Summertime and the livin’ is easy. Except if you’re Anita Friday or her 15-year-old twins. Anita alleges that her African American sons were victims of racial profiling when they were bicycling near their Berwyn home.
The boys were riding in the Greens of Waynesborough on the afternoon of July 24 when an unidentified woman in a white Jeep SUV followed them, videotaped them and called police.
The woman said the teens – the Friday twins and a white friend – were suspicious because they had “extremely large duffel bags on their backs” and there had been burglaries in the Greens of late.
Anita believes her boys’ color was the real reason the woman called the cops. Those suspiciously large duffels were nothing more than school backpacks containing wet bathing suits and towels.
“Are backpacks the Berwyn equivalent of a “hoodie”? Anita wrote in a letter to residents of the Greens, which she later re-posted to Buzzfeed as “Biking While Black.”
“The woman who was videotaping and following them is dissimilar to George Zimmerman only in that she had a camera and not a gun,” Anita told SAVVY, in another reference to the Trayvon Martin case.
The fact that the boys were riding with their helmets on makes the woman’s call to police even more ludicrous, Anita said. “Yeah, my mom made us put on our helmets before we went out to burglarize houses.”
Their encounter with the cops left the boys “terrified” and they have not since ventured out on their bikes, she said.
Concerned that the two responding officers took down her sons’ names, addresses and dates of birth, she paid a visit to Easttown police. She was worried that her boys would already be in the system should they one day find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and have another encounter with police.
According to Anita, Chief Obzud was gracious and understanding but said he couldn’t expunge their names from the incident report. He did promise to write a memo “about racial profiling issues” to his officers.
This is the second time a Friday boy was profiled, their mother said. Last year, one of the twins was skateboarding in his driveway and ran inside petrified when a police car that had been watching him doubled back and pulled in.
The Friday family moved to Berwyn Estates 15 years ago “for the schools and for the kids to be in a safe, friendly environment.” The boys’ father, Dr. Gary Friday, is a neurologist at Bryn Mawr Rehab.
A retired real estate attorney, Anita Friday is a soft-spoken Sunday school teacher at St. David’s Episcopal Church, not normally one to raise a fuss. But “as a person of faith” she feels “called to work for justice.”
She asked me not to print her sons’ first names – both attend private schools – or to run any new photos of them. “I’ve been pretty visible but I want to give the kids some modicum of privacy,” she wrote in an e-mail.
Her boys are good students, acolytes at church and working to become Eagle Scouts. “But none of that matters,” Anita said. “My kids are scared. It’s hard enough for me to be scared as a black woman, as a mother who wants to protect them. But it’s summer, the kids should be out having fun and they’re frightened.”
Meanwhile Anita’s “Bicycling While Black” post has received more than 12,000 views and elicited comments from Berwyn and across the country.
In his weekly newsletter, the pastor of their church, Rev. Frank Allen, asked his congregation to pray for the Fridays: “The news and reality of racism that we know in our country through Ferguson, Baltimore and Charleston is alive and well in our community and, truth be known, in our own hearts,” he wrote.
When Anita stopped by, I asked my African American painter, who happened to be working at my house at the time and has painted Main Line homes for years, to join our conversation about racial profiling. “You get used to it,” he said, matter of factly. “The cops used to pull me over all the time but now they know me.” A cousin who just bought a Mercedes has been stopped by police four times in the last two weeks, he added.
(On a personal note, my son’s mixed-race girlfriend says she’s routinely followed as a potential shoplifter when she visits stores in white neighborhoods. She, too, sounded almost blasé about it.)
“We’re all racists,” Anita Friday said, agreeing with Rev. Allen’s assessment. “Anyone who says they don’t see color is fooling themselves.”
Instead of a world that’s colorblind, though, Anita hopes for a world that’s colorful: “If you don’t see my color, you don’t see my music, my food and my culture, all of which are wonderful. “
Her point is that, of course, we notice each other’s colors; the key is how we respond. “This isn’t just happening to my kids. It happened to snow shovelers [in Lower Merion] too,” she said. “I just want people to stop and think before they react. If that woman was scared, couldn’t she just have asked my sons what they were doing? If she had just stopped to think for a minute, none of this would have happened.”
Mary K. Miluski says
Hey there! Poignant and well written! Makes me think. Thanks and miss you! (Camp is over in 2 weeks – let’s do something fun!) MK
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2015 16:13:23 +0000 To: [email protected]
Christman, Nora says
I really like the Savvy posts but I have to say I found it confusing that you led this post with a picture of the twins – and then in the text said Mrs. Friday asked you not to include a picture of them?
Nora Christman
Sent from my iPhone
Elsie Mahler Scharff says
Reblogged this on The Artwork of Elsie Mahler Scharff.
adrianseltzer says
The police chief’s response is insufficient. There needs to be training done.
In the article the reporter was asked not to post their pictures and there they are at the top of the page.
Gary Keen says
Wasn’t the white kid pulled over also?? How is there no mention of in your article?? My white son dates a black girl Who. Is a bartender in N. Philly . He’s routinely pulled over at 2am (picking her up form work)because he’s a white kid in a black neighborhood known for drugs. We’re not making headline news about it. Did you know when Police are called, they HAVE to write an incident report???
Linda says
We need to stop assuming . Crazy people in this world. They are scared of their own shadow. So sorry your boys had to go thru this. Everyone stop the madness. NoT everyone is out to get you and cause trouble. These are just boys having a fun day with friends. Let our children be children.
