Within the article, a letter written to new police superintendent, Jody Weis, Mary Mitchell, an African-American op/ed columnist, tells the story of the horrors faced by LaWanda Jordan and her family. According to the letter, Mitchell gives this as an "... example of the kinds of calls I get from African Americans on a regular basis."
LaWanda Jordan is a black single mother of four living near Midway Airport, "one of only two black families on the block in a community that is predominantly white or Hispanic."
On December 11, Jordan was awakened "around midnight" when police showed up at her door looking for a "young black male."
Allegedly, a white officer asked the landlord, who lives on the first floor, "Do you have a black family in the building? Do you have niggers in the building?"
How did she know that a white officer asked the questions, using the racial slur if she was upstairs, unable to see or hear what was actually transpiring?
Jordan claims she ran to her door and put her hand over the chain and braced her foot against the door so no one could gain entrance.
She says that there were 12 officers at her door, asking about a shooting that took place 35 blocks away.
Jordan says not one of the cops was black.
She goes on to say that "one of the cops put his foot about three feet over the threshold of her door."
How can this happen if she has her foot against the door and it is chained?
A few paragraphs later, Jordan says "There were nearly 15 police officers in my hallway trying to railroad my son, being belligerent, calling me out of my name, using racial slurs and trying to accuse him of a violent crime. They used intimidation and scare tactics. I feel my civil rights were violated."
Jordan says the police abruptly left and she followed them to the street and asked for names and badge numbers. "They covered up their badge and name tags."
The next day, Jordan filed a report with the city's Independent Police Review Authority, saying she "suspects her son had been targeted by one of the Hispanic officers who had once confronted him in a mix-up over a bike."
Several interesting contradictions in the story:
- The number of officers goes from 14 to 12 then to 15. Which number is it, LaWanda?
- Jordan had her chain on the door and was bracing it with her foot, yet an officer was able to insert his foot by about three feet into the apartment. Not possible.
- How did Jordan know of the conversation that took place between the "white" officer and her landlord? This was fabricated to enhance the racism angle of the story.
- And what, exactly, is this "mix-up" that involved a bike? Sounds like her son has been in trouble with the law in the past - especially the recent past.
- Why would the police be looking at Jordan's home for someone alleged to be involved in a shooting 35 blocks away?
- She gives no indication of the ethnicity of the other officers involved, except to say that there was no African-Americans. Jordan does identify Hispanic and female officers, and only infers the others were white.
- There was no indication of any type of physical abuse on the part of the officers as she also alleges
I think this boils down to another case of the black community pulling the race card. This entire story is so full of contradictions and holes, it cannot be taken seriously. Whether or not her son was involved in the shooting is never questioned, yet LaWanda Jordan has lots to say about he terrible treatment she received by the Chicago police.
My take:
- LaWanda Jordan's son is a troublemaker.
- The racial slurs never happened.
- There had to be a reason for the police to show up at her door in the first place, the shooting being Jordan's assumption.
And deep within this story is the "ever-crusading-against-the-white-folk," Mary Mitchell, author of the article and staunch ally of the African-American community. Perhaps, since Ms. Mitchell usually writes opinion pieces, she should continue with her anti-white diatribes and let a real reporter get the stories.
Again, racism is not white. It comes in all colors, INCLUDING BLACK!!!
But more important, this smells like a woman who is trying to get some money out of the system.
