NY school district causes uproar over book on race and police shootings
Binghamton Police Benevolent Association David Bidwell on a book about race and cop shootings being read to students.
A Binghamton police union president said on Friday that the New York school district caused an uproar by reading to elementary schoolchildren a book about race and police shootings.
"Once we were notified of this book, I was actually shocked," Binghamton Police Benevolent Association David Bidwell told "Fox & Friends."
Bidwell said that the book was being read to children ages four through eight.
NY SCHOOL CHILDREN'S BOOK ON RACE, COP SHOOTINGS MET WITH HARSH POLICE BACKLASH
The Binghamton City School District apologized after an uproar from law enforcement over the book, which discusses racial bias by cops and and police shootings.
On Monday, the Binghamton Police Benevolent Association (PBA) told the city's school administration that the book "Something Happened In Our Town" could endanger public safety. The book was chosen as April book of the month for MacArthur Elementary, according to WBNG.
FOX40 reported that the book was read aloud to students. PBA's statement quoted purported portions of the book, which addresses how two characters – a Black and White child – react to a police shooting.
When readers reach the Black boy's house, they're taken to his father who is playing chess. The boy's brother, who is also playing chess, says that the cop responsible for the shooting won't go to jail because "cops stick up for each other" and "they don't like [B]lack men." His father adds that while there are many cops who make good choices, "We can't always count on them to do what's right."
The older brother, Malcolm, claims that he could get stopped by the police because of his skin color, even if he didn't do anything wrong. "That's not fair!" the young boy, named Josh, responds. "What if it was a White man in the car? Would the police have shot him?" His father states: "They probably wouldn't have even stopped the car."
The authors also provide a separate section of tips for Black parents.
They advise telling Black children that "there may be times when a police officer stops you. Being stopped by the police is not a reason to panic or run. It is a time to stop what you are doing, to listen carefully to what the policeman or woman is saying, and then to do what he or she says to do."
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Bidwell said that the book's message undercuts the good work that the local police do for Binghamton.
"We just thought it completely undermined the work that we were doing in the community," he said of the book's message.
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