I was so struck by a story that someone on my IJ team shared recently. Rita* is the sweetest person you've ever met, tough on the outside for about a milisecond until she smiles or talks and you see that she has the warmest heart in the world. She grew up in a 'rough part' of LA and said once she was outside, sweeping, while her brother and some of his friends were hanging out in the lawn. Cops that were driving by randomly stopped, got out of the car, and made them all line up with their hands up while they searched them. The whole experience and attitude of the cops was degrading, rude, and humiliating.
When Rita told them that she was back visiting from a college (a 4-year liberal arts college in Iowa, not community college, she corrected them) the cops were shocked. Rita also went on to say that they had no reason to stop and search them and that they acted simply on the appearance of her, her brother, and his friends. The cops apologized and left. I imagine it as a a cat chasing a mouse who would stop and leave, surprised, when it realizes that the 'mouse' is also a cat, an equal.
It makes me angry to think about someone passing judgements on Rita or acting like she's scum, and it makes me angrier to think about the fact that this happens all the time. Rita said she was particularly struck by how her brother and his friends acted - totally not surprised, they knew the routine as if it happens to them regularly. We need cops patrolling areas of violence, but their attitude should be pride in protecting and uplifting the people, not pride in having power over the people.
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