This is a Reality White People, and it Needs to Stop

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A topic that we must continue to speak on and bring up is police brutality against people of color. As soon as we forget to stop bringing it up, it gets forgotten, and continues its deadly cycle all over again. I think that we have been able to make serious strides to spread awareness against police brutality, but we still have a long way to go. I want to share some of my experiences as a white female watching and hearing of police brutality, along with unfair treatment against African-Americans. It was an experience I knew that I never had to worry about. I never had to fear that a police officer would pull a gun on me. My white privilege never put me in fear of being pulled over on the side of the road for no reason. I believe that as soon as white people start understanding how privileged they are, then they can start to feel the shame and make a change. A change to actually make moves towards equal rights for everyone.

In 2003 I was a freshman in college, moving into a low-income apartment complex. I had grown up in areas just like this one, so I didn’t feel out of place being in this complex. The complex was quiet most of the time, and the neighbors would definitely watch out for each other, letting them know if someone was hanging around that wasn’t supposed to be here. Normal community watch. It was nice having a tight-knit community, but let’s keep it real, I was one of the only white people living in this community. I was so naive to the actual differences based on race because I was fortunate a enough to grow up being white. I didn’t know people got picked on just because they were black. I never saw that throughout my childhood. Living in this neighborhood would give me the reality of what was going on though. I was going to be introduced to what actually goes on between a person of color and a police officer.

My next door neighbor’s were a young Haitian couple with a toddler. I became a close friend of the family, helping out with small favors that they needed, such as child care while they ran to the store. I loved being a part of this community, and wouldn’t think twice when any of the neighbors would ask me for a favor. I knew that I was building a strong bond with them, and I could always ask for a favor in return. Law enforcement had a heavy presence in our community, regularly riding through just to leer and give dirty looks. They would go out of their way to make people feel uncomfortable, unlike the police officers that I had met growing up. One day as I was walking my dog, my complex swarmed with police officers. I just stood there, frozen, confused what was going on. Finally, a police officer yelled at me, “Get in your fucking house!” I did as I was told without any type of argument, but then after I got inside, I was confused why he felt the need to be so aggressive with me. Did he think that I was less deserving of respect because of the community where I lived?

Several weeks later two detectives approached me while I was unloading groceries from my car, both wearing Hawaiian style shirts. I had never seen any type of law enforcement officer have to wear different type of clothing, other than a regular uniform. They started asking me about the whereabouts of the young African-American couple that lives next door to me. I was super confused because of their dress, and the first thing I thought was, are they even really cops? I went into a mode of distrust, not knowing what I was supposed to do or say when I was approached by someone like this. The only thing I kept repeating in my head was being told never to talk to strangers, and this seemed like a great time to start practicing that. I shrugged my shoulders and continued carrying my groceries into my house. The detectives then knocked on my neighbor’s door. I walked into my house, arms full of food, when I heard a very loud thud, like someone had slammed a door. I dropped the groceries as I heard a shrill screech come from outside. I ran outside, feeling like I needed to do something to protect, although I didn’t know what was waiting for me out there. As I stepped outside I was watching the male neighbor being put into handcuffs, slammed up against the wall. I watched my neighbor stiffen up and do exactly what he was told. Next what happens was what changed my life forever in the way that I view police officers. The police officer then started yelling, “stop struggling motherfucker”, and started pushing him forcefully against the wall from behind. I started to scream, “stop!”, but the police officer continued, like he couldn’t even hear me yelling out in fear. I started to cry and sob, and fell to my knees, screaming “stop!” one last time as loud as I could. The police officer ordered me to go into my home and mind my own business, and took my neighbor away. My female neighbor and her toddler stayed for another month, but then had to leave because they could no longer afford to live in the apartment without the income of the father.

