“It has been another week in America. Which means it’s been another week of Black people being harassed or killed by the police.”
That was how Trevor Noah opened a Daily Show segment on Thursday, following a week which saw a police officer charged for shooting and killing 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Minneapolis, and an officer fired for pepper spraying Army Second Lieutenant Caron Nazario during another traffic stop in Virginia.
Following these incidents, Noah has spoken at length about police violence and systemic racism this week, and most recently (in the clip above) about the increased risks of driving if you’re Black, and “the talk” Black parents have with their children to prepare them for how to speak and act around police officers if they’re pulled over — even playing a clip of an eight-year-old girl reciting a script she’s been taught to memorise for encountering law enforcement.
“You know, when you think about it, Black people have more education around policing than actual police. Like, no cop starts training at eight years old,” Noah said.
“So, we know that Black people know what’s at stake, and have methods of how to handle being pulled over by police. But ‘the talk’ still hasn’t been able to prevent police violence against Black people. So maybe it’s not Black people who need a talk about how to act around the police. Maybe, just maybe, police need a talk about how to act around Black people.”