A Tale of Two Countries: Police Discrimination and Violence in America
“Can you please step out of the car?”
One of the most frightening things to hear as a Black man living in the United States. I’m not sure how many times I have heard those words, but my heart still skips a beat every time I do. One instance comes to mind and I remember it vividly. I was coming back from The Pennsylvania State University with my cousins. We had just finished making the four hour trip from State College, PA to Brooklyn, NY — Canarsie to be exact — when we decided to grab some funfetti cake for my cousin Adetayo’s birthday. We picked up another member of our family and off to Key Foods we went. On the way back to Adetayo’s house, I made a turn at a green light. Suddenly, we saw flashing lights behind us as two undercover officers pulled us over.
“I wonder what we did this time?”
I slowly rolled down the window after making sure that everyone’s hands were visible because that was not the day that I was going to die. I said to the officer in a calm manner, “Excuse me, can you explain why we got pulled over.” No answer. The officer then proceeded to ask for our IDs. The officer then asked, “Are there any weapons in the car.” “No”, I replied. “Can we check the car to make sure”, he asked. “Why?”, I said to the officer, “we just went to the store to buy some funfetti cake.” Again, no answer. We were then asked to come out of the car and so we did. Minutes later, after being patted down, the officer said, “All set.” We entered the car and then they drove away. They were probably on the way to harass someone that just bought some cupcakes next.
We knew why we were pulled over. Four Black men in a BMW meant trouble to them. The reason I mention this story is because even though the Bloomberg era of stop and frisk is no longer in effect in New York City (NYC), the mentality of that era is still alive and well. Over the past weekend, alarming videos have been recorded of New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers assaulting members of the black community while a few miles away, officers were seen giving face masks to people, in majority White neighborhoods, that were actively disobeying social distancing rules set in place by Mayor Bill de Blasio. On Friday, data released by the NYPD revealed that social distancing enforcement is racially motivated. It reveals that communities of color have been impacted to a far greater extent by police enforcement than White communities. Between March 16th and May 5th, at least 120 arrests were made. Of these arrests, 68% of detainees were Black and 24% were Hispanic.
“My body, my choice.”
The constitution states that all men are created equal, but protests across the country, spurred by the lockdowns put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19, reveal the hypocrisy in those words. White protesters armed with automatic assault rifles chanting things like “my freedom is essential”, have been seen facing off against police with little interruption. When unarmed Black Lives Matter advocates were protesting because of the murders of unarmed Black men by police officers, they were greeted with violence and tear gas by the police. Where was their freedom? When Colin Kaepernick kneeled for what he believed in, he was told to “respect the flag.” Where was his freedom?
If you can’t tell by now, not all men are created equal. In this country, White privilege buys armed White men protection while unarmed Black men are killed just for being Black. We can’t breathe (Eric Garner), take out our wallet (Amadou Diallo), go to church (Charleston 9), have a cellphone (Stephon Clark), and we can’t shop at Walmart (John Crawford). We can’t even go for a jog, in our own neighborhood, without being hunted down like animals (Ahmaud Arbery).
The differential treatment based on race sometimes makes me think we are living in two different countries. The America that I see is not the same as the one my White friends see. If people of color wish to put an end to this discrimination and violence, action will be required swiftly. Unfortunately for us, justice is often not given it is taken. The actions of the NYPD last weekend and the failure of the justice system in the Ahmaud Arbery case, once again show that people of color are not valued the same as White people in this country. We as people of color, must see past differences in ethnicity, language, culture, and tradition so that we can band together and fight as one. We must stop becoming social media warriors, spreading posts online thinking that it will bring justice, and become leaders, actively engaging our community towards the goal of social change. Malcolm X once said, “Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you’re a man, you take it.” Almost sixty years later, these words still ring true.
