On These Grounds (2021) - full transcript

(ambient music)

♪

(indistinct chanting)

No peace!

No peace!

No peace!

No peace!

In geography, we have this term
"thick places."

(rain pattering)

Thick places are places where,
like, there are layers

and layers and layers
of history,



or something huge
happened there.

You feel it.

(sloshing)

(somber music)

♪

South Carolina is a thick place.

(birds chirping)

♪

I think in a lot of ways,
if we can understand

what has happened
in South Carolina,

it'll be a lens to understand

a whole host of racial issues

across the country.

♪



Social media circulating
a new video

of alleged abuse by an officer.

It's a little bit difficult
to watch.

Today, a sheriff's deputy
in Columbia, South Carolina

forcibly removed a student
from a classroom

at Spring Valley High School.

(thudding)

(rattling)

(indistinct remarks)

18-year old Niya Kenny
was in her math class

at Spring Valley High
when she saw

school resource officer
Ben Fields

forcibly remove her classmate.

I was in disbelief, I know
this girl don't got nobody,

and I couldn't believe
this was happening.

I'd never seen
nothing like that in my life.

Like, a man use that much force
on a little girl.

A big man, like,
300 pounds of full muscle.

I was like "No way, no way!"

Like, "You can't do that
to no little girl."

That shamefully shocking video
is reprehensible.

A shocking confrontation
witnessed by a classroom

-full of students.
-It's hard to explain that one.

It is disturbing
to say the very least.

I think that people
should look at this video

and ask themselves,
"Is this appropriate?

What if this were my child?"

Hillary Clinton,
getting into the fray,

tweeting, "The Assault
at Spring Valley High

-is unacceptable."
-Bernie Sanders,

"Welcome to
the school-to-prison pipeline."

(speaking another language)

♪

The only weapon
she had was a phone?

-Yes.
-Isn't that

-a little bit overkill?
-But, put your phones away.

-Put your phones away.
-I wanna know

why the teacher felt--
it necessary

to call in a police officer
to do this.

That's what I--
that's the point I--

Deputy Fields did not
follow proper training,

Deputy Fields did not
follow proper training,

did not follow proper procedure.

And approximately
20 minutes ago,

uh, school resource officer
Ben Fields was terminated

from the Richland County
Sheriff's Department.

Students in several classrooms
walked out,

showing their support for
former school resource officer

-Ben Fields.
-He was a great guy,

like, he protected us
and everything, like,

-he was our resource officer.
-Some apparently were wearing

T-shirts that read,
"Bring Back Fields,"

while others were chanting,
"Free Fields."

Last year,
Fields received an honor

for being
an exceptional role model.

A police officer
lost his job for doing his job.

It's high time
we start addressing

the root causes of all this,
the disrespect of teachers,

this Black Lives Matter
movement.

This incident started with

a very disruptive student
in a class.

The student was not allowing
the teacher to teach,

was not allowing
the students to learn.

This is ridiculous that people
are going to fucking say

that the cop
is in the wrong-doing.

We're dealing with
a generation of kids

who do not respect authority.

This is an absolute ticket
to anarchy.

Which is exactly what many
in our country would like.

You know--you know how it is.

Even you just saying that
has people saying, "Racist."

Oh, I don't care, I don't care,
I mean, you can call--

The problem of violence
in school officers

is not a new problem.

This was the moment
that documented

those complaints.

(dramatic music)

♪

It was a Monday morning.

(whirring)

I actually wasn't going to
go to school that day.

(indistinct remarks)

(whirring)

I don't know, I saw him
just talking to her,

whispering to her,
and initially, you know,

I didn't think it was a problem,
because I knew that she was

just this quiet student
in the class.

(ambient music)

So, our teacher
picks up his phone

and I kinda hear him say,
"I need someone escorted

outta my class."

And I was like,
"Uh, what did you do?

What could have happened
that's getting you

kicked out of class?"

She didn't disrupt the class,
so we had no idea

what was going on.

I hear him saying that
he's gonna call the deputy,

and I was the only one
who could see the door.

So, as soon as I saw Fields
outside of the door,

I was like, "Ah, it's Fields!"

I was like,
"Yo, get your cameras,

get your cameras."

"Cause she's still sitting there
like, "I'm not gonna move."

(indistinct remarks)

I guess I encouraged the kids
to take out their cameras

because I just knew
that something could go,

you know,
from zero to a hundred.

It definitely did.

(thudding)

(rattling)

Put your hands behind your back.

Give me your hands,
give ye your hands.

Put your hands--

(grunting)

(indistinct remarks)

(rustling)

(indistinct remarks)

No, please.

That's it.

(indistinct remarks)

(rustling)

(rattling)

Well, this is fucked, man.

(ambient music)

And the whole time
she's still quiet,

you know, she didn't
let out one sound.

Once they took her out,
he came back

and he kinda, like, stood there

and kinda scaled the classroom,

like, "Where is she?"

He said something like,
"You have so much to say,

you're comin', too."

They took us downstairs
and we sat there

for about an hour in handcuffs

before a paddy wagon
came and got me,

and I, um--

I was taken off to jail.

Real jail.

(somber music)

♪

I had a lot of time
to think, you know,

in handcuffs,
just sitting in a quiet room.

So, I was just like,
"How could they

let me get arrested,
like, for that?

You know, they're letting me
go to jail right now."

I was like,
"I'll never come back.

Promise, I'll never come back
to this school,

I'm never coming back."

(pattering)

♪

(grim music)

I think this incident
is illustrative

of so many dynamics,

uh, that are relative
in this moment.

♪

As a white person,
I'm gonna ask white people

to try a particular lens on.

I'm just gonna ask you to
grapple with it.

♪

This lens is whiteness.

♪

Being raised as a white person
in this society,

I was not raised
to see myself in racial terms.

But, whiteness is a race.

It is a particular position
in the world.

It is a particular world view
and view point.

(pattering)

How has being white shaped

how you experience the world?

How does it shape

your perspective
on this incident?

(crickets chirping)

♪

Using force is never pretty.

It looks ugly, it looks bad.

It's hard,
but necessary at times.

♪

People are never
gonna change their minds.

Some people will never change
their minds about the video.

They think I was wrong,
and that's it.

Some people think
I was absolutely right,

and that's it.

Um, but I don't--

I can't get into that so much,
I think what we get into--

What I want to get into more
is just, hey look,

we're trained a certain way
as police officers.

We're trained to deal
with tough situations.

We're trained to follow the law,
enforce the law.

And then, we have
a use-of-force continuum

that we go by
that we have to stay within.

And, uh, I did those things.

I've only watched this,
like, one time.

The day that it took place.

You don't know me?
Okay, just come with me

or I'm gonna have to make you.

(whirring)

(rattling)

Put your hands behind your back.

Give me your hands,
give me your hands.

Put your hands--

(thudding)

I think when you--

I think as a cop,
what you see is--

I mean, any time
you're using force,

you're going quickly,

and you're trying
to solve that problem

as quickly as possible,
so you don't get hurt,

the other person
doesn't get hurt.

Um.

It was just a--

It was very quick,
very quick situation.

Very fluid situation.

I think you go--you know,
like anything, you go over it.

I evaluate any time--

Any time you--you use force
in law enforcement

I think you---
you evaluate the situation.

Evaluate if you made
the best decision on--on it.

Um, would you have done
anything differently?

And, uh--

You know, I don't wanna
be consumed by it.

Um.

So, I just didn't
get caught up in watching it.

I just didn't.

Um.

It was tough to watch.

(ambient music)

♪

Someone looks at
the police officer and says,

"Here is law enforcement
at its worst.

Clearly attacking,

abusing power and influence."

And then,
there are others who say,

"This is what's wrong
with public schools.

Poorly behaved, undisciplined,
Black children."

Two very different perceptions,

which I believe comes from
a historical perspective.

What is the relationship
between Black people

and police officers?

It is important to note
that this is not the first time

this officer has been accused
of excessive force.

Army veteran, Carlos Martin,
says he recognized Ben Fields

the instant he saw that video,
because Fields treated him

the exact same way,
he says, ten years ago.

What he did to me is
started making all these

racial comments,
which is already documented.

So, he put you on the ground,
then there's racial comments?

-Correct.
-Were you fighting?

Not at all, I was laying
on the ground, as you can see,

protecting myself.

I think that's public record,
I believe,

um, as far as that goes.

Um.

But, yeah, I had--
I had been accused before

of excessive force, yes,

which--which was a lawsuit,
which they found in my favor,

and I'll just leave it at that.

♪

You believe this is just
his instinct of how to act...

-Correct, absolutely.
-...In this situation?

And I'm not even surprised
that his actions is that.

I'm more surprised
that Sheriff Lott

continues to allow him to
continue to do the same thing.

