Babysitting While White

We've all heard of the expression, "driving while black."  But how about, "babysitting while white?"  A white grandfather and former journalist blogged about his experience of being detained by cops while walking with his black granddaughter.  The black person in me thought finally!  It's not a black man!  But, then I had to really think about this situation further.

We often hear about five-o pulling black people over for no apparent reason.  I've had black friends  tell me they were stopped by cops because they match the description of a criminal on the loose.  So when I read this article, I was kinda pleasantly surprised.  Then I thought about how this man's five year old granddaughter must have felt, and I had an about face.  How insensitive could I be?  I have a daughter of my own.  We count on the police to keep our children safe from child predators, but I hope that they'd do it with caution, and not scare our little ones.  It seems like that was not the case here.  The grandfather revealed how terrified the little girl became after being questioned by the officer.

Speaking of sex offenders, this guy could have been one.  But, he surely didn't deserve being cuffed. In his blog, Grits for Breakfast he also detailed having gone through being stopped and questioned while babysitting his granddaughter - not once, but twice.  Despite offering phone numbers to confirm their relationship, the cops ignored his plea.

This story does hit close to home.  While I haven't been detained by the boys in blue, I'm always asked if Princess is mine.  If I were to get held up by police like this guy did, I'd probably freak!

White or black, I'm sick of hearing about stories like this.  There are too many reports of innocent people being wrongfully detained, shot, and killed- all because they are racially targeted.

How do we stop this from happening?

Weather Anchor Mama