When there’s a wrong, we have to make it right

There are some people who will attempt to weaponize the video we are about to share with you.

They will say it’s indicative of Wayne County being a racist place.

They will make generalizations about all law enforcement officials.

And in doing so, they will be wrong.

But there is plenty to say about what unfolded Saturday evening at the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair.

And there are reasons why both parties behaved the way they did.

So, before we lash out at one side or the other, let’s unwrap what happened.

It’s time to have this conversation — as uncomfortable as it is.

Interactions between young African Americans and law enforcement have become increasingly disturbing. We know that because all too often, in this smart phone age, someone records — and then posts on social media — an altercation.

Many of these incidents go viral on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. They spark outrage. There are protests and, in some cases, legal proceedings.

And because, in most cases, they involve white officers and black citizens, they help perpetuate a narrative that those who wear badges and guns are inherently racist — and disproportionally mistreat young people of color.

Here’s the truth.

Most who dedicate their lives to serving and protecting their communities feel called to do so. They aren’t risking their lives on the off chance that doing so will afford them with an opportunity to abuse their power.

But it is also true that not every police officer and deputy lives up to the high standard that we, as citizens, expect them to meet.

And that leads us to last night.

A fight broke out. A young woman, seeing that her brother was involved in the scuffle, attempted to pull him out of the fray.

Deputies escorted both toward the exit.

Both seemed to be complying — making their way out of the grounds — but when one of the deputies grabbed the young woman by the arm, she pulled away. He grabbed her again. She pulled away again and said, “Get the (expletive) off of me.”

The deputy grabbed her again, and moments later, punched her in the face.

She swung back.

Pause.

What the deputy didn’t know was that the young woman he was grabbing was, by all accounts, a good kid. She graduated from Goldsboro High School in May, was arguably the best women’s basketball player in the county last season and has been characterized by staff, coaches and her peers as “humble,” “selfless” and “a leader.”

She currently attends college on a basketball scholarship.

She has no criminal record.

It’s true that fighting between young black men and women has become all too common throughout the county. And if you have seen recordings of these fights — we have — on social media, you understand just how violent they can be.

So, it is understandable, to some extent, that this deputy was on guard, that he was afraid of what this particular young woman was capable of.

And we know, if we’re being honest, that young black men and women are being raised to fear law enforcement because of the aforementioned disturbing interactions between police and people of color.

That’s why they see crime in their neighborhoods but refuse to cooperate with investigators — why they run when a squad car pulls into their block.

It’s a knee-jerk reaction that, again, if we’re being honest, is far less common among their white counterparts.

So, yes, there is a problem. A trust problem. A fear problem. On both sides. And while events like National Night Out hope to address that issue, it still exists.

Watching the video, it seems clear that this young lady and her brother were complying with the deputies. Were they, perhaps, upset that they were being forced to leave the fair? Probably.

But they weren’t reaching in their pockets or making threats. They were, based on what we can see and several eyewitness accounts, doing what they were told to do.

So why did the deputy feel the need to grab the young lady? And when she pulled away the first time, why did he not let cooler heads prevail and have a conversation with her? Where is the relationship-building aspect of law enforcement that has, to some extent, resulted in progress in our schools and neighborhoods?

Why was his reaction to grab her again?

And on what planet does a teenager pulling away from you and cursing warrant punching them in the face?

Should the young lady have swung back? Absolutely not. Was cursing at a deputy in the middle of the fair a dignified thing to do? No.

But that doesn’t make anything about what this man did acceptable. And we highly doubt that the deputy’s actions will be applauded by his boss. (We reached out to Sherriff Larry Pierce several hours ago for comment but have not heard back.)

Teachers deal with this type of behavior every day. If any of them dared respond the way this deputy did, they would be fired.

Furthermore, School Resource Officers deal with fights in this county on a daily basis. When was the last time you heard about one of them punching a student in the face — much less, a female? Trust us, they get cursed at. They have students yank their arms out of a grab.

There is no greater service one can offer to his or her local community than putting on a uniform, badge and gun and protecting its citizenry. So, we should raise our children to respect that — and to trust that those men and women who sacrifice so much won’t let us down.

But wearing that badge and gun comes with a responsibility to keep a cool head in situations like the one that unfolded Saturday night.

Sadly, this deputy did not know anything about the young woman he was grabbing. If he did, the video you are about to see wouldn’t exist.

And just what he saw in her as the two walked toward the fairgrounds exit is not our story to tell.

So again, if she was complying with the deputy — if she was walking alongside him — why did he feel the need to grab her in the first place — no matter how upset she was about being kicked out of the fair? And if she wasn’t complying, why wasn’t she in handcuffs?

The answer seems simple on this end. She wasn’t attempting to flee the officer. She didn’t reach into her pockets or make threats.

But he escalated the situation anyway. And if there is justification for punching this young lady in the face, we would love to hear it.

But we won’t. Because it doesn’t exist.

Just don’t let people turn this into a referendum on all law enforcement. When they say it’s simply racism, know that they are missing the point.

It’s about fear — on both sides.

And we have to get past that.

So we call on our leaders on both sides to start the discussion, to make sure what happens in other communities — the backlash, the division — doesn’t happen here.

And we also call on our sheriff and other law enforcement officials to look at this case carefully.

Let’s not destroy a promising young woman’s life unjustly.