ABC News’ Rachel Scott has has been on the ground at the nation’s capital reporting in the midst of the protests and riots in the wake of George Floyd’s death and shared with Ryan Seacrest on-air on Friday, June 5, there’s a “whiplash” to it combined with being aware she’s “a black woman in front of officials.”
The protests have been ongoing for weeks now across the nation for justice of Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and the countless others whose names we'll never forget.
Scott, who shared with Seacrest that her “grandma marched on Washington” and that she “grew up hearing these stories about injustice,” stressed that despite having a father in the Los Angeles Police Department, she'll forever feel the need to "disarm."
“I will say being a Black American you grow up — and my dad is actually LAPD — and so I have a tremendous respect for our law enforcement officers who are out there doing their jobs. … Especially the diverse officers [who] want to be the change in the system. … I respect them so much; but you grow up as a Black American [and] my parents taught me when you get pulled over, tell the officer that you’re reaching for your license, let them know your movements, right? Because you don’t want to come across that you’re doing anything that can raise tension.”
That mentality, Scott concluded, she'll never escape.
“These clashes that we’re seeing, I’ve been out there when the police clash with the protesters and as a journalist you’re in the middle of that action sometimes and so I find myself reminding myself the same thing my parents told me,” she explained. “I’m mistaken as a protester and so I have to slowly reach for my press ID this time and explain to them that I’m with ABC News and that I’m not a protester, but that mental process is the same exact thing. … The disarming that you do as a Black American every day, I’m still doing as a black journalist covering this story.”
Listen back to the powerful conversation in the audio above. To learn more ways you can get involved and use your voice, click here, and for resources we've previously shared on-air, click here and here.