Blove Shared: When Watching Police Body Cam Footage: The Silent Pain of a Bl*ck Mother
Y'all, I need to share this because it's been weighing on me heavy. Lately, me, my husband, and Darius have been watching a lot of polce body cam videos. Not the ones about mrders or child neglct—I can't watch those. I only watch the ones about shplifting, st*aling from Target, Walmart, stuff like that.
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The Shame That Can't Be Put Into Words
But here's something I have to confess—I always feel extremely uncomfortable whenever the person in the video is Blck. I know that doesn't sound good, but I feel shame. Because I know the dynamic of the people watching these videos. I know—and Darius doesn't believe this—but I know how people are watching these clips. I think this because I've spent too much time on Twitter and seen the kind of madness people post. They're ready to assume, "Oh, these Blck folks are always st*aling."
The Burden of Representing an Entire R*ce
Any video on Twitter of a Blck person shplifting, you'll see somebody—not just somebody but thousands of people—in the comments saying, "This is what they do. This is what they do. They just stal." And I feel ashamed every time because as a Blck person, it's like you're automatically expected to represent your entire rce when you're around other rces. We didn't set that up, right? And it doesn't really work that way for anybody else. But when you're a min*rity, it does.
Being Bl*ck in Certain Spaces
When you're Blck and you get caught staling or acting foolish, it looks bad when you're in spaces with non-Blck folks because they already think that about you. And yes, people in 2025 still generlize an entire rce, even though they're not supposed to. I know it's wrong, but I can't help but feel that shame when I see those videos of scms or sh*plifting or whatever it is.
The Truth About the Comment Section
I can only watch the stuff related to money. And yeah, other people do it too, I know that. But the folks in the comments don't see it that way. That's all I'm talking about—the comments. That doesn't mean I believe those steretypes are true. I know they're false. I know people from every background do wrong. But as a Blck mother, I can't help but worry about how my son and our community are being viewed.
A Reality I Can't Ignore
Darius may think I'm paranoid, but I've lived long enough to know how people react online. When they see a video of a Blck person doing wrong, they don't say, "That's just one individual making a bad choice." They say, "That's proof about the whole community." And that's not something non-Blck folks deal with. Nobody looks at a video of a whte person shplifting and says, "This is what wh*te people do." But with us? Every single time.
Why I Still Watch
You might wonder why I even watch if it makes me feel this way. Honestly, I think it's important to be aware of what's happening. I want to understand the system. I want to see how law enf*rcement handles different situations. But I also want people to understand that for mothers like me, watching these videos isn't just entertainment. It's a constant reminder of how careful my son has to be, how he's forced to represent not just himself but all of us. And that's a burden no one should have to carry.
