Another absorbing and insightful piece, Stacey. You know, her impending light sentence only galls me because as you have so accurately pointed out, a woman of color would almost certainly not be afforded such compassion. Barring something as heinous as rape or murder, or some such violent crime, I'm actually in favor of non-punitive sentencing. BUT, I'm bitterly opposed to the unequal application of justice for people of color, that's the real problem. And although in principle I'd approve of Papini's sentence in practice I can't, because a woman of color convicted of the same crime would not receive such a forgiving sentence. The ugly irony here is that racism necessitates such a deviation of my principles, that to balance the scales of justice, I am obligated to be angry about a sentence that my sense of proportional justice would otherwise support; this is a truly rancid paradox.
I don't get it. I won't ever get it. And I'm damn glad that Generation Z is the first generation that is truly color blind. Ugliness and bigotry will likely always exist. But if we can save the planet from imploding on itself, maybe the Zoomers can straighten some of this out.
I continue to hope. Because what's happening right now is just godawful.
She won't serve one day in jail. Let a black woman do something like this, number one no one would care enough to look for her. Let them find out she committed a hoax, she would be in jail and fined.
"In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist." We must also stop treating White people as if their crimes are merely missteps or momentary lapses, even as we treat the crimes of people of color as moral failures and a threat to society.
First of all, would a person of color received so much attention? Would so much time, effort, and money have been devoted to searching for her? I can't say with any degree of certainty, of course, but I suspect the answer is "no." And therein lies the problem. White folks are simply worth more to society than anyone else, whether we care to admit it or not.
Second, justice may be "blind," but she's not color-blind. Skin color absolutely impacts the type of justice meted out for a particular crime. Papini should go away for a good, long time given what she did. The likelihood that she'll be sentenced to "time served" sickens me. Do you think the same would hold true for a woman of color? Riiiight....
Then again, WHATEVER you do, don't get busted for "voting while Black."
You can't vote while Black, walk while Black, run while Black, drive while Black, or move into a white neighborhood. WHY? What on earth is wrong with the people who actually believe skin pigment is a moral indictment of a man's character?
“I feel very sad, (that I got caught)” -- (Quiet part added for clarity.)
The racial aspect is the least surprising part of this whole thing. Cops get to murder whomever they wish, provided the victim is non-white. All they need to say is that they "felt threatened", and it is a free pass. Note that they don't have to be *actually* under threat; the POC can be unarmed and walking away when the cop shoots him (almost always a "him") in the back. Just claim to *FEEL* threatened, and you won't even have to pay for the bullets you fired.
This is because "Persons of Color" are not viewed as "persons" at all. The cop that gunned down Michael Brown described him as a "demon" to the Grand Jury; free pass. Meanwhile, you'll see example after example of a white (almost always, male) actively threatening a cop with deadly force, and the cop's response is to talk him down and tell him to go home.
What I find so astonishing is the willfulness of the entire plot, all for what scarcely amounted to chump change. If you're not going to come out of it with enough money to retire to some tropical paradise that does not have an extradition treaty with the US, why even bother? "Please torture me, so that we can make it look good!" Stating that this person has serious psychological issues is basically in the same category as ostentatiously pontificating on how water is wet. I really do not get it.
"Weirdly staged" seems to be the defining characteristic of her entire life, not just the photo above.
"The great Angela Davis"? Please, I have no respect for any communist, especially an American communist. You have been well indoctrinated my dear. Life in California I guess.
That racial thing really gets under your skin, doesn't it, Jeffrey? Did you have any run-ins with the EEOC or Black Lives Matter? Is there a personal animosity here that explains why even a hint of something racial has you pinging my Inbox?
If you really want to get pissed off, go through my archive. I promise you, there's lots more where that came from.
I grew up in the inner city in the 60's and 70's. My circle and my family are of Whites, blacks, and Latinos. I am not a racist. however, I have low tolerance for the race card being played when it really isn't relevant. There's too much of that these days. I've seen a lifetime of racist crap and it is no better today than it was fifty years ago. In this case, because it was part of your premise, I'm cool with your bringing that up. But I do have a huge problem with a communist being called great when communist have killed more than 100 million of their own people in the last century. Anyone calling themselves a communist, to me, are vile creatures for ignoring this history. Angela included. You are a very talented writer and you are not afraid to push the envelope so to speak. I disagree with you politically that is true, but I enjoy reading you. Like yourself, when I have an opinion, I'll bring it. I like to keep it real too.
