Without sounding like an ignorant racist, what would you think about this picture if I handed it to you? Well, whatever it is you thought, you were way off! In fact, the man in the photo is actually the little girl's grandfather, and they were recently the victim of a really racist mistake!
It turns out, Scott Henson, the grandfather in the photo above, recently wound up in cuffs after being accosted by police recently, all for walking home with his black granddaughter. Henson, who describes himself as "an almost stereotypical looking white Texas redneck," was reportedly walking home on Friday night from a rollerskating rink with his five-year-old granddaughter, Ty, who is African American, as he posted the experience in his own blog, Grits For Breakfast.
Henson also explained his relationship to Ty in his blog. Apparently, Ty's mother is his goddaughter, and he and his wife often find themselves "tasked with unplanned impromptu babysitting duties, like many other parents and grandparents around the Austin, Texas area."
That night, Henson chose to walk home from the rink instead of having his wife pick him and Ty up. According to his blog post, he was stopped by a deputy constable, who told him that there were reports of a white man kidnapping a black girl. He was ordered to step away from Ty, while the officer questioned the little girl. What a crock of s**t! The officer could've questioned the man without making a big deal out if it. I mean, in this day, there is such a thing as interracial relationships, which also means that it's possible for an elderly white man to be the grandfather of a black, yellow, brown, or purple child. Don't get me wrong, for the child's safety, you'd have to ask if you're suspicious, but happens next is so uncalled for!
Anyway, little Ty identified Henson as her grandpa, and the satisfied officer released the two, who continued walking home until they were stopped again! This time, they were stopped by five flashing police cars and a crowd of police officers. The officers got out of the cars with tasers drawn demanding Henson to raise his hands and step away from the child. Henson said that he quickly complied, while they roughly cuffed him, jerking his arms up behind him, meanwhile, Ty started heading up the hill away from the officers, crying. Henson went on to say they he supplied the officers with any phone numbers they needed to verify that Ty was his granddaughter, but most of his time in cuffs, nobody seemed too interested in verifying his story.
Eventually, Austin Police verified that Henson was the little girls grandfather through a phone call to Ty's mother, and they were released. Police continued to say that they were searching for a kidnapper who'd allegedly snatched up a young black girl nearby. Really? If so, did they find the other kidnapped girl yet? Or the kidnapper? Because hey, it seems you got the wrong person! Amber Alert? Remember that? If there was a kidnapping in the area shouldn't there have been one of those out there?
Henson is really distraught about the whole incident and who can blame him? A safety check without treating him like an escaped fugitive and scaring the crap out of a five-year-old girl would've worked a lot better! Personally, I smell a lawsuit! Defamation of Character maybe? I mean, little Ty might have to see a psychiatrist now to get through this!
Henson wrote in his blog, "I hated for a five-year-old to be subjected to such an experience. I'd like her to view police as people she can trust instead of threats to her and her family, but it's possible that I live in the wrong neighborhood for that." Henson also noted that he was released from the incident without an apology! That is just absolutely disgusting!
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