Manasseh writes: "My son is a teenager and he is black. So he must be in a gang. At least that’s what a white woman wrote in the comment section of a newspaper article that mentioned him."
Chicago police at the scene of a shooting on the South Side. (photo: Todd Heisler/The New York Times)
To the Chicago Police, Any Black Kid Is in a Gang
27 December 17
n his first day of kindergarten, my son came home and told me that his classmates should be punished because all they did was run around and play instead of listen to the teacher. As he grew up, he played basketball at the Jewish Community Center, was a farmer in the musical “Oklahoma!” and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at age 13. In the summer, he can be found at a grill, making hot dogs and hamburgers for kids in the neighborhood.
But my son is a teenager and he is black. So he must be in a gang. At least that’s what a white woman wrote in the comment section of a newspaper article that mentioned him. And unfortunately, that’s how Chicago police officers see my son and so many other children like him.
It doesn’t matter that he’s from a good home, with loving parents; all that matters to the white world is his complexion. They don’t see him as my baby boy. They see him as a thug.
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