I don't think it's possible to find a honest Black man who hasn't run across this attitude in one form or another.
This never ending hate and contempt is something that almost certainly leads to greater hypertension, stress, and all of the health concerns that go along with that. This racism could be something like a judge mistaking a Black lawyer for a criminal defendant, Bill O'Reilly "joking" that the professor Marc Lamont Hill looks like a cocaine dealer, or co-workers constantly mistaking one Black man for the only other Black man in the department when the two look nothing alike and are far apart in age.
This never ending hate and contempt is something that almost certainly leads to greater hypertension, stress, and all of the health concerns that go along with that. This racism could be something like a judge mistaking a Black lawyer for a criminal defendant, Bill O'Reilly "joking" that the professor Marc Lamont Hill looks like a cocaine dealer, or co-workers constantly mistaking one Black man for the only other Black man in the department when the two look nothing alike and are far apart in age.
It is what it is. This started long before I got here and will continue after I'm gone. But one really egregious example of this recently came to light in Minnesota.
Joe Morrow, a Minnesota man, was the victim of what many call “banking while Black” after being put in handcuffs after attempting to cash his paycheck inside a U.S. Bank branch in suburban Minneapolis last October.Morrow told KSTP-TV reporters that despite having an account with the bank, employees at a branch in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, “were all looking at me and just staring at me and then looking at the check and then staring at me again. And I’m already knowing what they’re thinking — that the check fake.”
Morrow, who moved to Minnesota from Mississippi last year and worked as an “order picker,” said the incident began well before the police had arrived at the bank where he attempted to cash a check for roughly $900.
The video shows Morrow quickly getting up from the chair, whereupon he is immediately put in handcuffs. “When I’m coming out of office, I was handcuffed. … People were looking … like I’m a criminal or something,” Morrow said.
The man said he was informed by the bank’s manager, John Askwith, that the check was fraudulent and that “you people always coming in here with fake checks.” I work there, bro. And I’m going to report you too, bro, this is racial,” Morrow was heard saying calmly, without expletives, to the manager before he was cautioned about his allegations of racial profiling. When Sgt. Justin Pletcher arrived, police body camera footage showed Morrow already in Askwith’s office, leaning back in a chair, hands folded. The 23-year-old maintained that the check was indeed real.
“Joe, I need you to calm down, first of all, OK? Don’t say anything stupid, because you’re just going to get arrested for it,” the officer then warned Morrow.
Soon afterward, another police officer arrived. The manager, who is blurred in the video, told authorities that the check was fake and that he had already confirmed it with Morrow’s employer. However, it was later proved that Askwith only called for verification after Morrow was removed from his office. When he did, the employer told him the check was genuine.
Soon afterward, another police officer arrived. The manager, who is blurred in the video, told authorities that the check was fake and that he had already confirmed it with Morrow’s employer. However, it was later proved that Askwith only called for verification after Morrow was removed from his office. When he did, the employer told him the check was genuine.
Pletcher claimed in his report that Morrow was detained after he “flexed at John in a threatening manner,” but Morrow denies those allegations.
“I didn’t threaten him. I got up, like, I’m …” he explained. “The guy told the officer, ‘Can you get him out of my office? He might take something on my desk.’ That’s when I got super mad. ‘I’m going to touch something on your desk?’”
“I didn’t threaten him. I got up, like, I’m …” he explained. “The guy told the officer, ‘Can you get him out of my office? He might take something on my desk.’ That’s when I got super mad. ‘I’m going to touch something on your desk?’”
So the bank manager lied and insulted the customer. The bank manager escalated by calling the police. The police immediately took the bank manager's side and soon put the Black man in handcuffs. The police also lied about why they put Mr. Morrow in handcuffs. The police have no right to arrest a man for "saying something stupid" in their view. The real reason for the arrest was of course that this Black man had the audacity to stand up for himself against white people. This is almost 2022 but this interaction is not at all different from the stuff my grandparents had to deal with in Florida, the Carolinas or Alabama. Same sh*t, different day. How dare a Black man have money! How dare a Black man insist that he is correct!! A Black man can't even cash his check at a bank where he has an account without racists trying to ruin his day.
Although the 50s-60s civil rights movements were necessary, it's not really possible or desirable to integrate when there is this consistent level of contempt and hatred. Ultimately the next level will need to be that Black people build and frequent their own institutions as much as possible. That will minimize these sorts of incidents.
