WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.540 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.540 --> 00:00:06.480 align:middle line:84% I'm going to read a piece that happened to me. 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:09.150 align:middle line:84% Many of these pieces were told to me, 00:00:09.150 --> 00:00:15.210 align:middle line:84% and I listened and rewrote them, trying 00:00:15.210 --> 00:00:17.323 align:middle line:84% to stay honest to what I had heard. 00:00:17.323 --> 00:00:18.990 align:middle line:84% And this is a piece that happened to me. 00:00:18.990 --> 00:00:23.980 align:middle line:84% And I'm not proud of this moment. 00:00:23.980 --> 00:00:28.320 align:middle line:84% But I wanted to include it because it's one of the ways 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:29.130 align:middle line:90% we get caught. 00:00:29.130 --> 00:00:32.299 align:middle line:90% 00:00:32.299 --> 00:00:38.210 align:middle line:84% "You and your partner go to see the film The House We Live In. 00:00:38.210 --> 00:00:43.220 align:middle line:84% You asked a friend to pick up your child from school. 00:00:43.220 --> 00:00:47.150 align:middle line:84% On your way home, your phone rings. 00:00:47.150 --> 00:00:50.570 align:middle line:84% Your neighbor tells you he is standing at his window 00:00:50.570 --> 00:00:56.330 align:middle line:84% watching a menacing Black guy casing both your homes. 00:00:56.330 --> 00:01:00.800 align:middle line:84% The guy is walking back and forth talking to himself 00:01:00.800 --> 00:01:04.819 align:middle line:90% and seems disturbed. 00:01:04.819 --> 00:01:10.190 align:middle line:84% You tell your neighbor that your friend whom he has met 00:01:10.190 --> 00:01:12.650 align:middle line:90% is babysitting. 00:01:12.650 --> 00:01:15.590 align:middle line:90% He says, no, it's not him. 00:01:15.590 --> 00:01:21.140 align:middle line:84% He's met your friend, and this isn't that nice young man. 00:01:21.140 --> 00:01:26.960 align:middle line:84% Anyway, he wants you to know, he's called the police. 00:01:26.960 --> 00:01:30.680 align:middle line:84% Your partner calls your friend and asks him 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:34.790 align:middle line:84% if there's a guy walking back and forth in front 00:01:34.790 --> 00:01:36.900 align:middle line:90% of your home. 00:01:36.900 --> 00:01:39.620 align:middle line:84% Your friend says that if anyone were outside, 00:01:39.620 --> 00:01:45.710 align:middle line:84% he would see him because he is standing outside. 00:01:45.710 --> 00:01:51.260 align:middle line:84% You hear the sirens through the speakerphone. 00:01:51.260 --> 00:01:55.460 align:middle line:84% Your friend is speaking to your neighbor when you arrive home. 00:01:55.460 --> 00:01:58.880 align:middle line:90% The four police cars are gone. 00:01:58.880 --> 00:02:01.940 align:middle line:84% Your neighbor has apologized to your friend 00:02:01.940 --> 00:02:06.680 align:middle line:90% and is now apologizing to you. 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:10.639 align:middle line:84% Feeling somewhat responsible for the actions of your neighbor, 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.670 align:middle line:84% you clumsily tell your friend that the next time he 00:02:14.670 --> 00:02:20.510 align:middle line:84% wants to talk on the phone, he should just go in the backyard. 00:02:20.510 --> 00:02:25.250 align:middle line:84% He looks at you a long minute before saying 00:02:25.250 --> 00:02:30.060 align:middle line:84% he can speak on the phone wherever he wants. 00:02:30.060 --> 00:02:32.650 align:middle line:90% Yes, of course, you say. 00:02:32.650 --> 00:02:35.890 align:middle line:90% Yes, of course." 00:02:35.890 --> 00:02:39.490 align:middle line:84% So you know that phrase "a teaching moment?" 00:02:39.490 --> 00:02:45.790 align:middle line:90% That was mine because I wanted-- 00:02:45.790 --> 00:02:51.640 align:middle line:84% my initial instinct was to pull him out of the line of fire. 00:02:51.640 --> 00:02:56.830 align:middle line:84% I was going to hide him away in case that were to happen again. 00:02:56.830 --> 00:03:00.610 align:middle line:84% And what's ironic about that whole scenario is 00:03:00.610 --> 00:03:06.040 align:middle line:84% when our friend moved to town, to Claremont, 00:03:06.040 --> 00:03:08.690 align:middle line:90% I knew this would happen. 00:03:08.690 --> 00:03:10.720 align:middle line:90% So I had a dinner party. 00:03:10.720 --> 00:03:15.850 align:middle line:84% I got really nice wine and cheese. 00:03:15.850 --> 00:03:21.130 align:middle line:84% And I invited my neighbors over, and I introduced them to him. 00:03:21.130 --> 00:03:23.956 align:middle line:84% It's like, see this friend of mine? 00:03:23.956 --> 00:03:25.330 align:middle line:90% And he's Black. 00:03:25.330 --> 00:03:26.860 align:middle line:90% He is my friend. 00:03:26.860 --> 00:03:28.630 align:middle line:90% He will be coming in and out. 00:03:28.630 --> 00:03:33.370 align:middle line:84% I didn't say any of this out loud. 00:03:33.370 --> 00:03:34.960 align:middle line:90% But this was the intent. 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:37.060 align:middle line:84% You know, he will be in and out of our house. 00:03:37.060 --> 00:03:40.090 align:middle line:90% Do not call the police. 00:03:40.090 --> 00:03:41.770 align:middle line:90% And still the police got called. 00:03:41.770 --> 00:03:45.250 align:middle line:90% 00:03:45.250 --> 00:03:48.640 align:middle line:84% And then my husband and I were on the 10 in LA, 00:03:48.640 --> 00:03:52.240 align:middle line:90% and we're trapped. 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.280 align:middle line:90% It's rush hour. 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:57.550 align:middle line:90% And we can hear the sirens. 00:03:57.550 --> 00:03:58.300 align:middle line:90% You know how many? 00:03:58.300 --> 00:04:02.530 align:middle line:84% Four police cars-- and so by the time I get home, 00:04:02.530 --> 00:04:08.950 align:middle line:84% I am just like, oh, my god, I hope nothing happened. 00:04:08.950 --> 00:04:12.590 align:middle line:84% And so the minute I saw him, I was like, 00:04:12.590 --> 00:04:15.220 align:middle line:84% just go in the backyard next time. 00:04:15.220 --> 00:04:22.190 align:middle line:84% But you cannot, you cannot take away people's liberties 00:04:22.190 --> 00:04:25.890 align:middle line:90% in the face of white racism. 00:04:25.890 --> 00:04:27.830 align:middle line:90% You can't do it. 00:04:27.830 --> 00:04:32.310 align:middle line:84% So I was glad that he just looked at me like, 00:04:32.310 --> 00:04:35.500 align:middle line:90% are you out of your mind, lady? 00:04:35.500 --> 00:04:36.000 align:middle line:90%