SOBER THOUGHTS

We are all very very proud of all the young African-American men and women who have successfully entered the law enforcement field.

I simply want to take this opportunity to remind them, particularly those who work in the City Of Roanoke, that jobs in law enforcement haven’t ALWAYS  been available to blacks. 

In Roanoke and Randolph County, it was the efforts of my father, the late Wilkie Clark and others, in the late 1960’s that resulted in the first black police officers being hired.
I recall those years, when black leaders submitted petition after petition asking the city to employ black police officers.

The first officers hired here were Theodore Carlisle, Charles Ware, then later J.W. Baker, and Lorenzo Woody.

I vividly remember that in the beginning, the Mayor and City Council in Roanoke didn’t even want to empower the black officers with the same authority that the white

officers had.  They were restricted in what they could do.  Later, all of this changed very gradually.

Now, there is probably not a city in America, where blacks don’t feel extremely intimidated by Police Officers, because it has long been understood in our communities that whites who worked in law enforcement often used their law-enforcement status as justification to abuse and harass us.   It gave them a “way out.”  So they could hide behind their badges, and legally mistreat us, knowing there would be very little recourse.

During the turbulent 1960’s and 70’s, it was the police forces (then 100% white) that were used to inflict harm upon those who marched during the Civil Rights campaigns (which was their constitution right).
 
Whether you believe it or not, this problem continues to plague every black person who has ever been stopped by a police officer.   The growing problem is that it seems that in this new day, so many young black cops are now assimilating and taking on these nasty, insulting behaviors they observe

among their white counterparts.

My prayer is not to see young black law enforcement officers get caught up in trying to take on these unprofessional and unbecoming attitudes and stoop to the level of mistreating or harassing ANY individual placed in your custody regardless of their race.  

I want to encourage you to read and study the history of police mis-use of excessive and deadly force against blacks.  Read and study at the statistics, and you’ll understand why this article is necessary.   Don’t be fooled.   All you have to do is look at how grossly blacks are over-represented in Alabama’s jails and prisons, to know that African-Americans are targeted by law enforcement.  

Although we understand that you have a job to do, my prayer is that you will dignify the job, and not let the job dignify you.  Don’t forget who you are and where you came from.  And if you observe a fellow police officer harassing or mistreating a citizen, report it to the proper authorities.