I had a talk with my son about dealing with aggressive dogs. I told Phoenix, some dogs will act aggressively without any provocation. I told him not to look directly in their eyes as they may perceive it as an act of aggression. If you are near an aggressive dog, remain totally still like a tree, if you run they will come after you.
Dogs are color blind. Cops aren't.
So when the time comes when I have I speak to my beautiful black little boy about the very real dangers of police brutality and how to deal with aggressive cops, the conversation won't be much different then one I just had with him about aggressive dogs.
Don't look defiantly into the eyes of a cop, said cop will react aggressively.
Even if you did nothing wrong, stand perfectly still, arms in the air, like a tree. Difference with cops is, if you run, there's a strong chance, especially if you are black, you'll get shot.
If my beautiful Black son encounters an aggressive cop, for fear of his life, my son will have to allow himself to be subjugated. He will have to lay his pride and self-worth to the side, he will have to forget all the lessons about standing up to injustice that he would have been taught, because in that moment his life may depend on it. He may have to deal with being spoken down to and shamed in public and forced to sit on a curb, in handcuffs. Ask Charles Belk about that.
He may find himself with a knee on the back of his head because he stood up for his rights as a citizen, and for refusing to allow himself to treated like anything less then what he had been raised to be, an honorable man.
My son could be harassed/arrested for being black in the wrong neighborhood. Ask Prof. Henry Louis Gates about that.
My son could be killed at a shopping mall, simply because he was shopping. Ask the family of John Crawford about that.
He could be shot for trying to get his license, upon request, out of his car. Ask Levar Jones about that.
Why should this even be a conversation between my son and I.
Why do I have to talk to my son about the very real dangers of have been born brown/black?
It doesn't matter that his paternal grandma is an amazing successful woman, or that his paternal grandpa is a god fearing social worker, or that his maternal grandfather is a US Ambassador, or that his maternal grandma works for office of protocol at the White House. It doesn't matter that his parents are both peace loving, open minded, law abiding, artistic people. At the end of the day, his skin color is what many people will see and be blinded by. My son has to be prepared for, and taught how to cope with police harassment.
I'm just as scared of my son being a victim of police brutality as I am of him being kidnapped, or molested, or hit by a car etc..
I'm sure a bunch of people will say shit like "oh not all cops are like that", true indeed, but until those good cops do what's right and speak out against police brutality.. They are part of the problem.
I am not looking forward to telling my son that in this new millennia, his beautiful brown skin, will, in the eyes of some, be nothing more than a target.