IS THIS JUST A COMMUNITY NORMALITY?
It's 2024 Yup I GUESS IT IS
On Thursday March 14th, 2024 a Black woman was assaulted by the owner of the Plaza Market on the corner or Manchester & Main in South Central Los, Angeles. If you're from the hood of Los Angeles you already know how this story goes. She went in because she forgot to buy laundry detergent & cleaning rags. After picking up the items she stopped in the middle of the aisle lowered her backpack & opened the small zipper part of her bag to check her shopping list. After checking her list, she went to stand up with the items still in her hand, she was rushed by the Asian owner, pushed to the ground & accused of stealing. The woman was caught completely off guard wondering what was happening. Within seconds she figured out he was accusing her of stealing; how; when the items were still in her hand & her hand never went anywhere near her bag?
This is what she tried to explain to him but he screamed at her & pushed her to the ground again, she was bewildered & screamed HOW AM I STEALING FROM YOUR STORE? The stuff is right here, as she pushed him out of her personal space. He jumped at her as if he was going to hit her, she turned around & walked fast to the front of the store. At the front of the store the Asian woman looked confused. The woman that was assaulted tried again to explain to her as she was walking out that she wasn't trying to steal & the Asian man grabbed her threw her to the ground & punched her in the face. As she scrambled to get her things, she was being pushed out of the door, screaming that she was going to call the cops.
She was laughed at by some of the bystanders outside & was told it would take hours for the police to arrive in South Central LA. This woman made it her business to contact the police over & over until she was given some assistance. The paramedics showed up about 15mins later to assess her face & the pain her arm now had. They stated that there was no reason for her to go to the hospital & that she was a little swollen & would be in a little pain. They wrote their report & the police showed up around 30mins later. Was it due to her calling over & over again or were the people that told her they wouldn't show lying? The police told her that if they go over to the store & the Asian man claims that she assaulted him first & said that she was stealing from the store, without video evidence they could both be locked up for the night.
The woman couldn't understand how someone can just get away with that type of behavior. The police offered to go talk to the business owner & see if they could explain that the woman wasn't trying to steal & at least get an apology. Oddly enough the woman that was assaulted was okay with this. The police went to speak with the store owners who continued to say that the woman was trying to steal. They even added that she was stuffing the rag & detergent pack into her backpack. Let's all take a moment to remember that this backpack wasn't even opened. The police asked to see the camera's & magically the computer's mouse wasn't working to showcase the evidence. The Police stated, there was nothing else that could be done. So, this Black Woman was just assaulted in the year 2024 for no reason by an Asian business owner in South Central LA; who is either a Racist or suffering from PTSD. Whatever the reason it's the norm here. And here is another person walking around trying to process what happened to them for the rest of their life.
For the Asian business owner it's just another day in South Central LA dealing with nigga's. They continue to make their money & harass whomever they so choose. Where is the JUSTICE? I guess there isn't any if there ever was.
This burns me up inside for many reasons but mostly because this is an example of how people are made to feel powerless as we as a community continuously pay for the actions of some people. Let me state that I do not know if this is an issue of race, but I do know that Black people have always been treated "funny" in these Asian stores, so much so that it has become a community norm.
If you took the time to read this LET'S TALK ABOUT IT! Please help me to cope with the new level of trauma this has caused in my life as a bystander of this incident by replying with your words of wisdom & advice.
I am open to all thought patterns😊
-Photo's by Jodie Spartz
This is terrible that something like this can happen & nobody does anything! It's a horrible existence sometimes because shit like this happens everyday to millions of people & it just isn't right!
ReplyDeleteOur Black community has always been treated like trash. People have claimed it's because our people have acted like trash. My question is, whose people don't? put us on front street like it's just us. I wish she would've beat his ass! 2024 don't mean a damn thing people are as ignorant as they were over 100 years ago!
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