Racial stereotypes and racial bias have real and tragic consequences. Thirty five years ago this week there was an infamous case in Boston that illustrates this painful reality. A white man named Charles Stuart made a 911 call to report that he and his pregnant wife had been robbed and shot. Sadly his wife and child died from their injuries. Mr. Stuart told police that their assailant was a Black man, but the description he provided was very vague. This gave rise to political and media outcries about “urban crime and violence.” This resulted in massive racial profiling of the Black community including interrogations, strip-searches, and intrusive house searches directed at Black men and boys. After all the trauma suffered by numerous Black individuals and families, Charles Stuart’s brother came forward to report that Charles confessed that he was the shooter and that he staged the situation to appear to be a robbery by a Black man. Shortly after confessing, Charles Stuart died by jumping off a bridge. The short video posted below is the trailer to a documentary about this horrific event. In the video, a Black man makes an insightful comment by saying, “We all fit the description” referring to the reality of the unjust profiling and criminalization of Black men not only in this case but throughout the history of our country.
Unfortunately, the case of Charles Stuart is echoed in today’s heated rhetoric and unfair stereotypes about massive “urban crime” and dangerous “migrant invasions.” The victims of such distorted hate speech are people of color whose daily lives include fears of harassment and even violence because they “fit the description.” It is important to recognize and challenge racial stereotypes and profiling because of the destructive consequences they have for our sisters and brothers. The only description that we all fit is as beloved children of God. Any words or actions that diminish this description of each and every person harm all of us.