Black and Blue
Captain Ricky Jackson of the Norman Police Department was on a flight from Orlando back to Oklahoma. Sitting next to him was a young African American woman, who was happy to talk with her flight companion. She spoke energetically about her life and career to Jackson, who is also an African American. The young woman then asked Jackson about his career, to which he responded that he was a police officer in Oklahoma. The woman then turned away from him, put her headphones in, pulled a book to her face and didn’t say another word to Jackson for the remainder of the flight.
“We are looked at like that because we wear a blue uniform — that we are a certain way. The same thing that they, African Americans, accuse other people of doing to them, they do to us,” Jackson said.
African American police officers, such as Jackson, are caught in the middle of two groups, and are in the middle of a tug-o-war for their loyalty.
For generations, African Americans in the United States have suffered from mistreatment and discrimination by police. And many problems they encountered had been swept under the rug. But after recent events such as the shootings in Ferguson, Missouri; Tulsa; Charlotte and many others, this issue is under a spotlight.
In part due to the rise of social media, police discrimination toward African Americans is getting more coverage. But there is a demographic of people that are going unacknowledged within this issue, and this demographic is unique in that it has perspective in both sides of the spectrum. This could be extremely valuable in creating empathy and mending the divide that has been created between African Americans and the police.
“Being an African American and being a police officer, we do serve a dual role,” Jackson said. “If you’re an African American, you’re still an African American in this country and all that entails. The same bigotries, suspicions, implicit bias, racism; we have all of that. Even inside an agency where you work, those things are in play. So we deal with that at work, we deal with that in the community, society as a whole. But now you’re a police officer, so because you’re a police officer now in the African American community you’re a sellout, you’re an Uncle Tom.”
Police brutality and discrimination toward the African American community has become widely covered by the media and advertised on social media, and with this, trust toward the police is very low. In fact, according to a study done by Pew Research, 46 percent of African Americans feel very little to no trust that the police treat everyone equally, and nearly half see relations between African Americans and police only getting worse in the future. According to the study, 76 percent of African Americans believe there is a problem with the criminal justice system when it comes to race.
Adrian Holland, a youth pastor in Norman who is also African American, spoke on the struggles of African American police officers. After hearing about Jackson’s story from the airport, Holland showed little surprise.
“I can see that for him, that the community kind of looks at him as bad person but, for the most part, it’s pretty much half and half. Like in African American community most people kind of look at it as, ‘oh he’s a bad person he doesn’t care about his own people,’ and then the other half just doesn’t really care.”
Holland was quick to recognize the tough situation that African American officers, Jackson especially, are put into with having expectations on how to act from both groups.
“He would definitely have to do a little more than the average police officer, because he’s looked at a lot in the African American community as a superstar, like he’s one of us, he’s one of our homies, he’s our brother, so he should have our back. But, in the same sense, he should really keep doing what he’s doing, keep doing his job.”
Where some in the African American community might view a black police officer as a traitor, others might be comforted by the thought. Brianna Thomas, an OU student and active member of the Black Lives Matter movement on campus, is one of these people.
“If I was in a personal situation, I wouldn’t call the OUPD, I’d call the Norman Police Department because I am more comfortable with that the head chief over there is black,” Thomas said.
The Norman Police Department has shown their belief in progression. With two of their highest-ranking officers, both captain and chief, being African Americans, they work to limit discrimination and mistreatment, starting from within the department itself. But is this enough?
“When we are advocating and saying that black lives matter, maybe having them there, saying that they get it,” Thomas said. “Not there to tell us to ‘calm down,’ but there to support us and let us know that they are there for us. Actions speak louder than words. You can say ‘I’m all for it,’ but when you show up and are there with us there’s more to it.”
Ariana Hall, another active member of the movement on campus, reiterated the desire for officers to step forward, but also strongly encouraged action.
“I think speaking out is one step. I think we’re past the point of releasing statements, the kind of OU route or whatever. Diversity statements or inclusivity statements or whatever. We need people to actually take steps to prevent this from happening.” Hall said.
Holland simply wants these black officers to come forward within the community and make their voices heard.
“That’s one thing we haven’t heard was their opinion their, their mindset behind it because I know like I said, I’ve got tons of friends who are in it [the police] and it’s this big brotherhood you know, they’re definitely going to protect each other but it would be nice to just hear of their side, like what they think.”
With that being said, Jackson was willing to take this opportunity and voice his opinion on the Black Lives Matter movement and what he views their overall goal to be.
“The Black Lives Matter movement, all those people are saying is that black lives matter too. They’re not saying that police lives aren’t more important than black, that white lives aren’t more important than black, that Asian American lives aren’t more important than black. They’re just saying black lives matter too, because historically there has been no value placed on black lives.”
