Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) resurfaced a column he wrote at age 22 during a discussion on Twitter about the protests in Ferguson, Mo.
In the column, Booker explains how he felt after the Rodney King decision and how he lost control of his emotions.
Diana, I wrote this at 22. I remember how angry I was. And yes it was more than that. It was pain/hurt. @Diana_Denis pic.twitter.com/1yDxKCtwST
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) November 26, 2014
“I’m a black man. I am 6 feet 3 inches tall and 230 pounds, just like Rodney King. Do I scare you? Am I a threat? Does your fear justify your actions?” Booker wrote while recounting the numerous times he had been seen that way.
He described his realization about how the police view him.
“But late one night, as I walked the streets of Palo Alto, as the police car slowed down while passing me, as his steely glare met me, I realized that to him and to so many others I am and always may be a Nigger: guilty till proven innocent,” he wrote.
Booker also shared a passage written by Martin Luther King Jr. on social unrest on his Facebook page on Wednesday.