I've posted about this before, but I think it deserves its own diary. For me, it was one of those Aha moments when I was briefly forced to take a hard look at the everyday experience of people of color.
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Our niece Kali lived with Packrat and me for several years, in a neighborhood that's pretty racially mixed. The first time she invited her boyfriend over for dinner, he brought his brother along. When it was time for them to leave, the three of them went outside, and they stood around and talked. And talked, and talked.
Then a police car rolled up.
One of the neighbors had called the police to report "suspicious people" in the neighborhood. My niece had to show them her ID to prove that she lived there. The cops tried to excuse the caller: people were "jumpy" because there had been a murder in neighborhood fairly recently. Kali was well aware of that, and also aware that the killer had been (a) white, and (b) someone who lived there, not a "suspicious person" lurking outside.
Do I even have to tell you that the two young men were African-American?
Like most white people, I've had the privilege of not having to think much about issues like this until it happened in front of my house. For Kali's boyfriend and his brother, getting profiled for Breathing-While-Black is just part of their world. The cumulative effect of incidents like this can be soul-crushing, especially when people on the other side of the glass refuse to see it. One of the most important things people with privilege can do is listen and believe when those without privilege tell us what they've experienced.
A Kossack once told me that the white people who frustrated him the most were the ones who thought they Got It, because they generally didn't. I said I'm sure that's true, but that shouldn't let us off the hook to keep working at it.
Because when Kali and her now-fiance get around to having kids, I want them to be able to hang out in front of my house without being harassed as "suspicious people."
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Top Mojo, courtesy of mik:
1) What is wrong with this damn country? by magnetics — 163
2) Considering the excruciatingly slow arc of justice by markthshark — 130
3) Cops kill 8 times as many civilians as criminals by Mimikatz — 126
4) And there is more... by peachcreek — 125
5) Someone needs to link all this and then expose by zenbassoon — 116
6) If you mean non-compassionate conservatism by jayden — 114
7) Sometimes by laughingRabbit — 109
8) What, is MO trying to win the "Most Killer Cops" by fourthcornerman — 105
9) Another scam by a government agency. by jayden — 102
10) This isn't a mistake - Kalamazoo wants her house. by TheOrchid — 100
11) Well, no, it is about you and a whole lot of by ejoanna — 98
12) Oh. I have not avoided the feeling of shock and by calebfaux — 92
13) The video segment of the officer's foot by Hoosier Al — 91
14) Go get'em tiger! by BlueJessamine — 91
15) And I don't get it. What sort of warrant? by dadadata — 89
16) Thank goodness you are ok by 6412093 — 87
17) Wait, what? by NancyWH — 87
18) Thank God the officer is safe. by ord avg guy — 85
19) ABSCAM by Travelin Man — 85
20) Amazing by reflectionsv37 — 85
21) When military gear is being given to SCHOOL by DoctorWho — 82
22) Prosecute McCain for violating the Logan Act! by LanceBoyle — 78
23) You can't pull out a gun by bastrop — 78
24) The plantation foreman knows his job by FishOutofWater — 76
25) Follow the money - cui bono? by Laurel in CA — 75
26) This is not greed. by TheOrchid — 73
27) They get to keep the rest of it. by Vega — 72
28) Cops should be under the Big Bright Light by xxdr zombiexx — 69
29) Why can't they just take the money now by GoGoGoEverton — 67
30) It is becoming more common for police by SphericalXS — 65
31) They think we are. by lunachickie — 65
Photo Quilt, courtesy of jotter: