“The police relationship with African Americans has always been … a problematic, contentious relationship,” said Dr. Earl Smith, an adjunct professor of sociology at George Mason University.
Smith said people can become annoyed if one makes statements asserting a disconnect between police and the Black community, “but I’m thinking, ‘Who are you trying to kid? In the place that I grew up, police routinely beat up young Black males.”
Smith, who was raised in Long Island, New York, said he raised his sons in Tacoma, Washington, and still provided training on “driving while Black” and how to deal with the police if stopped.
The issue is not new, sociologists say.
In fact, said Dr. Ray Von Robertson, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, “The relationship between African-American —Black — people and police has always been contentious as long as there’s been police.”
Robinson, like Smith, said part of the “common-sense training” for Black men in this country is training on how to deal with the police, a conversation that is not frequently a topic for other communities.
