Back to gray this morning, and chilly, as we swing around to Friday. It looks like the sky might do something, but they haven’t told us it would.
I’m sitting here trying to wrap my head around the upside-down nature of the “misconduct” hearing against District Attorney Fani Willis, who will not be called to testify again today. DA Willis, of course, said it best:
While I’ve yet to find a firm rule DA Willis is alleged to have broken, outside of the people she is prosecuting claiming “suspicious relationships and transactions,” here is this matter, being treated like it’s actually a thing, in a courtroom, while people who tried to alter the outcome of an election cast aspersions.
So if you are not yet furious about it, it’s time to get furious. I’m talking a full boil.
And I mean tungsten at a full boil.
A woman, who is not married, and a coworker, who is separated, had a relationship. That is it. There is nothing coercive about it. They both consented. What, on earth, would be “suspicious,” about that?
There are people questioning her in that courtroom, people listening, people sitting smugly at a table because they are white and connected and truly believe they cannot be touched who have done more and worse than have a completely consensual relationship with a coworker.
But the sexualization of Black women has been a tool of oppression for centuries in this country, and it’s a form of sexual violence used to put Black women, especially successful Black women, in “their place.”
The same thing was done to Vice President Kamala Harris.
If you are not familiar with the hypersexualization of Black women as a tool of oppression, educate yourself. Because I want to talk about the patriarchal tools fully on display in this hearing.
There is no cause of action here, there is absolutely no credible claim of misconduct that should have gotten beyond an immediate dismissal. Unless there is some quirk of the law in Georgia that requires a full-blown hearing on every claim of misconduct, the fact that this hearing is happening at all is ludicrous.
Beyond that, there was an access to personal information beyond belief. You’d think DA Willis had been accused of sexual assault, only sexual assault isn’t treated as vigorously by the system. This is a waste of public money and court time if you look at it like a normal person.
But if you look at it like those smug defendants, it is the court system doing exactly what it’s supposed to do: protect them, and act as a weapon against “others.”
The people prosecuted by DA Wills had the gall to try to overthrow an election. They tried to change the results of an election. And they do not think they did one thing wrong, because they believe they are fully entitled to do whatever they want. The law isn’t there to restrain them.
It’s there to restrain people who look like DA Willis.
And here is the entire court system, playing along.
Now I hope the judge proves those people wrong. I hope the prosecution continues with these entitled insurrectionists a little bit cowed. In fact, they should be embarassed.
I hope someone is working on bringing their personal lives into full public view.
But do not lose sight of the real dynamic here, the real purpose of this hearing here. It is an all-out war over who the law protects and who the law punishes.
And while this particular incident magnifies the circumstances through national coverage, spare a thought for the Black women you know, the Black women you encounter every day, the Black women you see from afar. This is a reality every single one of them deals with, but often the only eyes on it are their own.
Have a good Friday and a great weekend, and DA Willis, we see what you’re dealing with, with mastery and skill, but still dealing with, and shouldn’t have to.
A Bit to Read 