The reason why he's at the
school that he's at

is because he beat me up,
and then they moved him

to the school
and put him around children.

Why would they take an officer
who had a force issue

and put him in a school?

That is the question of the day.

(solemn music)

It's important
that we acknowledge

that there were
two chief complaints

that happened months before
Spring Valley ever happened.

The Office of Civil Rights

within the Department
of Juvenile Justice

received two chief complaints
in May of 2015.

The first complaint
was that the SRO program

at the Richland County
Sheriff Department

were arresting
African-American students

at a disproportionate rate.

88% of our arrests are
African-American students.

You ask anyone, you know, 88%.

The majority of the arrests
are African-American.

You can look at
the prison system in the--

And tell that.

That's not a new story,
that's not a new narrative.

But, it now filters
into the school.

The second complaint
was that we were engaging

with students
who have a disability

from an uninformed position.

We did not have
a policy in place

on how school resource officers
should deal with

students with disabilities.

Visible and unseen disabilities.

♪

(indistinct remarks)

(clanking)

I had a tremendous
amount of support.

This community here,
that I live in,

I mean, they just
wrapped their arms around me.

Back when Ben first started
training at the gym,

we'd spend an hour and a half
or two hours a day together,

three or four days a week,

and because of that time,
he has always been

one of my absolute
favorite people.

He's just a good human
and I adore him.

(overlapping remarks)

Up!

One of our friends texted me
the link and said,

"Did you see this?
It doesn't look good for Ben."

And I watched the video
and I said, "I don't care

what that video shows,
that's not Ben.

He didn't do anything wrong."

And she texted back,
"I don't know, you know,

it doesn't look good,"
and I said,

"I don't really care
what it looks like.

The media's done something,
because that is not Ben,

and he would not do that
to a student."

Come on, Ben!

We know Ben,
so something had to happen

for him to react that way.

(overlapping remarks)

(cheering)

The need for cops in schools
is tremendous,

and the need for cops
to be supported in schools

is tremendous, and the need
for cops to be able

to do their jobs in schools
is tremendous.

"Cause you're still
a cop in a school.

You can put a SRO on it,
you can put security on it,

you can put
whatever you want on it.

You're a cop,
your job is to be a cop

at the end of the day,
to enforce the law

under--you know,
with your discretion,

but under the law.

The way I describe it to people
is like you're the sheriff

of your own town in some ways.

(unsettling music)

♪

In a place like Columbia,

law and order is a core value,

you know, the idea that
there is respect for authority,

that there is a way
things are done and not done.

That is a deep value of
not just the South,

but a lot of places
around the world.

But, it's stronger in the South,
I think, in general,

than in the North of the U.♪.

And on the one hand,
law and order

is an important thing, you know,

and having respect for
authority figures is important.

At the same time,
it's also the case

that in the South,
politicians used to talk about

segregation forever.

And when--
when that became outlawed,

they started talking about
law and order a lot more.

♪

(creaking)

(whirring)

I'm in my kitchen in Brooklyn.

I saw the video
of Niya being interviewed

after she's been
released from jail,

and they ask her,
"What made you stand up?"

And then, that's when
my whole life changed,

'cause here's a child
that's saying,

"Nobody else is gonna stand
for this child."

And I'm like, "What?"

And then, I got enough courage
to actually watch the video.

(ambient music)

I must've cried all night.

I was angry.

I'm a member
of Black Lives Matter

New York City--my piece was
health and wellness

and, like, care.

This is visual of what
we've been talking about.

A girl got physically assaulted,
two girls were arrested.

Oh, wait a minute,
you got criminal charges.

These are two girls.

What happens when we start

pushing young people
out of school?

We know what it means
to silence trauma.

That's how we get all our -isms,

our alcoholism,
all our addictions.

That's my front line.

That's who we should
be working with.

That's who our reach out
should be to.

Kayla, Kayla.

I just wanna hug 'em.

I just wanna go
hold these two girls

and let 'em know it's okay,
and that, no, this should

never happen to any child.

It's a lot to take in,
'cause it's just like,

"Oh, it's my babies,
these my babies

on top of my babies
on top of my babies."

What does it mean
to walk the walk?

(ambient music)

Mm-mm, nope, gotta go,

gotta go, gotta go.

♪

After the assault
at Spring Valley,

I came here to see
how I could support

the girls and their families.

Call me and I can tell you
about the different ways

that you can be involved.

And I'm Vivian.

I thought I really was
walking into

a body of organizers.

I thought it was gonna be
these massive protests,

all that stuff, and it's like,
"Oh, we got a sis here

from New York City,
who can house her?"

I really thought it was
gonna be one of those things.

It just wasn't.

All right, all right.

Peace.

(indistinct remarks)

In the Spring Valley incident,
I don't think

race plays a part of it.

I think it was just a snapshot
of, you know--

And it was a bad snapshot of--

Of things that we do every day
that are good,

and that was just
a bad snapshot.

So, I think South Carolina is
probably ahead of other places

because of the relationship
that we had within the community

where they trust
that law enforcement

was gonna do the right thing,
you know.

We didn't have riots,

we didn't have major protests,

we didn't have--we didn't
have problems over it.

And we haven't had
people from the outside

whose main intent was to come in

and spread hate and violence.

We--we didn't allow--

And when I say we,
that's not law enforcement.

That's the community
did not allow them to come in

and cause those problems.

♪

Why are we content
on punishing kids?

♪

The police do not need
to be in schools.

And we can call 'em SROs,
but it's really

policing in schools.

My long-term goal is
remove policing from schools

and create more socio-emotional,

trauma-informed care
programmings

where kids are getting
different levels

of social support,
not just policing.

(whirring)

(pensive music)

♪

The video focused
everyone's attention

on excessive force,

but we can't forget
what brought that officer

into that classroom.

He was there enforcing a law

that made it a crime to, quote,
disturb schools in any way.

That means any disturbance
that any kid causes

in school is a crime.

(overlapping remarks)

(grim music)

♪

Where did that law come from?

The original intent was

to control young people.

The very, very original version
of South Carolina's law

was a law against flirting,

and it was written in 1919.

And it was because
a state lawmaker

was concerned by
the amount of flirting

he saw going on
near women's colleges,

a white women's college
in his jurisdiction.

(tense music)

♪

And then,
it was in the late 1960s

that that law was expanded
to apply to all schools,

not just girls'
and women's schools,

in the late 1960s.

So, what do you know--
what was going on then?

You know, not coincidence.

Kids were protesting
the Vietnam War,

kids were protesting
civil rights violations,

and it was ugly,
like, there was violence,

and it was a very scary time
for many, many people.

So, this was very much
an attempt by lawmakers

and educators
to find more tools,

is the word that's always used,

more tools to control kids

at a time when the status quo
was really threatened.

And in that case,
it was designed

to be used against
outside agitators,

was the phrase
that was always used.

And in fact,
what it was used against was,

you know, tens of thousands
of kids at these schools.

They were not outsiders, right?

And disproportionately
kids of color.

In the 1990s, this law
started being used all the time

to prevent something else,

which is student misbehavior.

And you got to a point where,

I don't know,
I think since 2000 something,

like 30,000 kids were charged
with disturbing schools

in South Carolina.

The use of
the disturbing schools law

was a harmful,
but yet lawful,

um, form of structural violence.

And so, we--
we were utilizing that law,

uh, as a blanket law

to, uh--to deal with, uh--

Um, schoolhouse conflict.

Look at that classroom.

Uh, what's going on there?

What did Shakara
do that morning,

uh, on that day?

Similar with the officer.

There are more layers here
to uncover.

Where--what was
the teacher doing?

Who called the officer
to the classroom?

So, there is a context
out of which this emerges.

(birds chirping)

(ominous music)

♪

-Kinda nervous.
-Nervous?

(indistinct remarks)

(unintelligible)

Okay, I'm leaving.

-Those are the funny ones?
-Nah, nah.

(chuckling)

One day I was just
thinkin' about, okay,

it's time for me to, you know,
open up, voice my opinion,

and just give people
a clearer idea,

um, of what happened
and how to avoid it,

and how the situation
could have went better.

I want all the kids
to be able to go to school

and, you know,
get their education,

and be safe, and feel like
that's not gonna happen to them.

(somber music)

♪

(pattering)

♪

(indistinct remarks)

It's like an octopus
with tentacles.

That moment cannot happen

without all these
other pieces in place,

and as you trace that moment,

you--you come into history,

you come into institutions,

you come into policies,
practices.

We're bringing all of this
into the schools.

I woke up that morning.

I was getting dressed for school
and I was already tired,

because the night before
I was up all night.

I couldn't sleep and I just
had a lot of things on my mind.

♪

I went to school.

I went to my
resource teacher's class,

because I was supposed to
check-in with her every morning,

and make sure she knows
that I'm at school.

