‘The Daily Show’ Relays ‘The Talk’ Black Families Have With Kids About Police
After another tragic week of officer-involved shootings, Trevor Noah discussed “the talk” black families have with their children about encountering police on the latest episode of The Daily Show.
“It has been another week in America, which means it has been another week of black people being killed or harassed by the police. And by now, everybody’s aware about what happened to Daunte Wright and Lieutenant Nazario,” Noah said. “And although each incident ended very differently, they both began the same way. It’s the same way that many of these encounters begin: With a traffic stop. And for black people in America, these traffic stops are scarier than any Jordan Peele movie.”
The Daily Show then showed a montage of news clips as evidence of how black people are much more likely to be pulled over — and have police guns drawn at them — during traffic stops. “This just shows you how getting behind the wheel is a very different experience for black people in America,” Noah added.
Noah then discussed “the talk” black parents have with their children about the police; as one person says in a clip, “You have a talk about the birds and the bees, and you have a talk about how to deal with law enforcement.”
“Police violence is such a threat that somehow the most uncomfortable talk you have to have with your kids is the one where you don’t use the word ‘semen,’” Noah added. “I know that all parents talk to their kids about how to stay safe, but for black people, it’s about specifically staying safe from the police, the people whose job is supposedly to keep them safe. The police talk simply isn’t something that occurs in white households; if it did, it would be a very different conversation.”
In another clip, an eight-year-old girl delivers the message she’s been taught by her parents to recite during a police encounter, including her name, age, and reiterating that she is unarmed.
“What’s even more wild than an eight-year-old having to memorize a script to interact with police is the fact that a fully grown armed and armored police officer would feel threatened by an eight-year-old girl,” Noah said. “When you think about it, black people have more education about policing than actual police.”