Kelly C says
The main line snobbery, sense of entitlement and ignorance is an embarrassment to those of us born and raised here and all inclusive by nature .
The woman who acted disgraceful as a bigot should be horrified at her ignorance!
Kelly C says
This woman who acted out of fear and ignorance should be ashamed of her behavior !
I am embarrassed for her and ashamed to be born and raised on the Main Line with people that would profile innocent children no matter what size or color they are !
George Whitfield says
Caroline,
Thank you for writing this story as it will get even more attention than the 12,000 hits it has already received online. However, I have a few questions for you. Why was it important to list the professions of the parents of these young men? I perceived it as just because these young men are sons of “acceptable” professionals they somehow should be accepted. However, if they were sons of a janitor and a housekeeper, they should be accepted. In addition, it is my opinion that the real story should be about the woman with the camera. Who is she? Why does she think she can treat any of God’s children with such disrespect? When racists show their backwardness, they should be exposed for all to see. For until people she respects say in unison, “what you did is unacceptable”, this will not be the last time young men will be victimized riding a bike while black.
Caroline O'Halloran says
Thanks for your thoughtful comment, George. I certainly wish I could have talked to the woman with the camera. Unfortunately, I don’t know who she is. Your comment about listing the parents’ professions certainly has me thinking. When you write for traditional media outlets, it’s common practice to include people’s professions as a way to describe them, e.g. “John Smith, a financial analyst/struggling actor, etc.” And I’ve long been in the habit of doing so. I believe I would have described the Fridays as a janitor and a housekeeper had those been their occupations. I certainly agree that all – regardless of occupation – should be viewed as equal and “acceptable”, as you put it. But I see where you’re coming from. Saying they’re a doctor and a lawyer does, at the very least, identify them as upper middle class.
Jerome says
As a retired police officer we were trained to stop people during your tour of duty to suppress crime. It sounds good accept it is mainly directed to African American people . I did it as well. These are castopo tactics that only should be applied when it is reasonable. Many officers do it because it is unacceptable to report off and say you didn’t see anything. Most crimes are committed by white people if you include white color,burglaries,theft,auto theft, sex crimes,and drugs. Think about it when drugs are smuggled into this country in large quantities do you think for one minute the white man doesn’t get it first. How many large caches of drugs do we see on the news. That means most drugs get through. If the government wanted to catch the real drug distributor than what don’t they concentrate on the distributor and forget about the low level guy ie no drugs coming in no drugs in the community.
In the radical 60,s the black man was fired up. In the early seventies the black communities were flooded with drugs and everybody got quiet.
Tiffany says
I’m glad that she put their occupations in the article because I hope the white woman read it and feels even more like a fool because she never once thought that those children lived in the.l neighborhood because I’m sure she thinks they can’t afford it- their parents can probably afford it more than the racist woman.
However i do agree with your point
Roland Hankerson says
Boys, say the course! Be Good! Be strong! Keep your faith!
Matt Stuart says
Racism of ferguson, Baltimore and charleston? Ferguson was a criminal, shot and killed. Baltimore was a criminal arrest, again a criminal. Charleston……I’ll give you that one.
Jeffre w says
I may be missing something. If I am reading this correctly, there were 3 kids were all three (the white kid) also written up in the report?
Imara Tillmann says
Thank you for publishing this article.
There are people who are racist which one can do nothing about. How ever, the police should know what is right and wrong after the encounter with the boys.
I have 2 questions ?
How did this become an incident to be written up ? the boys did not commit a crime.
Why can they not remove the names from the report ?
Nick Mosley says
The police are hired to investigate and arrest criminals to be brought before a judge. Courts decide “criminals”. I truly hope, and prey that you never have the misfortune of having a loved one judged and executed in the street, but this happens to white people too. The media just doesn’t show that as the flavor of the month. 40% of all the marches I’ve attended are whites. Probably those who don’t believe people are criminals BEFORE they are tried.
Nick Mosley says
The police are hired to investigate and arrest suspects to be brought before a judge. Courts decide “criminals”. I truly hope, and pray that you never have the misfortune of having a loved one judged and executed in the street, but this happens to white people too. The media just doesn’t show that as the flavor of the month. 40% of all the marches I’ve attended are whites. Probably those who don’t believe people are criminals BEFORE they are tried.
TP says
I’m appalled that those boys were made the subject of an ‘incident report’ when there was no incident. Shame on the woman who reported them. Why were those kids names and d.o.bo’s taken down in an report when there was no crime committed. The family should fight for a change of policy, if they can even find one that exists. I believe the mother is right – it’s the first step to identifying them and adding them to the system that can then say there was a previous ‘incident’ in case that kind of racial profiling happens again.
Tiffany says
If the 2 children can be written up for riding their bikes then the woman should be written up for harassing two African American children- and call it a hate crime. I think she needs to get a lawyer because I am afraid that they may start to get labeled
Jewell says
I hope the woman who called the police has read this and is shamed by her behavior.
chisomstefanie says
had the opportunity to interview one of the boys for my blog;
http://chismiss8.blogspot.com/2015/07/an-interview-with-one-of-biking-while.html
he really provides a unique perspective surrounding this case, and I feel that reading his side of the story further reiterates the serious case of prejudice that pervades our society
Terrence security says
successful goal