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Not On My Watch

by Jan Bradley
06/09/22
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A story of race relations from my past.

When we lived in East Lake, there was a young black boy who lived with his mom at the end of our block.  He was a few years older than our sons, so they didn't have occasion to play together. 

One day my kids were in the front yard playing and I was watching them, and saw this boy riding his bike up and down the street.  There was a white man also on a bike who was following him around and I thought they were together.  Suddenly, the boy pulled his bike up in our front yard and asked me, "Can I stand with you?  I don't know that man and he won't let me get to my house.  Every time I try to go home he cuts me off."

There flashed through my mind (my mind flashed faster then than it does now) a situation that was going on in Atlanta where young black boys were disappearing and then turning up dead.  I immediately thought, "Oh, no you don't!  That's not happening here!"  I said to the boy, "Absolutely you stand here with me."

As we stood watching, the man rode back and forth a few times, staring hard at me as if he expected me to be intimidated.  I stared right back at him and fixed a description of him and the bike he rode in on in my mind.  He then rode away.

I offered to let the boy come in my house while I called the police, but he figured the guy was gone and he could get home, so off he went.  I gathered my kids and went inside and called the Birmingham Police East Precinct.  I told my story and they sent out a car with a nice police lady to take my statement.  I gave my description and told again what had happened.  As I talked to her, the boy returned with his mom, who had been taking a shower and wasn't aware of any of this going on. 

The mom and the police lady thanked me, but I told them that this kind of thing was not going to happen on my watch, in my neighborhood, and I was glad I had been able to keep him safe.

All this happened probably 30+ years ago, and I don't remember any names, and don't know where that boy is now or if he even remembers being chased by a white man on a bike.  He likely has children of his own by now.