My dear friend Bernard is a professor of African American history.
Bernard is white.
(Yes, that’s relevant.)
I met Bernard when our kids were five.
I’ve learned a lot from him.
Bernard and his partner lead tours for police officers through the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
There have been tons of news stories about what he does.
Last week was Spring break and Bernard and I met for lunch.
I last saw Bernard when he and his son were visiting New York and we hung out around Washington Square.
As we caught up on one another’s lives, we talked about his work with police.
Last Friday, he was leading a tour for police recruits who are being sworn in as full police officers this coming Friday.
Did I want to tag along?
Hell yeah!!!
We met the class at 9:30.
They are allowed to get into the museum early to get ahead of the inevitable crowds.
I’ve gone through the Blacksonian too many times to remember.
Lately, I avoid going to the very bottom level and working my way up.
Much too painful.
It’s different when you’re on a tour with someone knowledgeable.
Bernard pointed out things that I’d walked by and hadn’t noticed.
Nuggets of history not readily visible without a guide.
I watched the soon-to-be graduates.
It was a panoply of diversity.
Along with the Black and white recruits, there were people of South Asian and East Asian descent.
I was delighted to see a police force that looked like the diversity of our city.
They were completely engrossed as Bernard explained the long history of policing the Black community.
Policing that was born out of the need to police the bodies of enslaved people.
Another thing Bernard highlighted that was of particular relevance to DC…
… the history of police policing Black protest.
DC police are known for being able to handle protesters better than some other cities because of the sheer number of protests that occur in the nation’s capital.
For six hours the recruits were immersed in the history and culture of Blackness.
At the end of the day, they were asked what they learned.
‘I didn’t know’ was a common refrain.
I was shocked.
How could they not know about the horrors of slavery; the rapes, the beatings, the fact that we were bred…
Jim Crow, the terrorism visited upon us each time we tried to assert our rights…
The fact that American culture is pretty much African American culture…
They were never taught.
It’s what DeSantis and the anti-woke racists want: Ignorance of the Black experience.
Lies.
I was changed by the experience too.
I was able to see police who actually wanted to know about the community they’d be serving.
Police who left with more empathy, knowledge and understanding.
I was surprised how thrilled I was at the end of the day when one of the instructors presented an MPD badge to me.
They truly wanted a rapprochement.
As do I.
Link: CBS This Morning: D.C. police get required history lesson to address racial bias
Congrats to the graduating class!
(… and random lady who wanted a pic)
At the end of the day, one of the instructors gave me this badge since I’d hung out with them all day
Thanks for sharing a wonderful and important story; every American should know the history.