The next year it spread through local media that two men had gone missing just down the road from my neighborhood. Report said that both men, Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos, had last seen being arrested by Collier County Sheriff’s deputy Corporal Steve Calkins. The deputy reported that after arresting both men on separate days, he had changed his mind, and drop them back off at a convenience store. The deputy was linked to the disappearance of Terrance after family members discovered that his car was towed, being signed off by Corporal Calkins. The family contacted the police station and discovered that Calkins had never filed any reports. The Corporal first denied ever having contact with Terrance, but then admitted to having a recollection a few days later. Calkins reported that he saw Terrance with a car that was in distress. He gave Terrance a ride to Circle K where he worked, and dropped him off. He then returned back to the scene and discovered that the car was not properly registered. He became angry that Terrance would lie to him, and called Circle K to speak with him. The worker at the Circle K reported over the phone that Terrance was not an employee. At that time Calkins called in the report to have the car towed. An investigation was started, and it was discovered that the timeline did not match, nor were they ever able to find a phone call made to Circle K on the date of the incident.

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Felipe Santos was a Mexican national living illegally in the United States. A few months prior to the disappearance of Terrance, Felipe had also went missing, with the same claims by Deputy Calkins, that he had dropped him off at another Circle K. After being involved in a motor vehicle accident, Felipe was arrested for reckless driving and driving without a license or insurance. Later that day Felipe’s boss contacted the local jail in order to post bail, but was told that he was never booked. Corporal Calkins went on to say that he changed his mind about the arrest because Felipe was so polite and cooperative, and dropped him off at the local convenience store.
Deputy Corporal Steve Calkins was fired, but never arrested. The two men are still missing as of today.
As years continued to fly by, I would see small instances of continued harassment of law enforcement towards people of color, but it definitely was not being talked about. No one was stepping up and challenging what was going on. That is until the African-American Community started to take a stand against what was going on. They started to be more vocal of the harassment and brutality, because of the color of their skin. We started hearing about cases, such as Philando Castille, Freddie Grey, and Walter L. Scott.

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In 2016 a case touched my heart from South Florida once again. As a social worker, you do what you need to in order to protect your own, knowing that you really are the only one who knows truly what they go through on daily basis in this type of work. It’s so much more than just a job or a career, it’s changing people’s lives. Again, heard through the media, another person of color shot by law enforcement. Charles Kinsey, an African-American mental health therapist, was employed through a local mental health facility. A young autistic man who was living at the facility was able to get out unaccompanied, and started to walk through the community with a toy truck. Police were dispatched to the scene, receiving reports that there was a man threatening to shoot himself in the area. Charles was also combing the area, looking for the autistic man in order to bring him back to the group home. They all found each other at the same time, police drawing their guns towards the autistic man. Charles got onto the ground with his hands up, and yelled that his patient had a toy truck, and was not going to hurt anyone. With his hands in the air, and laying on the ground, police shot Charles. Charles was able to recover, and it was not deadly, but you never know when you’re using unneeded force what can really happen. The police officer that shot Charles is still employed and has never been arrested.

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At this time people were up in arms of the Black Lives Matter movement, although I praised and pushed it against all advice from friends and family. I would hear people I know andlove say things like “all lives matter”, or “blue lives matter”. They would accuse Black Lives Matter of causing more trouble and being a terrorist group. Others would say that Black Lives Matter shouldn’t exist because everybody gets bullied and harassed at some point in their life; It’s not happening because of the color of their skin. That was white privilege talking out of turn. These people that were just running at the mouth had no clue what it was like to be an African-American, growing up and such a racially-charged America. Now, a year later, it is completely undeniable when we turn on the TV and see what’s going on behind the doors of our government, who’s supposed to be representing everybody for what is best, what is fair, what is equal. I join my brothers and sisters, all people of color, to raise awareness that white people should be ashamed of what we are doing right now. We need to make a change and we need to do better. We need to come together as a nation that protects everyone, regardless of the stereotypes and stigmas that we have been taught by our white predecessors over the generations. It’s time to change our frame of mind. Criminals come in every color, not just brown.