This Video Of Black Parents Talking To Their Kids About Police Will Break Your Heart

Though this shouldn't have to be the case, teaching their children to deal with the police is often a lesson that Black parents have to instill in their children at an early age. A heartbreaking new video from Seattle-based company Cut, released on Monday, shows just what those conversations can look like. The video, titled "Black Parents Explain How to Deal with the Police," shows several parents telling their children exactly what they should do when confronted by a police officer, as well as explaining why the law likely won't work in their favor. The children in the video are of varying ages — and even though some may seem too young to have to learn this lesson, the reality is that age doesn't stop children of color from being in danger when it comes to police. "We actually have a line that we do at our house, we practice this thing," says one father, who then turns to his daughter and asks, "What is it?" "I’m Ariel Sky Williams," the girl repeats — with both hands held up to show that they are empty — as she demonstrates her father's lesson. "I’m 8 years old. I’m unarmed and I have nothing that will hurt you." Several of the parents also described their own experiences with the police, with one father reducing his daughter to tears as he described an incident during which he was put in handcuffs and tasered at a mall for an incident that had nothing to do with him. Though as one mother reiterated to her daughter, "not all [police officers] are bad," many of us already know that Black people die disproportionately at the hands of police officers. "People are like ‘You should forgive so-and-so,’" one girl says in the video. "But they keep doing it to me. I forgave them, but they keep doing it to me. It’s gets harder and harder to forgive them." Watch the whole video above.