When I see black folks talking about how much that girl deserved to be assaulted and slammed to the ground because "these kids have no respect," all I can think of is an aging field woman nursing the wounds of her young daughter. She's applying various remedies and dressings to her daughter's bloodied open back after the young girl was tied to a tree and publicly flogged by her white master. And, as the woman whispers the name of Jesus and doctors on the body of her frail child, she offers no words of comfort other than one thought which absolves the white man of guilt and lays it all at the feet of the broken girl - "See there...I done told you 'bout sassin' him."
That's what y'all sound like.
There's also the nagging tendency in people to say, "It's not about race!" Ok. Excuse me while I take my eyes out and roll them down the street. But...if you must...I will play that game with you. Let's say it's not about race. (Even though we know it is.) It's at least about patriarchy. It's about one adult man watching while another adult man slams a female child to the ground. It's about her being perceived as combative and being contained by any means, no matter how severe, for usurping the power of the man. The only person to come to her defense was another black girl.
It's about so many people victim blaming, when they would not have done so had this been a young black boy assaulted by a white man. The white man, among the most protected class in this society, brutalized a black girl who is among the least protected; a black girl who is in foster care and reportedly lost her mother and grandmother in the last year. If this is indeed true, she is literally a motherless child. The officer also has a history of targeting blacks and battering women during arrests.
It's definitely about patriarchy. And that has occurred at the place where race and misogyny intersect. Because, if it were not about race, mainstream feminist outlets would be condemning the behavior of the officer in the same manner they would be if a young white girl had been tossed around like a rag doll by an adult who has been nicknamed The Incredible Hulk. So, if you want to tell yourself tall tales and see this girl as a threat while you imagine the fragility of a man who can bench press at least 600 pounds, be my guest. Whatever helps you sleep at night.