This Could be MY Sons and it's Terrifying

A few months ago something happened in Durham, NC not far from where I live that shook me as a mother. Having biracial or black children is a bit frightening these days, to be honest. This incident occurred while the kids were playing outside. Durham police had received calls about drugs and gun violence at this apartment community earlier and got another call and saw a boy (15 year old black male) hiding behind a building and assumed this was their suspect. So they apprehend the boy, pat him down, and handcuff him. He was playing tag with his younger brother and neighbor! They aimed guns at him! They eventually realized they had the wrong kid and let him go. Some kids have not been so lucky.

I keep thinking this could be my boys. This could happen to them and if it did, what would happen? Would they be fortunate and survive the incident? Because some young black boys do not survive. What about the trauma and trust broken of the very people who are supposed to be protecting us? Who pays for their therapy? My boys would be TERRIFIED. They would freak out and would be completely traumatized. They would never trust police again! I can only imagine this is similar to how these boys and their mother felt after the incident. This mother took action and immediately spoke up about the incident and rallied other mothers to do the same.

Looking more into the story, I wondered what the response was from the police department. Durham Police Chief had this response and made this FB post on their Facebook Page. I it a bit disheartening that the thing this Police Chief was worried about was guns being pointed AT THE KIDS' HEADS. Um...they shouldn't be pointed at them AT ALL. They shouldn't even be drawn at all. I am grateful that the boys were not harmed physically but I KNOW they were harmed emotionally.

I pray that we can fix "racial profiling" and the problems with our criminal justice system so that my boys don't have to be concerned about being mistaken for someone else or judged by their skin tone. I hope that we can rid ourselves of the fear of Black men and people of color. I want my boys to be able to respect and appreciate police just as much as I hope they are respected in return.

Here is more information on racial profiling.

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