Dallas Lawyer – Texas Senate Passes a Bill Meant to Improve Race Relations with Police
A controversial bill sponsored by Democrat Senator John Whitmire of Houston passed the Senate in late March 2017. It heads to the House, but many don’t agree the proposed legislation is a good idea. The bill seeks to require all ninth-grade students in Texas to take a course on navigating through interactions with law enforcement. Some members of Black Lives Matter have expressed their belief that the bill isn’t a real solution.
Ashton P. Woods, Houston organizer of Black Lives Matter, says, in his opinion, the problem with the bill is that it shifts responsibility off of police officers and other members of law enforcement and onto citizens. Woods suggested that if this bill passes into law, a new class of people is being created that doesn’t question authority and then doesn’t challenge unfair rulings.
Woods further suggests that, instead of actions in the proposed bill, after-school programs be created that would help children understand their rights. Instead of being told to simply consent for search and seizure, record police while interacting with them. Ask questions, such as, “Why am I being detained?” He further said that there are laws which must be followed, even if unfair, but that police officers also have a responsibility to treat people with dignity and humanity.
Whitmire points out that many clergy members and members of law enforcement support his bill. Following the social unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, regarding the police shooting of Michael Brown, Whitmire attended a town hall meeting in which the words of an elder minister made an impact on him. He basically said, in the face of our belief that we as black people are allegedly profiled by police, young people need to be better prepared for police encounters, to avoid a dangerous escalation of circumstances.
Learn more about this story in this continuing series.
–Guest Contributor
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