She said, "How are you doing?"

I told her I was a good,
a little bit stressed out

and had some problems
with my mom.

I went to English that morning,

then after I got out
of that class,

I went to--went to Math.

The teacher,
he was going over some stuff.

I know this is not
gonna be a good day,

because I don't understand math,
we've got a test.

I went to him and I was like,
"Can you call

my resource teacher to see
if I can go to her class,

so I can get some help?"
and he was like,

“No, you--you--
you gonna stay in here today.”

I took it upon myself
and I said, "Okay,

if he's not gonna ask her
then I'll ask her myself."

So, I got on my computer

and I was trying
to send her an email.

And he kept
closing me out of the app,

because he had this app
on his computer

that he can control
whatever we're doing on ours.

And I said,
"Why did you close me out?"

He's like, "That's not
appropriate for class."

And I said, "Well, I'm trying
to send her an email."

So, I try to get back on.

♪

But, he came to me
and he closed my Chromebook.

If I ask for help
to call my resource teacher,

he was supposed to--
like, that was in the IEP,

that he was supposed to
let me go down there to her.

♪

He handed out the tests
and I started it,

and I was like,
"I do not understand this,

so I'm not--
I'm not even gonna try."

And I just put my head down
and I was just, like,

messing with my nails
or whatever,

and he came
and knee led beside me.

He said, "Why are you
not taking the test?"

I said,
"Because I don't understand it

and you won't let me
go to my resource teacher."

So then, I kept slouching down

and I was just, like,
had my head down,

doing like this,
messing with my nails,

and then he came
and sat beside me,

and he was like,
"Give me your phone."

And I was like, "What phone?"

He said, "The one
you have in your hand."

I said, "I don't have a phone."

He said--he said,
"I'm not gonna ask you again."

And I said,
"I don't have a phone."

He said,
"Okay, take this and go."

And I was like, "What is this?"

Him, "Oh I'm writing you up
because you wanna

be disrespectful
and not put your phone away."

I was just like,
"But, I'm not going

because I didn't do anything,
and you can't just

send me out of classroom for
assuming that I have a phone."

I felt misunderstood.

The teacher has a choice

about what to do at that moment.

Does he say, "Shakara,
you know my cellphone policy.

I already asked you once,
you've now got a detention,"”

and then left it at there
and dealt with it after class,

so it didn't disrupt
everybody else

for that block?

Or does he call
the assistant principal

and ask for backup?

Then, you've got
a similar set of questions

and discretion that
the assistant principal has.

He called
the assistant principal

and he asked,
"What's the problem

and why didn't
I put the phone up?"

And I was like,
"Because I don't have a phone.

You can ask anybody,
I don't have a phone."

He said, "Okay, well, I'm gonna
need you to come with me."

I didn't do nothing,
I don't think I should--

To just send me
out the classroom

for not doing anything.

(grim music)

Then, the assistant principal
decides to call in the SRO,

and this is, to my lawyer brain,
that's the really big choice,

because that's making the SRO,

the enforcer
to school discipline, right?

Shakara's behavior
hasn't gotten more disruptive.

Bringing the officer in
is what makes it

more disruptive
to the other students.

So somebody beside me
was just like,

"Oh snap, he finna get Fields."

And I'm thinking like,
"What they talking about?

Like, who is Fields?"

Um, an administrator
on the third floor

called for a deputy.

Not for me specifically,
but for a deputy.

My office is on the first floor
and I went ahead

and got up to the third floor.

He says that, um,

he had a young lady who was
refusing to leave class.

I said, "What do you mean
she's refusing to leave class?"

"Well, she's refusing
to leave class."

So, we tried
to call her teacher,

because she was in
one of these classes

where they get some extra help
or whatever the case may be.

Uh, the teacher
wasn't available.

Then, the officer
does have a choice, right?

What am I gonna do?

It's the structure
that puts SROs in a position

where every crime is
supposed to be reported to them.

Any disturbance is a crime,

so lots of conduct is supposed
to get reported to them,

and his duty
is to enforce the law.

At that point in time
I decide that,

based on the circumstances
of what we have,

that I'm gonna go in
and remove her

from the classroom.

So, I walked in the classroom,

and when I saw her, I--
right away I recognized her.

Uh, I'd dealt with her before
on two prior fights

that she had had
at Spring Valley.

Um, and both of which
I felt like,

uh, that she was put--
picked on,

pushed into a corner
a little bit, and--

And kinda fought her way out of.

Both of which
I didn't arrest for.

Both of which I felt sorry
for the young lady

in some ways,
because I knew she was

dealing with some things.

So, I tell her, I say,
"Young lady," I said,

"Get your stuff
and come with me."

(dramatic music)

♪

(indistinct remarks)

♪

Young lady, are you gonna
come with me or not?

♪

The reason why I didn't get up
is 'cause I felt like

I didn't do nothing wrong.

I wasn't, you know, fighting,

I wasn't arguing
with the teacher,

I wasn't throwing things
or being disruptive.

♪

(indistinct remarks)

♪

She goes,
"I didn't do anything."

I said, "I'm not saying
you did anything,

but I'm saying come with me
and we can talk about it."

And I said,
"Young lady, you know me,

you know I'm a fair guy.”
She goes, "I don't know you."

I treated you fair last year.

- I don't know you.
-You don't know me?

I already knew he was
gonna try to move me,

so I just--you know,
I was holding on to the desk.

Okay, you're gonna come with me
or I'm gonna have to make you.

♪

I approached her desk.

I'm gonna get you up.

♪

And, uh, went to--
I grabbed her left arm

and reached around
to grab her right arm,

and she cracked me
right here in the jaw.

(clattering)

♪

I grabbed her left arm

and reached around
to grab her right arm.

♪

And she cracked me
right here in the jaw.

♪

At that moment,
I was just trying to get some--

like, some--I was trying
to hold on to something,

so then I wouldn't fly or--
and then, like,

it made it look like I hit him,
but I--no,

I wasn't trying to hit him.

I was just trying
to grab onto something

so I wouldn't--
I wouldn't be thrown like that.

What I did was what we call
muscling techniques.

I grabbed a hold of her,
she was locked into the desk,

the desk tips backwards,
I pull it back up,

I have her, pulling on her.

When she comes out, she comes
flying out of the desk.

♪

All I remember
is the desk flipping over,

and now I'm all the way
in the front of the classroom.

They--he had his--
his knee in my neck and all,

and I could not breathe,
I was like--

I was thinking like,
“Get off me."

♪

At that point in time,
I'm giving her verbal commands,

"Put your hands
behind your back.

Put your hands
behind your back."

Um, and I'm trying to get--
I'm trying to get her--

She's still fighting,
she's still punching me

in the chest
while on the ground.

I finally get a handcuff on her,
and she's still fighting.

So, at that point in time,
I called for the other deputy,

who did respond and we were able
to get her in handcuffs.

We got her up,
he took her to her office.

Paperwork was signed

and I turned her over,
um, to her foster mom,

because she was a juvenile
at the time, 16 years old.

Foster mom took her, uh, home,
or whatever the case may be.

♪

Another video went viral on
social media, and like always,

the left, they rush to judgment.

Quick to blame the cops
for using excessive force.

I'll tell you
why it's not excessive.

He verbalized, he made contact,
he was polite.

He put a hand on her,
she escalated it from there.

We have this altercation that--

Which she does not get
really hurt in.

Can the officer do that?

-Yes, he can do that.
-Why?

Because you are under arrest,
you're failing to comply now.

He didn't kick her,
he didn't hit her,

he didn't choke her,
he will be cleared of this.

♪

What was going on in his mind

when he had to
throw me like that?

Maybe a problem at home
or he didn't--

He was, uh, frustrated
with something else

and then he--
at the moment,

he just lost control.

Maybe he thought he was
handling it the right way,

but he applied too much force.

The focus was, in fact, my use
of force in this situation.

How I removed her from the chair

was the focus
of the investigation.

From the word go.

Was it excessive?

If it was excessive,
that would seem to me

that would be some type
of criminal charge.

There was a memo that came out
the day after the incident,

which was Tuesday, all right,
so the incident took place

on a Monday, there's this memo
that came out on Tuesday

from our training division.

What it basically says is,
because of her act

of aggression in the situation,
meaning her act of aggression

of her hitting me, that I had--

I could've used a taser,
a K-9 dog, mace,

or a baton on her.

Think about it.

I just wanna stop
and I want everyone

to just think about that
for a minute.

Those are what I could've done.

If I had tased her,
would that have looked good?

If I had took a baton out
and hit her with it,

does that look good?

If I had called
a K-9 dog on her,

does that look good?

What is this, 19607

I did what I thought
was best in--at the situation,

based on my training.

(somber music)

♪

(rattling)

The key element is threat.

