A black man is beaten to death in the custody of officers at a Mississippi jail. It’s caught on tape, but a newspaper had to sue to get it released. It’s horrible, but a necessary horror to watch.

The story and video speak for themselves, but I do have one question. One officer appears to have been the one doing most of the beating, and some of his coworkers even testified against him. But isn’t that way too little and much too late? Why not, I don’t know, show some balls and stop the whole thing before this man lost his life?

One lesson most men learn the hard way is listening to moms when she tells you what NOT to do. I learned I was 17, on a rainy day in the ‘hood when my raise (Pittsburgh slang for mother, because she raised you) begged my best friend and I not to leave the crib. She thought she heard gunshots and didn’t want us outside.

When you’re 17 you know it all, so of course we left. Sparing you all the minutia, after a 15 minute walk to the store, both of us were handcuffed on a wet curb, surrounded by flashing lights and a gang of Pittsburgh’s finest. Somebody was shooting, out of a car, at another car that eventually crashed. We were walking down the street, not driving, but apparently we were good enough: we fit the description.

Besides listening to the raise at all costs, that I would often ‘fit the description’ was the other lesson I learned on that curb (that and that cold, wet curbs ain’t comfortable). Since then I’ve fit the description walking home from high school (somebody got pistol-whipped by a few black males wearing blue, and for that me and two friends, in a mostly-black neighborhood were stopped and searched), driving home from work in Baltimore, and walking to a friend’s house in DC.

That first time was in 1994, years before an incident on the New Jersey Turnpike made “driving while black” a household term. It was proof, sadly, of the many -isms that black mothers have to teach their boys about survival in America: how to navigate and survive the inevitable experience of fitting the description. (Don’t talk back. Don’t answer any questions except your name and address. If you’re in a car, put your hands on the dash and don’t reach for anything…To this day I don’t keep my registration in the glove box; in case I’m pulled over, no one will have the excuse that ‘he reached for something.’)

But even with all those survival skills the raise gave me, one question remains? When will I no longer fit the description?

Let’s get one thing out of the way: I’ve had my share of bad cop experiences. I’m black, male and have lived in big cities — sometimes rough neighborhoods — my entire 30 years. Pick anybody like me in America, and I’ll show you somebody with a nuanced view of “Officer Friendly”.

But that’s the thing: the relationship between blackfolk and the police isn’t just black-and-white (pun not intended). It ain’t all “us good, them bad”. I could spend a week talking about being pulled over, handcuffed, searched and threatened but we all know stories like that. I’d rather ask tougher questions, like can we expect police to really protect our communities if there’s no balance between trust and trepidation on the two sides?

Where’d that come from? This story, from yesterday’s newspaper in Pittsburgh (my hometown): somebody in ACJ (that’s the Allegheny County Jail for the uninitiated) printed up a flier with 126 names on it. Those named were alleged snitches, tagged by a jailbird for allegedly helping police and prosecutors make people like him into jailbirds. The flier didn’t urge violence, but we all know what having your name on a list like this in the ‘hood means. Four people whose names were on it were already dead before it hit the streets: homicide victims.

Most of the people on the list were black males.

True, it’s difficult to trust police if you live in neighborhoods that they patrol like it’s Baghdad (peep THIS example from my very own neighborhood back home — more on it later) . It’s also true that cops can’t solve crimes if communities are in as much fear of winding up on the snitch list as they are of seeing those flashing lights behind them on a dark street at night.

They take an oath to serve and protect, but what happens when police protection crosses the line in communities of color and becomes police brutality? BET’s Ian Smith looks at law enforcement and police brutality in America on this week’s “Meet the Faith.”
Smith and the Rev. Conrad Tillard of Nazarene Congregational Church; Police Lt. Steven L. Rogers of Nutley, N.J.; and retired New York City Police Detective Graham Witherspoon debate the issue of “excessive force” in the Black community, citing various well-known cases from Los Angeles to the East Coast. Among the cases highlighted is the most recent tragic shooting of Sean Bell, who was cut down by New York City Police in a haze of 50 bullets while leaving his bachelor party on the eve of his wedding.

“This only happens disproportionately in communities of color,” states Tillard. Fellow panelist Rogers disagrees. “I think this idea that it’s only happening in minority communities is not true.” What do you think?

Rajan Says
Check out the latest editorial cartoon from Rajan Sedalia. Here’s his take on police brutality. “Violence has always been a quick solution in the U.S. It’s quick, efficient and empowering – kind of like fast food. If you don’t agree with me, let’s fight. Winner gets a happy meal.”

Guest Blogger

Making a return visit as a Meet the Faith guest blogger is Keith Reed. Keith is the creator of BlackPeoplesmoney.com is a business reporter at the Boston Globe. His work has appeared in Black Enteprise, Essence, Heart & Soul and King magazines, and he is also co-creator of “Brothersmanlaw” , a satirical blog written by and for urban males.