Editorial: Reform must be Sandra Bland's legacy
"Her death," said Sandra Bland's mother, "is a domino effect for the family and friends around her. It has affected nieces, nephews, sisters, past co-workers, friends.
"A lot of people become debilitated. A lot of people become paralyzed. A lot of people become angry.
"In the beginning, I would always say, 'I got to get back to (being) myself.' No, I'm a new self now. I can't get back there because that's a different person than who I am right now.
"You have to embrace the fact that you are a different you, and there is no going back to the way you were."
It's been 10 months since Bland's death in a Texas jail cell, and few words can capture the human heartbreak as poignantly as those reflections by her mother, Geneva Reed-Veal. Bland wasn't just a daughter of Reed-Veal. As a resident of Naperville, she was a daughter of the suburbs too.
Time goes by, and memories fade. We all move on. It's human nature.
But 28-year-old Sandra Bland was a real person. And we, her suburban neighbors, can't simply move on. We still owe her justice. We owe her mother answers. And reform needs to be her legacy.
Authorities say Bland committed suicide after being arrested following a minor traffic violation in Waller County, Texas. Her family questions that account.
As we said in an editorial on the topic last summer, we have no way of knowing what happened. But we do know that Bland didn't belong in jail.
As we also said, it's easy for any of us to question Bland's angry response to a directive from the patrol officer to put out a cigarette.
But Bland wasn't the trained officer in control of the situation. The dashboard-camera video clearly shows the officer did nothing to try to de-escalate the situation but rather escalated it further, threatening at one point to "light you up" with a stun gun.
It's hard to watch the video of her arrest and not wonder: If she were white, or if she were not in Texas, would she have been tossed into jail?
What a cruel outcome for such a minor offense. And how easy to allow the memory to fade. But callous injustice must not be allowed to fade. It must serve instead as a call to eradicate injustice wherever we can.
In the Sandra Bland case, that requires a Justice Department investigation of the circumstances of her heartbreaking death.
Geneva Reed-Veal cannot be the only one to be changed by this tragedy. We all must be.