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JUDY WOODRUFF: Sometimes 
overlooked in this week's debate 
over whether athletes should

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take a knee during the playing 
of the national anthem before 
games is the original focus

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of Colin Kaepernick's protest, 
the deaths of unarmed black 
men in confrontations with

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law enforcement.

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Riley Temple is a 
lawyer and author.

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And, tonight, he shares his 
Humble Opinion on how those 
confrontations with police are

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a direct legacy of slavery 
and the racism that fueled it.

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RILEY TEMPLE, Author: Whenever 
I go to the Smithsonian's 
African American History Museum,

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I make my pilgrimage to 
Joseph Trammell's tin wallet.

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It's a handmade, thin case 
that holds his freedom papers.

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Joseph Trammell, a black 
man, was born a slave 
in Virginia in 1831.

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When he was 21, he was freed, 
and surely believed that he had 
some measure of liberty so long

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as he had his tin 
wallet with him.

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When he was stopped, 
he invariably had to 
effect a servile posture 
to the whites, who

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demanded to know who, why, 
how come, and what for.

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The very sight of him, no slave 
tag, no white supervision in 
sight, was terrifying, an errant

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and aimlessly roaming Negro 
going about his ordinary days.

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His family undoubtedly reminded 
him, be nonthreatening, 
say yes, ma'am, no, 
sir, effect servility,

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cower even.

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Just don't get killed.

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I was having an ordinary day 
not long ago, when, in my 
upscale and overwhelmingly white

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Washington, D.C., neighborhood 
where I have lived for the 
past 25 years, my dog Wilson

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and I walked past an 
apartment building just across 
the street from my own.

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As Wilson paused, a blustery 
white man appeared and bellowed 
at me to not let my dog stop

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there.

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Then he demanded to know if 
I lived in his neighborhood.

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I asked why it was a 
pertinent question.

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He became furious, threatened 
to call the police.

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Three cops in two 
cruisers appeared within 
a couple of minutes, 
flashing lights and all.

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They told me they were answering 
a trespassing complaint.

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I pulled out my I.D.

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I didn't have to, but I knew 
I had to show my papers to 
de-escalate the situation.

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I wasn't a trespasser in 
this rich white neighborhood.

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I lived there.

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I got out of my brush with the 
police unscathed, but not before 
telling a belligerent cop to

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go to hell.

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And, in so doing, I broke a 
rule, the rule by which the 
Joseph Trammells of slavery days

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lived, and by which all 
black people today are 
told to obey, in order 
to survive confrontations

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with law enforcement: Be nice.

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Be servile.

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Say, no, sir, yes, ma'am.

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By all means, do nothing that 
smacks of dignity or claim of 
right, else you will be killed.

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My story was minor.

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But so too is failing to signal 
a lane change or selling illegal 
cigarettes, and those acts

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turned deadly for Sandra 
Bland and Eric Garner.

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By questioning my right to be, 
I was suddenly slammed onto 
that continuum of history, a

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black man, perceived to be 
an interloper, a trespasser, 
an imminent threat, just like

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freed slave Joseph 
Trammell in 1852 Virginia.