ABSTRACT
Many African Americans have been there: hanging out at the park, on a stoop in front of a friend’s building, or on some corner. Doing nothing in particular, just kind of chilling and hanging out—talking about the latest game, scandal, political development, or scientific discovery. Now, there may or may not be some marijuana/weed/chronic in circulation and/or some alcohol at the time, but that is beside the point—actually. The point is that Blacks well know what would transpire if the police 2 rolled by at that moment. If that happened, everyone at the park, on the stoop, or on the corner would tense up for a few seconds that seem to last a lifetime, wondering what the police were going to do next. Essentially, there are two ways this can go: if the police continue to move on, then the pause button is released and everyone’s life goes back to what they were doing. If the police do not move on, however, they bust a U-turn, flash the lights, hit the siren (whup, whup), pull up, get out, and slowly walk up with a remark or two; that is when the all-too-familiar scene emerges.
