Deborah Deering Mowrey was appalled at the treatment a young woman stopped by the police got as she asked for advice from a kindness group.
Deborah Deering Mowrey points out a missing kindness
Deborah Mowrey is a Kingwood resident. She is very active in her community. She is a volunteer, community activist, and much more. Deborah sent me an IM because it was clear something disturbed her.
“Don’t know if you are on a page called Flooding Kingwood with Kindness, but this post has been wild,” Deborah said. “Michelle Rios asked a question: ‘So I want to know what’s your opinion. I got pulled over on Woodland Hills and Kingwood because I turned right on red. I didn’t want to argue with the cop because I don’t want to get killed. I have two kids. But he gave me a ticket. I was thinking of going to court and explained to the judge and show him this video as well, because honestly, there’s not a sign in there that says do not turn right on red, and I know everyone does turn right on red … I would like ….’ The replies were revealing.”
Unfortunately for Michelle, there was nothing kind emanating from most of the responses she got at ” Flooding Kingwood with Kindness.” In fact, she was verbally assaulted for saying that she did not want to discuss the issue with the cop because she feared for her life. As a person of color, a professional who never breaks the law and is always respectful, I understood her fear.
Michelle has since deleted her post. But Deborah had already printed a few of the “kindness” comments that irked her. Here are some of them.
Empathy gives us the ability to see and feel through the senses of others. We can infer from what we see of their lived experiences. The majority population has ignored rampant police brutality since the inception of this country. There were always excuses made, however disingenuous. It took the unabashed brutality of Officer Derek Chauvin murdering George Floyd on a video to convince a new batch of Americans. The above responses prove that willful ignorance can actually be worse and more impactful than outright blindness.