{"id":1541,"date":"2019-11-18T11:10:49","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T11:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=1541"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:51:06","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:51:06","slug":"sorority-sisters-and-partners-in-law-enforcement-deberry-and-davis-discuss-sexual-assault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2019\/11\/18\/sorority-sisters-and-partners-in-law-enforcement-deberry-and-davis-discuss-sexual-assault\/","title":{"rendered":"Sorority sisters and partners in law enforcement: Deberry and Davis discuss sexual assault"},"content":{"rendered":"
District Attorney Satana Deberry always wears a red beaded bracelet with a little white elephant. On its own, this might seem like an odd choice for a progressive Democrat. But Saturday, as a sea of red sweaters, Greek letters, and all forms of elephant decor filled the conference room in the Durham County Human Services Complex, the bracelet made a lot more sense.<\/span><\/p>\n The elephant is the unofficial symbol of the historically black Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, of which Deberry and Durham Police Chief C.J. Davis are both alumnae. The sorority\u2019s Durham Alumnae Chapter hosted a panel discussion called \u201cSister to Sister: A Talk on Sexual Assault.\u201d The discussion was moderated by fellow sorority sister Jasmine McGhee, who is special deputy attorney general and director of the Public Protection Section at the North Carolina Department of Justice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Deberry lauded her sorority sisters and fellow panelists for their accomplishments, and emphasized the significance of them holding those positions as women of color.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe chief and I are unicorns almost,\u201d Deberry said. \u201cIt is rare that you are in a jurisdiction in which the chief of police and the district attorney are not just women, but black women.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She said that this is particularly significant in a conversation about sexual assault in a southern state, where sexual politics have been deeply intertwined with racial discrimination. The history of the American South is rife with the sexual exploitation of black women \u2013 free and enslaved \u2013 and their inability to access the protections of the criminal justice system. Deberry emphasized that the South is also a place where false accusations of sexual assault have been used to justify the lynching of black men.<\/span><\/p>\n Davis said, \u201cBeing an African American female in this work I think is quite relevant. I think we are lucky when we have African-American women who don\u2019t just know what they are doing, but they can also make their work personal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n According to Deberry, black women today are typically those who pay bail, visit people in jail or prison\u2013 and are increasingly incarcerated themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTo the extent that the criminal justice system has a customer, it\u2019s black women,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n