, aggressive and violent. And no, there's absolutely no possible way that black people can suffer from depression, anxiety, or stress. No, that is not for us. We are too strong, our ancestors carried us on their backs while working the fields. It is impossible for us to suffer. This is the myth that still permeates throughout today's society.

I ask these questions after reading numerous tweets that have emerged in defense of a black teenaged-girl who was assaulted by police officer, Ben Fields at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina because she was allegedly being disruptive during class.

Hold on a minute…

Since when did teachers need to call in a police officer in order to get a student to put their cell phone away? Or stop chewing gum? Or sending notes in class? What happened to sending a child out into the hallway, to the principal, to the dean's office, or the school guidance counselor? This is just one example of the school-to-prison pipeline system for black and brown youth who aren’t assumed innocent, but instead are considered a threat even in a place that is supposed to educate and encourage students to believe in themselves and strive for greatness within a society that thrives from the subjugation of marginalized groups.

So much could be said about what’s wrong here in this incident. Let me just say, yes, I know, good police officers may still exist. But where are they and why aren’t they challenging their peers? Ask yourself, what do you mean when you say “good police officers”? Do you mean the ones who are actually behaving as decent human beings and not abusing their authority by discriminating against black and brown communities? Well, kudos to them for doing their jobs correctly, but that doesn’t mean anything when the entire criminal justice system is in utter disarray. And while these few good police officers may be the most amazing human beings to walk the face of the earth in your personal life, chances are they may not treat everyone else that way once they put on that blue uniform.

So now, back to the most recent display of police brutality, against an African-American teenaged girl, who was dragged across the room by Ben Fields. Immediately, people want to know "What did she do?” automatically assuming that this black girl must have done something wrong to require such force. It’s this response that is most daunting. Black children are automatically assumed to be criminals and nothing else, while viewers are pushed to sympathize with Fields, who was “just doing his job.” In fact, Spring Valley High students have begun protesting in support of Fields who was fired. Apparently, “[They] just want to show that [they] still support him and that he's still a good guy. [They] don't want his reputation to be ruined because of something that happened on Monday,” according to the Daily Mail. That’s right. As always, people have learned to sympathize with the oppressor, but where is the concern for the survivor? Do we know about her current condition? Do we care about the physical and mental trauma she is currently enduring, especially after publicly experiencing abuse? I’m purposely not showing the video because I feel that the display of black bodies experiencing violence at the hands of authoritative figures has become normalized and thus desensitized to anyone watching. As a society, we’ve become used to black bodies hanging from trees, lying in the middle of the street, or being abused at local events (and although I haven’t mentioned any names, you already can picture the moments I’m talking about).

[*It has been reported that the student is currently in foster care, although her estranged mother is still alive].

This also has happened in lieu of one of the most problematic times of the year, Halloween. I mention this because celebrators have made it an event to dress up as victims of police brutality. Namely, Trayvon Martin who was most recently turned into a Halloween prop, sprawled out across the grass of someone’s home with fake blood and candy. Black youth who have been affected by police brutality become jokes for people to laugh at and further desensitizes society from feeling a sense of responsibility for the lives of black and brown people.

Moreover, Spring Valley High is not an isolated event and even with the help of technology exposing these vicious acts, it seems that issues of police brutality are far from over. When an act of violence against black youth, especially women and girls are committed, it often goes overlooked. But the outrage for this young girl at Spring Valley High is real and will not be forgotten.