The objective evidence here
is that her arm,

and I can't tell
if it's a fist, came up.

But, is that a natural reaction
of her falling back

and trying to gain
some sort of balance?

The law might say,
"She hit him,"

which then justifies
a higher level of force.

But |--I don't see—
I see her resisting.

I don't see her as a threat.

You know, he's a big guy.

Uh, she's locked in a chair.

She's no threat to him.

The officer never should've
been put in that situation.

Why the police are there
in the first place is beyond me.

A Texas school police officer
has been put on leave

after video surfaced
of a violent incident

-at a middle school.
-The school police officer

body slamming
a female high school student

has triggered outrage
in a North Carolina community.

This is not what any parent
expects to happen

-to a child at school.
-The arrest

of an Albuquerque student
for burping in class.

And was just etching
his initials

-on the school sidewalk.
-They said, "If you won't

sign the citation,
we're bringing handcuffs."

This cellphone video
shows a struggle

between
a school resource officer--

Slamming a student
to the ground.

He arrests 6 year old,
Kaia Rolle.

This Kentucky sheriff handcuffs
an 8-year-old boy.

Okay, I've had enough of this.

Take your bag off.

Put your hands behind your back.

What's wrong with you?

(crying)

When a 17-year-old student
on a suspended status

would not comply with directions

to leave the Helix High School
here in La Mesa,

this resource officer
twice forced the student

to the ground.

(grim music)

It wasn't an okay thing to do.

She's a student here
and we're told that we are safe.

But, seeing that,
it doesn't make me feel safe.

She was supposed to
be on campus,

this was
an in-school suspension.

So--and not for behavior,
for tardies only.

And we're tired of the police
justifying this injustice

that they continually
do to our youth,

and we're done, we're done.

They don't see
the racism aspect of it at all.

They're just blind to--
that there's inequalities.

They see that something--
that I was arrested,

and that I was thrown
on the ground,

and that it wasn't
a racism issue,

but that I must've did
something wrong to deserve that.

I'm tired of trying
to convince white people

that racism is wrong.

I'm sure you guys seen
what happened

at Helix High School.

We're coming for
all your schools next.

So, just get ready.

(applauding)

♪

(atmospheric music)

♪

(crickets chirping)

♪

Niya said,
"How many times should--"

And they were like,
"Wait a minute, er,

wheel it back some,
what you saying?"

Oh, yeah, you can be
in high school and get arrested.

-Mhm.
-You can be in middle school

and get arrested.

In some states, you can be 15
and go to an adult prison.

That's why I keep saying
if we're not working

from system,
we can do all the groundwork,

we not trying to have them,
like, bump heads like that.

We not gonna get anywhere.

It would be two weeks
in South Carolina,

go back to New York
to handle some business.

Three weeks in South Carolina,
go back to New York,

handle some business.

Including but not limited to
policy advocacy.

So, eventually I just relocated
because there was

a bigger conversation and I just
couldn't walk away from it.

-Hi!
-Hey, y'all!

(laughing)

-Nice seeing you.
-What's going on with y'all?

'Cause I kept going back
to watch the video.

You see the kids
hiding their face.

And then, I start talking
to young people,

and they were like,
"Why you tripping?

That happen all the time.

It's okay, that's the norm."

And I'm like, "No,
it never should be the norm.”

Black girls are lit.

-Learn from Niya.
-I just wanna really, really...

(indistinct chatting)

I felt like it was
a Pandora box that opened up.

They were two of, like,
all these other kids

that I hadn't met yet.

So, whatever
it looks like for you,

whatever your
"what's next" looks like,

create it.

Create it.

So, May of 2016,

we started a full organization,
Every Black Girl.

(ambient music)

Don't get stuck in where you are
and where you come from.

You never know
when your one word

can shift somebody else.

Like, Niya didn't know
she was gonna have that impact.

And all she said was,
"No, stop!"

Everything that you need,
you actually have.

I'm saying I'm giving you
permission to dream again.

And things can get better.

If you have faith and believe,
then things will...

Every Black Girl
started off as campaign

to get the charges dropped,

to start looking at
how to shift school culture

when it comes to push-out,

and dismantle
the disturbing the school law.

(indistinct remarks)

Yeah, 'cause we could
put a table

and little chairs out here,
So you can sit out here

in the sun and drink something.

(overlapping remarks)

♪

I don't know, I didn't plan
to relocate my life, right?

But, I just couldn't walk away.

I said I was gonna do it
and I can't put a timetable

on what that looks like, so.

Do that mean I don't
sit up some nights scared,

like, "Vivian,
how you gonna pay rent?

How you gonna do this?"
There's been many a night

where I'm like,
"What did you just do?

What did you just do?"

If I let that be
the louder voice,

I wouldn't be able
to do the other stuff.

So, I don't make that
the louder voice anymore.

Work ain't done.

Great job, ladies, gimme some.

(clapping)

(indistinct remarks)

♪

(brakes squealing)

♪

Once the investigation was on,
they took everything

and they presented it
to Dan Johnson,

who is the solicitor,
who is the Chief Prosecutor

of Richland and Kershaw County.

He looked at the case
to decide if, in fact,

there was enough to charge--
probable cause

to charge me with a crime
in this particular situation.

(somber music)

♪

All parties cleared me
of any wrong doing.

♪

Even those who might grant
that Ben acted inappropriately

would tend to isolate it
to this one individual,

or this bad apple narrative,

he would not have behaved that
way if he didn't feel confident

that the entire system
was going to back him,

which it did,

even though he had
a record of prior abuse.

This is an example of,
it is a system,

and in order for white people
to have what we perceive

as safe schools
and safe neighborhoods,

it depended, in large part,
on a police state.

Patrolling Black people
and keeping them in their place.

(cheering)

♪

(rustling)

(insects and birds chirping)

Ooh, okay.

For my master's degree, I was
at University of South Carolina.

I was looking at

how the land holds trauma.

There's trauma across this land,

and nature has taken it over.

But, the issues still remain,

because history doesn't work
the same way that nature does.

The past lives in the present.

-Wow.
-You can see hundreds of acres

of rice field here,
built on the backs

of the-the slave labor force.

-These African engineers...
-Right, right.

...that had been brought from
the rice coast of Africa,

3,000 miles across the ocean.

(sighing)

I don't bring people here,
you know, I brought you here

"cause you asked me
to bring you.

Mhm.

Why here for you,
why'd you wanna get here?

(sea gulls cawing)

As an African American,

you know, your--
your history stops

at a point, you know,

because so much
is not documented.

In the absence
of records and names,

and in the absence
of other ways

to connect to your history,

the land, you know.

This is how you connect
to that history.

(rustling)

(twigs snapping)

Oh, wow.

(birds chirping)

It almost feels like

if you can let just nature

take it over,
and just forget about it,

then let it be buried
with just the natural processes

of the land,
then the whole history

will just naturally be erased.

(melancholic music)

♪

You can see the wear in--

And it's not
just Black people,

but you can see,
like, the neglect

and how it manifests in people,

in groups, in communities,
and cultures,

and how you go into
some communities,

Black and Brown communities,

you see it's dilapidated
like this, right?

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, you can see the--
the lack of care,

the disinvestment,
and the wear that accumulates

from that, yeah.

♪

Murphy Island is a thick place,

and it holds
a very ugly history,

but it's being
conveniently washed away.

It's a willful neglect, I think.

It allows these ugly histories

to be ignored
and to be swept under the rug.

We have to recognize
that slavery

is white people's history, too.

♪

Spring Valley
scratched away the scab

of memories from 50 years ago.

Somehow, people assume
that we had turned the corner,

and, at least
in the public schools,

that we had gotten
to a place where people--

Young people would be taught
and would be safe and secure.

♪

Again, what we're
talking about now

may not even have been
a national story

if it'd not been caught on tape,

and if it not had emerged
in the context of 2015,

particularly in South Carolina.

You find a young man
in North Charleston

running from the police,

shot in the back.

And seared in the memories
of people at that time

is the summer of 2015
at Mother Emanuel

in the state of South Carolina.

Nine people at bible study

shot because of their race.

♪

Everyone is wondering,
"Who are we?

What kind of nation is this?"

And then, in quick succession,

you see a young Black girl
here in Columbia

being yanked by a policeman
across her classroom.

I mean, this is
only months after

the state had been compelled
to finally take down

the Confederate flag,
which had been defended

for a generation
as an emblem of heritage,

not hate.

♪

I think unless you know
all that history,

you don't understand why we
face the current challenges

of policing in schools.

♪

Ma'am, ma'am.

You gotta get off the pole.

Now.

Ma'am, ma'am, ma'am.

Come down off the pole.

You come against me with hatred

and oppression and violence.

I come against you
in the name of God.

This flag comes down today.

You gotta get off the pole.

The Lord is my shepherd
and I shall not want.

