Why I Think That Maybe Stafford County Virginia Should Keep Its Confederate Flag

Childhood photo of Neli Latson, a young autistic African American male in crew cut 'fro, white tshirt and red, white, and blue plaid shirt, smiling at the camera, cradled in his mother

This is what I know about Stafford County, Virginia.

When certain members of the community wanted the Confederate flag removed from flying high above the county in public administration and public service areas, the county solution was to move the pole so the flag was still large and visible from I-95 but could not be removed because it was now on private property where it remains to this day.

So the first thing I understood from this is that Stafford County Virginia might be a place where the rule of law can be used to circumvent the law and keep symbols that oppress and offend its marginalized citizens regardless of the will or wish of its communities. Stafford County Virginia might be a dangerous place for marginalized people.

Stafford County is the the place where Reginald Neli Latson, #AutisticWhileBlack, student and beloved member of his high school wrestling team, sat in front of a library that was unexpectedly closed, not knowing that his life would change forever because a white person didn’t like an African American teen just sitting in front of a public space. So that white person(or persons?), nebulous personae who had shifted to become teens, children, a concerned passerby, a crosswalk guard, but whose identity has been protected to this day, made a 911 phone call reporting an armed Black male in front of the library who “looked suspicious.” Neli was unarmed.

Stafford County is the place where an off-duty school resource officer wanted to arrest Neli for something, and when all his questions had been answered and Neli was walking away he said in that way that power addresses the marginalized, “what’s your name, boy?” knowing that in Stafford County it is against the law not to give your name when a law officer asks for it.

Stafford County is the place where the prosecutor dismissed and disregarded Neli’s disability and only saw a case to add to his conviction record. Stafford County is the place where Neli spent years in unjust incarceration and solitary confinement. Stafford County is the place whose hatred stole from a disabled black youth with a promising future his freedom, his civil rights, and his mental health. Stafford County is one of the places in Virginia where a disproportionate number of incarcerated men are intellectually disabled and Black.

Stafford County is where Neli's mother waged a one woman war for his freedom that was so passionate and so desperate that the media finally took notice. Stafford County is where activists like Leroy Moore tried to help free Neli. Stafford County is where his mother and I cried so long during a phone call that my husband came in to ensure everything was alright. Stafford County is where Neli's mother and sister lost everything, and put everything, into trying to get him out of this unjust incarceration.

Oh, I was just as happy as everyone else when Bree Newsome took that flag down from the Statehouse grounds in South Carolina. But that single act, while it has brought all the Confederate flags flying inappropriately in public spaces as well as displays of other symbols of the failed Confederacy everywhere  including  in our National Cathedral to prominence, it doesn't  in and of itself resolve the problem of racism. The fact that it flew there at all is a greater statement to the structural nature of the bigotry we are facing than the attempts to remove these objects from public spaces are. 

I know Stafford County as the county that avoided confronting activists like Bree Newsome by relocating their official Confederate flag on private property and continuing to fly it proudly.

Now we have this new argument that it should not be flown in view of I-95. Local residents, who drove by it for years without questioning but who are afraid Stafford County might become the site of another Charlottesville are now pushing for its removal. But it is not enough to ask that the right thing is done or do the right thing oneself for the wrong reasons. If the flag and all the ugliness it stood for is still firmly planted in the hearts of the people of Stafford County, it should remain flying as a warning to everyone that justice does not abide in that place.

To the rest of African American families across the nation. Perhaps it is time to let those who want to keep the outward manifestations of their own hatred, those who need to embrace the losing side of history reveal themselves. We need to know what is in the hearts and minds of our neighbors. Let them come out of the shadows for all to see. We need to know the scope of what we are facing.

I fear we are returning to a time where we will all need a digital version of the Green Book, and a Confederate flag dotting the map of these unsafe hate filled spaces will let us know that those who govern these spaces espouse white supremacy. We need to use our spending power elsewhere.

I have no wish to visit or even pass through Stafford County Virginia, though I am certain that good people reside there. Many of them came to court and petitioned the judge in Neli Latson's trial for clemency. But I cannot forget the destruction of his life and the heart breaking saga of his tremendous suffering. I cannot forget the retaliatory convenience of the arrest of his mother when her fight to free her son drew too much negative media attention on Stafford County. I cannot forget being forced to watch helplessly as her life fell apart for the sin of trying to save her son from a grave miscarriage of justice.

What I know of Stafford County Virginia will always make it a place marked by the white blight of racial and ableist injustice.

Let them keep their flag public. May those who love the Confederacy drape themselves in it and parade around. We need to know who all of them are. Out of the shadows all of you and all your enablers too. This ugliness and ignorance cannot end otherwise.

I have no wish to go to Stafford County Virginia. Not just because of the ghastly Confederate flag flying over I-95.

Moreso because my son, Autistic and Brown, like Neli Latson, Autistic and Black, has also always loved public libraries. 

