I love Beverly W. Nah, really – I do.
Besides my boys (D.T., Frinko, REW, and C), I do not have a friend I've known longer and have stayed in touch with for 40 plus years. We, D.T. Frinko, REW, C, and Bev, attended high school and graduated together; C graduated two years later. There were years here and there where Bev and I didn't have any contact, but we have remained in contact four-plus decades for the most part.
Over the years, I've had numerous conversations with Bev about her son, who gave her fits. I have visited her home. Both Frinko and I have dined at her home and stayed there. We've (some combination of the fellows) even traveled on a few weekend excursions together.
Bev was the first person to purchase multiple copies of my book A Marginalized Voice. She initially purchased five and then called and purchased an additional five. This past summer, I spend an early evening dining with Bev and her husband, who also attended high school with us. I currently sit on Bev's non-profit board. I love Bev because she is real, and she is a fighter. The differences between Bev and my boys are—she, of course—is a woman. And Bev is white.
Whenever Karen—America's crazy-ass racist white woman shows up—I reflect on my admiration of Bev to remind me that there are white women who do not behave like privileged women, ready, and willing to snuff out the life of Black boys/men.
Last week, Karen reared her racist head once again. When unable to find her phone, Miya Ponsetto, a white woman from Simi Valley, California, accused 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. of stealing it. It didn't matter that Keyon and Miya had never crossed paths or shared the same space. Once, she spotted a Black boy, Miya, arrested twice in 2020, needed nothing other than a Black boy in her presence to author a false accusation. The phone was left in the Uber that Miya had taken to the Arlo Soho Hotel, where the assault on Keyon took place.
Miya felt justified in her belief. She felt empowered to assault Keyon, despite having no credible evidence that he had stolen her phone. And representatives of the hotel supported her false ascertain. Historically, the word of a white woman, even when inaccurate is believed.
I love Bev, but my disdain for white women grows. Historically, white women have served as cancer, causing the death of far too many Black boys/men. Black boys have hung lifeless from trees, pulled out of bodies of water, served as magnets for deadly bullets, and electrocuted—all for the benefit of protecting the purity and presumed innocence of white women.
Susan Smith, the white woman who murdered her children, accused a Black man of carjacking and kidnapping her and her two boys, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex. The lie captured America's attention as authorities imposed a manhunt for a Black man (any Black man would have been sufficient) and ignited racial tension.
Before Karen, I mean Susan, there was Carolyn Bryant. Bryant is the woman who claimed a 14-year-old Emmet Till touched and whistled at her while in a grocery store. Reports suggest that Till had a lisp and was unable to whistle. For this alleged minor offense, Till was savagely beaten and subsequently murdered by a posse of white men.
Unfortunately, Karen didn't start with Till. In 1931 Karens—I mean Victoria Price and Ruby Bates—told a deputized group of white men that nine Black teenage boys ages 12 to 19 had raped them. Medical evidence confirmed that no rape had occurred, but the boys were still found guilty and sentenced to death.
Karen's historical hypocrisy, well-fortified, even destroyed an entire community of Black excellence; more than 1,200 homes and businesses incinerated, and some reports claim more than 300 deaths.
Ten years before the Scottsboro Boys, Dick Rowland (19), entering an elevator, was believed to trip and innocently bump into Sarah Page, the elevator operator. Page screamed. Rowland fled; he was arrested and charged with rape. Upon hearing the unproven assertion, a reported 1,500 white men were deputized and outfitted with guns provided by Tulsa's city officials. They planned to overtake the jail where he was held and administer their brand of justice. The mob was unsuccessful in their attempt to capture Rowland; instead, they brought destruction to the community of Greenwood.
So here we are—2021, five months short of 100 years to the day of the Tulsa race massacre, and what do we know? Here are the indisputable facts that take place when white women make calls of distress:
1. Gullible white men with no verifiable facts will respond with ignorance;
2. A Black life, most often a male, will suddenly find itself in some peril.