As I mentioned in my previous post, the Chess Club hosted a Cops and Kids chess event. Located at a beatdown elementary school in the inner city, the events' intentions were to spark conversation and friendship between divided sides over a thinking game. I arrived early and went through a metal detector. A stark contrast to the life I'm used to at Burroughs. There were K-9's and the staggering majority of the student body was black. I walked into the cafeteria where my supervisor was setting up chess boards followed by placing Jimmy-Johns on the center table. By the time opening remarks came along, you could sense the tension in the room. All the kids who are super docile and quiet and the five police officers standing at the front of the room engaging in conversation among themselves. When we were invited to sit and play, I also played with the middle-school students. I had no trouble making friends and having a lot of fun while hanging out with them. However, I noticed that some of the cops weren't receiving similar results. There was one in particular who came and started playing at the seat next to me. I get a whisper from one of the girls that he looks like the type of person to kill someone and get away with it. Then, she laughed. He was pretty intimidating. Instead of engaging in conversation, he beat down the girl in chess that barely knew how to play and walked away without a word. Personally, I didn't see the event as a chess event, but an event to join two different communities using chess as a tool. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. I thought the destigmatizing of cops would be immediate for the kids, but after this event, I realized that it's gonna take a lot more than one chess game to create that relationship. However, I suppose it is baby steps towards a better future. A move in the chess game of humanity if you will. I'm beginning to understand the reluctance of black kids to trust the cops. For how could you trust them if you fear them? How could you not fear them, if every day they are breathing down your neck at the metal detectors at 6am when you are just trying to learn. How can you not fear them if every day these routines make you feel targeted as if you are destined to be a perpetrator? Then, some of these kids snap and end up making poor decisions and cops feel obligated to patrol again. Once again, the negative feedback loop restarts. It's a terribly vicious cycle that none of us are accustomed to, and it's hard to put the blame on just one thing.
Another thing I noticed is how much the kids are disciplined. It seems as if every instruction is almost an indirect threat. If you don't do this, I will kick you out. If you don't do this, I will... Although I got similar instructions from my parents, it was a much more nourishing environment at school. Teachers were much nicer with their disciplining. The kids at the inner-city school infinitely more behaved than some of the kids at my elementary school. That's because the inner-city kids didn't feel entitled to anything they didn't earn, while kids from my neck of the woods are used to things being handed to them and become stubborn when they aren't spoiled. It was very insightful, to get a more in-depth perspective on some of the prevalent issues our society faces today. These looming challenges that lay ahead can't be avoided and the issues of mistrust within our society must be solved.