As protesters descended upon the streets of the nation’s capital for another day of protesting over the death of George Floyd and institutional racism, one black man sought communion with law enforcement officers who look like him.
Michael West, the father of a 12-year-old boy, approached two black officers Wednesday evening while they stood as a barricade next to Lafayette Park, located across from the White House. Draped in a Pan-African flag, West pleaded for the officers to cross the line between duty and race, even for just a moment, to empathize with his story about the struggle of being a father raising a black son in the United States in 2020.
“All I want to do is take care of my son, my black boy … you don’t have to say nothing. I know you have an obligation not to say anything, but you look like me. So, I know you feel what I go through,” he said. “It’s hard having to explain that experience of being a black man to your black children. And then I see you guys here, you know. I see you doing your job. I get that. But do you have that same conversation with your black children — of how to interact with law enforcement? How not to get killed by law enforcement?”
The two officers, one of whom was wearing sunglasses, didn’t acknowledge West, standing in line with their comrades, all with stoic expressions. They were part of an assorted assembly of law enforcement called into Washington, D.C., this week in response to offshoots of violence and looting that have branched off from the larger, peaceful protests.
West’s interaction with black law enforcement officers is not a one-off. Protesters in several instances across the country over the past 10 days have called on minority officers to recognize the issues of systematic racism and police brutality, and they don’t always maintain their silence. In fact, in some cases, police and National Guardsmen have walked with protesters or taken a knee. Others stand like sphinxes, like statues, though that doesn’t mean they aren’t listening.
West discussed what it would have meant to him had these officers recognized his presence, verbally or through gestures, in a brief interview with the Washington Examiner.
“It would have been everything, and I would’ve been able to go home and tell my son, ‘Hey, you know son, even though these things are going on in America, I still see that there are some that sympathize and empathize and that understand our experiences.’ But they’ve shown the line they’ve drawn. They’ve drawn the line to separate themselves from us,” West said.
He also explained that his son was “noticeably shaken” last week by the death of Floyd while in police custody.
All four officers involved in the deadly arrest — the officers responded to a call about the use of a fake $20 bill — have been fired and charged. Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, applied pressure to the back of Floyd’s neck with his knee for nearly nine minutes and did not let up despite Floyd’s pleas that he couldn’t breathe. He was arrested last week on charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The murder charge was upgraded to second-degree murder on Wednesday, and the other three now-fired officers involved in Floyd’s detainment, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao, were charged with aiding and abetting murder.
“At this point, their blue line matters more than just humanity,” West added. “It would’ve been a human experience just to nod to me or blink or just show a human emotion. Like I said, that blue line means so much more to them than them being a part of society. They separate themselves from us. I identify with them because they are black men.”
