Ryan Coogler. He’s a black man that was accused of armed robbery while attempting to make a withdrawal. He’s also the director of Black Panther who was detained and released. But, it has me wondering what level of status will Black America have to achieve before we can leave the stereotypes behind.
Ryan Coogler is by no means an anomaly. It’s more common than not to see Black men falsely accused. They are seven times more likely to be falsely accused of murder, three and half times more for sexual assault, and twelve times more for drugs.
But, we know this. We’ve watched the high-profile cases of Central Park 5, Anthony Broadwater, and endless others. The false accusations, arrests, and sentencing of Black men are too common. It’s wrong. But, it stings a bit different when you see wealthy, well-known Black men being falsely accused.
It’s another reminder.
No matter how far up the ladder you climb you’ll always be liable to be seen as a stereotype. You’ll always be a Black man capable of being accused of robbing a bank.
In America, we’ll only go as far as our skin will let us.
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
Escape the Act Like a Man Box | What We Talk About When We Talk About Men | Why I Don’t Want to Talk About Race | The First Myth of the Patriarchy: The Acorn on the Pillow |
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