Police Brutality is an issue that always seems to remind me and many other Parents of young Black and Brown kids, that our safety when it comes to our own encounters with a police officer is not guaranteed. In the article called Justice counts, it stated that, “Police brutality often refers to excessive use of force by law enforcement officers.”
Everyday, we have seen so many Black and Brown communities get overpoliced, harassed, and just downright disrespected by the people who are supposed to protect them. Speaking from a Black person perspective, Cops are not to us, what they are to white people. I say this because they use their own ideas and stereotypes about certain marginalized groups of people, to determine whether or not a person is good or bad.It's almost as if stereotypes that have been created in the past to degrade and undermine certain marginalized groups, are what completely represents communities.
Now, Imagine this, your child is in some sort of crisis and they’re in a dire need of help and so they call the cops, but as soon as the cops arrive at the scene they treat your child as if they’re the target instead of the victim. So, they pull out their weapons and start yelling at them without trying to understand the situation, making your child feel afraid and unsafe, so they end up deciding to run away from the situation and then Bang. Everything stops, the background noises start to fade, and then you hear, “Oh shoot, I just accidentally shot them.” Terrifying right, well this is a very real situation that has been occurring for years. Many Black and Brown Parents live with this constant fear that their child might be the next hashtag or the next victim to Police Brutality.
The way Police officers have been taking lives and getting people riled up, makes you wonder, “Hey, what good are you to me if you’re only here to hurt me?”
So parents, please understand that the fear that many young children have of cops, is not normal and that talking about police brutality and uplifting young voices is very important because it’ll spread awareness and catch the attention of those who can change the way the police force operates.
Everyday, we have seen so many Black and Brown communities get overpoliced, harassed, and just downright disrespected by the people who are supposed to protect them. Speaking from a Black person perspective, Cops are not to us, what they are to white people. I say this because they use their own ideas and stereotypes about certain marginalized groups of people, to determine whether or not a person is good or bad.It's almost as if stereotypes that have been created in the past to degrade and undermine certain marginalized groups, are what completely represents communities.
Now, Imagine this, your child is in some sort of crisis and they’re in a dire need of help and so they call the cops, but as soon as the cops arrive at the scene they treat your child as if they’re the target instead of the victim. So, they pull out their weapons and start yelling at them without trying to understand the situation, making your child feel afraid and unsafe, so they end up deciding to run away from the situation and then Bang. Everything stops, the background noises start to fade, and then you hear, “Oh shoot, I just accidentally shot them.” Terrifying right, well this is a very real situation that has been occurring for years. Many Black and Brown Parents live with this constant fear that their child might be the next hashtag or the next victim to Police Brutality.
The way Police officers have been taking lives and getting people riled up, makes you wonder, “Hey, what good are you to me if you’re only here to hurt me?”
So parents, please understand that the fear that many young children have of cops, is not normal and that talking about police brutality and uplifting young voices is very important because it’ll spread awareness and catch the attention of those who can change the way the police force operates.