Another absorbing and insightful piece, Stacey. You know, her impending light sentence only galls me because as you have so accurately pointed out, a woman of color would almost certainly not be afforded such compassion. Barring something as heinous as rape or murder, or some such violent crime, I'm actually in favor of non-punitive sentencing. BUT, I'm bitterly opposed to the unequal application of justice for people of color, that's the real problem. And although in principle I'd approve of Papini's sentence in practice I can't, because a woman of color convicted of the same crime would not receive such a forgiving sentence. The ugly irony here is that racism necessitates such a deviation of my principles, that to balance the scales of justice, I am obligated to be angry about a sentence that my sense of proportional justice would otherwise support; this is a truly rancid paradox.
I don't get it. I won't ever get it. And I'm damn glad that Generation Z is the first generation that is truly color blind. Ugliness and bigotry will likely always exist. But if we can save the planet from imploding on itself, maybe the Zoomers can straighten some of this out.
I continue to hope. Because what's happening right now is just godawful.
She won't serve one day in jail. Let a black woman do something like this, number one no one would care enough to look for her. Let them find out she committed a hoax, she would be in jail and fined.
And that's exactly the thing that depresses me like few other things in life. It's wrong, unfair, inhumane, and deeply deeply racist.
"In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist." We must also stop treating White people as if their crimes are merely missteps or momentary lapses, even as we treat the crimes of people of color as moral failures and a threat to society.
First of all, would a person of color received so much attention? Would so much time, effort, and money have been devoted to searching for her? I can't say with any degree of certainty, of course, but I suspect the answer is "no." And therein lies the problem. White folks are simply worth more to society than anyone else, whether we care to admit it or not.
Second, justice may be "blind," but she's not color-blind. Skin color absolutely impacts the type of justice meted out for a particular crime. Papini should go away for a good, long time given what she did. The likelihood that she'll be sentenced to "time served" sickens me. Do you think the same would hold true for a woman of color? Riiiight....
Then again, WHATEVER you do, don't get busted for "voting while Black."
You can't vote while Black, walk while Black, run while Black, drive while Black, or move into a white neighborhood. WHY? What on earth is wrong with the people who actually believe skin pigment is a moral indictment of a man's character?
“I feel very sad, (that I got caught)” -- (Quiet part added for clarity.)
The racial aspect is the least surprising part of this whole thing. Cops get to murder whomever they wish, provided the victim is non-white. All they need to say is that they "felt threatened", and it is a free pass. Note that they don't have to be *actually* under threat; the POC can be unarmed and walking away when the cop shoots him (almost always a "him") in the back. Just claim to *FEEL* threatened, and you won't even have to pay for the bullets you fired.
This is because "Persons of Color" are not viewed as "persons" at all. The cop that gunned down Michael Brown described him as a "demon" to the Grand Jury; free pass. Meanwhile, you'll see example after example of a white (almost always, male) actively threatening a cop with deadly force, and the cop's response is to talk him down and tell him to go home.
What I find so astonishing is the willfulness of the entire plot, all for what scarcely amounted to chump change. If you're not going to come out of it with enough money to retire to some tropical paradise that does not have an extradition treaty with the US, why even bother? "Please torture me, so that we can make it look good!" Stating that this person has serious psychological issues is basically in the same category as ostentatiously pontificating on how water is wet. I really do not get it.
"Weirdly staged" seems to be the defining characteristic of her entire life, not just the photo above.
As always, Gares, we are in thunderous agreement.
Fantastic piece!
"The great Angela Davis"? Please, I have no respect for any communist, especially an American communist. You have been well indoctrinated my dear. Life in California I guess.
That racial thing really gets under your skin, doesn't it, Jeffrey? Did you have any run-ins with the EEOC or Black Lives Matter? Is there a personal animosity here that explains why even a hint of something racial has you pinging my Inbox?
If you really want to get pissed off, go through my archive. I promise you, there's lots more where that came from.
I grew up in the inner city in the 60's and 70's. My circle and my family are of Whites, blacks, and Latinos. I am not a racist. however, I have low tolerance for the race card being played when it really isn't relevant. There's too much of that these days. I've seen a lifetime of racist crap and it is no better today than it was fifty years ago. In this case, because it was part of your premise, I'm cool with your bringing that up. But I do have a huge problem with a communist being called great when communist have killed more than 100 million of their own people in the last century. Anyone calling themselves a communist, to me, are vile creatures for ignoring this history. Angela included. You are a very talented writer and you are not afraid to push the envelope so to speak. I disagree with you politically that is true, but I enjoy reading you. Like yourself, when I have an opinion, I'll bring it. I like to keep it real too.