Pensacola Independent News

OUTTAKES | Vol. 16, No. 5, March 4, 2010
(The Pursuit Of Justice)
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Outtakes

STOP THE VIDEO I am cursed...can't sleep. When I shut my eyes, I see the video taken from inside the patrol car of Pensacola Police Officer Jerald Ard, which shows him running over Victor Steen. I see a senseless tragedy that never should have happened. I grasp for thoughts, ideas, beliefs...words that will help me gain understanding and perspective and somehow harness the feelings, emotions and pain I feel.

Bad judgment was used by Steen and Ard. Nothing good happens at 2 a.m. and nothing did that October night. Steen could have stopped and avoided the chase. Ard could have called off the chase, not fired his Taser and used more caution in his driving. Neither did and a life was lost.

PARENTHOOD Down the hall, my daughters sleep. Across town, Cassandra Steen mourns for her son, Victor, who will forever be 17. My girls are alive. Her son is not.

In company break rooms, at lunch and dinner tables and on Internet forums, people are blaming Victor or his mother Cassandra for his death. "Why wasn't he at home at 2 a.m.?" "Why didn't he stop?" "He's a thug, he was packing a gun."

We want to blame Victor and his mom because we don't want to admit the same thing could happen to our children....that is if we lived in Brownsville, if our teens didn't have cars or friends with cars, if our children felt they needed a gun to protect themselves, or if they lived in a world that crushed their dreams long ago.

I can't blame the victim or his mother. I feel like I am the one who has failed. Victor Steen's death is only the tip of a much larger iceberg. Poverty, a failing education system and a government that glosses over the needs of a large segment of its community are at the root of the problem. Our City and County can spend over $80 million a year on law enforcement and jails but not see the value in investing more in the neighborhoods and in children with the hope of needing fewer jail cells in the future.

Our newspaper has written cover stories about the conditions in Brownsville and in the inner city six times since 2006. Yet our words have had no impact on the policies of our local governments and the hearts of our community.

LEADERSHIP AWOL When I meet people in those neighborhoods, I see good people who are losing hope. Consolidation means nothing to them. They don't care if the county chooses Gene Valentino's or Mort O'Sullivan's economic plan. They aren't upset that there aren't any African-Americans in some tourism video.

What many cared about was converting Brownsville Middle School to a community center. They chipped in their meager savings to help Rev. Lutimothy May and Friendship Missionary Baptist Church acquire the property that has been abandoned, vandalized and dilapidated in their neighborhood for nearly five years. They were rejected by the school district.

Only two elected officials spoke out on the behalf of these people: Sheriff David Morgan and Councilmember Diane Mack. County Commissioner Marie Young, Mayor Mike Wiggins and the three African-American council members, John Jerralds, Jewel Cannada-Wynn and Ronald Townsend, were nowhere to be found.

After all, May or some other younger more aggressive African-American leader might challenge them in the next election. Their titles are more important than actions. It's much safer yelling about tourism videos than challenging a school superintendent.

Victor Steen's death points to so many problems that we have ignored for so long. Rev. May tried to help but found no support from those who should be the ones trying to find solutions.

Until our elected officials join forces and deal with issues in Brownsville and the poorer parts of this community, the probability of more teen deaths stays high. And I will continue having trouble sleeping.

rick@inweekly.net

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