Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

American Racism in Action: Michigan Cops Handcuff Black Realtor and Client

When a Black realtor, his client, and the client’s son visited a home in Michigan, police arrived and handcuffed them, accusing them of burglary. More than a year after the massive Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, systemic racism in the United States persists.

Lou-Salomé Duverger

August 13, 2021
Facebook Twitter Share
Photo: Wyoming Department of Public Safety

On August 1, three Black men were confronted at gunpoint and then handcuffed on the sidewalk in front of a home in Wyoming, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids. Real estate agent Eric Brown, a client interested in the home, and his 15-year-old son were ordered out by cops who arrived in several patrol cars after a neighbor called 911 and said there was a break-in in progress. The handcuffed realtor, who was showing the house, told police it was a “big misunderstanding” and asked them to take his professional license out of his pocket.

As the New York Times reported, “the visit to the property [was] one of the most traumatic experiences” the men had ever been through. Brown said that what happened was a clear case of racial profiling.

In a public statement, the Wyoming Police Department dismissed the notion that racism was involved. But Brown sees things differently.“Am I just automatically the criminal? Because that’s pretty much how we were treated in that situation.” 

He told the Times, “If we walked out of there, and I’d been a white lady and her white client and daughter, they would’ve dropped those guns in a heartbeat.” 

What happened in Michigan is far from an isolated event. Racism persists. In the United States, but also in France, people of color confront systemic racism and police brutality on a daily basis.

The Black Lives Matter movement brought the fight against systemic racism and police brutality to the attention of the world. This story reveals that it is more relevant than ever.

First published on August 11 in French in Révolution Permanente.

Translated and adapted by Scott Cooper

Facebook Twitter Share

United States

Federal Charges of Political Activists Show the Racist and Repressive Nature of the Capitalist State

Black nationalist organizations in the United States have been the target of what is a clear, politically motivated attack by the FBI in an attempt to silence voices of dissent against the U.S. government.

Tristan Taylor

May 17, 2023

Biden Agrees with Trump on Immigration

With the end of Title 42, Biden has put in place even more restrictive measures against migrants seeking asylum in the United States. As refugee crises get more extreme, so will the state’s anti-migrant policies.

Sam Carliner

May 12, 2023

Police Violently Repress Protesters while Jordan Neely’s Murderer Walks Free

On Monday, NYPD officers brutalized people gathered at a vigil for Jordan Neely, who was murdered last week in the subway by a vigilante.

Molly Rosenzweig

May 11, 2023
Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old Black man who was murdered on May 2, 2023, wears a Michael Jackson outfit on a subway platform.

Jordan Neely Was Executed for Being Poor, Black, and Disabled

Jordan Neely was strangled to death in the New York subway during a mental health crisis.

Julia Wallace

May 3, 2023

MOST RECENT

Tracking, Deportations, Internment: European Countries Go on the Hunt for Migrants

On May 10, German chancellor Olaf Scholz strengthened Germany’s anti-migrant policy. This means more deportations, border patrol reinforcements, and economic agreements with sending countries. The new policy is being deployed throughout Europe.

Leo Stella

May 25, 2023

#AllthatsLeftPod: Three Years Since the George Floyd Uprising:

In this episode of the podcast, we reflect on the 2020 George Floyd uprising, which began three years ago. We discuss how to turn the energy of a mass uprising into a sustained movement, and the kind of revolutionary leadership that's required to do so.

Left Voice

May 25, 2023

Fight Capitalism, Fight for Neurodivergent Liberation

Neurodivergent and disability liberation will have to come from the overthrow of capitalism and the building of a socialist system which values different forms of human behavior and directs resources to meeting human needs.

Sam Carliner

May 23, 2023
Prof. Gail Green-Anderson of LaGuardia Community College at a rally outside Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Manhattan office on Thursday.

Rekindling the Militant Spirit of CUNY’s Past

Mayor Eric Adams has announced an austerity budget that includes significant cuts to the City University of New York among other city agencies. In order to defeat these cuts, students, faculty, and other workers across the city must unite our struggles and be prepared to shut the university down.

James Dennis Hoff

May 22, 2023