Apr 27, 2021 3 min read

Dr. John Sygielski, president of Harrisburg Area Community College, wrote the following on his Facebook page a few weeks ago:

Got a call from a Black HACC student asking to drive him to work because he was afraid. Established a phone tree of drivers to assist him until he feels ‘safe’ to drive alone, again. I have never before received this request from a White student. Have you?

The post reflects the stark reality of our times. Many Black people are afraid. Mothers are afraid for their Black sons who would simply like to live life and pursue their dreams like everyone else.

Wives are afraid for their Black husbands who hope to avoid being stopped by police coming home from work. And young Black women remember Breonna Taylor, shot in her bed before she could even hold up her hands.

But police say that was just a mistake. Like the one that killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Minneapolis. It was a just an accident, police said. Just a mistake.

It’s the stark reality of our times. Police are killing Black people, often by mistake. And all Black people have reason to be afraid they could be victims of the next mistake.

Things were already at the boiling point recently with nightly protests over Wright’s shooting, just as a good part of the caring world was riveted to the trial of Derek Chauvin, convicted of the murder of George Floyd.

Then, Chicago police killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo, who made the fatal mistake of running away. Kids do the dumbest things, but there’s no leeway for a Black or Brown kid to do dumb things. Police shoot them.

Considering the stark reality of our times, the child may have thought he had a better chance of living by running away than by surrendering to police custody. He may have remembered George Floyd.

Who can forget? Who can forget the video of a Black man on the ground with a police officer’s knee on his neck? Who can forget his groans of “I can’t breathe?” And who can forget his calls for “Mama?”

Reina Wooden, an acclaimed artist in Harrisburg, posted this on her Facebook page:

Dear All People,

If you see a cop talking to any African American person, I KNOW YOU BETTER STOP WALKING. You better stay right there till that cop gets back in their car and drives away. Let them know WE ARE WATCHING THEM and they are not ALONE. This is the LEAST we can do.

This is the stark reality of our times. Many Black people – our co-workers, friends and neighbors – are afraid. Easing tensions and reducing anxieties may require driving someone to work, like Dr. Sygielski did. Or, it may require taking out your cellphone and staying right there, as Wooden suggests.

Most of all, it requires significant changes in how some police view Black people.

It requires many police officers to stop assuming every Black man is a criminal deserving of prison or death. And it requires them all to take concrete steps to treat Black people with the same respect and restraint they readily show white men in business suits.