Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast posts about an experience he endured today. Scott says, “I hope readers will excuse this self-indulgent anecdote.” I think it’s one of the finest posts I’ve ever read.
It’s about Scott, walking down the street of Austin with his granddaughter holding his finger, being confronted by the police because of his race. For all the discussion and argument about what the police can or should do, this is as real a story as it gets.
Please go read Scott’s post.
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My understanding, and feel free to double check on this, is that the overwhelming majority of crimes against children are committed by someone of the same race; child abductions in particular don’t seem to cross racial lines. Which makes this a case of ignorance-based racial profiling, vs evidence-based profiling.
Am I the only one who finds the offices’ responses of “someone called it in so we had to check it out” evocative of Arthur Miller’s play The View from the Bridge?
It occurs to me that little Ty may, from time to time, have to deal with police officers — most folks do, after all — and it looks to me like her grandfather started her off exactly right.
It also occurs to me that if they really felt that they had to check out the report — and, depending on what they were told, they probably did — there were obvious and better ways to do it, and the only worse ones would have involved violence.
(I don’t think it should be a surprise to experienced, professional police officers to hear that a babysitter, parent, sibling, or grandparent of a child might actually be of a different race than the child. Not part of the advanced course.)
I found this story so fundamentally sad. Thankfully, Ty’s grandfather was Scott. And despite all his experience and knowledge, there was so little he could do to end the situation or protect his granddaughter from experiencing it. Also, I am thankful that one of the officers didn’t decide to teach him a little something about respecting the police.
I wish I was better versed in Arthur Miller so I could agree. As it is, I will happily take your word for it.
I guess this beats walking your dog while Black.
I didn’t mean to be obscure, Scott. Sorry.
In the play, one party makes a secret call to immigration to get a second party deported, in order to break up a relationship in the hopes of stepping up and stealing the girl. (It is a remarkably powerful play, and all the more relevant in our age of Homeland (sic) Security (sic). If I were still directing, I would love to stage it today.)
I am very unnerved with the idea that a petty or ignorant complaint to the police can divert so many police resources, or call down so much hassle for a law-abiding individual.
I agree with your reply to J-dog that this is fundamentally sad.
I don’t know about BWW, but being a dad seems to give license to just about anyone to make comments. And they do:
“Oh, you’re babysitting!” (your own kids! That’s like calling being home alone “housesitting”)
“That baby needs a hat!” (that baby wouldn’t wear a hat if you paid it in puppies)
blah blah blah…
Well you’re a dad, I’m sure you have your own stories.
We’ve gotten over our collective fear of “working” women, now let’s get over the idea that men are fathers (and grandfathers).
Babysitting While White: The Path of Least Resistance
Scott Henson’s description of his encounter with police while walking with his granddaughter has received significant attention, as it well should.