If you’re black in America, you can’t…
— reach for your wallet
— wear a hoodie
— keep your hands in your pockets
— run
— wear baggy or saggy jeans
— wear anything remotely “threatening” (which can mean different things in different contexts)
— walk anywhere you want without people getting suspicious of you
— make out in your own car
— use or possess drugs
— pick up a toy/BB gun in a store that sells them
— walk around with a sword as part of your cosplay attire
— sell untaxed cigarettes
— jaywalk
— mind your business
— be a big, husky man
…without police profiling, harassing, detaining, arresting, or killing you or without random people profiling or suspecting you and, potentially, reporting you to the police.
But repeat after me, “You are free”.