Petty #PermitPatty

As we say here in the South, ‘unjust don’t prosper‘, and we’re seeing that unfold slowly after the viral video taken my Erin Austin, the mother of an 8-year-old girl, was posted on the internet last week.  In San Francisco 8 year-old Jordan Austin decided that she was going to sell bottled water in order to raise money for a trip to Disneyland.  Erin Austin had recently lost her job, but had agreed that she was take her daughter to Disneyland if she was willing to help out with the cost by setting up her own little business.  Jordan Austin agreed and set up her small business outside of her family’s apartment building, across the street from the AT&T stadium where the Giants were playing that.

This is when things turned took a turn for the worse and petty.  A woman named Allison Ettel approached the 8-year-old, asking if she had a permit to sell water.  Erin intervened and recorded Ettel on her cell phone as she scurried into a corner trying to hide from the mom’s camera.  Erin Austin could be heard saying, “This woman don’t wanna let a little girl sell some water, she calling the police on an 8-year-old little girl.” As Austin follows her with the camera, Ettel says the little girl is “illegally selling water without a permit.” It’s not clear at that point is whether she’s speaking to the cops or to Austin.

Erin Austin then goes on to post the video to Instagram, and a social media storm the size of Hugo ensued. This is how the sir name #PermitPatty was born.  The story made national and international headline, mostly because people of color are tired of of having the police called on them simply for existing.  Approximately one month ago a similar story made headline after a woman called the police on a group of black people having a cookout at a public park.  She also called because she claimed they didn’t have a permit to be there.  These types of stories have been pouring in from around the country, and it is a testament to what people once thought was ‘post-racial‘ America.

Good News

Thankfully, there was something great that came from all of this.  Some lovely person donated 4 tickets to Jordan Austin and her family so that they could enjoy themselves at Disneyland.  Check out Jordan’s response below:

There is an underlying understanding that has been formed about the police and their relationship with black people within this country. With this understanding, it appears as though some white people are attempting to use the police as weapons against black people. When you some a woman call the police on people at a public park, or call the police on an 8-year-old girl, these women understand the potential danger that can occur, and it shows that they inherently want these confrontations to happen. They want the police to do things that they, themselves are not bold enough to do.

Since the video has gone viral, #PermitPatty has done interviews explaining how the post has negatively affected her life.