*I swear sisters get no love here in A-merry-ca. By now I am sure that everyone has heard the story of Mitrice Richardson. (Wait, she isn't blond haired or blue eyed, so maybe not.) Ms. Richardson was arrested by LA County's finest after allegedly not paying a restaurant their money for a nice meal in upscale Malibu. (Whatever happened to just washing dishes and working off your debt?)
So now, of course, all you black folks are focused on the police aspect of this case, and rightfully so. But what bothers me about this story is the behavior of the folks in the restaurant that night:
"The missing woman, who worked as an executive assistant and lived with her grandmother in Los Angeles, holds a degree from Cal State Fullerton and planned to go to graduate school to pursue a doctorate in psychology. On Wednesday, Sept. 17, she drove to an upscale restaurant in Malibu, 40 miles from her home, where staff said she was behaving oddly, at one point sitting down with a table of six and engaging them in conversation.
Jeff Peterson, the restaurant’s owner, said her erratic behavior was noticed by customers and employees. “There was something a little strange about her,” he told CNN. “She wasn’t
mentally ill, not ranting or raving. You couldn’t put your finger on it.”
When Richardson was presented with an $89 check, Peterson told police, she said she had no money and couldn’t pay. According to Sutton, her daughter called her great-grandmother, who offered to pay the bill over the phone, but the restaurant said they couldn’t do that. Instead, Peterson called the sheriff’s deputy out of concern for Richardson’s safety, he said."
"There was something a little strange about her"? Really? How about she might just have had a few drinks too many? And Mr. Peterson, you didn't call the po po out of concern for Ms. Richardson's safety, you called the po po because you wanted your damn $89!
Why couldn't you have waited for her great-grandmother to show up? If that was "missy", you would have made a nice comfortable bed for her in the back, called her great-grandmother, and made her some hot tea or "co co" while you and your staff waited for great-grandma to show up. Oh field, there you go with the racial angle. Well....
As for the cops leaving her out in the middle of nowhere; hey that's par for the course here in A-merry-ca, so that doesn't really surprise me. That kind of shit is not even worth blogging about anymore:
"Richardson’s parents say she should never have been released at that hour with no
transportation or money. Michael Richardson said deputies told him they were not running a baby-sitting service. He told Lauer he was also told that there was no room to keep her at the jail, but the father said he checked police records and discovered that there was only one other prisoner at the jail that day between 1:30 a.m. and that afternoon.
“It’s all inconsistencies,” Michael Richardson told Lauer. “I’ve talked to them several times.” He said he was first told that deputies told his daughter she could sleep in the lobby. Then, he said, he was told she was offered a bed in a cell. Then he says he was told about the alleged overcrowding."
"Overcrowding" in a Malibu jail? Yeah right, and Lark Voorhies is up in the Poconos this weekend preparing for a rendezvous with the field. Give me a break!
Anyway, to be continued. Let's see how this story plays itself out. In the meantime a family is missing a loved one, and unfortunately, it seems like it could have all been prevented.
Let's just hope that this story has a happy ending. In spite of all the efforts by the players involved to make it a sad one.
Pic courtesy of The Daily Voice.
212 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 212 of 212grinder,
yes, you can call me patronizing all you like.
i love gay men, i would never, in a million years, want to hurt you, or think up ways in which you were wrong, soley for being gay, Grinder, that is why you make me feel sick, cause you don't represent gay men, and you dont speak truth.
truth was something my mother and fahter taught me to hold on to, and you speak lies, Grinder,
whatever you want to say about me, i not care anymore.
whatever you want to say about me, i not care anymore.
You know, there have been times on this blog where I've been wrong and have come back here and said so. Try it sometime, kath. I mean really try it sometime. Who do you think you are, God? Yes, you too can be flat wrong, and this time you are.
Kathy "i love gay men, i would never, in a million years, want to hurt you, or think up ways in which you were wrong, soley for being gay, Grinder, that is why you make me feel sick, cause you don't represent gay men, and you dont speak truth."
You are so full of shit that if they were to shake it out of you, you would be all skin and bones with sunken eye sockets.
Grinder spoke the truth about what happened in the Richardson matter at the restaurant and the police station-clearly indicated his suspicion of the police.
It's you who continues to lie.
You are so full of shit that if they were to shake it out of you, you would be all skin and bones with sunken eye sockets.
You must have some Italian in you, 'cause only they can be so creative in their insults. Bravo. Bravissimo!
"truth was something my mother and fahter taught me to hold on to, and you speak lies"
How about going into a restaurant, ordering $100 worth of food and drinks, then attempting to get the bill passed onto someone else without their permission. That's pretty untruthful.
If your parents taught you to tell the truth I'm gonna bet they also talked to you about not stealing, right? You're judgmental about stealing just like you are about lying, right?
Based on this article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-missing27-2009sep27,0,2916909.story
There was certainly a discrepancy between the descriptions of her behavior at the restaurant and in her interaction with law enforcement. Someone's lying, but who?
I posted the link mainly because this article says a little more of what the restaurant staff told their manager about her "strange" behavior -- according to them she said she was from Mars, started talking in an unintelligible language, and said she was "here to avenge Michael Jackson's death".
Given the fact her family said it was out of character for her to not pay a restaurant tab and to leave the house with her hair unstyled, I am a lot more likely to believe it was law enforcement lying in this case.
I had a psychotic episode once. I was only 2 years younger than Mitrice. In my case, it was because I was an idiot and stopped taking the Xanax I had been prescribed for months without tapering. But many things, from certain antibiotics to allergic reactions, can cause psychotic symptoms. Also, women who develop schizophrenia generally manifest it later than men -- in their early 20s. There have been studies that have shown that marijuana consumption can trigger the onset of schizophrenia in a person predisposed to the condition.
