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When “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler walked into an Atlanta bank to make a transaction, he didn’t expect to be walked out in handcuffs! It was a “misunderstanding” – but there’s more at play here than it seems.
Hoping to be discreet, Coogler wrote a note on a withdrawal slip for $12,000. The Black bank teller called the cops while he waited, suspecting a robbery! Soon enough, police surprised Coogler at the scene, pulling out their guns behind him.
But did this really have to happen?
Instead of simply checking Coogler’s ID, the scared teller told 911 Coogler was “acting weird,” likely for writing instead of speaking. And while she was thinking about her own safety, she SERIOUSLY risked the safety of someone else.
But Coogler actually asked this critical question himself on video: “What’s my perspective?”
What if, like Coogler, someone didn’t want everyone to know they’d be carrying $12,000 in cash? What if they had a speech disability? You never know.
But we do know that Black people get killed over people perceiving us as “threatening” or “weird.”
The criminal legal system already criminalizes us to our deaths – even the famous and wealthy. So we cannot afford to criminalize each other, too. We have a responsibility to each other to consider each other’s perspectives and make safer choices!