Mitrice Richardson

Mitrice Richardson

This morning I heard the story of Mitrice Richardson of California. She is a 24 year old black woman who was arrested last week at a Malibu restaurant when she did not have enough money to pay her bill. The police searched her car and found a small amount of marijuana. The car was impounded and she was taken to the police station. She was released at about 1a.m. and she reportedly had no money on her. That was September 17th she has not been seen since.

"In an interview, her father, Michael Richardson, questioned the Sheriff's Department's decision to release her without knowing for certain whether she was intoxicated or had arranged for transportation. "They allowed her to walk out of that facility and down that road in the pitch black night," he said. "That's not right. Now, I just want to find my child." Her parents along with their lawyer appeared on the Today Show. I commend the Today Show for bringing attention to this case. I can not help but think of the amount of media that the Annie Le case received. She was the Yale medical student who was seen entering a lab at the university and not seen leaving it. The police reportedly worked on this story by their own account 24/7 and they found a suspect.

This girl was allowed to walk out into the night unescorted. They had her car so they knew she had no means of transportation. Her lawyer suggested if her name had been Lohan or Spears she would have received a ride home. Lauer asked her mother whether Letrice was "street savvy." Her mother said no she was not; she actually had lived a sheltered life full of positive things. I am going to give Lauer the benefit of the doubt. The term street savvy indicates knowledge of the street. It is someone who knows all the angles and has the ability to make something out of nothing. Middle class and upper middle class black children are really no more street smart than their white counterparts.