Black children may develop negative perceptions of law enforcement due to recent incidents of police brutality.
On Tuesday, June 16, 2020, Stacey Pierre-Louis posted a gut-wrenching video on social media of his 10-year-old son, Eliah. While dribbling a basketball on his family’s driveway, Eliah stopped dribbling and hid behind his family’s SUV. Moments later, a police car can be seen passing the family’s home. Once the police car is gone, Eliah went back to playing basketball.
Pierre-Louis provided insight regarding what occurred during that moment.
“I was at work watching my son shoot hoops in the driveway when I caught this,” Pierre-Louis wrote. “It floored me … I’ll save the dramatics, but growing up Black, most of the time means fearing the police versus looking up to them. I live in an affluent neighborhood in Trumbull with a really good school system. This kid has all the opportunity to do [or] be whatever he wants. Why does he feel like he has to hide when he isn’t doing anything wrong? I asked him why he did that when he got home. He replied; ‘because they killed George Floyd.’
“I didn’t know what and still don’t know what to say to him to make it better. A manager at my job told me to tell him that doing what he did is ridiculous and that I should teach him not to be fearful of police. Deep down, I don’t know if it’s true, maybe staying out of the way is best.
“He didn’t learn this behavior at home. We stream movies so he doesn’t see the news, and we don’t talk negatively about police. No need to reply in the comments, but think to yourself … what would you say?”
The post eventually went viral and inspired LeBron James to respond to the video, posting, “Breaks my heart.”
The perception of law enforcement must be changed through legislation and with police making an effort to connect with the communities they serve. Otherwise, young Black boys will continue to view the police as a threat instead of people who are paid by taxpayers to protect and serve.
View the video below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBTcEaAHVhx/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
