Will There Be Justice in a ‘Sundown Town’? - New America Media

Will There Be Justice in a ‘Sundown Town’? - New America Media

I am particularly troubled by this article as it speaks to a reprehensible act in a city I once called "home". I'm not entirely sure where to begin. Is it the fact that things really haven't changed much in the past 26 years in Clovis, Ca. that would allow such a racially motivated attack to take place? or the fact that even today, a police officer would think it was necessary and APPROPRIATE to ask this woman what she had done to cause the attack? Let's start with the last question....what could she have done? Hmmm...so, this would allow one to believe that it is entirely possible to "provoke" a person or persons to viciously attack you while driving your car down the road. Let's forget for a moment that this person was Native and that the people who attacked her were racist. The fact that the officer ASKED her what she did to warrant such an attack suggests that there is a possible defense for these individuals. I mean, she could very well have "cut them off" or "gave them the one-finger wave", perhaps her music was too loud or her car was too slow or the wrong model or color.  I know that I am aggravated by drivers every day and often I think "wow...the solution to this problem is to bump the car from behind, chase it down the street, wait for the exact moment it has to stop at a red light, jump out, spit on them, hit them so hard I can knock them out, then drag them from their car and beat them to a mere inch of their life"...yep...that works! NOT! Seriously, that officer should lose his badge! He owes this woman an apology and anything short of that is heinous. Asking for the facts is one thing and there are much more appropriate ways in which to ask....that's like asking a rape victim what she did to provoke the rape! How often does he ask victims of armed robbery what they did to provoke the robbery... perhaps they owned too many nice things....seriously!

As for the conditions in Clovis, Ca. I wouldn't be surprised one bit if this was 1991. But today? I remember all too well the dangers for my friends who were not white in visiting Clovis after dark. In fact, I had friends who wouldn't travel to where the street signs turned brown after dinner time. That was the distinction between Fresno and Clovis. You knew you were in Clovis when the street signs went from green to brown. Clovis has that homey "old west" feel to it. Every year there is a rodeo and fair. The streets of  Old Towne Clovis come alive in the summer with country-western music and a farmers market on the weekends. In fact, this summer I visited their local museum which contained artifacts and historical accounts of the Natives that once occupied that area. I inquired from the curator why there were so little mentioned and her response "this museum isn't really about the Indians". It might be hard to believe but I really didn't know what to say to her. I wanted to take my measly contribution back! Instead...I just told her it was a shame...because it should be. So, on the surface, it looks like it is a great place to live, raise kids, take that slow stroll through town....but sadly... not for everyone.

I have asked my friends and family still living in Fresno/Clovis to contact the DA and force her to prosecute this as a Hate Crime. I'm saddened by this. I find it hard to believe that we ACTUALLY have to "lobby" this woman to do her job! I guess my question always comes back to "would we have to do this if the victim was white and the attackers were Indian?"

Individuals and communities need to be held accountable. If we DON'T hold them accountable, we are being passive and to be passive is to condone and that is a dangerous place to be. We are better than that as human beings. We NEED to be better than that. Our humanity depends on it.