Being Wrong, Being Right, and Being a White Woman of Privilege
Originally published online by the literary magazine Rock and Sling and then included in the print anthology Good Cop, Bad Cop by Flower Song Press.
In a small Virginia town I mistakenly make an illegal U-turn. A police officer immediately pulls me over. I immediately start crying. These are not crocodile tears; instead they flow from the mortification that I did something wrong and will have to (rightfully) face the consequences.
And yet, there are no consequences. I am a white woman crying in front of a white policeman who doesn’t even ask for my driver’s license. Instead, he waves me off and says, “Just be more careful out there, ya hear?”
Charles is a black man who is a graduate of Harvard Law. He is walking along a sidewalk in Miami. Without warning, two police officers come up behind him and slam him against a wall.