I was wrapping up my day today, when this article
from the local news popped up on my Facebook page. The headline took my
breath away: RTA pursues criminal charges against student who forgot free bus
pass.
Just in case you're not from here, let me explain. The
Cleveland Public School System and some suburban school districts do not
provide transportation to children in high school. To address the lack of
school transportation many districts provide either free or reduced bus
passes for students.
New high-schoolers are typically 14 to 15-years-old. For
many of them this is their first time using public transportation alone. It's a
big responsibility that can be scary for both the student and the parents, many
of whom are forced into this situation, because of work schedules and not
having someone to take their child back and forth to school.
I have one of these new high-schoolers, he's
14-years-old and typically never travels alone. I am fortunate to live on the
train line that runs in a straight line between our house and the school, only
6 short stops away. Further, because of some work flexibility, I'm able to drop
my child off at school in the morning, but he is on his own getting home
safely.
Now I don't know about your child, but my 14-year-old
has the attention span of a gnat. He forgets his house key so often, I have a
sign posted on the inside of the door reminding him to take it. He still
manages to forget it every now and again. He forgets to turn in his homework,
and to complete his chores. Hell, he can forget something I ask of
him between the short walk from the front door to his room. It's
annoying, but should he face criminal charges because of it? Sounds stupid,
huh? Probably, because it is, but the rules for our children (black
children) are a little different than for white children.
Our children are not given the freedom to be just
kids, because too often they are just not recognized as children
by people in authority. It's why there was no national integrated
unified outcry against the murders of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, or
15-year-old Trayvon Martin, or even 18-year-old Mike Brown. This inability to
see our kids as children, the same way in which we see a white child,
is killing them, literally. The idea that you could criminalize a
behavior common to most kids that age and put a child in the criminal
system for a bus pass, that if paid for out of pocket, would
cost less than $1.75, is shocking, to say the least.
RTA's defense is they have 130 cases of improper use
of student bus passes. This justifies treating a child like a
criminal? How much did RTA make in profit last year? How many people
ride the train each day? I do, and more than 130 others in 1 trip up and
back downtown.
The idea that the only way for RTA to defend itself
against a child who has lost or forgotten, his paid for by the school system
bus pass, is to participate in this pipeline of black folk from the schoolhouse
to the jailhouse, is despicable.
There is no dispute that this child is a student, and
that he was riding the bus during school hours. Therefore, even without the
actual ticket, RTA has already been paid, so what exactly was his crime? RTA
sent 1 letter to this child’s parents trying to collect $25 for a ticket that
had already been purchased by the school district, again, why? The idea that so
little value is placed on our children's lives and their futures is
incomprehensible.
According to the story, the child's record would be
expunged if he completes a program for first time offenders. "First Time
Offender," that statement makes my head spin. This child is not an
OFFENDER. HE IS A CHILD!
RTA states it developed this policy in conjunction
with, the NAACP (huh, so did you know you were going to be targeting black
folk?) and the ACLU. I wonder if the NAACP knows that you charged
45 children with a criminal offense, given 45 children a criminal
record, put 45 children in the criminal justice system, for the cost
of one letter and a $1.75 fare. RTA should be ashamed, and we all
should be outraged.
The overcharging, over sentencing, and eagerness to
place black people in the criminal justice system is this country's worst
kept dirty little secret. Excessive incarceration destroys
our families, robs us of our right to vote, which steals our voices leaving us
powerless, makes us unemployable, leaving us little option, except to
return to crime, which returns us to jail or an early grave. It starts
with these kinds of sneaky foul little policies that go unnoticed until someone
decides to stand up.
This 14-year-old's mother decided to fight. I hope we
all stand with her, or it could be your child next.
http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/cleveland/rta-pursues-criminal-charges-to-teen-who-forgot-free-bus-pass/455775234
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