“ We are scared as Black People in America. Black Men, Black Women, Black Kids, we are terrified.” ~Lebron James
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1298119092033945600?s=21
“There are times, a lot of times, where we say we don’t feel safe. It doesn’t matter how much money, doesn’t matter who you are” ~Donovan Mitchell
https://twitter.com/sportscenter/status/1298478064284860421?s=21
“What stands out to me is watching the Republican Convention and they’re spewing this fear. All you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear. We’re the ones getting killed, we’re the ones getting shot.... it’s amazing to me how we keep loving this country and this country doesn’t love us back” ~Coach Doc Rivers
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1298476250709635072?s=21
It’s hard for Mainstream America to understand why rich Black People like Lebron James, Donovan Mitchell or Coach Doc Rivers would say things like this. It’s hard for them to understand what happens to the psyche of the Black Community as a whole every time a video of Jacob Blake is circulated. The conversations that happen in our homes with our children and our families. The frustrations and fears to as Malcolm X put it “sit and the table, but not be a part of the family” But that is the situation that many Black People are in today living in America.
Let me start with my own family. The conversations me and my wife have had to have with our children over the years are conversations that white people simply don’t have to worry about having with their children. Just this quarantined summer we’ve watched When The See Us with our kids to illustrate to them how the justice system many times fails us and people (like Donald Trump) will call for your head on a platter and view you as a monster especially if there is a racial dynamic involved. We watched The Hate You Give to show especially our daughter the power of her voice in the face of injustice. We watched the movie Malcolm X (so many lessons too many to list) had our daughter read No Disrespect by Sista Souljah, had our son read Makes Me Wanna Holler by Nathan McCall and Trevor Noah’s Born A Crime. And yes all of this is advanced for our young children, but we have to prepare them for the world they have to live in.
I told my kids about the first time I had the police pull a gun on me. I was a little older than my son Malcolm is right now. I told them about the 2nd time and the 3rd time, and how all of that happened when I was in high school. One was mistaken identity, another I looked suspicious, another I was at a counter protest of the KKK rallying in downtown Tulsa. That’s right I said the KKK and no I didn’t grow up in the 60s, I’m not that old. I grew up in the 90s. And if it weren’t for the Grace Of God, I wouldn’t be here right now.
Again, white parents don’t have to worry about any of this the way we do. We live in two completely different worlds. And just for the record, I played 11 years in the NBA, earned a degree in business management from Syracuse University, I am in the top tax bracket in the country, my portfolio is doing well and diversified enough to withstand a global pandemic, I can afford to send my kids to the private school of their choice, but none of that will save me or my son or my daughters when we are pulled over by the police.
I coach my son’s AAU team the FBCG Elite Dynamic Disciples, and the lessons I teach them prepare them for life. Now don’t get me wrong, we make a lot of noise on the basketball court, but that’s not why I do it. There are lessons they are going to have to learn in life that will differ from their white counterparts. One of them is the stark difference in how they will be treated by the police compared to how white people are treated by the police.
We have a TeamSnap and this week I messaged them a reminder of the rules when they start driving and are stopped by the police. First I sent them this tweet of a white man who is not “following the commands” of the police officer and told them that the rules for them are different.
https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1298353894918172678?s=21
I explained to them as I have done many times that when they are stopped they have to
1 Turn off their music
2 Put their interior lights on (if it’s dark)
3 Roll all their windows down
4 Take out their license and registration and put it on the dashboard so they won’t have to reach for anything
5 Put their cell phone in the cup holder and press record
6 Put their hands on the steering wheel preferably at 10 and 2
7 Yes sir no sir after everything the policeman says no matter their tone or level of aggression (because unfortunately, we have to de-escalate situations that are only escalated because of the color of our skin
Those are realities for being Black in America that Mainstream America can’t relate to because it isn’t their world. They have the privilege of not being viewed as a threat everyday of their lives from the time they are 10 years old.
My daughter Imani is 12 years old and she asked me if the person across the street didn’t film the shooting of Jacob Blake, would anyone have even heard of this case ? A few months ago she asked me if the person didn’t film the policeman who killed George Floyd and everyone didn’t react the way they did after it was released, would those police have been fired or would they have returned the next day with business as usual. I want to be able to tell her yes, they would’ve brought them to justice, and have faith in the system, and this country will love you if you love this country, but I can’t. Then she asked me, when exactly was this country great ? What period of time is Trump referring to when he says that he wants to Make America Great Again ? Was it ever great for us ? These are the conversations that happen in Black households.
Letetra Wildman Jacob Blake’s sister summed up being Black In America when she stated during. Recent press conference,
“I’m not sad. I’m not sorry. I’m angry. And I’m tired. I haven’t cried one time. I stopped crying years ago. I am numb. I have been watching police murder people that look like me for years....I don’t want your pity, I want change”
https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1298364170962952194?s=21
