Long ago, before Felix Fox and his family lived in Forest Hills, Felix’s great-grandpa Francis was the first of the Fox Family to arrive in Animal Land. They had moved from Creature Island hoping for a better life and more food to store for the family.
“Get out, you sneaky foxes! Who do you think will hire predators like you!”
“Sorry, but we just can’t rent the burrow to you guys. Who knows if you’ll do bad stuff here?”
You see, back then, it was hard for predator families like the Foxes and the Bears to find homes because everyone was so scared of them!
So, they all had to live in Creature Island, where it was safe for them to find food and build burrows for their homes. But predators are big animals, and slowly food was beginning to run out for the families that lived there.
Some of the animals, like Francis Fox and his family, decided to travel to other lands in order to live better lives. They hoped and hoped and hoped that wherever they ended up going would be a good place full of yummy food for everyone! But sadly, not everyone was okay with all these new predators moving into their neighborhoods.
It became super hard for Francis and his family to find jobs, rent a burrow, and do lots of things that seemed super easy for everyone else in Forest Hills. And so, the Fox family lived very poorly for many years.
To make up for their sad life, Francis told his kids wonderful stories every night to make them happy. However, one thing that Francis always made sure to tell his children before he finished was:
“Remember mis hijos. Be nice to all the other animals that you come across. Always make sure to say ‘Good Morning!’ or ‘Good Afternoon!’ when you pass by adults and be respectful to everyone!”
“Why Papa? Why do we have to be so nice to all the animals even when they look at us funny and act mean to us?” asked his children.
“If we show everyone that we are good, nice people through our actions, then they will begin to accept us as part of their community” Francis replied, “ Little by little they will accept us, I just know it”
And it turns out that many years later, Francis would be correct in all the lessons he taught his children.
Through lots of hard work, animals began to realize that predators weren’t all that bad, and they began to live together peacefully. Finally Francis’ dream had come true!
Felipe’s friend Francis wasn’t different. He was a young boy who performed the same as others academically. He had the same morals and was taught the same things by his educated parents. The only thing different was his fur. He had black fur instead of red, like all his friends had. Because of something so small, he was killed.
“Mom, I forgot the keys at home. What do I do when I come back home from school?”, Francis questioned his mom over the phone, curiously.
“Honey I’ll leave them with our neighbor. Don’t worry, everything should be ok. I’ll put them in the pot in front of their front porch. Please check it when you come back home walking with Felipe”, his mother replied.
“Thanks mom. I’ll definitely do that. I was so worried!”, he replied.
Francis later came back home, walking with Felipe, as he reached into the plant on his neighbors front porch. He saw the Forest Hills Police Department’s car outside of his house, pointing at him with a gun. Francis panicked and jumped over the bush to hide at his neighbor's house.
“What do you think you’re doing kid?” the police shouted as they shot Francis and accused him of burglary. This was a shock to the neighborhood and especially a shock to his parents when they received a phone call from the Forest Hills Memorial Hospital, indicating that Francis had been shot because he was “breaking into his neighbor's house.”
“He-he was just getting the-the keys to go home after school,” Francis‘s mom stumbled, sobbing. This was a shock to all of Foxington Lane as well as Forest Hills.
Francis‘s dad arrived at Forest Hills Memorial Hospital as soon as he heard the news. Shouting, he stated “This system is broken. My kid should be alive today. He was just trying to get home after school.”
This unfortunate situation is sadly a very real issue in our world today. Many are discriminated against based off of the color of their skin, especially by police. The ongoing systemic racism needs to be fixed, especially in policing, and criminal justice reform needs to be made. This cannot continue to happen. Innocent children and adults are dying because of the color of their skin. It’s unfortunate that this has been ongoing for many centuries, however, we must address this issue immediately. Justice needs to be served for those who have not received it.