ARE THEY THAT AFRAID OF WOMEN?

Or Is It the Fact That It’s a Black Woman?

Recently we’ve been hearing more of this type of story, where black women are being verbally and/or physically attacked by loud, combative, usually drunk white men, who don’t seem to give a hoot in a holler whether or not there are witnesses, including in some cases the woman’s minor children. (Click for another story like this) I wonder what it is about black women that seems to set them off. I couldn't find any answers to that question, but click here to read the results of a research study into white men's attitudes toward black women that I found very interesting.

Confederate Flag-Waving Man Arrested After Pointing Shotgun at Black Woman, Vandalizing Car

Thomas Lee Campbell

Thomas Lee Campbell, 54, was charged with brandishing a firearm and vandalism after he allegedly threatened Cierra Mayes with a shotgun and vandalized her car.

A Virginia woman says she was terrified after a white man waving a Confederate flag pointed a shotgun at her and vandalized her vehicle, WTVR reports. 

Cierra Mayes was at a community yard sale Sunday morning when the incident occurred. According to police, Thomas Lee Campbell, 54, got upset after he saw a car parked in front of his home. Campbell allegedly jammed tree branches inside the vehicle, which belonged to Mayes, damaging the windshield.

Mayes discovered the branches in her car after she and her father returned to the vehicle.

“That’s when I noticed a yellow note sitting right here on my windshield with big black letters that say F you,” Mayes told the news station. “I noticed someone was hurrying down their driveway so I went to the door and I knocked and I rang the doorbell, but immediately he came out yelling, saying racial comments.”

Mayes said she confronted Campbell about the note, and that that is when the 54-year-old went into his home and retrieved his shotgun. 

“He points it at me, and then pulls it back up,” Mayes said. “I literally just froze, because I’ve never been in a situation where a gun was that close to me and someone was actually pointing it at me.” 

One individual witnessed the entire incident from outside her front window. 

“He was outside of course yelling, screaming, cussing, and just being very belligerent,” said Marisa Turner. 

“He was waving his gun out and as soon as I saw that I went downstairs, because I said I’m not playing with this.” 

After brandishing the shotgun, Campbell, according to Mayes and other witnesses, went back inside his home and came out again with a Confederate flag, which he started waving around. Mayes called the police.

“At that point, it had just gone too far. There was damage done to my windshield. With the comments that he said, he pulled out a gun … I was concerned for my safety,” she said.

Is That REALLY What They Discovered, Or Is This An Attempt To Placate the Public?

 From The Root:

DOJ Findings Accuse Ferguson Police of Pattern of Racial Bias

Finally the Department of Justice has completed its investigation, and are going to release their findings; do they honestly see what so many of us have known for years? Or is this an attempt to smooth things over with the angry Ferguson residents after the Grand Jury came back with the decision not to indict Darren Wilson?

During an extensive review that included hundreds of interviews and more than 35,000 pages of police records, Justice officials find a huge discrepancy in treatment toward Ferguson, Mo.’s black population.   

Police advance through a cloud of tear gas toward demonstrators protesting the killing of teenager Michael Brown Aug. 17, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo.  Scott Olson/Getty Images

The Department of Justice is preparing to release findings this week alleging that the Ferguson, Mo., Police Department practiced routine racial bias and violated the constitutional rights of residents, the Washington Post reports.

According to the report, department officials discovered that although 67 percent of Ferguson’s population is black, black people made up 93 percent of all arrests 2012-2014.

Currently, Justice officials are trying to reach an agreement with the Police Department to prompt a change in practices, which the DOJ says includes use of excessive force and unjustified arrests and traffic stops. If no settlement can be reached, the Justice Department could file a lawsuit against the department.

The Post notes that the findings indicate that black residents made up about 85 percent of all individuals stopped by police officers in Ferguson and 90 percent of all citations issued.

Police were also more prone to use excessive force against black citizens, who were involved in 88 percent of all cases in which force was used. All 14 canine-bite incidents for which race was available involved a black person, the Post notes.

Full evidence is set to be released this week as early as Wednesday, according to the Post. Part of the evidence showing racial bias included an email written by Ferguson police and municipal court officials, one of which, dated November 2008, claimed that President Barack Obama would not be president for long, since “what black man holds a steady job for four years.”

According to the Post, the review concludes that racial bias and prioritizing revenue above public safety have heavily affected Ferguson’s police and court practices, putting them in violation of the Constitution and federal law. 

Read more at the Washington Post.