The Black Student Union hosted guest speaker, Unit Chief Ron Reed, on Oct. 26. He spoke about civil rights, hate crimes and law enforcement encounters.

Reed is a special agent in the FBI specialized in civil rights programs and hate crimes. He is a graduate of Southern University and wants to give back to his community by inspiring and educating students about his work.

The mission of his job as an FBI civil rights agent is to enforce federal civil rights. He explained that law enforcement offers are accused of using excessive force against Black people, that is a hate crime and how to recognize officers doing this. Junior Charlotte Rollins said, “I think that Ron Reed did a good job of informing everyone who went to the meeting about what hate crimes are. He also did a great job of telling everyone what things to do and say while interacting with the police.”

Students in BSU said that the main takeaway was that although it is not right, many Black people have negative experiences when interacting with police. Reed explained that times are changing for the better, so soon this will not be the case.

Reed also taught students how to address the police. Reed said, “Be very clear when reaching for things in your car. Be polite because it’s better to get back home safe. It’s better to report stuff to the police department than to possibly aggravate them.”

Reed enlightened students and opened their eyes to the real world. He was clear and helped students have knowledge of what to do when addressing police.

He also talked about three main elements. Element one is “Color of law”- authority is given by local, state or federal agency. Element two is deprivation of rights, such as the fourth, eighth 14th amendments. Element three is “willfulness”- a specific intent to deprive of a protected right.

Reed also discussed what hate crimes are. He gave examples of hate crimes, and also examples of non-hate crimes. He then had the students determine which were hate and which were not.

Sophomore Jelissa Ngako said, “I enjoy being in BSU because we get the joy of talking to others that can empathize and relate to each other, and have fun together. We’re also able to meet speakers who inspire us to do things in a world where those things often times seem impossible.”