Protesters kneel outside a St. Louis County government building in Clayton, Mo., their arms raised to show they aren’t armed, a rebuke to reports that 18-year-old Mike Brown was shot and killed by police while unarmed. Ryan Shuessler

FERGUSON, Mo. – At the protests that have become a daily ritual after an 18-year-old unarmed African-American youth was shot and killed by police on Saturday, a growing population has emerged: parents of children in the community who want to show their support.

They also want the world outside St. Louis to know this:

Mike Brown could have been their son.

“I couldn’t even imagine,” said Miyasa Jackson, who turned out to protest on Tuesday morning in Clayton, Mo., where the St. Louis County Police Department is headquartered. “My son is 14.”

For many black parents raising children in the patchwork of municipalities in the St. Louis area, teaching their children how to deal with the police when approached is as much a part of raising them as teaching them how to parallel park a car.

“When I taught my son how to drive, I told him, ‘Do not have a car full of Negroes,’ ” said Geralda Ray, whose son just graduated from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. “Don’t have more than one friend.’ ”

Ray, who was holding a sign outside the apartment complex where Brown was killed, said even the smallest groups of black youth draw police suspicion in this part of the county, and it’s that deep distrust that has culminated in the unrest seen this week.