MANSFIELD: Yes on 107

By Mansfield Frazier

I can come up with at least a dozen specious reasons to oppose any new tax increase… no matter the reason, purpose or supporting logic. No one likes paying out more of their income — I get that. But we can’t have it both ways when it comes to our children’s education. We either pay to educate them now, or to incarcerate them (at a much higher cost) later.

Sure, I’d love to see Ohio schools’ funding formula changed from property taxes to a manner consistent with the DeRolph decision, which, back in the 1990s attempted to eliminate wealth disparities between school districts. But that’s not going to happen, not with the conservative bent in this Legislature. So our current system, admittedly flawed, will have to suffice for now; our children still need the best quality education we can provide for them.

Interestingly, some political aspirants are not above using this issue as a means of winning favor with voters. They stick their fingers into the air to see which way the political winds are blowing, and then make their decisions accordingly. Shame on them. They’re not fit to lead.

 

The Uppercut Heard ‘Round the World

Only 307 viewers had watched the YouTube video of the altercation between the RTA bus driver and an out-of-control passenger when my nephew, who resides in Oakland, sent it to me asking me to authenticate it. By the next day, when the story first broke in the Cleveland media, over 4.3 million people had watched it; a fact that speaks volumes about the power of the Internet and even more volumes about the nature of human beings: We’re obviously and utterly fascinated with random acts of violence — a fact that goes a long way in terms of explaining the sorry state of affairs in much of the world today.

While certainly the overwhelming majority of public transit passengers simply want to get from point A to point B with as little hassle as possible, I’m certain this woman was not the first belligerent rider the driver of the bus has encountered in his driving career. Indeed, it could very well be the driver is burned out from encountering so many such passengers in his 22 years behind the wheel — which would go a long way towards shedding a much-needed light of sanity on the shameful fisticuffs.

When the woman became loud and belligerent after the driver demanded she pay the fare or exit the bus (one woman who knows this person said on camera that the belligerent woman routinely uses the excuse that she left her book bag with her transit pass in it somewhere as a way of scamming free rides, so it could very well be she’d pulled this stunt on this driver before), the driver no doubt should have hit the panic button all buses are equipped with and the transit police would have been there skippy-on-time. More than a few riders say these dudes will make an arrest for something as simple as reckless eyeballing if given the opportunity.

The fact the driver got into the verbal altercation and seemingly helped to escalate it probably rates him a week’s suspension. The fact he hit the woman with one of the cleanest uppercuts ever thrown probably rates him another week off. No, he should not be fired — after all, the woman had spit on and punched the man. In any culture in the world spitting on someone is a sure way to end up getting a mud hole stomped in your ass.

Allegedly the woman was intoxicated, but, nonetheless, she probably could have a career in one of those televised “tough women” competitions. For her to take a shot like the uppercut the driver delivered without getting knocked smooth out is amazing enough, but then, when she was unceremoniously thrown out the door of the vehicle she immediately dusted herself off and charged back on the bus for more. I mean, this broad is as rough as number two sandpaper.

The incident, however, does confirm one of my pet theories: Black folks are the most forgiving people on the planet. Neither of the combatants sought to press additional charges (beyond the original report the Beachwood police filed when they showed up). Now this could be due to the fact both of them later realized their behavior was way out of line, they’d acted like fools, and they simply want to put it all behind them. But had this been two white folks now… I guarantee you both of them would be lawyered up by now, right?

From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.neighborhoodsolutionsinc.com.

Post categories:

2 Responses to “MANSFIELD: Yes on 107”

  1. Peter Lawson Jones

    Mansfield, your commentary today – a most effective one-two punch. Double entendre intended.

  2. Mansfield

    Boy, was I wrong at the end of this article … the woman has lawyered up (and is going to be charged).

Leave a Reply

[fbcomments]