Today, shortly after 5 PM, my son called me from his cellular phone. It was obvious to me, immediately, that he was upset. Apparently, while walking home, an older Caucasian man approached my son and accused him of harassing his younger brother. Per my son, the man was "in [his] face," and he felt threatened. My son stated that he offered this man respect by referring to him as "sir" and looking him straight in his eyes; and although it was not necessary, he also told this stranger where he was after school, which was not where the incident took place. The man then asked my son if he was lying and told him that "this kind of behavior is not tolerated around here." There was also a Caucasian woman in the parked minivan, who, according to my son, was smiling (or smirking).

My son was close to tears as he relayed the above tale to me. He was breathing heavily and talking loudly. He also spoke of all the things he would have done had the man attacked him. At some point during the altercation, he felt that this was a possibility. On the other end of the phone, I remained calmed and gathered all of the necessary information. Unfortunately, my son did not retrieve a license plate number. However, I calmed him down and told him that we would contact the police department when he arrived home.

While talking to the police, I made it clear that this incident was not only inappropriate, in that an adult approached my child in a threatening manner, but it also appeared that the incident was racially motivated. There is absolutely no other way to explain why this man would, out of nowhere, approach my son on an empty suburban street unless he was told that the "kid" who actually did attack his brother was African American. I also let them know that this was not the first incident of this kind for my child while living in this neighborhood; and I now feel unsafe for my son, a young, outspoken, intelligent, African American male. In fact, I feel unsafe, afraid, and saddened.

Of course, because we have little information, not much can be done. Yet, my main focus was to alert the police to the racial profiling that is occurring in this 'diverse' suburban town. Racial discrimination and prejudice are high on my no tolerance list; in fact, they sit at number one. I don't tolerate racism or discrimination from or by anyone. So, to have this happen to my cub, so blatantly, and potentially, violently, I am enraged. I know that we both handled the situation well, and I am quite proud of him. So proud even that I allowed him to have his Friday night pizza treat and XBOX for the evening, even though he skipped 2nd period today. (He will lose the controllers first thing tomorrow morning, and is stuck in the house all weekend.) However, this isn't the end for this lioness. The local police department and city council will definitely hear me roar.