Last Thursday, the DCBRP cohort went to Cass Corridor to attend “Detroiters Speak: Summertime Edition.” That particular meeting was titled, “Policing Post-Rebellion Detroit,” and speaking for myself, I found this theme to be very timely as the recent deaths of African Americans by police officers still feel very fresh. So, being able to come to this safe place and hear personal experiences of various Detroiters was important.
One thing that many of the speakers mentioned is that police brutally abusing, mistreating, and murdering innocent people is not something that just started happening again, but it never stopped. That is was we must keep in mind. Personally, I feel that this is such a huge issue for many reasons, but one reason in particular resonates with me. Police are supposedly the people we call when we are in trouble or danger. They are supposed to come to our rescue and protect us. However, a large part of the Black community will never call the police to their defense. There is this mistrust that has settled in that encourages African Americans to call their friends and family members to come for help before they call the police.
So what we will teach our children about police? I, too, have uncertainty that the police will act to protect my children in the future in any given situation. While it is a fact that not all police participate in the same cruel behavior towards people of color, there is no way to pick out who is on our side in the case of an emergency. That is the challenge our young people and their children will face in generations to come. Not only in the generations to come, but now. Right now, I have many friends that would call a friend or brother or other trusted person before the police. I think of song lyrics by rapper YG that is an unfortunately accurate depiction of the mindset that many have acquired, “I call my homies, not 911.”
Let that sink in. Think of what it means for people to have to handle their own problems. Think of what it means for a father to have to kill someone for breaking into his family’s home because he called the police and they didn’t come in a timely manner. Think of what it means for a young man to have to kill someone defending his brother because he feared that calling the police would result in a mass murder. I can come up with many scenarios, but I’m sure you get the point. We can’t go on in a society where the very people who swore an oath to serve and protect us refuse to keep their word.
