Thread by @ChomiloMD

I have a confession... as a child, I once shoplifted.

A Thread.

npr.org/2019/06/16/733…

I was maybe 6 or 7 years old. My (white) maternal grandparents were visiting & I went with them, my Mom & younger siblings to a Christian book store.

At the time I was really into Colby’s Clubhouse. A show about a robot that hung out w/kids & taught them lessons from the Bible

In the store was a Colby wristwatch! I wanted it, bad. Even now I recall how much I wanted that watch. My Mom refused.

So I snuck away & put the box under my winter coat. I remember the walk to the car being difficult as I was afraid it would fall out.

I knew it was wrong, but I wanted it anyways.

I made it home, went straight to my room, took it out of the box & put it on. I had done it & now the watch was all mine.

Later that day my Mom asked me how I had gotten the watch & I was prepared: “Grandma bought it for me.”

That seemed to satisfy her..

That evening my Mom called me in to talk on the phone w/ Grandma (gulp). She started off by thanking her for the watch & I followed suit. But I recall my Grandma calmly replying, “Nathan, I did not buy you that watch. How did you get it?”

I was out of moves. I fessed up. I could hear the disappointment in my Grandma’s voice & see it on my Mom’s face. My Dad was REALLY upset with me.

I felt shame & guilt.

The next day we went back to the store. I gave the watch & the box it was in back.

I also had to give my entire piggy bank to them (even though I would have had some leftover after covering the price of the watch!).

They were kind, understanding, gracious. It made me feel even worse that I had stole from them.

This is one of my earliest, clearest memories.

And from my recollection at no point were police contacted to address this situation.

No one felt that to teach me this lesson armed adults were necessary.

I know now that this was likely the result of my proximity to white privilege.

Because of that privilege I can look back without triggering the PTSD that these children in AZ & so many others now are burdened with.

All because they made a silly mistake that almost all children make.

Except they & their family are Black while doing so.

By now we ALL (should) know that there are cops that will act this way. So I want to pose a question that I haven’t seen addressed yet:

Why didn’t the store clerk who witnessed this “grand theft” just approach the family & make them aware of what they saw?

What was so threatening about 2 young parents & a 4 & 1 year old that instead of confronting them once they left the store it was necessary to call the police?

Especially knowing how some police will respond to Black & Brown families?

There is a problem with how our police - sworn to serve & protect - serve & protect Black & Brown families.

Anyone who still questions this must have put on their blinders decades ago, locked them & thrown away the key.

But we also continue to have a problem with our fellow citizens using the police as a weapon against Black & Brown bodies.

Black & Brown families.

Black & Brown children.

All children deserve to grow up in a community that allows them to make the innocent mistakes we all must make to learn & grow.

No child should be left with PTSD, or worse, because of those mistakes.

We need to figure out a way to change the culture of automatically calling the police to fix problems that don’t require solutions within a spectrum including lethal force.

We need to stop traumatizing Black & Brown kids for being kids.

#Tweetiatricians/#MedEd/#FMRevolution need to be more vocal about the health impacts of this form of violence on our children.

And we need to start talking to ALL parents about how to reduce the racial bias we are all taught, directly or indirectly, from the very start.

Then maybe one day a Black boy who shoplifts while w/ White family & one who shoplifts w/ Black family will both have the opportunity to learn from their mistake.

Without anyone being held at gunpoint.

#BLM
#Putkids1st
(End)