I can't risk that he might be next autistic male of color to look suspicious while there.


References:
Stafford County, Virginia's Massive Confederate Flag post-Charlottesville Backlash:
http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/virginia/va-residents-want-confederate-flag-next-to-i-95-taken-down/471789176

Who is Bree Newsome?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/06/28/who-is-bree-newsome-why-the-woman-who-took-down-the-confederate-flag-became-an-activist/?utm_term=.689d63b73b37

About Neli Latson:

Latest News:

https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-oks-autistic-inmates-claims-abuse/

Leroy Moore's article:

http://sfbayview.com/2012/01/update-on-neli-latson-and-his-mom-im-home-and-soon-my-son-will-be-free/

By the Washington Post's Ruth Marcus:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ruth-marcus-in-virginia-a-cruel-and-unusual-punishment-for-autism/2014/11/14/9d7f6108-6c3b-11e4-b053-65cea7903f2e_story.html?utm_term=.76c965c253f7

#FreeNeli On Storify

https://storify.com/kerima_cevik/freeneli-1

InterSected on Neli Latson:

http://intersecteddisability.blogspot.com/2014/11/making-neli-latson-matter-invisible.html

Who is Victor Hugo Green and what is the Green Book?

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/green-book-helped-keep-african-americans-safe-on-the-road/

Justice For Kayleb Moon Robinson #AliveWhileBlack and Autistic

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Something frightening is happening to autistic Black young men and boys in Virginia. So frightening that I have decided to suspend autism month related activities as a result.

11 year old Autistic Student Kayleb Moon Robinson
Credit: Charlie Archambault for the Center for Public Integrity 

Clearly the case of Reginald Latson was not just a random case. Now, Virginia has convicted an 11 year old autistic boy of a felony for a school infraction. The police officer arresting him piled on extra charges like assaulting a police officer because he "resisted". So now an 11 year old special needs student has a felony conviction.

 Linkhome Middle School staff and administration should be the subject of an Office of Civil Rights complaint for the clear ableism and discrimination of Kayleb based upon the combination of his race and disability, traumatizing him, and causing this catastrophe by sending a police officer to handcuff and arrest him for kicking a waste basket. His IEP should have called for a crisis plan and positive behavioral supports. Upsets and meltdowns in school DO NOT require police intervention. 

The aggressive way Virginia prosecutes and criminalizes black autistic  students needs national attention. Everyone may know the case of Neli Latson but do you know the case of Brian Thompson?

NBC 4's Legendary Pat Collins don's his own outfit to interview
Brian Thompson, who went on to graduate from High School credit NBCWashington

In September of 2011, Brian Thompson, an autistic student at Colonial Forge High School, ran down the sidelines at a school football game wearing a banana costume. He was handcuffed, arrested, and suspended from school. The entire student body protested, some wearing “free Banana Man” T-shirts to class in protest. School officials confiscated the shirts. The injustice of this affair was so blatant that the outcry resulted in his reinstatement in school. Brian does not realize how close he came to being Neli Latson.

Virginia’s attempt to correct human rights violations against disabled people who should not be in its prison system must begin with a serious audit of its school practices when it comes to black autistic male students. Something is terribly wrong with the entire State’s institutional understanding of what autism is, and how to educate and manage autistic children of color.

Virginia and other States have to stop destroying children’s lives in the name of discipline. This is pattern propagating throughout the country. I am waiting for all autism organizations to pause in our “raising awareness” and take a position here. This is the war we should be fighting to save our children's lives. Clearly "raising awareness" has failed in Virginia. Autism and Disability Rights Organizations. NAACP and Civil Rights Organizations. Do Not Remain Silent!

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.

#JusticeForKayleb. #AliveWhileBlack and #Autistic. 

An Inconvenient Truth

“There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.” 

― Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws

Reginald Cornelius Latson

During the entire tragic ordeal of Reginald Cornelius "Neli" Latson the quote above often revisited my mind. It has taken up permanent residence in my heart. Only when I heard the grand jury verdict for the Eric Garner case did I feel as shocked and defeated as I did when I heard that Mr. Latson had no choice but to plead guilty to felony assault for an incident that should not have occurred  because he had no business in the corrections system in the first place. This despite the stellar efforts of the outstanding attorney championing him. The miscarriage of justice here is breathtaking. How much more harm will be done to this young man before he gets the help he needs?

It is time to appeal to Governor McAuliffe to do the right thing and grant Reginald Latson a pardon.

