News & Commentary

Cassie Chenoweth is a high school intern with the ACLU of Ohio.

Many would like to quickly move forward now that a grand jury has decided not to indict the Cleveland police officers involved in the tragic death of Tamir Rice, the 12 year old child who was shot in less than one second while playing in a park. But we cannot move past the death of Tamir. Instead, we should focus on understanding how the young boy was perceived before he was killed, how he was characterized post-mortem, and the history that allows that negative characterization to prevail today. Age of Justification Following the death of Tamir Rice, much attention was paid to his size. The Cleveland Police Patrolmen Association president said “Tamir Rice is in the wrong. He’s menacing. He’s 5-feet-7, 191 pounds. He wasn’t that little kid you’re seeing in pictures. He’s a 12-year-old in an adult body.” After the decision not to indict the officers was reached, the prosecutor commented that Tamir’s size made him appear much older for his age. The fixation on the size of black bodies dates back to America’s days of slave auctions, where size was exploited for value and profit. Adultification and attempts to justify physical attacks against black children in America is not new either. In fact, being young did not protect Black children from being lynched in America. From the late 1800s to 1950s Black boys and girls as young as 8 years of age were hanged to their deaths from trees. One such child was 14 year old Emmitt Till, killed in 1955.

Diana Mairose is a voting rights advocate who works as an Advocacy Support Advisor for Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities Services.

Updated December 2015: Last December, the death of Leelah Alcorn brought a tragic focus to the struggles of transgender teens to find acceptance in their families and communities. While the triumph of marriage equality this year was an incredible victory for the larger LGBT community, transgender people still lack basic legal protections in areas like employment and public accommodations. Knowledge about people who are transgender and their experiences remains a persistent barrier to achieving equal treatment under the law.