“My dad’s been a Memphis police officer for 26 years. When I was younger, I didn’t really think about the danger. To be honest, at first I didn’t even know he was the type of police officer who was out on the streets. I just thought he went to his job and worked inside somewhere. As I got older and started watching the news more and saw the things that were happening in Memphis, I realized that he’s putting his life at risk every day to protect us, and I developed a much greater appreciation for the job that he does. When he’s at home, I take the time to be with him and talk to him because I realize there’s the chance he might not make it back home at night. I think about that every day when he leaves for work, and I say a prayer for him before he goes out the door.
“I really hate seeing people talk about the police on social media. I know they probably have an instance where something with the police went wrong, but when they say what they do, it’s just like putting everybody under one umbrella, which is not true. What goes through my head is: ‘If they met my dad, I don’t think they would have the same opinion.’ Most of my friends around school know my dad because he coaches track in his off hours. He’s pretty friendly and outgoing. He doesn’t usually talk about what’s going on in the media; he just keeps his same mindset and doesn’t let things upset him.
“I know there are a lot of African-American males getting killed by white police officers, but I see the other side too. I see what goes into the police training and why an officer may have made the decision to do what he did. But then I see the other side, as in, ‘Hey, that could be me.’ It’s hard to know what to think sometimes.”
“I really hate seeing people talk about the police on social media. I know they probably have an instance where something with the police went wrong, but when they say what they do, it’s just like putting everybody under one umbrella, which is not true. What goes through my head is: ‘If they met my dad, I don’t think they would have the same opinion.’ Most of my friends around school know my dad because he coaches track in his off hours. He’s pretty friendly and outgoing. He doesn’t usually talk about what’s going on in the media; he just keeps his same mindset and doesn’t let things upset him.
“I know there are a lot of African-American males getting killed by white police officers, but I see the other side too. I see what goes into the police training and why an officer may have made the decision to do what he did. But then I see the other side, as in, ‘Hey, that could be me.’ It’s hard to know what to think sometimes.”
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