Per your invitation to join in on the evolving conversation about African Americans and police, I am reminded of my junior and high school days growing up in the Walker Homes community near Mitchell Rd.

I started hearing tales from some fellow high school students of being chased by officers after a football game or being caught and had to take some whacks across the knees with the blackjack.

I think for many of us in the African-American community this type of perception brought on by traumatizing events has caused the evolution of stereotypes about police officers that appear to be real whether they’re “real” or not.

There is a phenomenon called “stereotype threat” that normally applies in an educational setting but if the theory holds true, I believe it can apply to other social and cultural contexts.

I believe much of the tension and bad actions on the part of the police as well as African Americans today are a result of these stereotypes that have evolved to the point that they are being carried out on a large scale across the country and throughout the world.