Field Guide to the North American Teenager

Content Warning: The section of the guide contains information about police brutality related to Black men and teens.

One of the underlying sources of tension for Norris and Judith stems from the systemic racism they face as Black individuals in the United States. Late in the novel, Norris has a run-in with a police officer while drunk, resulting in a trip to the station. The resulting conversation between Norris and his furious mother highlights the dangers faced by Black men and teens at the hands of police officers and paranoid, misguided vigilantes. Judith mentions Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, and Cameron Tillman, Black teen boys killed by the police or armed citizens. Although Judith only mentions these three boys, police officers have killed many other Black people in the United States. According to a study by researchers at Harvard, Black people are over three times more likely to be killed than white people during police encounters in the US (Schwartz, Gabriel L., and Jaquelyn L. Jahn. “Mapping fatal police violence across U.S. metropolitan areas.” PLOS ONE, vol. 15, no. 6, 2020).

In 2012, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was walking back from a convenience store in his father’s fiancée’s neighborhood when a member of the local community watch program, George Zimmerman, called the police, claiming Martin was a “suspicious” figure. Shortly after, Zimmerman shot and killed Martin. Zimmerman, who was acquitted on charges of second-degree murder, claimed he acted in self-defense, but there is no evidence to this day that Martin posed any threat to anyone.

In 2014, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was outside playing with an airsoft replica gun when a citizen called police to report him as a dangerous man pointing a gun at people. Video footage revealed that the police shot and killed Rice before their vehicle even came to a complete stop. A Grand Jury decided not to indict the officers involved.

Also in 2014, 14-year-old Cameron Tillman was hanging out with his friends in an abandoned house. Police received a call about a robbery in the abandoned home and shot Tillman when they arrived. Police offered no medical assistance to Tillman after shooting him, and he died from his wounds. The officers involved reached a settlement with Tillman’s parents, and the case has been sealed for the family’s privacy.

The lack of criminal accountability for police officers and vigilantes who shoot and kill Black teens has led to social movements calling for systemic reform. Police brutality against Black people, particularly Black men and boys, puts Black citizens in danger. It also forces Black parents to warn their children about interactions with the police, like Judith and Norris’s conversations in the novel.