He makes me lie down
in green pastures.

Gimme the flag back!

Gimme the damn flag back!

In the shadow of
the South Carolina State House,

a heated confrontation
over the Confederate flag.

Dueling protests led to
a clash between people

for and against the display
of the controversial banner.

The blood in my teeth, the blood
on my hands is no comparison

to the southern blood
that runs through my veins.

♪

When I first saw
the Spring Valley incident,

that amount of rage
and that amount of hatred

that just comes out like that,
at once,

and to inflict that type

of violence on a child...

on a child.

She was not a child
in that moment.

She was not seen as a child,

and she was not seen
as a human being.

People have a hard time hearing
me, so they'll be like,

"Speak up. Speak up"
and I'll just be like,

"This is as loud as I talk,"
so I don't know.

You know just gotta work
with what you got.

After the incident, somehow
I got tagged in the video

on Facebook, so I started
reading the comments.

♪

I would wake up
feeling depressed.

One day I was in the bathroom,
and I don't know,

something just hit me,
and I just got a belt

and wrapped it around my neck.

So the ambulance came
and I was like,

"I got to stop,
because you know,

there's a lot of people
that look up to me."

Oh, you think you're a big shot,
huh?

(laughing)

I feel like I'm in
a lot better place.

You know, I've been through
a lot, but I mean,

I had to pull through.

Okay, come on.

There was a lot of times
that I wanted to give up,

but I would talk to Vivian
about it and she would tell me,

she was like,
"Well, you need to keep going.

Don't let this situation
hinder you and stop you

from doing what you want to do."

All right, how you doing?

She'll be like, "You deserve
to be happy and free,

just like everyone else."

Oh, you got enough cough drops?

She told me that I can't
continue to let everybody else

determine the life I live
and if there's something I want,

I need, you know, need to do it.

And that's another reason why
I've started school, you know,

and start the CNA program.

She's very kindhearted
and strong.

I feel like me and her connect
because she's been through

some of the same things and
she know how to deal with it.

And, you know,
she's very helpful.

♪

Everybody! Like, come on!

It ain't for me,
this Black woman body who like,

when I tell you when Shakara
hit that floor I thought,

I was a girl...

-Never mind.
-Go ahead, go ahead.

-Mm-hmm.
-Speak.

I lived that moment.

And this moment in time,

had I been born
in this moment in time,

the moment that she lived,
I lived.

I remember being so tired
at school that day.

Mr. Smith said a math problem
and I don't like math.

I didn't understand what
he said, so I reached over

to my friend and I said,
"What is he saying?

I don't understand
what he want us to do."

He said, "Vivian,
there you go again."

And I'm like, "No, I just don't
understand what you said."

"You always get smart.
You're always talking something.

You're always doing this."

I grew up in a time
of corporal punishment, right?

And I was like, "No, you just
don't make sense to me.

I don't understand." I actually
know I got a smart mouth,

but I wasn't trying to smart.
I just did not understand.

And that night I--
That day I was really tired.

And he was like,
"I got something for you."

And he pulled out
the paddle 'cause we used

to be able to get paddled.

And I was like, not today,
y'all don't know what

I went through last night.

I ran from a brother all night.

I'm not--Nobody's touching me.

Nobody hitting me. Nothing.

That man had to race me
around the whole classroom

until he got tired.

And then he said,
"I'm tired of you. Leave."

The difference? A social worker
caught me and said,

"Who hurt you?" Changed my
relationship for school forever.

What if somebody
just asked that girl?

Like, what if?
Because I was her.

I remember like, no,
I just got beat last night.

I got touched in places
I never wanted to be touched.

What if somebody just asked
this little girl

what was going on?

Like...

I don't remember a time
up to the age of 13

I wasn't fighting somebody off
my Black body,

my Black female body.

Then I was punished because
I wanted to dress in pants

because I'm like,
shit if I got on pants

you can't get up there
easy enough.

So when I saw that video,
a lot of stuff came up for me

and I was like, no, they don't
get to walk this alone.

I know what it means
to walk it alone.

They don't get to have that.

No, and then you said, "No,
you don't treat her like this"

and you get arrested.

Oh, come on, no, no, no, no, No.

Kids get to be
beautiful and loved

and they get to feel their
full expression of themselves

and not feel like, oh,
if I'm not this, I'm not okay.

Like, they were born whole,
perfect, and complete.

It's up to us to keep it
like that, not them.

It's our responsibility.

-So...
-Right.

-I know.

I'm good.

(laughing)

♪

So one of the things
happening this week,

I'll be in a conversation
with the officer

who assaulted Shakara
in the classroom, Ben Fields.

Um...

hoping that we can have a very
clear and honest conversation.

Be honest, once you went in
there you saw a criminal.

You didn't see a little girl.

You didn't see this,
you know, own it.

But we'll see how open
and honest he's ready to be

and where he looks at
what's next?

You represent a system and what
it--what needs to be changed

in that system
from his perspective?

It, it's just, woo, it's a lot.

It's a lot.

♪

Okay, there's an elephant
in the room.

Be very clear,
when this went down was I like,

oh, there's a grown man
who just assaulted a child?

Yes, I did.

For a girl who wouldn't get out
of her chair.

-Right, right.
-That's a child.

Oh my God,
this is a little girl.

Is there any other way
that this could've gone down?

This is like just insane.

And I still can't understand
why it hasn't been like,

"Shakara, I apologize.
It should a looked different."

There hasn't been an apology.

I think she is owed one.

Okay.

You're critical of--of the
situation and critical of me.

I think that's fine.
I was acting

as a uniformed police officer,
obviously, I was terminated for

the incident
for the use of force

because the sheriff felt like
it was improper. Okay?

Uh, but certainly
it wasn't, you know,

it wasn't an assault in any way,
shape, or form.

You know, I was a political
victim in this situation,

meaning I was cut loose because
politically it made sense.

If I follow policy and procedure
and I follow the law,

there's nothing more
I can do because

that's my responsibility,
that's the oath that I took.

Uh, I just, I continue to,
on a law enforcement level,

I stand by what I did that day.

So you said you came in and from
the eyes of a police officer

it didn't have to go that far,
but if I'm looking at a criminal

and not a child,
yeah, it can go that far.

Because I read the reports.

The class wasn't really
interrupted until this teacher

got upset
that she wouldn't leave.

Why not remove the other kids
and handle her?

Because you've said
you've known her before

so it was some deeper stuff.

So there could have been a like,
"Shakara, what is it

that's making you
not want to leave?"

Well, there's certainly--
and there's people close to me

that feel the same way you do
about that situation

when you talk about classroom
management and things like that.

So it's not the first time
I've heard that and that's fair.

If I went to--If I was patrol
and I got called

to a movie theater to remove
somebody from the movie theater,

I wouldn't ask
the movie theater to leave.

Or I went to a restaurant
and needed to remove somebody

from a restaurant, I wouldn't
ask the restaurant to leave,

right? And so I viewed it
from a police standpoint.

And that's, that's where we keep
going back to the system

that created this to happen.

You haven't been my focus.

The system has been my focus.

I don't believe police
should be in schools.

There's no reason that you
should've been called in period.

-All right, I got you.
-Yeah.

So let me, let me say
a couple things.

One is I would say, obviously,
you know, we know that SROs

in a school doesn't mean safety.
I don't disagree with that.

One of the biggest issues
for me right now

is they're sticking SROs
in schools

who aren't even
trained properly,

but you've got to move the goal
post back a little bit.

It's okay to discipline kids.

It's okay to hold
kids accountable.

I'm not saying kids don't get
to be held accountable.

All we're saying is like,
what does that accountability

look like?
We should not have a law

where kids are being arrested
for things

that they can't get arrested
outside on the streets for.

Look at the system.

What system
are you referring to?

You say the system,
we need to change the system.

Uh, help me understand
that a little bit.

So when I say system
I'm talking about governmental,

education, institutionalized
racism, all the policies

that we create, all the laws
that we create,

that's what I mean
about the system.

Okay, so, you know, you know,
uh, the systematic racism

and all this kind of stuff,
I think it's talking points.

I think it sounds really good
on its face,

but it's one of those things
where we're taking the onus

again off the kids and saying,
"Hey, you're not responsible

for your bad behavior,
what we're going to do is

we're going to
blame it on the system."

And one of the things that,
you know, we looked at with

the disturbing school law,
it was brought up a lot,

was a disproportional amount
of Black kids

were arrested to white kids,
right?

And a disproportional amount
of Black kids were suspended

to white kids, I mean,
as you look at it as a whole,

I mean,
you go to any school district

and that's going to be the case.
Okay.

Why is that happening
in your opinion?

There is a tendency
to think that Black kids

are automatically at fault.

This one was running
the hallways and this one

was running the hallways,
yet this one got the discipline

referral and this one was like,
"Well, you know

you can't do that."
It's something going on.

