In late October, AskDrO.com covered the story on Tashawnea Hill, a Black woman who was beaten by a White man outside of a Cracker Barrel restaurant after allegedly spitting in his face. Hill, who is a mother and an Army reservist, was punched in the face and kicked as she was called racial epithets. As a result of the pressed charges, the assailant, Troy Dale West, was initially sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges, instead of the original felony charges he faced (see video below).

Now…Troy Dale West is a free man. I repeat…he is RELEASED from jail! Apparently, West served only 43 days of his 6-month sentence before he was released for accepting and completing work detail, which included painting trailers. According to the county sheriff, West was “treated the same as anyone serving for a misdemeanor.” When West was on trial, he initially faced up to more than 44 years in prison for assaulting Tasha Hill in front of her daughter, but with the help of an attorney, plea deals and some learned trade skills, he was out in no time and on Friday, December 3, he was served his walking papers. So it looks like you can work off the time, but is it REALLY that easy? The aforementioned sheriff claims that West received two days of time served credit for each day he worked, but mentioned that West’s friends pressured the system to release him early, but to no avail (yeah, right).

I strongly believe there’s social and racial injustice going on here. Shall we entertain the idea of a Black man beating a White woman in the same manner as West did Hill? Especially considering West’s size? (a foot taller and 100 lbs. larger then Hill) Had a 6’4″ 250lbs. Black man beat up a 5’5″ 130lbs. White woman, there would be AT LEAST a nod in the direction of 50 years in prison, with chance of parole in 30. True, Hill might have initiated the altercation by spitting on him, but Troy Dale West beating her nearly unconscious is NO parallel by any means! During the sentencing, the judge put it as most logical as possible: it’s not good for a man to hit a woman and it’s not good to spit on a person, and that her response to the situation could only be imagined.

At least there’s ONE place where justice is being served to Troy Dale West: Cracker Barrel has banned him for life from ALL their establishments!