Kevyn Orr has spoken often about Detroit's finances, pensioners, creditors and art museum. Until now, we haven't heard him reflect on race, family and "the talk" parents have with African American children.
Kevyn Orr: "Another 56 years should not pass where we're putting young black children at risk."
(Photo by Jeff Kowalsky)
Stephen Henderson, the Free Press opinion editor, crossed from the political to the personal in a frank exchange with Orr during the former emergency manager's "exit interview" at an Economic Club of Detroit luncheon Tuesday.
"You're raising an African-American boy in Maryland," the newsman noted in a question that mentions "police killing unarmed African American men." Henderson invited Orr to "tell me about how that resonates with you."
Here's part of how 56-year-old dad, who grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., responded:
"It resonates with me from when I was a kid and would get stopped. . . . When you start driving, . . . people start stopping you. . . .
"I have to teach [my son] how to speak cop. How to use proper diction. Never put himself in a position where he is considered disorderly. Because once you do that, anything can happen.
"It can escalate as it just did in Yale. Young black kid this past weekend had a gun put to his head by the Yale police force as a Yale student in New Haven. . . .
"I have many friends who are in law enforcement and on police. Some of my dearest friends are policemen. They have a very hard job. . . . By the same token, I hope there's an honest discussion that they need to understand I love my child just as much as my white groomsmen do love their children. I work very hard for him to have the same opportunities that their kids do.
"And I don't want him to line up on a slab because somebody rolled up on an incident at a playground where he had a pellet gun and shot him in two seconds. That is a concern I have even as me, that other people have. And we have got to have a dialog about that to cycle through this problem. Another 56 years should not pass where we're putting young black children at risk."
-- Alan Stamm
