Imagine this. You’re hanging out with friends and you’re playing a video camera. You go to Walmart and continue filming in the parking lot. A police officer approaches you and begins harassing you even though you haven’t broken any laws. Then the officer threatens to taser you and your buddies if you don’t comply with his demands. Now imagine that the cop is white, you and your friends are black and you’re at a Walmart in Texas. That’s exactly what happened at a Houston-area Walmart to a group of young black men who were just hanging out and playing with their camera.

According to Progressivepopulist.org, the men were filming outside the front doors of the superstore when they were suddenly approached by a white police officer who demanded to see their identification even though they weren’t doing anything wrong, suspicious, or illegal. They were just black youths spending time together having fun with a camera. They knew that as well, and refused to comply with the officer’s demands.

The officer then accused the men of “resisting” him, pointed a taser at them and threatened to use it. One of the men stepped in front of his friend to keep him from being tased, and pleaded with the officer not to pull the trigger. The officer then threatened to call for additional units.

One of the men told the officer that they know how to read and understand their constitutional rights. That’s when the officer threatened to call for backup.

“You know what, I’m calling for a unit right now. We’ll see how well you know the Constitution,” the officer told them. To which, the man responded thusly:

“What’s the– What’s the unit gonna do, take me to jail for knowing the Constitution? For standing for my freedom?”

It turns out that the incident could have been a tragedy had the officer followed through with his ridiculously unnecessary threat to tase the men. One of the men informed the officer that he is a kidney dialysis patient and may have died from the tasing. The video then comes to an end.

Here’s the video via:

This is yet another example of how white police officers treat African-Americans compared to Caucasians. If this had been a group a white men, the officer wouldn’t have given them a second thought. But because of racial profiling and stereotyping, this officer felt compelled to challenge the men even though they weren’t doing anything wrong. They were only guilty of being young black men in a state that has a long and violent history of racism. And last time I checked, being black isn’t a crime. But, by all means, watch the video and decide for yourselves. Did the men do anything wrong? Was the officer out of line? Is this yet another example of racial persecution? Would things have been totally different had the men been white?

For too long, young black men have been treated unequally by law enforcement in America. According to a July Gallup poll, 24% of African-Americans under the age of 35 reported being treated unfairly by police in a 30 day time-frame. The unfair treatment appears to mostly occur when African-Americans are shopping. 24% of those surveyed by Gallup reported being harassed by police during that particular activity. This latest incident in Texas falls in the same category since the men were at a Walmart. For some reason, law enforcement seem incapable of understanding that equality is a value upheld by the Constitution. It’s time to change that. Young African-Americans should not have to fear being targeted by police in this country, especially when they are doing absolutely nothing wrong. Can Republicans explain again how racism is supposedly dead in America?