i saw it again while i made my sister watch it today. i warned her that she'd roll her eyes at first [the whole story seems cliche and contrived at first]. the impactful part wasn't that this story was told, but the details that went into it.

a white armed criminal was let off so a cop could justify shooting an educated ambitious black teenager. you'd think the teenager was more of a threat than the actual criminal based on this show, and then you realize that this is sort of the way things are. [i say "sort of" because some black people are criminals and some cops are good cops, but the justice system doesn't quite reflect that].

i think the part that hit harder was that having friends in law enforcement, i've heard lots of the "us against them" mentality wherein a cop leaves the safety of his home to govern the savage idiot civilians and any routine traffic stop can escalate into a life-threatening situation. even though this can happen, the fact that they paint with this broad brush means black civilians aren't exempt from their own broad stroke as well.

i am 5'8", college educated, and well spoken. i've been stopped [on foot] by cops more than once. the first time for walking too quickly [running late for work, walking to a train station. apparently some crime had been committed nearby. i call bullshit], and the second time for jaywalking in front of my home. i've similarly had a lady lock her car doors at a red light as i approached to inform her that there was a huge piece of her car hanging off and dragging on the street.

the fact of the matter is until i've opened my mouth to prove i'm not a threat, i'm a threat. the cops thought i was walking too fast, or up to some kind of trouble, and the lady was pretty sure i was bad news. these things didn't even occur to me until i saw the reactions.

that guy's son went to a trade school to feed his ambition, and while his father knew to slap a bumper sticker on his car, the kid didn't think long enough about reaching into his pocket to prove to the cop that he's an alright guy. a stupid mistake like that could be the end of me too. [worth noting: i found out maybe a year later that trayvon martin is from my hometown. i almost went to his high school.]

long story long: this hit close to home in the more nuanced ways than "me: black man, him: white cop, fuck da police."