By Genoa Barrow | OBSERVER Senior Staff Writer
Most Black men today have had some sort of interaction with law enforcement and police-involved shootings continue to make local and national headlines. The American Psychiatric Association acknowledges that African American males who are racially profiled and perceived by law enforcement to be wrongdoers are at increased risk of developing anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The OBSERVER included questions about interaction with law enforcement in our “Where’s Your Head At?” questionnaire on Black men and mental health and well-being. The questions we posed to questionnaire participants on the topic were “Have you ever had negative interaction with law enforcement?” “If yes, what happened?” “Did that interaction leave you with physical or emotional scars?” “How did you heal?” and “Have you healed?”
Here are a few of the responses:
I was told by an officer that the car I was driving “could not” have been mine.
— Theodore Hayes, 72
“Ever” and “negative” are relative words. I’ve never been physically abused by law enforcement but I have been stopped and detained.
— DeAngelo Mack, 44
I got pulled over four times in one week while doing nothing wrong. It just gave me distrust in the police for quite some time. I healed by realizing police are people too and they make mistakes like the rest of us. They deserve grace as well.
— Paul Kaiser, 30
I was left with psychological scars. My rights were violated and treated with disrespect. I have not healed.
— Darnell Dumas, 35
There are too many to count. The last one was being arrested on a bridge during a peaceful protest where my rotator cuff was torn as we tried to keep the peace and law enforcement knew we were there to do just that.
— Ryan McClinton, 38
It didn’t leave me with any emotional or physical scars. It left me with the knowledge that the majority of law enforcement is a form of so-called white supremacy and as a man of color I feel it is my duty to teach the youth how to interact with law enforcement. I also recommend that every parent of color have their offspring read the book, “The Talk.” The author is a brother from Sacramento. The book educates our youth of color on how to interact with law enforcement. Because you can be an example of Black excellence in the community, but as long as you’re a human being of color, at some point you will have an interaction with law enforcement and it’s important that our youth understand that completely. It’s the way it is in America which is land that is not ours.
— Christopher Mayo, 66
I’ve had several interactions due to my poor decision making. No physical or emotional scars. I healed by not repeating negative behaviors.
— Johnny H. Smith, 61
A white cop approached me while I was riding my bike. I was wearing sunglasses. He ordered me to remove them and asked in an aggressive tone where I was going and what I was doing. He demanded to see my identification card. He said I looked like the suspect he was searching for. He asked if I lived with roommates or by myself. He asked other intrusive questions that I found to be uncomfortable. When I asked why, the officer became defensive. I became a bit frightened. After the interrogation, I felt rage. It left me feeling more distrust of cops. I was scared. The memory lingers.
— Theodore Walker, 63
I was pulled over by about 10 cops, put into the back of a police car and had to wait there so a female victim could determine if I was the person who raped her. It was finally determined that the vehicle I was driving was totally different from the one the victim described to police. I was let go from the back of the cop car two hours later. I just went on to work late. I think about it all the time as the incident happened close to my current job.
— Mark Freeman, 40
There have been quite a few. You need a bigger line for me to add that information.
— Damien Harris, 40
“Head Space: Exploring Black Men’s Mental Health” is an OBSERVER’s special series.This project is being reported with the support of the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2024 Ethnic Media Collaborative, Healing California. Senior Staff Writer Genoa Barrow and The OBSERVER are among the collaborative’s inaugural participants.