And it’s why NFL players are kneeling
Roy Moore is running for the U.S. Senate seat in Alabama and he’s done some pretty horrific things including:
- Jumping on the birther bandwagon, claiming Obama was a secret Muslim;
- Refusing to remove the enormous Ten Commandments monument that was in front of the Alabama state house despite court orders to do so; and
- Directing judges to continue to ban same sex marriages defying federal orders.
Roy Moore is a pig and the fact that he won the republican primary says a lot about republicans in Alabama and the republican party in general that endorsed him. The newest allegations that he molested a 14 year old girl when he was 32, is just another layer on top of a giant crap cake. So I’m not surprised that Moore’s son, Caleb, is a troubled individual. If you grow up in the household with a pig like Roy Moore, you are bound to be troubled. You didn’t need to call a psychic hotline to predict that Caleb Moore would have run-ins with the law. Like I said, Roy Moore is his father.
But Caleb Moore has been arrested nine times with not a single day of jail time. Caleb was arrested in 2011 for drunk driving and drug possession. Caleb, who was 20 at the time, was placed in youthful offender status which means his record wouldn’t follow him or prevent him from voting or owning a gun. Just think about that. Moore at 20 was a youthful offender.
Even after this slap on the wrist, Caleb Moore continued. He faced back-to-back arrests in 2012 both times for possessing prescription opioids. The first charge was dropped and he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in the second case. He was sentenced to rehab which he didn’t complete. More arrests would follow with this latest arrest for allegations of illegal hunting.
Let me be clear, I am not upset that Caleb Moore was given so many chances to get his life together. He was a troubled person and the justice system treated him as if his life was worth saving. I’m upset that my Black and Brown brothers and sisters are never treated like this.
Study after study has shown that African Americans are given harsher sentences than Whites even when they are arrested and prosecuted for the same crime. Schools are more likely to expel Black school children. Black neighborhoods are policed more heavily even though Whites are more likely to have sold drugs. Black children are disproportionally charged as adults. In every way possible the justice system is set up to target black kids funneling them into the private prison industry. This isn’t new to black people and it’s why millionaire NFL players are risking their contracts and sponsors to kneel.
One of the most egregious cases was of Kalif Browder who was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack. He served 1,000 days in pre-trial detention in Rikers Island in New York; he was 16 years old. 1,000 days most in solitary confinement for stealing a backpack. It’s hard to fathom this type of travesty happening in the United States but it does. It happens far too often to Black and Brown kids.
Caleb Moore was a victim of the unlucky sperm club. I cannot imagine having a father like Roy Moore with his ridiculous views on homosexuality, religion, women and pretty much everything. But Moore has been fortunate enough to have been given second, third and forth chances. He hasn’t served a single day in jail for all the times he was arrested. And despite his parentage, I’m hoping he gets his life together. Black and brown kids deserve second chances too. They deserve to make mistakes as kids and not have felonies on their records. They deserve to not spend time in jail because they can’t afford bail. They deserve to be treated like their lives are worth saving. And until this happens, until there are no other Kalif Browders, I hope the NFL players continue their protests. We need real prison reform in this country. And we need it now.