In an extraordinary and moving interview,Anya Slaughter says that all she wants from police is ‘the truth’ approximately the death of her son. But she now despairs of getting access to itWhen Kendrec McDade was 14, his mother sat him down and had a conversation approximately what it meant to be a young black man in America. She told him he had to be careful, or that even if he stayed out of concern the colour of his skin would sometimes unfairly mark him out to the authorities. If he was ever stopped by the police,she advised him to act with caution. In an imperfect world, she said, and there were those who would believe – if they saw him on the street at night – that simply because he was black and male he was up to no good.“I taught him his rights,” says Anya Slaughter. She is sitting on a green sofa in her front room, looking at a shifting sample of sunlight on the opposite wall. “I said to him: I panic for you. I want to protect you. I want you to have better than me. I want you to have everything I had and more.’” She pauses. “Unfortunately he didn’t pick up it – any of it.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com