I’ve never been in trouble for anything in my entire life.

I have respect for law enforcement and also show kindness toward all people.

But I know that if I were ever shot, by the government or by a white civilian, there are many who would automatically assume it was my fault.

I’ve seen this movie enough times now.

It wouldn’t matter if I was minding my business and not breaking any law. Or if I was walking in my own neighborhood.

Any competent defense attorney representing the person who shot me would aim straight for the unspoken biases many have.

I would instantly be transformed from being the dad who never did anything to anybody to the scary black man. The guy who made some upstanding white person (regardless of that person’s history) fear for their life and shoot me as a last resort.

I know it and most of you know it

And once the Tucker Carlson’s of the world caught a whiff of the story, I would then be painted to be even scarier. Even if it has nothing to do with the incident at hand. Maybe I had an argument with someone years ago. Some aspect of my life would be painted to make me scarier.

And, because there are enough people in the population who, whether they’d openly admit it or not, don’t see me as a fellow human worthy of respect and whose life is just as important as theirs, the person who shot me might skate. He looks like some juror’s relative.

I don’t worry all that much about this happening to me. But every black person worries about it happening to our kids.

We have a sickness in our society and our national psyche that has never been healed. And a lot of people who make a living by exploiting it.