On Monday February 27th in Georgia, a couple gets sentenced time in prison after driving in on a black child’s birthday party with the Confederate flag on the tail of their car and yelling derogatory, racial slurs against the partygoers.
Kayla Norton was sentenced to 6 years in prison, while Jose Torres, the father of her children, were sentenced to 13.
In summer of 2015, Norton, Torres and their friends drove around a family and their residence during the celebration of a black child’s birthday yelling racial slurs and waving the confederate flag. The couple and friends stood apposing to the party armed with weapons, waving a shot gun in everyone’s face, threatened to kill them and stating “the little ones can get one too”, referring to the younger children.
While in court awaiting their verdict, the couple began to cry. Kayla Norton sobbed while explaining to the court “I want you all to know that is not me. That is not me, that is not him. I would never walk up to you and say those words to you. I’m so sorry that happened to you. I am so sorry.” Regardless of the tears, emotion and theatrics, her apology for her role in the incident was lifeless. This was far more than a hate crime, this was straight white terrorism, and the tears were centered around her white privilege failing her.
The severity of this case is almost historical, the blatant distaste for one’s life due to the color of their skin is the most terrifying underlying message of this entire story but it’s the truth of our society in it’s rawest form. The problem that needs to faced head-on is that this couple felt compelled to terrorize a family simply because they are black, while this would’ve never happened to a perfect white suburban family. This case is most definitely about race, due to the lack of understanding that black lives STILL MATTER. The couple’s tears are one of the most infuriating points of this case, whatever drove them to tears are in question while it could be due to the guilt, or the fact that they got caught. But the truth remains that whatever the case may be, they’re still leaving prison outright racists.
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