*Recently, news of police being called on black people has become all too common. Innocuous, everyday actions like napping in a university dorm, waiting in Starbucks, renting an airbnb, checking out a real estate property and shopping at Nordstrom have lead to the police showing up.
Sometimes the encounters end peacefully like in the case of the white woman who called the police on a black family for barbequing in Oakland.
The police took the side of the black youths and didn?t take any actions.
On the other hand, it can end up in cold-blooded murder like in the case of Stephon Clark who got shot to death by police in his own backyard for holding a mobile phone. ?Existing while black? is becoming harder day by day.
All this comes down to this country?s silent segregation ? one that operates on different rules for black folks. When white people have the audacity to call the police on black folks like we are a nuisance, our second class citizen status gets confirmed. Not only do we get to be targets on police?s own racism but we also get to see police becoming the weapon of racists. Racists today, much like those in the past, know how easily their word will be taken against black people. The ghost of Jim Crow lingers on in present-day America.
Profiling has been a part of every black person?s life experience. We all have had the talk from our elders about what to do when stopped and frisk. We know that balance of scales isn?t tipped in our favor. Even veteran black cops fear the police when on duty. It is sad to know that even though black folks continue to contribute to all areas of life in America, the country?s laws can?t protect them from undue force.
Thanks to the Internet, we can now record these racist interactions, broadcast them to the world and control the conversation around them. Because we have the power to laugh at our own pain, we have used these moments to create memes and host epic barbeque parties. After all, the real victory it seems is letting this unpleasantness come in the way of our lives. We will not only call it like it is but we will also not surrender our joy.
