That would not have happened to a white girl.

June 4, 2020

Earlier this week I called a friend in to check on another friend. She and I had a conversation about the protests and about race. She told me a this story. (Names are changed):

… I always told my boys, if the cops stop you, don’t run, or anything like that, just stop and do what they say. Don’t talk back to them!

Darren (son) was coming to pick me and Tiana (daughter) up to go camping and he couldn’t find a place to park in my apartments so he parked sideways behind cars while we were loading the car. We got ready to leave and I said, Wait Darren! I forgot something.” I ran up the stairs and opened my apartment and then Darren rushed in and said he had to pee before we left. I said, “Where is Tiana?” Darren said he locked the car.

Darren started back outside and down the steps and saw four cops standing around his car with their flashlights on and pointed inside the car and Tiana was in there. Darren slowed down. I started to run down the stairs and I could hear Tiana crying. Darren said, “Stop mom.” He was worried that I was running with cops nearby.

I’m like what the f? I can hear Tiana crying and the cops had their flashlights pointed at her. She was seven Ruth.

The cops said, “Someone called us from this complex and said there was an incident” … or something like that. We didn’t interact with anyone that morning.

Ruth interrupting, “Do you think you might have been double-parked behind a tenant who knew the cops would not come about the parking so the caller inflated the situation?”

I’m not sure. Think about how that affected her. Now she’s scared to death of cops. That really scared her. She was seven. It’s hard to convince her that the cops are there to protect her.

Ruth responding, “The cops would not have acted that way if she had been white.”

Thank you …When the police were leaving they were trying to hand Tiana a police sticker. She was behind me hanging onto my leg. She didn’t want anything to do with it.

Ruth