http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_26472353/scary-open-secret-parents-black-sons-believe-troubles#Scary, open secret --- parents of black sons believe troubles seek their boys
By David E. Early
dearly@mercurynews.com
Posted: 09/04/2014 10:41:08 PM PDT
Amelia Ashley-Ward of San Francisco, with her son Evan Ward, who is attending Middle Tennessee...
It's the time of year when hundreds of thousands of American parents are shipping their children off to college for the first time. For most, it's a time of celebration. But for the black parents of college-bound sons, the rite of passage has long come with a quiet, unique sense of dread.
These parents grapple with a scary open secret: Young black
males -- more than any other demographic group -- are haunted by cultural stereotypes that foster fear, discrimination and police harassment. Sending sons away to other parts of the country greatly magnifies those fears, particularly in the wake of last month's fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.
The uneasy preparation for life as a young African-American male often begins when black males are in their early teens and goes on for years. Black parents simply call it "The Talk."
"I taught him to keep his hands where cops can see them," said
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