Texas Officer Abuses State-Sanctioned Power to Sexually Assault Woman

Texas Police Address Sherita Dixon Cole Arrest Controversy

The default post for this draft asks us “Whats on your mind?” I think back to James Baldwin’s famous quote that “To be a negro in America and relatively conscious is be in rage almost all of the time”. From Rosa Parks to Sandra Bland we have seen State employees abuse there discretionary power to exploit both physically and sexually women, black women specifically. In this case it was Sherita Dixon Cole who had fallen victim to the perverse treatment that is often the product of a white male dominated patriarchal system such as policing. Ms. Cole was pulled over for suspicion of DWI/DUI. She passed all of the field sobriety test, yet, was still detained and sexually assaulted by an officer who presented her with a gross ultimatum: Give me what I want or Jail. To which she pleaded to be taken to jail. How can we prevent situations like these from happening when officers are granted so much, often unchecked, discretionary power?