There is a way that
we're with young people

depending on if they're white
versus children of color.

And that's been statistically
proven.

In these schools where the, um,

where it was disproportional
they also have Black deputies.

How do you explain that?
Are these, Black deputies

and these Black teachers,
are they part of the system

that's hurting,
um, Black people?

Absolutely, then we talk about
internalized oppression.

So if I see that I've been
trained all my life

that this is better than this,
I push that same narrative

and I act in accordance to,
SO yes.

We can go all day
on the problems.

I don't--I can't talk about
problems too much

because we already know
they're there.

My focus is, how do
we create solutions?

How do we create solutions?

And we keep talking about
holding kids accountable,

but we get to hold
adults accountable too,

because we're responsible
for the next generation.

-We really are.
-Right. I think that's good.

I think that,
going back to something,

I think you made a great point.
I think classroom management...

♪

Lot to process.

It's a internal battle
I'm having with myself

as I move forward and ask,
am I doing stuff right?

Am I harming?

Am |--How do I sit
and have a conversation

with a man who's created harm
to somebody I love.

It's not going to make sense
to everybody, especially since

half the time
it don't make sense to me.

Do I feel like
there's a piece of him

that can still be worked with?

If I, if my womb spirit had
told me, "No, it's not there"

I would've like left it alone,
but I saw that

you're a man willing
to step into something new.

You're a man still grappling
because you've only going with

all you knew and part of it
is your white privilege.

So you think
you did nothing wrong

because white privilege
taught you that.

But if you want to be
in a room with kids,

I do believe it's my
responsibility to make sure

like, "Oh, I'm not going
to let you just go there

without going through
these things."

If those conversations
aren't had,

then where do we go from there?

Because if I throw him aside, I
don't know what other room

you're going to walk into,
right?

So sitting with it a lot.

Just sitting.

♪

I think I connect with a lot
of different communities well

and I think it's because
of the way I was raised.

In the home I grew up in it
was never about anybody's race.

It was about people
are valuable.

That's it. Nothing else matters.

Growing up I loved going down
into the project areas

and being the only white boy.

There was something to that
because you were scared,

but at the same time
you were like,

"Hey, this is what it is,
right?"

And either you had to be able
to ball or you're out.

You know what I'm saying?
And you had to prove it.

You couldn't just walk in there.
You had to prove it.

Let me see here.

I was kind of a hot dog
so I was running my mouth.

I had no chill to me,
I was just like--

I would say things to the crowd
and things like that.

So yeah, they would give it
back to me.

Yeah, they would say stuff
about my birthmark

and my face
and things like that.

You know, I'm on the court and,
oh yeah, they would go after me.

"Nice face. Did someone punch
you?" Um, stuff like that.

The birthmark is one
of the things that made me

a good cop even,
I could sympathize

with victims and try to put
myself in their shoes,

how they felt.
That's me right there.

We all have these perceptions
sometimes of ourselves

without any real reality that,
hey, this person's treating me

in a certain way because we're
Black or they're treating me

in a certain way because
I have a birthmark on my face

or because I look different than
them, but is that reality?

My situation was only about
race narrative driven

when it was never
remotely about race at all.

The idea that somehow it becomes
a racial thing based on nothing

but just the visual of the
arrest is just insane to me.

With no other facts that matter,
it is a five second video,

and we're gonna dub this guy
racist,

we're going to dub
law enforcement racist,

we're going to dub
the system racist,

is dangerous to me.

♪

The most dangerous individual
who utilizes implicit biases

unknowingly are the ones who
don't believe

that they have them.

They say that they
don't have implicit biases

because they have one
or two Black friends.

I've even had
one officer tell me,

"I know I have implicit biases,

but I don't want to be
reminded of them."

I'll never forget that.

Everyone has them, you know, uh,
and unfortunately

we want to uh,
ignore them, you know.

And often times
that may come out

in how you use your discretion.

This job calls for us
to be human first.

You can't have this job
and intentionally ignore

your own implicit biases.

♪

This is Shauna Bell here,
the way we know each other,

we used to work together
at Spring Valley,

um, eight years ago,
somewhere in that range.

I was there for four years.

I was there two years before Ben
got there and then two years--

Or my last two years
was when he was there.

When did we date 20097

Yeah,
we dated from 2009 to 2011,

-somewhere in that range there.
-A friend of mine

actually called me
to tell me that, um...

She was like, you know, "Turn on
the TV and turn to CNN."

Um, and so it's shocking
to see someone that you know

plastered all over TV
and being talked about in a way

that you know isn't true,
so my heart went out to him,

um, because I know that Ben
is not what he was portrayed as.

I know that it was a lot of
people who were making comments

about how it should've been
handled and I feel like

they weren't necessarily
in a school

or haven't been
in a school before.

As a teacher you are one person
in front of 20

and if they ever decide that
they aren't going to listen

to you anymore, that--
You're outnumbered.

And so it is very imperative
in the classroom

for you to set some type
of boundaries for your kids

or you're gone
for the rest of the year.

I'd like for you
to meet Ben Fields.

-Ben, nice to meet you.
-Good to meet you as well.

So what are you
speaking on today?

Just the book
you wrote, I guess?

Yeah, the book, you know,
the root cause

of the Parkland School shooting.

The tag line is that
the Parkland School shooting

was the most avoidable
mass murder in American history

and the policies
that made it inevitable

have come to your kids' school.

You've seen this in the
front line, right?

The way that they strip SROs,
strip teachers.

Absolutely, when we ignore
crime and bad behavior

the very people that get hurt
are the minority people.

You know, there's just--
the school to prison pipeline

is one of the biggest hoax
I've ever heard of.

It simply isn't true.

And yet, and yet
that's what they sell.

And it's disgraceful.

This issue I've been working on
trying to expose the underside

of this discipline reform
business, right?

Fight the school to prison
pipeline

by reducing suspensions,
expulsions, and arrests.

We get all those numbers down
quite frequently

simply by systematically
hiding misbehavior

or refusing
to enforce the rules.

The Parkland shooter story.

If one single individual in the
Broward County School District

made one single responsible
decision about him,

it probably could've been
averted,

but every irresponsible decision
actually makes total sense

given the policies
that govern the system.

I really appreciate
your coming today, Max.

I'd also like to acknowledge
that we have with us Ben Fields.

His claim to fame
is he did his job

and then they disagreed with him
about how he did his job.

When I first saw the incident
with Officer Fields

in Spring Valley High School
it mirrored incidents

that I had seen in the high
schools that I had been in

and the incidents that
had been described to me

by multiple teachers
with out of control students

and students who came to school

and did not obey any
directive of a teacher.

You can't allow two percent
of the population to determine

the education for the whole.

When people say, you know,
you need to be able to exclude

a student from a classroom,
you need to be able to have

school resource officers present
or you need to have

police present in schools
because you wanna make sure

that learning can take place,
they should watch that video.

Because certainly
no learning was taking place

while that girl was being
dragged across the room.

Certainly no learning
was taking place that day,

the week that followed, for the
months that followed thereafter,

while those students have
to live the aftermath

of witnessing that in school
and wondering

if that will happen
to them again.

I asked the young lady if she
would get up and come with me.

She said, no,
she hadn't done anything wrong.

To which my response was,
"I hadn't said you did,

but get your stuff
and come with me. You know me.

You know I'm a fair guy.
I've dealt with you before."

To which again she refused.

And at that point in time
I approached her

and went to place her under
arrest and the fight was on.

She cracked me in the jaw.

She pulled away from me.

I got her out of the chair.

And the getting out
of the chair part

is the part that went viral.

Schools need good,
fair, firm discipline.

Look towards me, not the camera,
I'll just get you to say

-and spell your name for me.
-All right, Ben Fields,

-B-E-N, last name, F-I-E-L-D-♪.
-Tell me why

-you wanted to be here?
-We're not allowing teachers,

administrators, and for this,

for that matter police officers
to do their jobs

to keep schools safe...

One of the things I talk about
a lot is the whole race thing.

This thing is about race, right?

And so what happens is,
is you have--

You have Black and white people

who every day get along
really well.

You have Black and white people
who coexist on a daily basis.

They work together, they go to
school together,

and they get along together.

And what happens
is the media takes something

and they try to divide us,
meaning the regular

everyday working class person
who really makes

this country tick,
and they try to make us think

that civil rights
just ended yesterday,

that slavery just
ended yesterday,

and that, you know, the racial
disparities in this country

are so great.

My story was a good story
because it was

a white deputy and a Black girl.

She made the decision to fight
a uniformed officer that day.

And the only person that was
ever punished that day was who?

Ben Fields. I lost my job.

Regardless of anything else,

Ben Fields was the only one
punished out of that situation.

