When I was younger, I got caught, along with two of my siblings (sorry Regan and Creighton) and several friends (who shall remain nameless) breaking into the Amarillo City Pound at 2 in the morning. We had jumped the fence and searched the place, looking for our lost dog who we were worried would be put down the next morning. 4 cops showed up as we were climbing back over the fence. After some explanation on our part (as well as plenty of profanity from Regan), the cops called the director of the pound, got him out of bed, and asked him to look for our dog the next morning and call us instead of putting him down. They then told us that they were sorry we had lost our dog and told us to go home. As an upper middle-class white kid, I just assumed that this was how the system worked for everyone. Contrast this with the decision yesterday not to bring charges against the cops who killed Eric Garner with a chokehold (on video!!) for the crime of selling loose cigarettes. My white friends and I will never be able to understand the fear that my black and brown friends feel when interacting with the police, or when expecting the justice system to take care of them, but we can at least recognize the advantages that we enjoy just because we have white skin.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 16:30:33 +0000
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