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So the Black man that everyone was laughing at for dialing in to his court case from his car, while his license was suspended, is not so foolish. Racism has people laughing at its victims.
We'll see how many of the people that were laughing because they thought "Foolish criminal dials in from car, on suspended license case!
" have anything cute to say now. You know that none of them will.
It's just the regular anti-Black cruelty in the US criminal justice system.
1/N
Beyond the fact that his license should not have been suspended in the first place, a few basic questions:
Can a Black man in the US, that can't afford an attorney, afford to pay child support without a job?
How many jobs can you do in the US, without any access to a car?
2/N
So why do we suspend people's driver's license for being behind on child support?
In a country where Black folk are 63% more likely to be pulled over by cops, even though we drive 16% less, this contributes to more racist disparity in over-incarceration.
https://sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2020/06/racial_disparities_traffic_stops.php
3/N
Everyone said it was "tragic" that cops shot Walter Scott in the back while running away at a routine traffic stop. Lots of crocodile tears shed.
But why did he run?
He didn't want to go back to jail.
But why was he in jail before? What was his crime?
https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/109835106280475365
4/N
@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.ioWalter Scott was only $7K behind on child support payments. He had a good paying job, and was making payments and closing the gap. He just couldn't close it all immediately.
They sent him to jail anyway.
And while he was in jail, the amount increased. And he wasn't making any payments, because he was in jail. By the time he got out, the amount was $18K.
He had another court hearing. He was accused of being a deadbeat, and "making excuses." They sent him back to jail. Again.
5/N.
1 in every 8 people in jail in South Carolina is there because of this child support trap. Most of the people that fall into this trap, are Black. But you already knew that.
Do you see why Walter Scott ran?
If you were Walter Scott, just released from jail, $18K behind on child support, having been to jail 3 times in the past few years and no consistent employment history because of these jail stints, with warrants for your arrest for it... How would you escape this trap?
Not rhetorical.
6/6
Timelordiroh 
@mekkaokereke I've never understood (beyond being cruel for the sake of cruelty) why the system takes away people's ability to travel anywhere (including to work) when they fall behind on child support.
I had a (white) friend who fell behind on his own child support payments during the covid lockdowns and the system completely destroyed him. I didn't know it's considered civil and so you have no rights to a lawyer. That's a massive extra dose of cruelty for only cruelty's sake.
@mekkaokereke I also feel for Mr. Harris when I found out that he had been told his license had been restored years ago. I don't know how the license revocation/restoration process works, but if I'm told by someone in a knowledgeable position that something has been done, I should be able to trust that. Mr. Harris should've been able to trust that too.
Once again, tabloids (like tmz) work to normalize cruelty in our society.
Thank you for sharing this thread. I appreciate it.
@timelordiroh @mekkaokereke
The purpose of the system is what it does: https://www.anildash.com/2024/05/29/systems-the-purpose-of-a-system/
This is the system doing exactly what it was created for.
@timelordiroh @mekkaokereke man the cops really do push the "this is civil so you don't get a lawyer" angle in places where it clearly doesnt belong
@mekkaokereke
Thanks for calling out the racism. This is cruelty on several levels.
It is sad to live in a world with so much racism and anti-poor discrimination.
It is also sad to see things like this in the replies:
"the issue is the normalization of video chatting behind the wheel"
"he made a choice to make a baby that he didn’t wanna pay for"
"Don’t make babies you don’t want to pay for"
"Skin colour has no relevance."
"it's really the news outlets' responsibility to do due diligence here."
"The problem is cars."
"The problem is urban planning"
No, the issue here is systemic racism and poverty traps.
@mekkaokereke Wait, child support payments in the US aren't based on the income you have *at the time*? That's how they work around here in Germany at least.
@Teskariel@eldritch.cafe @mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io
In general, no: it's notionally an effort to prevent people from giving the spouse a giant F.U. by changing to lesser employment.
Child support payments on the US have two major goals:
1. Reduce access to state benefits.
2. Force people to get or stay married.
Things like fairness or meeting the needs of children and families do not enter in.
@mekkaokereke It's like they read Kafka for inspiration
@mekkaokereke Debtor’s prison system still alive and well.
Gotta keep those private prisons full and cranking out products.