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Guest Columnist
Now that we know that former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw will spend the rest of his life behind bars for multiple counts of rape and sexual assault against black women, the national conversation has turned from recounting his heinous crimes to discussing an even more disturbing question: Why did it take so long for most of us to notice this story?
The answer, as many commentators have pointed out, lies at the uncomfortable intersection of gender, race, and class. The Holtzclaw saga underscores a broader truth about America in 2015: Our criminal justice system systemically undervalues and abuses - and our mainstream media routinely ignores -poor black women.
Katie Truslow (her name changed to protect her privacy) is a Black woman who has faced these injustices. Like 85 percent of incarcerated women, her prison story begins with physical and sexual violence. After her abusive ex-husband raped her during their divorce, Truslow began dating the drug dealer who protected her. When her boyfriend was indicted, Truslow's connection to him was all the prosecutors needed to charge her with conspiracy. Truslow's status as a Black woman with little...