She was a psychology major, as was I. Even though I was very educated about mental illness, I had very little insight into my own condition at the time -- that's part and parcel of psychosis. Despite her education, she may not have realized she needed help -- and yes, a person who says they are from Mars and attempting to avenge the death of a famous person they didn't know likely needs help.
Regardless of her mental state, the police owed her a hell of a lot better treatment than what she got. If she was experiencing symptoms of mental illness, they had an even greater duty to ensure her safety, and they failed miserably. And why on earth would they search her car? The recent case before the Supreme Court, Arizona v. Gant, held that searching a vehicle incident to arrest without a warrant was only allowed if the subject could reach for a weapon, destroy evidence, or if they believe there is evidence in the car to support the crime they were being arrested for. What on earth could be in her car that could be evidence to support her failing to pay her tab?
I pray to God that she is found safe -- and if it were in my power, I would damn those officers to hell if she isn't.
I was curious about the car search too. Maybe they got her permission. You never know.
I'm not sure that there's really any contradiction between what the cops said and what the restaurant said. Couldn't she have had off-and-on psychotic breaks that evening, i.e., drifting in and out of coherence?
The biggest question in my mind about the cops is why they didn't keep her at the jail overnight, after having heard from the relatives who wanted her kept there until they could pick her up.
By the way, Moriah, I posted the same story link earlier in the comment thread.
@Anonymous-
" Anonymous said...
More black men commit violent crime against white women than white men commit against black women so give it a rest. "Rite of passage"? Get your mouth off the crack pipe. I've seen black men treat their white girlfriends like dogshit and use the race card to guilt them into tolerating it. Some black men date white women cause they feel they can be abusive to them in a way they wouldn't dream of treating black women."
Dearest Ignorant-Ass Anonymous:
'Get off the crackpipe and give it a rest' is that what you directed toward me? Realize that plenty of white men commit crimes against black women it's just that the crimes that they commit against white women make the headlines. Because as well all know, in America white is right - even when it's wrong. KNOW YOUR HISTORY -that is...if you are in fact black. The white man's rite of passage has always been and will always continue to be engaging in the sexual conquest of black women - why, you ask - because we're the only ones who RESIST him. (i'm not counting those sistas who are fed up with brothas and date white out of spite - no...I'm talking about those of us black women who simply do not feel that white is right - those of us who are still down for our men, no matter what!) The reality is that the black men who prefer white women don't necessarily date white women just so they can be abusive to them - it has much more to do with ego and the way that the white woman has manipulated the game when it comes to men. She knows that he needs to feel like a man because AMERICA still sees him as less than a man. Black women know that too, but we've focused our attention on getting to the top. The white woman can easily play that submissive role and "bow down," if you will, but it's all game - just to get a brotha in a position where she can cash out! She can get money easier and faster from a brotha than she could ever get from a white man - that's why more and more white men are following a trend to wife Asian (not Americanized Asian) women. You seem to see only with your eyes and not with your mind when it comes to these issues. Back to Mitrice - This young woman that is missing was young, attractive and black - honey you've got to know that even in this day and age there are certain places where black people (men/women alike) cannot go. Agora Hills and parts of Malibu (at night) is definitely one of them. LA's a place where you can get pulled over for driving while black let alone walking in an all white area at night. Don't get it twisted, ok. The whole idea of taking 'black velvet' didn't die out with slavery. And just because you can walk down the street without getting lynched (during the day in certain parts of the country) doesn't mean that lynching (in a nouveau way) doesn't still happen in America. You just won't hear about it - like you wouldn't have heard about this sista had her family not have been proactive and made you hear about it. While we may not know every part of the story, what we do know is enough to put some of the pieces together. THINK ABOUT IT! I've lived in LA and I know their game. I've seen with my eyes and my mind what is done to young, attractive, sistas at the hands of the white powers that be, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if some old rite of passage shit went down in Agora Hills with that young woman. Just admit that you're ignorant to what it means to be black in America and I'll be willing to forgive you.
Just checking back for any updates. This comment thread is - I'm speechless. A person who can't have simple compassion for the family of a missing girl is airing a whole lot of psychopathology. There's just no other explanation for the sickness upthread.
Okay everybody, let's keep our priorities straight. We still have a missing little white girl and Natalie Holloway is still missing, too. Let's not forget the other unsolved crimes involving those pretty, blue-eyed blonds that Nancy Grace and Geraldo are always preaching to us about. By the way, there is a white male who has children in Japan, taken by their mom. Reminds me of Elian Gonazles. Do we really have time to look for and care about a beautiful, educated black woman? One who might have been in some sort of mental or physical cry for help? Or, simply did not have enough to pay a bill, which she might have expected to run up to that amount? The only thing black we can hope to keep in the news is the senseless beating of a black youth, by other black youths. I WONDER WHAT THAT IS ABOUT. Do you get where I'm coming from, people? Unfortunately, it is what it is. We just have to continue to sound off as much as we can until someone hears it.
Well I have to get back to my television, there might be some breaking news on Natalie Holloway, the missing little white girl or some other white female has gone missing. Sorry - I haven't truly had my Michelle Obama moment where I am truly proud of my A-merry-ca. I'm getting there; it's just taking a while due to some detour. Pleaes no one respond by telling me to leave the country. That's tired, plus my native Creek ancestors and my African ancestors made it possible for me to stay.
One Black Woman's Opinion
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