You’ve probably seen the video that’s been circulating of an African American female being punched in the face by a cop. It’s debatable whether or not she deserved it, since she was being pretty unruly and imposing herself on the officer in a threatening manner to “protect” her friend. But whatever the case, she’ll likely get a stiff sentence for her interference with the officer’s duties.
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Now, on the flipside of the coin, you have a white celeb, Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Nicholas Brendon, who allegedly threw punches at Venice, CA officers last March and had to be tased, but he won’t get any jail time for the attack. Instead, he got three years probation. The black girl’s sentence hasn’t been doled out yet, but my crystal ball says she’ll fare worse than Brendon.
Brendon pled no contest to four misdemeanors — one count for resisting arrest, two counts of battery against a police officer and one count of vandalism. Along with the probation, the actor must complete 10 days of community service, take an anger management course and refrain from drinking in public.
The moral, albeit premature, of this observation is that blacks still seem to be viewed as potentially more threatening than their counterparts and run the risk of being punished more harshly as a result.