(rain pattering)

When you can't trace the past
into the present,

you are left with deeply
problematic explanations

for current conditions.
Victim blaming explanations.

I'm thinking about Trayvon
Martin and I saw an interview

with one of the jurors
who said that George Zimmerman

just seemed like such
a nice guy, so relatable.

And I think that's worth noting.

Trayvon Martin, he didn't seem
like a nice child

or didn't seem relatable?
He seemed threatening?

But George Zimmerman with a gun,

he seemed like a nice guy
and relatable?

So because Black people are seen
as inherently criminal,

Black children are also seen as
inherently criminal.

The core concern I have
is that we know now.

It's not an open question.
We know conclusively

from research that
Black kids do not engage

in more disciplinable type
offenses in their schools.

It is not that there's a
particular gene for Black kids

that makes them misbehave more.
That's not accurate.

And so, we need to throw away
that frankly racist notion

that kids of color are worse,

and educate all of our kids
like we believe in them.

Educate all of our kids like
they're valuable and treat them

like they are somebody's beloved
baby in that classroom.

Mm, I'm just frustrated.

About a lot.

You know,
I feel that once I put,

every time I put one step
forward I'm taking two back

or like I can be on a good path

and then something just come
and set me all the way back.

What made you come back
to your mom's?

My sister.

Just being there for her,
that was the whole reason.

Once again with
the unhealed trauma.

If you talk to her,
I often call it wisdom.

She's one of those people that
your grandparents would be like,

"That's a wise child."
Her dreams and her hope

and that passion that
she has for certain things,

but all these barriers
upon barriers.

Are you okay?

What do you need to be okay?

That incident it sheds a light

on how quickly we are
to like just leave people.

There's a lot at stake.

Well, what we can do is we do
like a practice test

on just maybe that section or
just, you know,

work on that for a while
until you really, really

feel like you have it.

Like some of this is easy
because I know how to do

the multiplication
so that's how I do division,

but then when I get to like this
It's confusing.

Okay.

Hopefully, just zone in.

The only pressure
that you have is,

you know,
whatever you put on yourself.

Like you've already come so far,
So, you know,

but especially getting
that close

and you've only
got one more piece.

I know you can do it.

Well, with these--
So with these...

and I'm assuming you don't get
a calculator with this.

♪

What was Charlotte? What
happened in Charlotte today?

Okay, so Charlotte today was,
an individual

from the Manhattan Institute
who went down to Parkland

where the shooting took place.

And what he did is he took
a look--and this all kind of

evolves around what, school
safety and things like that,

some of the stuff
I've been talking about.

This kid's criminal
and bad behavior

-was ignored by administrators.
-Right.

Constantly and because it was
this kid was able to get

and buy guns because
he had no criminal record.

And the shooting really could've
been avoided in every way.

And what's happening
is it's being ignored because

they want their arrest numbers
down, they want

discipline numbers down,
and that's essentially

-what it's about.
-We'll say his behavior

kept being ignored
all this time.

I'm going to say a child kept
being ignored all this time.

When you're talking
a criminal you're definitely

talking about a criminal,
somebody who goes

and shoots everybody is a
criminal, no doubt about it.

But it looks as though
when it starts with a teacher

calling for assistance
'cause a student

is not putting away their phone
or closing their book

or being compliant
with what they're saying

is the same as someone
who would pick up a gun

-and go shoot their classmates.
-Obviously, there's no

comparison between somebody
who kills 16 students, right?

And then somebody who was just--

Because Black girls aren't doing
that.

Understand something,
who was disrupting a classroom

and then resisted
a lawful arrest,

which is what happened
in my situation.

You can like it or not,
but that's what happened.

My point is simply this,
bad behavior

is being ignored in schools.

But if the automatic label
is criminal,

there's already
all these things.

That--that's, criminal behavior
is criminal behavior.

It is not criminal for me
to roll my eyes at a teacher.

Let's be human,
there are certain people

who get the benefit
of being humanized,

no matter how grotesque
the behavior can be, i.e.

when we think about Dylann Roof,

dude gets to go to Burger King
and get a burger

after you have just murdered
nine people.

-But for her-
-Those are--those are conspiracy

theories and let me,
let me, let me stop you.

Dylann Roof was
a conspiracy theory?

Whoa, whoa, stop,
stop, stop, stop, stop.

You didn't see this on the news?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
I'm not saying it's not

the truth, but what I'm saying
is in interrogations

we give suspects food
all the time.

That's not
an uncommon thing to do.

He gets to be interrogated.

African Americans
primarily get to be dead

before they're even questioned.

That's--that's false, but okay.

-It's false, Ben?
-It is false.

-How is it false?
-That's a false statement.

Okay, Walter Scott.

Was he, was he--
Did he get to be interrogated?

You're making blanket statements
about things

that you're not educated on,
and I'm not--

What I'm getting at you're
missing my point, though.

The Walter Scott situation,
where that cop shot and killed

Walter Scott, right?

He is now doing 20 years
in prison, is he not?

Yeah, but Phil an do Castile,
he says,

"I have a concealed weapon
and I have a permit."

-Shot and killed in his car--
-And that cop was charged.

Yeah, but the thing is,
it occurred.

And you wanna keep--I'm not
talking about the after.

Hear me, white kids and
Black kids do the same things,

they get different levels of
punishment, and that's the--

And we disagree on that,
100% disagree.

Yeah, you shouldn't be working
with kids, I'm sorry.

What I'm saying is--Listen,
do you understand what my--

And I said this, bad behavior's
being ignored was the point.

-And I said that, that's right.
-This mass shooting

could have been avoided,
that's my point.

Right and bad behavior--
and I said,

bad behavior's
being ignored among police.

-And you can't accept that.
-Okay.

I want you to understand
that where you were

and what Charlotte was about,

does color and play into

how you think about
what we're talking about.

I'm not even going to continue
to try to explain that

because yeah, right, right.

You know,
because I don't feel

this feeling from you that
you actually really care.

You care, but the breadth
of your reading

is confined within one area.

Because that supports
the thoughts and the ideas

that you want to foster, that's
going to continue to tell you

that nothing you did was wrong
in the situation with Shakara.

That's what--that's what
we need to be.

So we--so we--So, I definitely
didn't do anything wrong

in that situation,
but here's the point,

we can disagree on it, so
disagreeing is turning into

you attacking me personally now.

But that's what
you've been doing all night.

I didn't say anything
about you personally.

You've been slugging all night,
dude!

Hmm, okay, all right.

I think this is a good example
of the burden that,

that Black people bear in trying
to educate White people.

This is one of the reasons you
hear more and more, Black people

saying, "White people,
go talk to your own.

It's nowhere near as exhausting

and demoralizing
as it is for us."

Defensiveness that functions
to refuse any challenge

to your world view, any growth,

any opening,
that's white fragility.

And that's what
we're seeing in Ben,

an absolute refusal in the face

of incredible
opportunity for growth.

An opportunity to bear witness
to the impact

that seeing this happen
to this girl

had on so many Black people.

He refuses it.

♪

Yeah!

Thank you, guys!

Y'all give it up
for Miss Vivian.

(cheering)

Oh my god, okay.

A little over two years ago,
I came here to hug two girls,

who should a never experienced

what any child should
experience.

And I literally, only came here
to stay for two days,

so to look out right now
and to know what

we've been doing,
and how many girls I got to hug,

I'm having a moment.

(cheering)

Um...

I will forever say,
Black girl,

no matter what this world
tells us,

you are loved,

you are supported,

and you are beyond magical.

We chose these grounds because
the South got something to say,

and even more so, we got
something to teach.

(clapping)

I'm gonna bring
your attention to

Miss Bree New some in the crowd.

Bree is the woman who climbed up
the flagpole on these grounds

and brought down the flag.

Miss Bree New some!

(cheering)

I was, in that moment,
representing everyone

who has contributed to the
struggle for hundreds of years,

the struggle
that has been going on.

I wasn't without fear, I just
had a belief in something

that's greater than my fear,
and I have a determination

to fight for it.

Come on, yes!

This is like a full-circle
moment for me in so many ways.

So, God bless all of you,
and I wish you all the best.

Thank you.

Miss Bree, light her up.

(cheering)

And we want her to know,
that no matter where you go,

-every Black girl got you.
-Yes. I love it.

-The same way you had us.
-Yes.

(clapping)

♪

This is actually my favorite
part of the conferences,

when I get to celebrate
and just acknowledge people.

Brianna Bell
is a high school student

from San Diego, California.

Two months ago,
she was assaulted

by a school resource officer.

After her assault, Brianna chose

that that was not
gonna stop her,

she's gonna graduate this year,

but she also started
mobilizing students

to remove officers from schools.

And now, there is
a young lady in the room.

