News Teaching While Black
posted by on April 10 at 13:46 PM
Last Thursday afternoon, there was a big fight in an apartment complex near Rainier Beach High School. Multiple cops cars, multiple arrests, lots of noise.
A young drama instructor named Rajnii Eddins was headed to the high school, saw the aftermath of the fight, and one of his students, who looked upset because one of her friends had been arrested.
He approached the police to ask after the girl, was arrested, taken to King County jail, dressed in prison reds, and held until midnight. Why?
According to Eddins: “Just because I’m a black man and asking a question about one of my students, a 14-year-old girl.”
According to Officer Richard Nelson’s police report: “I advised him he was under arrest for obstructing a police officer.”
Eddins and the police report disagree with just about everything—Eddins said he identified himself as a drama instructor, that he was at Rainier Beach to direct a play, that he just wanted to know what the girl was being charged with and whether her parents had been notified yet. He said that the police told him to step back, so he did and repeated his question. The cops told him to step back again, he did, and repeated his question. Eddins says he was then searched, told he was being arrested for “interfering” and held at the precinct for a half an hour before his rights were read.
“I was not rash or hostile,” Eddins said. “I’m not an aggressive person. I highly doubt that if I was in Bellevue and white that I wouldn’t have been just given the information” about the arrested student.
The police report tells a different story: That Eddins walked up to the squad car, talked to the student, refused to explain who he was or why he was there, and wouldn’t move away from the car when asked. “I perceived his non-compliance and actions as a serious threat to my Officer safety and escorted him to the front of my patrol car,” Officer Nelson wrote. “[Eddins] later informed [Officer] Atofau that he is employed with a drama company which contracts with the Seattle public schools.” (Eddins works with Arts Corps, Youth Speaks, and other youth-art-advocacy organizations.)
It’s an unusual case of he said/he said: teacher versus cop.
Eddins has a hearing this afternoon. I’ll keep you posted.
Seattle police, harrassing people who are not doing a thing wrong then ignore real life crimes or harrasment on Cap Hill on weekend nights.
What does that oversight group do that is supposed to oversee the police? The one that Mayor Lardball is so proud of?
I'm betting the teacher's account is closer to the truth. All pigs lie.
I sure hope there was a witness.
If you're a teacher @ RBHS and know or work with Eddins ... please contact Brendan. Witnesses too.
"an unusual case of he said/he said"-- right, like every complaint ever filed against the police. if anyone has ever heard of a cop admitting that he violated the law or abused his power, let us know.
I had a cop point a gun to my head and made me get on the ground because I was walking home from work in a black trench coat. Apparently me and some guy who robbed the Seafirst by the Westin were the only two guys wearing black trench coats in Seattle that day). When the cop finally realized I wasn't the droid they were looking for, he took the cuffs off and told me I could go. He acted like I had been wasting HIS time.
"Obstrucing a Public Officer" is the biggest load of bullshit on the Seattle Municpal Code books. Its constitutionality is highly questionable and it is abused DAILY by the SPD. And I have a $3500 check from the city to prove it!
This teacher needs to take this as far as he can.
What the hell is wrong when two people can't even have a conversation?
I think a great lack of common sense was exhibited by the teacher(Eddins). He walks into a high stress, very tense, violent situation and starts asking about the welfare of one of his students? Pah-leeze. When the police are under stress the smart person does not get in their face. I also find is racist to suggest that a white person would not have been equally treated. I also find is classist to suggest that a person from Bellevue would be treated any better. This teacher seems to have issues.
Exactly, @9, he should know his place ...
Oh, wait, maybe he has a point, then.
Sargon wrote:
Yeah, right. And in a "time of war", the smart person does not question the actions of his government, huh? Even when we think something is not right, we should all just keep our mouths shut and stay out of the way of authority figures if we know what's good for us, right? I don't think so.
Nothing about this story stated that Edins "got in the face" of the police officer. He went to them looking for information and assistance. In a stressful situation such as this, the police are precisely the people we look to for information and assistance. Any officer who is so ready to explode when someone asks him a few questions in a stressful situation is in the wrong line of work.
We should not have to tippy-toe around the average person, much less a police officer, for fear of an abusive situation arising. With the average person, we have no choice but to do so, but we get choose our police officers. The ability to deal with stressful situations without abusing their power is an essential qualification for the job of police officer. Anyone who does not have this ability should not be trusted with the authority we bestow upon our police officers.
This is not a police state, and I will not stand by and watch it become one.
The following message, purportedly from Rajnii Eeddins, was forwarded to me by an acquaintance who received it this morning from his friend Lauren, who received it yesterday evening from her friend David (Brenden, I can put you in touch with these people if you'd like):
This is ridiculous. I don't know Rajnii personally, but used to see him regularly at the Seattle Poetry Slam and can't imagine him being the kind of man we want to put behind bars. We should be better than this.
uh, #9, you seem to miss the point. the actions of the cop WERE racist and classist, and to think that this is only in the imagination of rajnii is to be willfully ignorant of the fact that racism and classism are alive and well, especially in institutions like the police force.
#9
I THINK YOU MAY BE THE ONE WITH THE 'ISSUES'...
DO YOU KNOW RAJNII?
ARE YOU FAMILAR WITH THIS REPUBLICAN DOMINATED SYSTEM?
ARE YOU A COP?
...ARE YOU WHITE? ...I AM, AND I AM AWARE ENOUGH TO NOT PLAY THE WHOLE 'ANOTHER BLACK BLAMING IT ON WHITE BULLSHIT.
FIND THE TRUTH~FIND YOURSELF~DO SOME MEDITATION~DO SOME READING~GET A LIBRARY CARD~GET A PASSPORT~OPEN YOUR MIND~LISTEN TO AIR AMERICA...DO SOMTHIN'
Ho hum. Another day, another black put in jail, another rhubarb about how, of course, 'it be racism' and the poor black man was arrested for nothing other than being black.
BS. I'm sick of this and so are most educated whites. You liberas live in a dream world of happy blacks and cheerful whites, everybody hanging out in Rainbow Brite land and having gay marriages and 'cruelty free' hors d'oeuvres.
The reality is the Duke case. Pure racism, and not one apology from all the blacks who caused this holocaust. Then we have to hear about Don Imus, who said a stupid thing but come on- this is nothing but a full frontal assault on free speech, beginning now. All you liberals who loved "Borat" last year, you pack of hipster-crits, prepare for every new film and TV show to be vetted by a black oversight commitee, to make sure they be no racism in anything.
You pukes. You all make me sick. Fire this teacher, but the little criminal 14 year old in jail where she belongs (and I'll bet she has at least three kids too, that I'll be paying for my whole life) and then issue strict ordrs to the police: tape everything and ENFORCE THE LAW. No more breaks for blacks. Arrest them all, as soon as you catch them doing something. Blacks have had a free ride in Seattle for years, and that's why property values have been going down the last six months. People are tired of it. Act civilized, or don't complain when you're treated like animals and herded into prison where the whole goddamn race belongs.
What's the upshot of this case? I just heard about it today.
I had the great good fortune of watching Rajnii at work in the play Uncle Tom: Deconstructed. His poetry and the passion with which he delivered it were awe-inspring, and never failed to leave me weeping with sadness, rage, and hope.
p.s. to Blame whitey: Why do you hate America? You are truly beneath contempt. I have nothing but pity for your puny world-view.
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