Walking While Black:  Two White Dallas Police Officers Racially Profile Unarmed Black Man Walking in His Apartment Complex (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Does the Dallas Police Department have a problem with black males? It would seem that walking while black in Dallas has been a real issue for many young men, who aren’t guilty of committing any crimes. A close friend had an encounter with two white Dallas police officers while he was walking in his apartment complex Tuesday night. He was accosted and asked for his identification, though, he wasn’t under suspicion for committing any crimes. This black male is a mover and shaker in the black community, who hosts his own radio show, has a new album and is raising awareness on a number of fronts, but yet, he’s just another black face in the crowd, subjected to police harassment, while an animal like Adam Lanza would automatically get a pass because he’s white.

The cops demanded to be taken to the apartment though his address was on his ID. They threatened him with a ticket for disorderly conduct for “having an attitude.” What’s worst, they lied and told him there was a curfew in place, but it was 6:30 p.m. When he asked about the curfew, they couldn’t get a response but still demanded to go to his apartment.

At that point, I had not actually told the crooked officers that I lived in the apartment complex, because it did not matter. They had no reason to suspect me of trespassing, or any violation of the law, because I was merely walking. So, they asked for my identification, and I gave it to them. Power tripper 1 said he would check to see if I lived in the apartment complex.

While the first cop went to the car to try to find a reason to arrest me, the other racial profiler tried to give me justification for stopping me, after I asked. He told me there was a curfew. WTF! He actually stated that the curfew was “being outside after dark” after I asked him what time this non-existent curfew was. After he told me that he stopped everyone who they saw in the apartment complex at night, I pointed to a white guy who was walking in the same apartment complex. That’s when I was told “He’s in his car.”

That officer walked away for a few seconds. That is when I thought about recording video to document the exchange. Due to technical issues, my phone only took snapshots of the ground, so I decided to at least get audio of what was going on. Obviously, they did not check to see I lived there (so, they lied), because they attempted to coerce me into taking them to my apartment, in another attempt of violating my rights to privacy and free movement. After pressing them for a reason why, they chose to punish me for my attitude. “The attitude,” as they perceived, was my unwillingness to cooperate with them in intruding into my privacy and questioning their justification for impeding my freedom of movement and being in view after dark while being an African American. Source

Isn’t this the same thing that led to Trayvon Martin’s murder in Sanford, Fla.,  by an overzealous neighborhood watch captain? Isn’t this the same drum major instinct attitude that led to the death of Jordan Russell Davis by David Dunn over loud music? Sadly, we aren’t moving forward on race relations in this country, particularly where law enforcement is concerned. We are moving backwards. There is a distrust of law enforcement by young black men because they have been racially profiled repeatedly. Add the arrogance of many law enforcement officers to the mix and you have a recipe for disaster.