I know the assault of James Blake happened weeks ago, but I am still reeling from Commissioner Bill Bratton’s comments about the professional tennis player.
When Blake was misidentified, accosted and thrown to the ground by an undercover police officer in front of his hotel just a few weeks ago, in an attempt to smooth over this egregious and unprovoked act of violence, Bratton then stated in reference to Blake and the actual suspect, “They look like twins.” Actually, they didn’t look like twins, commissioner.
I think what has me so upset about this incident is a confluence of several factors. I frequently get mistaken for the one of the very few other Black women at my job even though we look nothing alike. I have memorized every Jim, John, Joe, Joel, Josh, Mike, Matt, Bob, Rob—you name it. But when it comes to differentiating me from three other women on an entire campus, I often hear, “Well, you could be twins!” Actually, no, we could not be twins, and furthermore, we are not twins, we are your colleagues who you see each and every day.
What also has me so riled up is that fact that Bratton is the highest ranking police officer in New York City, and his cavalier comments pertaining to an innocent man who had just been assaulted by the NYPD were inexcusable. As we talk more concisely about changing the “culture” of the NYPD, let’s start with the top. If the most powerful police officer in the entire city thinks Black skin is interchangeable, I think we need to question the tactics, training and assumptions of all officers within the NYPD.
However, I think what really made me shudder was thinking of this incident in respect to the number of innocent Black men (and women) who are currently sitting in our country’s prison system because of eye witness accounts, made by people who think people of color, Black people in particular, “look like twins.” We know the judicial system puts a disproportionate amount of faith in eye-witness testimonies, often made by people who have been traumatized by an act of violence committed against them. If a police commissioner, who is ostensibly trained to see the slight nuances in people and their actions, can’t tell the difference between a suspect and an innocent and famous tennis player, can we realistically expect a traumatized victim to do so in a courtroom?
What is at the core of my frustration (and anger) with this incident is the perpetuation of the invisibility of Black skin and Black life. So many police officers do not “see” Black people as humans or individuals, whether they are athletes, professors or otherwise. We are people, so look more closely at us to see our humanity. We are not interchangeable, and we are definitely not twins.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is a tenured professor at Fordham University and the author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration and the Pursuit of the American Dream.” You can find her on Twitter @Dr_CMGreer.