May 28, 2009

Nothing New: Bonnie Sweeten Makes False Accusation Against Black Men


When white folks in America get in trouble ... the first thing that comes to their mind appears to be ... 'A Black man did it'. As long as it's allegedly a brutish Black man is involved, America will fall for anything.

The latest to find comfort in this racist excuse is Pennsylvania mother Bonnie Sweeten. She made frantic calls to 911, saying she and her daughter, 9, had been abducted and stuffed in the trunk of a car by two Black men.

I knew this was gonna be a fake call when I first heard it.

So I wasn't surprised when Sweeten and her innocent 9-year old daughter were found at Walt Disney World in Florida. A prosecutor said Sweeten will be charged with making false police reports and identity theft.

When will our nation finally deal with our continuing race relations issues? Sweeten isn't the first one to shift blame to a non-existent Black men ... and how quickly white folks want to believe it when it happens. Let's see if you can help me create a list of cases where the "Black man did it" was used:
  1. Ashley Todd - This McCain volunteer said she was robbed by a 6'4" Black man.

  2. Charles Stuart - This is the guy who lied about a Black guy with a raspy voice shooting his pregnant wife to death.

  3. Susan Smith - This is the young woman who killed her babies by driving them into the lake. She blamed it on a gun-toting Black man who she invented. She said that this imaginary Black man car-jacked her and took the car and babies.

  4. Frances Taylor - She blamed an assault on an imaginary Black man to conceal her own affair. As a result, the entire town of Rosewood was burned down.

  5. Ruby Bates and Victoria Price - These two young white girls falsely accused nine Black boys of raping them. The nine Black boys were known as the "Scottsboro Boys" and they were found guilty of a crime they did not commit.

  6. Jacquelyn Parfait - She told the police that she was abducted by two Black women who took her to a home where she was repeatedly raped for days. Later, she told the police that she made it all up.

What other examples am I missing on this list?

This trite ruse that white folks have about blaming a Black man led to decades of lynching in America. Isn't it time we put an end to it.

I hope that Sweeten loses custody of her children and spends many years in jail. Maybe that response will cause white folks to think twice before inventing an imaginary Black man to divert attention from their own dastardly deeds.

13 comments:

ceebee513 said...

That's exactly right, they should do hard time and pay fines! There needs to be a clear message to make people think twice about using anyone else, especially Black men (or women) as scapegoats for their crimes. What if the police pulls over an innocent person(s) for questioning and things get out of hand and the suspect is beaten, shot or killed? Something has to change and soon!

Unknown said...

Christopher - It is a pleasure to see you here sharing your village voice. Can you think of other examples where a white person cried 'wolf' at the expense of a Black man?

A.Smith said...

Like you, I called it a farce when I heard it too.

A black man doing anything to a white woman along the lines of kidnapping is an IMMEDIATE red flag and it drives me crazy that's not the case for law officials.

"What'd you say ma'am? A black man took your lily white kids and is driving around with them in broad daylight? Oh. Ma'am, you know that when we find you, you'll be charged with a whole heck of a lot of stuff, right?" THAT needs to be the conversation.

RiPPa said...

Always the Black guy.I'm so sick of this and upset its not even funny. Many Black men have DIED because of false accusations of White women.

LISA VAZQUEZ said...

Hey Villager...

{loooong sigh}

And when will these crazy white women stop this little ploy?

When the public stops believing them.

PPR_Scribe said...

Here's a biggie: Charles Manson's "family" painted anti-White slogans on the walls in an attempt to cast suspicion on Blacks and (supposedly) start the race war that would leave Manson as supreme ruler. I wrote about this here: http://postpostracial.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/helter-skelter-again-and-again/

Unknown said...

A. Smith - Your point is well-taken ... one thing in our favor is that the 'girl who cried wolf' syndrome should kick in soon.

RiPPa - Yeah, many brothers became strange fruit on many a southern tree.

BWBTT - I feel ya! I didn't believe this one from the moment I heard it. I hope others had the same doubts.

PPR Scribe - Heading over to read your Helter Skelter post now...

Vérité Parlant said...

When I wrote on Sweeten, I hadn't seen your post, but I'm going back to mine to add this link. I feel sorry for her daughter. The child looked totally confused, and yes, she should loose custody. Clearly she's out of her mind.

Hope you'll have some village words for this story on the Okla. State Troopers stopping the EMT and choking him against the ambulance. He and the driver were taking a woman to the hospital. I think it's a reminder to those who discounted Oscar Grant's shooting b/c "Oscar had a record" that record or not, black men are in danger when they encounter the police.

Unknown said...

Verite Parlant - I did share the link to that Oklahoma EMT video clip on my Twitter account. It continues to amaze me how poorly the police of all towns respond to the so-called Black menace...

Unknown said...

This is a shame. There is one more case that comes to mind. Jennifer Wilbanks, the runaway bride, said that she was kidnapped by a Hispanic man (though not a black person) and taken to New Mexico. All the while, she didn't want to get married and just didn't have the decency to say so. Instead she cost Gwinnett County tons of money and resources trying to find her. This is a shame and I hope this woman gets what she deserves. She is under investigation for the theft of $300K. If guilty, that alone will keep her behind bars for a long time.

Unknown said...

I heard a comment Judge Jeanine Piro made on the case - her opinion is that this woman should not only be prosecuted but required to pay back the taxpayers for the money spent with law enforcement trying to find her. I completely agree! I am so tired of our men being under attack, here's another disturbing story I read today:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/nyregion/30cop.html?em

Unknown said...

Karen Swim - I hadn't heard of the NYC police slaying until you pointed me to the story. I guess it is clear that we are not yet a post-racial society...

Unknown said...

Janet - Good reminder about the runaway bride. I forgot about her. re: Bonnie Sweeten. It turns out that she is on Facebook. I was able to find her and her work colleague that gave her the driver's license. I wonder if either of them will accept my FB-friend request (smile)...