IIt was 1996 and I first stepped foot on the Syracuse University campus. I saw a large student protest, so with the inquisitive mind of a freshman, I ventured out to see what was going on.
I listened to a passionate sister named Kathy Aid, president of the Syracuse African American Student Society. She stood there with her Bantu knots and a megaphone, addressing the crowd, discussing the fact that campus security would now be able to carry pepper spray. Back in the 90s, which my daughter Baby Sierra calls the “1900s,” just to keep me humble, campus security with pepper spray was a big deal. Now they all carry weapons.
There were fears that they would not hesitate to use the spray against black and brown students at the slightest sign of trouble.
Syracuse's campus newspaper, the Daily Orange, printed a photo of me and Roland Williams, who would later play in the NFL, standing next to a sista with a megaphone at a rally. A few days after the protest, Katie found me on the court to thank me for giving them my fame and privilege as a basketball player. She said she seriously doubted the police would ever pepper spray one of us.
She talked about how the university treated athletes as if we were different—valued and welcomed—while other black and brown students were made to feel like trespassers, constantly asked to show ID just to prove they belonged. (This was the stop and search of Rudolph Giuliani and Eric Adams before it was called that, but I digress).
These memories came back to me on Saturday when Texas State Trooper 'Sent Home' after a confrontation with South Carolina player Nick Harbor during the game. Harbor, as a star athlete, was among a group of people whom Kathy classified as a protected class of blacks when we spoke years ago in Syracuse.
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Briefly about what happened on Saturday. ESPN aired The soldier appeared to intentionally intrude on Harbor and teammate Oscar Hadaway III after the receiver scored a touchdown against Texas A&M at their home stadium. At the same time, the soldier behaved like a high school bully with low self-esteem – the kind of senior who takes pleasure in wading through a sea of freshmen, forcing them to speak out so that he can get the pleasure of beating them in front of everyone. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), where the trooper works, later said he had been sent home.
There's a lot to unpack here. Why didn’t the DPS immediately call a press conference and condemn the soldier’s actions? Why didn't they say his behavior was appalling, disgusting and unacceptable and not what they teach their government troopers?
If this soldier acted like this in the middle of a football stadium during a nationally televised game, how does he act whenever he stops a black man on the side of the highway?
Harbor did not answer, despite the soldier's provocation – he turned around and walked back to the field. But if he answered, what would happen? This happens all the time: a person being mistreated by the police is expected to respond perfectly or risk making the situation worse. However, there are no such expectations from an officer – no requirements for restraint, professionalism or even basic decency.
Before they try “No Angel” HarborImportantly, he won the 2023 Franklin D. Watkins Memorial Award, an award that recognizes African-American high school seniors who have excelled in athletics, academics and philanthropic work. In addition to his football career, Harbor won national titles in track and field, volunteered at a soup kitchen and worked with Generosity Global, which campaigns to improve women's health in Africa. Harbor is a public health major and has been named to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Academic Honor Roll for two years in a row.
I asked retired police captain Sonya Pruitt. what does she think about the soldier's behavior.
“People say maybe he was having a bad day. But no, as a law enforcement officer you can't insult the public because you're having a bad day… People want their police officer to treat them with dignity and respect,” she said. on my show Clash: Where sport and politics collide. “Too often, however, in police training, it's simply not a focus or conversation. And when it's not the focus, you see behavior like what we saw with this Texas state trooper. It's not a bad apple problem, it's a bad system problem.”
Captain Pruitt, I completely agree.
