Audrena Gilbert, sister of police shooting victim Oscar Grant is embraced by activist Dereca Blackmon during a protest Wednesday in Oakland. AP Photo

I am not yet a father.

I hope to be someday. For now, I’ve got family and friends who are raising sons and daughters and I enjoy the time I spend with all of them. Ironically, one thing about my parents I can now relate to is the fear they had when each day, my siblings and I went out into the world.

And our parents feared that we might not come back — in part because of the color of our skin.

This video illustrates one reason why. A group of teens in the San Francisco area were pulled from trains by Bay Area Rapid Transit police on suspicion of being involved in a fight. All are handcuffed except for Oscar Grant. One minute, Grant appears to be complying with police orders and begging not to be tasered. Seconds later, Grant lay face down. Then, an officer standing over Grant pulls out his service pistol.

A shot rings out. And Grant lay dying.

Warning: these videos are graphic in nature, and contain profanity.

Here is a link to a video of the shooting posted on MSNBC. The below video was posted on YouTube.

Often in crime-related stories posted on STLtoday.com, reader comments lump all young black men in the metro area with the criminal tendencies of some young black men in the metro area. I believe when criminals of any race commit crimes, they must be apprehended and tried for those crimes.

I also understand that when as a youth, you make bad choices, hang out with the wrong crowd and simply be out when most people are asleep, the dangers of something going awry increase.

Whether we were going to high school, to the movies with friends or to work, my parents often warned us about dangers we were too young or naive to see. They warned us about the company we kept as often as they warned us about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In today’s world, the risk is much higher. A recent Northeastern University study found a 40-percent increase in young black men killed in gun crimes — often by other young black men. Societal fear of black men remains. Police officers do an admirable job of putting their lives on the line while protecting citizens from any and all criminals. Cops must process whether or not deadly force is warranted in fateful seconds.

There have been high-profile police shootings of unarmed Black men throughout the country. In addition to the San Francisco case, an unarmed young black man was shot in his family’s driveway in an affluent Houston suburb. Some investigations and court cases exonerated police. Other cases resulted in convictions of police.

An investigation of the Grant case is ongoing. The officer in question, Johannes Mehserle, 27, resigned from the BART police force Wednesday and has not spoken to investigators. One report states investigators are examining whether Mehserle allegedly pulled his semi-automatic handgun instead of his Taser by mistake. In another report, BART officials repeatedly described the officer’s weapon as being discharged rather than being shot.

Whatever the facts of the case eventually show, all illustrate the fears of Black and Latino parents — and their millions of law-abiding sons.

As a young Black or Latino male, you can obey the law and when questioned or detained, obey police orders to the letter.

Still, you can end up dead.

No parent, black, white or otherwise, should live with such fears.