by Morris Reeves

My parents came to Chicago from rural Alabama during the great Black Migration to the north in the 40s and 50s following World War 2. Serving in the Navy and stationed in the Pacific area during World War 2 my father saw a better side of being black and he developed a strong dislike for the Jim-crow south. After marrying my parents settled in Chicago where I was born and raised.

Living in a large diverse urban environment I have many stories of petty rudeness and disrespect because of my race. Practically all people in this environment have such stories regardless of race. This is not unique to black people. Consequently it is easy to think that racism is only a petty disrespectful rudeness. What is different and more critical to the black experience is the mortal danger we routinely live with every day as a result of racism. That danger comes from both illegal and legal sources. This is a singular stress to being black in America. As a fan of (PBS) nature documentaries I often compare the life of black working middle class people, especially black men to being a zebra herd on the African plains. We must be ever vigilant because we are set upon by a host of predators. Our predators take the form of criminal thugs and racist police. Police predation is more egregious because their mission is to protect the herd and keep it safe.

Coming of age for black children and black males in particular involves the “Talk” not about sex but survival at the hands of the police. My talk went something like this:

“You are older now and you have got to be careful when out especially in dealing with the police. They are likely to stop you for no good reason other than harassment for being black. What you have to keep in mind is that they have absolute power of life and death over you. No matter what they do or say they will likely not be held accountable under the law. So remember this fact and be mindful that the most innocent minor interactions with the police could result in your death or severe injury. Like it or not the police are a necessary evil which we must live with”

At the time I thought how unfair it was to have to live that way as an American Citizen. This kind of thing took place in Communist countries. My experience is one of both good and bad interactions with the police. In fact I have family and friends who are police. I had a really memorable negative police experience mainly because it occurred in Cape Cod Massachusetts. My wife and I were going to a wedding of a very good white friend in Cape Cod. We flew into Boston on Thursday rented a car to drive down to Cape Cod for the wedding which was on Saturday. On our drive down to Cape Cod we were stopped by a policeman a couple of miles from our hotel. The policeman told us that there was a problem with our license plate. He had me to get out of the car and show him my driver’s license. On seeing we were from Illinois he asked me why I was in Cape Cod. I told him about the wedding. He had me wait while he went to his police car. I assumed he was checking the plates of the rental car and my driver’s license.

While I was standing outside of the rental car another car stopped. A white friend who was also attending the same wedding saw me standing there by the highway with a police car and stopped to see what was going on. I explained the situation to him and he walked to the police car and spoke to the officer. He repeated what I said regarding the wedding we were both attending. The officer’s entire demeanor changed. Whereas he was previously questioning me with skepticism he was now polite and almost friendly. He apologized for the inconvenience, gave me back my license and wished us a pleasant stay in Cape Cod. The officer never explained what the problem was with the rental car license plate and I knew not to ask him because the answer was obvious.

We arrived in Cape Cod early enough for a cocktail reception which was the plan. My experience with the police and subsequent rescue by my white friend was the evening topic of conversation. The bride and groom as well as the other wedding guests were shocked. They kept saying “how could this happen in Cape Cod Massachusetts of all places? Massachusetts is liberal and progressive ”. My wife and I explained that when you are black it might happen to you any place in America. Wedding guests were still talking about our police experience on Sunday when we left Cape Cod.

While I was not surprised by our police experience in Cape Cod I regretted that it intruded on my memories of a good friend’s wedding in a beautiful place. That is what racism does to you. It not only causes a stressful event but it also subtlety destroys the pleasure of your memories. Even though I have been to Massachusetts several times since then I have never felt the same about the state after that wedding trip.