Joshua Walker is a husband, father, college graduate, brother of a police sergeant, and a nationally honored assistant coach for the University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team.
All of which “means absolutely nothing when you walk into a store and somebody doesn’t see it,” said Walker, an African American who grew up in Virginia. “I can’t wear a sign or just walk around with my resume on a board in front of my shirt the whole day.”
As a youth volleyball player, Walker recalled being followed around a store while his teammates roamed freely. To this day, Walker said, “I don’t like to go into a store unless I’m going to buy something. Literally. I don’t like to just go in and look around for stuff because I don’t want people to think, ‘OK, he didn’t buy anything, why did he even come in?’ I don’t want to give people that power. If I don’t feel I’m going to buy something, I’m not going to go in your store because I don’t want you to think I’m taking something”
Walker remembered a family outing where he and his wife and daughter were leaving a park. A car sped up to them.
“A guy pulls up to us and says, ‘did you take my cell phone?’ ” Walker recalled. “I’m like, ‘no, why would I take your cell phone?’ He said, ‘well, you’re running.’ It’s like, ‘I’m working out. That’s what people do.’ ”
Walker said the driver pulled out another cell phone, took his picture, threatened to call the police, and then drove away.
“That kind of stuff does happen.” Walker said. “Regardless of whether you have a hatred for another race or not, that’s irrelevant. It’s how you treat people. And when something goes bad, if there are five people, who are you pointing the finger at first?”
But recent events involving African American men compelled Walker to voice his angry concerns. There was the shooting death of unarmed Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia in February; the woman who called the police on a birdwatcher who asked her to comply with the leash law in New York, and the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minnesota police officer arresting him pressed his knee onto Floyd’s neck.
Walker penned an Instagram post condemning police brutality, in particular the circumstances leading to Floyd’s death. “This past week has been draining in particular,” Walker wrote. “I’m so tired of it. What not everyone understands is Black people are extremely proud. We’ve been through so much and yet we constantly show resiliency. What you’re seeing now is a lot of people are fed up. We want to be happy and productive just like everyone else, but not everyone gets demeaned, embarrassed, and killed without consequences like we do.”
Walker said the ensuing protests and riots following Floyd’s death were a cause-and-effect response. “If George Floyd or any of the other murders of unarmed black people don’t happen, these riots wouldn’t be happening,” Walker wrote. “One clearly doesn’t happen without the other, so do your part to help eliminate the cause.”
Walker said the Arbery and Floyd cases drew national attention because they were captured on video. But he also noted that boldness that the incidents could occur even though it was known they would be videoed.
Several UH coaches have expressed outrage over Floyd’s death. UH president David Lassner called Floyd’s death “senseless” and asked for the “UH community to stand with him against racism and discrimination.” Several Honolulu police officers reached out to Walker in support of the African American community.
“The more people put an effort into knowing the person versus just seeing the color, that’s when we’ll start seeing changes,” Walker said.
He said it is not right to blame unarmed victims nor should anyone who commit crimes be shielded from prosecution or criticism.
“Every day you have an opportunity to go out there be better regardless of who’s in leadership,” Walker said. “You have an opportunity out there to make the world a better place. If you choose not to, that’s on you. But it doesn’t mean you have to demean the people who are.”