I am  humbly asking everyone to please sign this petition:

https://www.change.org/p/pardons-department-grant-a-pardon-to-reginald-cornelius-neli-latson

On Thursday, Neli Latson pleaded guilty to felony assault for a scuffle that took place while he was being transferred to a "suicide watch" cell in prison. He was in psychiatric crisis and suicidal.  It is the latest in a long series of wrongs done to him by a system that is criminalizing behavior beyond individual control. Just to be clear: Mr. Latson was suicidal, decompensated, and in severe psychiatric crisis. He was being forcibly moved to a cell when a scuffle occurred. Only Mr. Latson was seriously hurt. He was shot with a Taser and bound in a restraint chair for hours. After which he was charged with felony assault by prosecutor Eric Olsen. He charged Mr. Latson for something that occurred during the throes of a major mental health crisis.

Matthew Ajibade photo credit
 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B66cc8gCEAAWD0S.jpg:large

A heartbreaking side note about restraint chairs in the criminal justice system: 22-year-old Matthew Ajibade of Savannah, Georgia, died in police custody bound in a restraint chair on New Year's day. Mr. Ajibade was bipolar and the police were tasked with escorting him to the hospital. They were given his medication and per the police report informed regarding the dosage. How he ended up dying in bound restraint in solitary confinement at the Chatham County Detention Center is another day's horror story. Current reports do not have sufficient detailed information to tell us why he was not taken to the hospital. Mr. Ajibade's death is the latest example of why neurodivergent people in general and mental health consumers in particular who intersect with the criminal justice system while in crisis need to be promptly released to health crisis centers rather than having public servants whose job is not to manage mental health crises place people in bound restraint chairs and into solitary cells. Matthew's story can be read here.


Back to the incredible tragedy of Neli Latson, who, as Ruth Marcus alluded,  prosecutor Eric Olsen pursued as zealously as Les Misérables Inspector Javert pursued Jean Valjean.

Quoting Ms. Marcus's Washington Post article:

"That charge is being brought by the second, deliberate obstacle to transferring Latson from prison to treatment: Stafford County prosecutor Eric Olsen, Virginia’s answer to Inspector Javert. Latson’s intellectual disability, Olsen has argued in court, is “an aspect of convenience. When his advocates want him to be ( ableist slur redacted), he is.”

Here is some inconvenient truth. Intellectual disability is not "an aspect of convenience". The degree of anyone's individual disability constellation may not be apparent, but the cost being paid by those individuals with diverse neurologies during crises is too high.

I am quite certain Tario Anderson wanted to understand why a painfully bright light was being shined on him and why he was shot with a Taser and arrested. Like my young son, he is a nonverbal autistic, and was therefore unable to respond by speaking to any police demands. There is no "aspect of convenience" here.  Mr. Anderson, Mr. Ajibade, and Mr. Latson wanted to be understood. Who would want to be shot with a Taser, or arrested and placed in bound restraint?

Prosecutor Olsen denying that Mr. Latson's disabilities are impacting his ability to respond appropriately make it painfully clear that criminal justice autism training in Virginia needs to happen quickly. Authorities lack any understanding of communication differences like echolalia, scripting, auditory processing disorders, and sensory issues that directly impact an autistic adult under high stress regardless of how they communicate. That is scary because the next Mr. Latson, Mr. Ajibade, or Mr. Anderson  could happen at any future date.

Mr. Olsen used an ablest slur for intellectual disability in open court. I cannot wrap my head around the idea of someone who is a member of the Virginia bar and a prosecuting attorney of his standing being ignorant of Rosa's Law, since the law has been in effect since October 5, 2010.  So I can only conclude that again, Mr. Olsen has a great deal of inconvenient truth to learn about disability. This language in open court also implies a bias that is disturbing and bodes ill for any disabled person who crosses Mr. Olsen's path.

The statement " He is a person with autism that also has this hate, this racial hate and this hate for law enforcement" is belied by the testimony and letters of people who were part of  Neli's life before that awful day he went to the library and found it closed. So the preponderance of the evidence belies his statement that Mr. Latson has either racial hate or hate for law enforcement. What each incident involving Mr. Latson does show is authorities are not understanding the needs of disabled people. How can someone conflate mental health crises with racial hate? When you spend all your time hammering prosecutions, I guess every accused looks like the same nail.

I do not believe Mr. Latson can take much more of this. Please help appeal to Governor McAuliffe to pardon Neli and allow him to receive the urgent treatment and supports he needs.


#FreeNeli

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network Calls for Pardon for Neli Latson:  http://autisticadvocacy.org/2015/01/asan-calls-for-pardon-for-neli-latson/

Updated  Bazelon statement about the plight of Reginald "Neli" Latson: http://www.bazelon.org/News-Publications/Statement-on-the-Plight-of-Reginald-Latson.aspx

Information on Neli: http://www.thearcofva.org/advocacy/current-advocacy-issues-and-activities/reginald-neli-latson/


The death of Matthew Ojibade: http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/savannah-man-dies-restraining-chair-while-police-custody#.VK9fMV9UjZc.twitter


 Marcus, Ruth. "Why Is Reginald Latson Being Denied the Help He Needs?" The Washington Post 29 Nov. 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2015. <http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-37441317.html?>.