I am an immigrant, I am Black, and I chose to be a cop
This is a time to be brave, stand in the middle to connect people and bridge the gaps
The recent events ignited by the killing of George Floyd have led me to want to share my personal opinion and experiences.
I am a Black police constable in the City of Hamilton. I did not have the privilege to be born in Canada and instead, I immigrated to Canada as a teenager. I grew up in a busy city in North Africa where it was a foreign concept to call the police when you had an emergency. We were actually more afraid of the police showing up and intervening because it usually resulted in everyone involved being beaten and arrested or sometimes worse.
When I came to Canada I was told that I should call the police when there was an emergency. I was told that the police serve and protect everyone equally.
When I immigrated to Canada, we ended up settling in the North End neighbourhood in Hamilton. I saw both sides of what it was like to grow up Black in North America as an inner city kid. I was around people who were drug dealers, kids who got arrested, friends who dropped out of school but mostly they were people who did not have access to opportunities that would change their circumstances for the better. We had constant interactions with the police and this became a normal part of growing up for us. Experiencing racism as a young Black male also became a normal part of growing up. However, my personal ethos was always to be the change that you want to see. So I decided to become a cop.
Seeing what is happening today, I’m torn and concerned for all of us. I came from a place where people feared for their lives when the police showed up and it is disheartening to see the parallels here. It should not be this way and we have to do work to ensure that Black people and minorities feel that the police serve and protect everyone equally.
We need to acknowledge that issues around systemic racism and discrimination that plague the U.S. as a society also exist in Canada and it is time for all of us to reflect on what that change looks like. We can’t afford to pretend that these difficult conversations do not need to happen. In fact, it’s these exact conversations that will lead to ideas that further improve community safety and well being.
However, instead of increased dialogue, I see growing ‘tribalism’ where the police and everyone else have to pick a side and there is no middle ground. Someone recently said that, “you can denounce the actions of that officer and still be pro-police. You can denounce the actions of the rioters and the looters and still be pro-protest.”
Is picking one side or the other the only way to move forward? From my experience, change has been achieved by understanding both sides, bridging the real and perceived gaps and then iterating on the solution. I do not believe this is the time to pick a side and retreat to our ‘tribes’.
Instead we should be brave and stand in the middle to connect people and bridge the gaps.
Given my unique life experience on both sides, I felt that sharing my personal story can add to the ongoing dialogue because now is not the time for increased tribalism.
I hope that part of the way forward is for more people to share their stories so we can continue to build bridges. We can start by acknowledging that there is much work to do.
I hope that part of the way forward is for more people to share their stories