Kids are Still Kids No Matter their Skin Color

Ferguson, 2014 Credit: Fibonacci Blue

When it comes to police officers who murder young Black or brown kids, the important piece here is that the children themselves were performing harmless acts – yet those acts were seemingly threatening to a police officer. When has there ever been a White child who was sought after by a police officer for just playing in a park? These kids are just kids. Just because of the color of their skin does not immediately make them more dangerous than any other person. Also, these children are just going about their young and carefree lives by nature of being a young child, yet there’s a threat to their safety just because an officer who has more power and authority over them finds them a threat. “Suspicious activity” only goes so far when it comes to a child who is not bringing immediate danger to themselves or other people around them. When it comes to any of the news stories about a young Black child getting murdered by a police officer no one seems to bat an eye besides their family who was just by nature of being who they are, lost a part of their family. Officers need to be made aware of the biases that they hold them it comes to how dangerous Black children are. In reality, they are just as innocent as any other child who may not have dark skin. How to make them aware if still a question in my own mind due to the possibility of being fought back on how it is problematic of them to attack innocent children. There needs to be a way for them to be made aware of their biases in order to save other children’s lives.