Black Kids Face Police Brutality
A generation traumatized by racist law enforcement.
Brittney Gilliam had taken her daughter and nieces out for a “Sunday funday” in August 2020, when officers with their guns drawn made her and the children get out of the car, and lie face down to be handcuffed. A video of the incident went viral: it showed the girls, ages 6, 12, 14 and 17, face down in a parking lot. The youngest wore a pink crown was crying, calling for her mother. Another begged the officers to allow her to hug her sister.
For black people in America, facing violence at the hands of law enforcement begins before they are even fully grown. Children weren’t at the main focus of protests following the death of George Floyd, and rightly so. No one, regardless of age, should face disproportionate use of force by the police.
Yet it is also vital to talk about how kids are being treated with brutality by officers, and the impact it can have on the young generation. About how kids are treated as criminals just because of the colour of their skin.
An investigation by AP revealed that kids as young as six years old had been treated “harshly — even brutally — by officers of the law.” They have been verbally abused, targeted with stun guns or pepper spray, handcuffed, and pinned to the ground by fully-grown police…
