Punching Nazis

I complain about rampant police brutality a lot, as one should. Someone asked me, hadn’t I ever had a GOOD experience with cops, so I posted this story to Facebook:

I ran out of gas going around a curve.

Luckily my VW bus kept rolling just enough for me to get to a safe pull-over spot, but I was on a red curb. I saw a group of cops eating pizza and I approached ’em.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt your dinner but I just ran out of gas. Can I go get some gas without getting a ticket?”

One cop said, “Yeah, sure. Give me just a minute and I’ll give you a lift.”

He then gulped his pizza, said good-bye to his buddies, and took me to the gas station. I got out of his car and realized I hadn’t brought my wallet with me. Not a big deal; I was close to home and so I started walking.

The cop pulled up next to me: “Hey, I was gonna give you a ride back, where you going?” I explained that I had to go grab my wallet and he said, “Oh, it won’t take more than a couple of bucks to fill that can. I got ya.”

He then insisted I take the two bucks, and after I got my gas he drove me back to my bus. I told him that I was amazed by his kindness and he handed me his card, an awesome baseball card–type deal that Sac PD had at the time, and told me to let people know. We both knew what he meant by that, and I promised I would, and I did, and now I’m doing it again.

My Uncle Harold, a black man who grew up in the segregated South, wrote me the following email:

Nephew, I am having a difficult time trying to figure out what point you were making with this story.

I didn’t want to ask you in front of people if it was a joke or you were trying to show that all Police are not bad and they do Help, Protect, and Serve the public? If it was the latter, I agree. I am certain there are some dedicated Police out there that do very humane things beyond what they are hired to do as in the case you expressed and later, the Lady in MI that the Cop took to Walmart and bought her a $50 child car seat. Such a nice story. I am certain that some people of color might have a similar story, but I am in my 70s and can’t share a positive one with you. I have been shot at by the Police, taken to jail, fined for disorderly conduct simply because of my complexion of which I had no choice. I have many more deplorable stories to tell you.

I have heard the story of you stepping in front of an Officer that was planning to arrest a Black Man that was not doing anything wrong and telling them to arrest you, not him. I always enjoy hearing your dad telling me about that event. So much for that, tell me what’s going on with this shit??????????????

It hurt to think of the jovial, intelligent, loving man being treated so awfully, though it wasn’t news. Harold had worked hard to get a job with the post office so he could transfer out of the South, and, sadly, coming to California did not mean an end to his struggles with people who judged him by the color of his skin, including people in positions of power.

I assured him, promised him, that I knew this story was the exception not the rule, and that I saw what cops were actually doing out there, that my stories of their abuses outnumbered stories like this one 100 to 1.

John, I wanted to know why Keith “Out of the Blue” without any reason and at a time when his Uncle’s people are getting beat and shot by Police without provocation put that compliment to a COP on FACETIME.

And, I was pleased to see he added I was satisfied with my favorite Nephew’s response.

I mostly included this story here so that my brothers know who Uncle Harold’s favorite nephew is.