Editor’s note: Leroy Chapman has worked for the AJC since 2011 and is senior editor for local news. He has two sons, 15 and 16. Events in Ferguson have prompted discussions with his boys about what they should do in a confrontation with an adult. Here’s how those conversations unfold:
Boys, let’s talk about what’s going on in Ferguson.
I know you have questions about it. You’ve watched the anger boiling over in the streets, maybe discussed it in school or among your friends.
Know this: It’s going to happen again. That’s just the truth.
So it’s important that you understand how to handle confrontation. If it’s an adult you don’t know, always hold your tongue. Stay calm. And, the first chance you get, call me.
In any encounter with the police the rules are: Keep your hands visible; answer respectfully; do not argue. And call me.
Now, I’m not telling you that you should walk around in fear. We have great respect for the police, who are there to help us. And generally adults aren’t going to do you any harm.
But I also have to prepare you for what might be inevitable.
You see, there are people among us who are blind to you. On the worst days, that might include some police officers.
When those people encounter you, they won’t see who you are.
Where we know you as our bundle of energy, ambition and purpose, they’ll only see a threat — young, black and male.
Where we know you to be unfailingly polite and confrontation-averse, still, they might only see a threat. Young, black and male. They won’t see an honor student or an athlete. They’ll only see the embodiment of their own fears.
I know I’ve told you before that, when you’re in public, you don’t talk loud or engage in horseplay with your friends or run through crowds. For others, that’s immaturity. For you, that could be construed as a threat. Because you are young, black and male.
Is that fair? No. Is it the world we live in? Yes.
Is it new? No.
I was 16 once. And 17, 18 and so forth.
I’ve been stopped and questioned maybe a dozen times in my life for fitting the description.
I was once stopped on a Naval base in San Diego while with a group of black guys who were wearing hoodies. We were told the base had a gang problem. Didn’t matter that our hoodies were issued by the U.S. Navy. I still got frisked, questioned and photographed.
So I guess that made me a suspected gang member in the eyes of the Naval Intelligence. I was also an officer candidate.
You know what I did that night? I did what my father taught me. I kept my hands visible. I answered respectfully. I did not argue.
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