Exaggerated fear of blacks at root of Cincinnati unrest

By Claude Lewis

A few years ago, when the Rev. Jesse Jackson enjoyed greater credibility, he confessed he felt relieved when a young man walking behind him on a dark street turned out to be white.

Jackson's statement proves you don't have to be white to share the fear so prevalent in our society. Nearly all of us grow apprehensive when a group of young blacks approaches, especially at night. Judging from the experience of a relatively few, such a circumstance can be dangerous indeed.

But that doesn't explain why so many Americans extend these feelings to African Americans as a group. It does not explain why well-dressed black businessmen, lawyers, off-duty police officers and others have been abused or killed by police officers.

It is nearly impossible for whites to understand what African Americans experience daily all over America. Whites know little or nothing about the slights blacks encounter when they walk into a restaurant, shopping mall or even library. Few whites ever know what it does to a person inside when you cross a street and hear the inevitable sound of electric automobile door locks snapping shut. There's no way whites can know what it's like for one's children to be judged solely by their skin color. Police officers, black and white, engaging in racial profiling, often stop and arrest many well-dressed, law-abiding African Americans guilty of nothing more than their skin color.

It's no secret that many young African Americans are aggressive and appear ominous wherever they go. Truth is, however, that the overwhelming majority of blacks aren't. The argument, however, is that people don't have the time to differentiate between those who are dangerous and those who are not. Citizens may enjoy the luxury of such judgments; police officers should not. The difference is that all officers carry weapons that too many are willing to use at the slightest or even a perceived provocation.

Examples proliferate. Recall, if you will, the experience of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed black street vendor who died after being struck by 19 of 41 bullets fired by four white New York City police officers. As it turned out, Diallo was guilty of nothing. Remember the depraved episode after Abner Louima was forced into a men's room by at least two white officers in a Brooklyn precinct?

In Cincinnati, the fatal police shooting of an unarmed 19-year-old black man, the fourth since November in that city, has sparked unrest during the last two weeks. Such behavior cannot be justified, but certainly people should understand the fear and frustration on the part of blacks there. One tearful Cincinnati resident, Loria Artis, put it simply: "We're tired, we're tired."

And why shouldn't they be tired after civil rights groups and the American Civil Liberties Union alleged a 30-year pattern of racial profiling in Cincinnati?

True, the victim, Timothy Thomas, was no innocent. He was wanted on multiple misdemeanor charges including traffic violations, driving without a license and driving while not wearing a seat belt. Should he have lost his life because he attempted to run from officers, knowing the police as he did?

Many years ago I was stopped on my front lawn by a police officer who, without checking my identification, informed me that I had "no business in this neighborhood." I was not behaving aggressively, nor was I in any way disorderly. Still, the officer placed his hand on his weapon and ordered me to stop. Had I attempted to flee, he might well have shot me. My neighbor promptly informed the officer he was mistaken. The officer, now red-faced, didn't apologize but charged me with "disorderly conduct" because I didn't freeze when he ordered me to stop. The case was later thrown out.

I don't deny that too many blacks are involved in illegalities. Too many whites are, too. The disparity between the reputations of blacks and whites is much too great. That often leads to fear, which in turn leads to disastrous consequences, including police abuse and civil outbursts as in Cincinnati. The surprise, however, is not that there are so many of them, but that there are so few.