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Michelle Bernard: 'No Child Should Be In Fear Because Of The Color Of His Skin'

By Dom Giordano

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Dom Giordano spoke with Michelle Bernard, from the Bernard Center for Women on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about her statements that there is currently a 'war' on African-American men and boys in America.

Bernard says that, too often, African-American children are perceived to be threats, and thus are more likely to be the victims of police violence.

"No child should be in fear of his life because of the color of his skin. I don't care what the statistics are, there is no child in this country that should be walking down the street or driving his car and have to face the reality of today that if your skin is brown, if you are an African-American and a police officer sees you and a police officer sees you, their first inclination is going to be to believe that you are someone who is up to no good and your life is always in danger, simply because you are African-American."

Michelle Bernard

She says the release of the surveillance video involving Michael Brown is an example of how the narrative is often constructed to portray African-American men negatively.

"The national discussion changed immediately. First of all, the police officer who shot Michael Brown wasn't aware of the robbery, wasn't aware of the surveillance tape and all of a sudden the surveillance tape is released and it absolutely, right away, dirties the mind of any prospective juror, should they be at trial because you could immediately, people started saying, 'well, if he was involved in a robbery, maybe he deserved to be shot."

 

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