A Friend’s Testimony

My African high school friend, who shall remain nameless for the sake of this story, had just gotten out of her class at BMCC when she decided to go to Whole Foods to pick up some groceries. After purchasing what she needed, she got on the shuttle bus to the Staten Island ferry which was packed due to rush hour. Seeing that she was tired and pregnant, a nice man offered his seat to her. My friend kindly accepted and began to converse with the people around her. In the midst of her conversation she heard a lady in the front of the bus “sitting in her own seat, might I add” my friend stated over the phone to me, complaining that pregnancy isn’t a disability. My friend tried to ignore the woman’s comment, but she continued to testify that pregnant women love to use their pregnancy to take advantage of every situation they face. At this point my friend was annoyed, offended, and felt personally attacked and began to curse the lady out as well. The lady proceeded to say, “Don’t make me hurt you and that baby!”. My friend felt personally threatened and continued to stand up for her safety and the safety of her unborn child. The bus driver hears all of the raucous behind him and decides to pull the bus over in the Financial District of Manhattan instead of coming to my friend’s defense. A white police officer comes onto the bus and says to my friend, “Get the f@#$ off the bus!”. My friend was confused as to why the police officer was being so rude to her considering she was the victim in the situation. So, she remained seated and told the officer that she saw no reason to get off the bus. Seeing that my friend wasn’t following orders, the officer’s partner enters the bus as well and says, “Didn’t you hear what he said? Get the f@#$ off the bus!” The first police officer grabs her groceries and throws them off the bus. He grabs one of her arms and begins to twist it and  drag her off the bus. He struggled because my friend was resisting his force, so he partner helped by grabbing and twisting her other arm. The harder my friend tried to pull away, the tighter their grip got on her arms which caused serious pain. My friend was aggressively thrown off of the bus, red wrists, tattered phone, and groceries flung down on the city sidewalk. Upset and embarrassed, my friend told the officer how disappointed she was in his behavior. She said that she told him she was a clear victim in the situation and felt threatened by the lady’s insulting words. She was more concerned with protecting herself and her unborn baby and she thought the police officers would share the same conviction. The white police officers didn’t appreciate her scolding them for the manner in which they decided to handle the situation to say the least and demanded that my friend give them her information and follow them downtown so they can file a report against her. My friend rightfully refused to give her name because she presumed that if a report needed to be filed the entire story would be essential, but they didn’t seem to agree considering the lady who instigated the entire fiasco exited the bus and was walking away in the opposite direction. At this point, my friend is on the phone with her hometown friend as witness. She demands to get the officer’s name and badge number so she could file her own report of how mistreated she was. The officer’s partner said no and the pair finally walked away. In that moment my friend felt what it was like to be black in white America as the white police officers who were sworn in to protect their citizens physically and verbally abused and embarrassed her in front of a bus filled with white tourists who found pleasure, even laughed, instead of coming to a young pregnant girl’s defense.