The infamous “Permit Patty” scandal reeked the internet. The short clip of Allison Ethel, the woman dubbed “Permit Patty” was seen calling the police to report an 8-year-old girl selling water in front of her apartment complex. It did not take long for the world to lash out, sending hateful messages including death threats.
Ms. Ethel went on the TODAY show on June 25th crying on air about the harassment she has received since that incident and implored that it was an innocent mistake. According to her, there was loud talking taking place outside of her unit which was caused by the 8-year old’s mother. When she asked for them to quiet down (because it was not the first time), she was ignored which led to the spat match. Ms. Ethel claims that her actions were not permeated through racist motives; she just wanted quiet.
Now, we can agree that Ms. Ethel’s celerity to contact the police against an 8-year-old, Black girl was immature and poorly calculated particularly with the brewing police violence against black people (which includes black youth). However, I cannot help but wonder if our response is appropriate.
The internet/world became the judge, jury, and executioner and condemned this woman to face retribution which affected her home life, career and relationships. Was this a fair and judicious response to a person whom if the camera phone was not operational, we may have never known her ‘sins’?
This incident reminds me of a Black Mirror episode called “Hated in the Nation’. The show focused on a veteran detective and her tech-savvy apprentice as they investigate a series of unsolved murders that are correlated to a hashtag, #Deathto which allows the public to vote for the ‘shittest person’ to die.
The creator of the hashtag made a video called “Game of consequences” which explains that each day, the person that is subject of the most #Deathto tweets will be killed. The deadliest thing about this ‘game’ is that each person who votes are kept anonymous and they are spared from being recognized for their affiliation to the murder of an innocent person.
In the show, the people who were selected to be killed were antagonists, the politically incorrect individuals who chose to go against the grain and speak out against the majority. I know what many of you are thinking, “Permit Patty” is not a revolutionary. She is a tripped-out woman, drunk on white privilege. This may be true. However, she may also be a woman who was a victim of barraging noise outside of her window and chose to speak up although it may appear inappropriate and salty to accost a mom with her kid especially with her being white and the kid being Black.
However, due to the fact that we have one side of the story, the side that complements the anger and exhaustion of police brutality against blacks and the over-exhaust use of white privilege in exchange for the endangerment of Black people; it was easy to conclude that she was in the wrong. There was no need to hear her side. And therefore, we damned her as a social pariah, condemning her to insult, assault and harassment because of one polarized 45-second clip.
There is a saying that art mimics nature but it appears that life mimics art. I believe that ‘Hated in the Nation’ is a cautionary tale of what will happen if we condemn and prosecute blindly without knowing the full story and understanding the full ramifications of how it may affect one’s life.
I am not saying that this woman should not be reprimanded for her actions. But as we seek grace and mercy for our sins, sins that we commit behind closed doors and not fear the wrath of the populace. I believe those same mercies should be given those of equal standing unless the crime speaks otherwise.
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