There are signs that America – or parts of it – really would like to put an end to the indifference that seemed to accompany the endless stream of videos showing white cops killing or abusing black citizens.   Many seemed to have reached their breaking point in the case of a Texas cop caught on video roughing up a teenage girl at a pool party. 

McKinney, Texas police corporal Eric Casebolt resigned after his chief publicly denounced his behavior as “indefensible”.  The video shows him running around like a madman, doing a barrel roll and pulling his gun on some boys before forcing a half-naked 15-year old girl to the ground, handcuffing, and sitting on her for several minutes.  At no point did Casebolt try to determine if any crime were committed at the pool.

No fewer than four people, Casebolt included, appear to have lost their jobs because of racially charged incident, or their unsolicited reactions to it. 

Karen Fitzgibbons is now a former fourth-grade teacher from West Texas, because she went on the local newspaper’s website to give her opinion – and it was vile.  “The blacks are the ones causing the problems and this ‘racial tension’,” she wrote, “I guess that’s what happens when you flunk out of school and have no education.”  For the record, there’s no indication that kids at the pool party were anything but good students.

And then Fitzgibbons left the 21st century.  “I’m almost to the point of wanting them all segregated on one side of town so they can hurt each other and leave the innocent people alone.  Maybe the ‘50s and ‘60s were really on to something.”  Her school district wasted no time and sacked her.

Likewise in Miami, Florida, a High School principal was fired for a Facebook comment defending Corporal Casebolt.

“He did nothing wrong.  He was afraid for his life,” Alberto Iber posted on a Miami Herald story.  “I commend him for his actions.”

“That’s a bad thing for being a principal at North Miami Senior High School,” said a student.  “How can you defend a man who pulled a gun on teenagers?”  The school district agreed, and Iber was sacked.

Why were the police even called to the private neighborhood pool?  Some “adults” called police to complain too many black kids showed up for a birthday party and were starting fights.

But the only video showing a fight shows that a white adult was throwing punches and racially abusing teenagers, and so the Internet went to work.  People identified her from her social media page as Tracey-Carver Allbritton, who stated she worked for a firm that provides financial profiles to one of America’s biggest banks, profiles that are key in making mortgage lending decisions.  That firm has placed her on suspension, saying that it “does not condone violence, discrimination or harassment and takes conduct that is inconsistent with our values and expectations very seriously”.

Oh, BTW – the white guy who called police in the first place?  He’s a convicted animal torturer.

America has constitutionally enshrined free speech rights.  But nowhere does that grand document specify freedom from consequences for flagrant racism.