We're gonna have
our first Every Black Girl

Black Girl Magic Award
recipient, Shakara Murphy,

acknowledge Brianna,
and present her with her award.

(applauding)

Hello,
my name is Shakara Murphy,

most of you know me
from a video that went viral

when I was assaulted...

by a school resource officer

at Spring Valley High School,
in 2015.

I stand here today
to honor another Black girl

who experienced what
I experienced, Brianna Bell.

Brianna, I know that this
journey has not been easy,

but I thank you for choosing
to stand for yourself

and other students.

It is my honor,
as the first Every Black Girl

Black Girl Magic Award
recipient, to present to you

the 2018 Every Black Girl
Black Girl Magic Award.

We stand with you.

Can you please
come to the stage?

(cheering)

I'm just so honored to be among
so many women that understand

that they have to have
their voices be heard.

So, I'm just so honored
that so many people in this room

understand,
not only my struggle,

but they understand my need to
not shut up, to not be quiet.

They understand that I need
to have my voice heard.

(clapping)

When Shakara first came to us,
I knew that there were

some challenges ahead.

She didn't wanna sit
in the classroom

with her back toward the door.

So I had to rearrange my
classroom to make sure

that she was comfortable,
for her not to fear

of someone coming up behind her.

And she expressed that,
"Hey, I'm not good in math."

And I told her, "Neither am I!
I'm a reading teacher!"

But I told her, I said,
"If you put your mind to it,

it's something that you can do."

It was almost two years
that she had worked

to accomplish this goal.

She's had just so many
challenges before,

she just wants someone to care
and once she figured out

that, hey, they care what I do,
and it matters what I do,

that made all the difference.

♪

Here we are.

I heard that even
your teachers were crying

when they found out you passed.

Like, the number of people
that's cheering you on.

Yeah and I stayed up a couple
nights all night, just studying,

I was like, somehow Imma get it,
I don't care how I do it,

-I'm just, I'm gonna pass.
-Yup.

It was a long road,
but you did it.

If you use this as evidence
that no matter what life

throw at you,
it ain't nothing that you

can't get past, it's nothing
that you can't create.

I haven't really thought
about the situation.

I'm trying to move forward
because I know that was,

like,
a really hard time in my life.

You know, I used to be
a little bit more outgoing,

and I'm just trying
to get back to that point

without thinking--
dwelling on the past

and thinking about it.

Yeah and I have you
to thank for a lot.

You've been, like, there.

There's times when I couldn't
get to the doctor.

You was like a second mom,
you made sure I got there.

You went outta your way, no
matter what time of day it was,

to be there, you know,
I can come to you

and tell you everything
and, you know,

a lot of our talks
made me keep going.

Thank you, what happened to you
should not happen to anybody,

but like I told you
from the beginning,

you got me for life.

My life shifted,
it totally changed.

All the thousands of Shakaras
that we wouldn't have known

and been able to reach,
we've been able to reach, right?

And so--And I owe that to you,
that's why I said,

so you got me for life.

My word is my bond, so.

♪

Back to our top story,
a Richland County deputy

and school resource officer
now out of a job.

A federal lawsuit claims a
Richland school resource office

sexually assaulted
a female student

at Spring Valley High School.

♪

Today we arrested Jamel Bradley.

He's charged with criminal
sexual conduct, third degree.

Uh, this is an incident
that occurred in 2018

with a student
at Spring Valley High School.

Unfortunately, we had
a monster that worked among us.

Um, and that
we did not know about.

But we do now know,
and he has been arrested.

This is still
a very active investigation,

but we felt like
he needed to be arrested

and he needed to be
arrested today.

Sheriff Lott says, "Oh my god,
how could this happen?"

But, I'm like,
you do the same speech

and you make it about your SROs,

that's just one bad apple,
that's one bad apple.

At some point you
gonna have to be, like,

"Oh, I picked these apples.”

Sheriff Lott said yesterday
that RCSD learned

of the sexual abuse allegations
that Bradley

has been charged with
less than a week ago.

But RCSD told me today,
that there has been five

separate internal investigations
into Bradley

during his decade-long career
as a school resource officer.

♪

This is a real structure over
here that would have given them

something to get out
of flood waters.

(birds chirping)

There are many people
in this country,

especially in South Carolina,
who will say,

"Yeah, slavery's done.
What's the big deal?" Right?

"Why do Black people act like
they're still enslaved." Right?

Or, " Slavery," um-- or,
"Slavery was yesterday."

Like it just ended.

Nobody's owning people anymore.

But, we have inherited that
mentality of racial oppression.

This idea that within
our society,

certain people belong
in certain places.

Black people belong
in a subjugated space,

like they belong in--

They're an underclass of people.

And if you're in the underclass,

then you do what you're told,

you don't challenge the system,

and your space is to make
white people comfortable

by not talking about race,

by not acting out, by not--

By changing the way we talk,
and changing the way we act,

so that white people
feel comfortable.

When those unsaid rules of who
belongs where is challenged,

that's when the wrath is felt.

I can't breathe!

I can't breathe!

I can't breathe!

-I can't breathe!
-America has plunged into chaos.

The recent deaths
of George Floyd,

Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery...

They're all fueling massive
demonstrations nationwide.

-Black lives matter!
-Protestors and activists

are demanding justice
for Black Americans

that have been facing
systemic racism for decades.

Black lives matter!

Black lives matter!

Black lives matter!

Black lives matter!

Black lives matter!

Black lives matter!

Black lives matter!

Black lives matter!

Black lives matter!

Systematic oppression
needs to end!

I can't breathe!

We always say children
are the future.

The children are now
the adults who get to lead.

Schools are a microcosm
of what we see in our world.

Just like what happened
in Spring Valley,

what brought us here to start
this whole stuff around,

there was a 17-year-old girl
who stood

watching three authority figures
in a room harm a Black

body and say,
"No, you can't do this."

George Floyd was killed

and a 17-year-old
Black girl stood,

filmed the whole thing and said,
"No, you can't do this."

And so, the nation
just had enough.

This is what
democracy looks like!

This is what
democracy looks like!

This is what
democracy looks like!

This is what
democracy looks like!

Mama, I can't breathe!

Mama, I can't breathe.

Those are the words
of a dying man.

(indistinct crowd)

I keep saying
it's not about Ben.

Once again,
this is bigger than him.

He's a representation
of what we see on a larger scale

-with white America.
- I need teachers that care

about me and my brothers
and sisters!

I don't need to walk down
the hallway and see a SRO

with his knee
in somebody's back.

He still doesn't understand
the difference

between accountability
and blame.

So as long as he thinks
he's gonna be blamed,

he's never gonna say,
"Oh, I see my role in this."

I'm with these people half
of the day, for half of my life!

I don't need to worry
about going to jail!

I am begging y'all,
if y'all want change, change it!

(crowd cheering)

They say Ben
was just one bad apple,

well, no, this whole barrel
is contaminated.

As long as they're starting
at the top,

and that's the place where
it's been granted permission,

it's just gonna be another Ben
on another day.

Teachers matter!

Teachers matter!

Teachers matter!

Teachers matter!

Teachers matter!

Teachers matter!

Teachers matter!

Teachers matter!

I'm here today
with a call to action.

We demand to divest from police
and invest in our children.

This demand is not new, let's
talk about Spring Valley, 2015,

when a school resource officer
assaulted a child

for not giving her cell phone.

What is safe
or resourceful about that?

Think about that
when we're talking about

removing policing from schools.

I need each of you to contact
your school boards, your mayor,

and your governor,
and tell them police officers

get to be removed
and invest in social services,

education, our teachers,
because our children's lives

depend on it,
but also I'm very clear

And Imma get emotional,
I know I am.

They don't have to keep showing
up for the fight

that we should a already
had for them a long time ago.

(cheering)

We're at the tipping point.

And I think we've actually
tipped over.

We gonna change it now,
or we'll never change it again.

This is the moment.

♪

Black students matter!

Black students matter!

-Our teachers matter!
-Our teachers matter!

Well another protest today
in downtown LA.

This time by students.

They're pushing to eliminate
the LA school police department.

Young protesters led a march
through Oakland, California

on Tuesday to demand
police-free schools.

Now One Pennsylvania and
the Education Rights Network

are calling on the district
to remove police from campuses.

The Minneapolis school board
said it would no longer use

city police
as school resource officers.

♪

So I'm headed to Michigan
in the middle of a pandemic,

because a girl, who we are
referring to as Grace,

was arrested for failing to
complete her online schoolwork.

I prefer not to have to
travel again, and the hope is,

there won't even be an
opportunity for me to go,

because there will be
no more Shakaras and Graces.

This is the work towards
transformation.

This is what it looks like to,
you know,

be all in and put your ass
on the line, so to speak.

Is it worth it for me?

It's the risk, right?

So, risk it.

Is it worth it for you?

♪

♪