Reggie Fields, 12, used cops while mowing a neighbor's lawn

This is a case that has existed for as long as there has been a summer vacation and borrowed lawnmowers: A small contractor is proposing to endure the rage of the past. a summer sun on behalf of a neighbor, pushing a mower

Last week in Maple Heights, Ohio, this contractor was Reggie Fields, a 12-year-old middle schooler who owns and chief reaper of Mr. Reggie's Lawn Service. His sister and two cousins ​​also provided manual labor in their neighborhood outside of Cleveland, working a rake and a broom with coral clippings

This is what they said to Lucille Holt-Colden, 51, who met them On June 23, Holt-Colden thought it was a good investment. Her grass was growing larger, and her $ 20 would be used to keep this particular group of black kids out on the street and out of trouble.

She was mostly right.

As Reggie and his troupe finished his court, a Maple Heights Police SUV was found in front of Holt-Colden's house

When she saw the police out the window, she was surprise. Then, when she learned what had happened, she was outraged – and took her cellphone to share it with the world.

"My neighbors staying in this house," she said, swiveling the phone. On video. "So I guess I have a line where part of it is not my yard." They called the police to tell the police that the kids were cutting their grass, who is doing this, who is doing this?

She subtitled the video: "This is RIDICULOUS !!!" a phrase she repeated several times during an interview with the Washington Post, with "Who does that?"

Reggie, it seemed, was not just getting a lesson in summer business economics; Recently, African-Americans who engaged in commendable and harmless activities were seen through goggles tainted by criminals and suddenly found themselves giving explanations to the police and security guards. About completely legal activities

Someone called the police on a black man who was reading a book on Christianity looking at the ocean. Negroes were warned against authorities by going to the gym, buying underwear, waiting for the school bus and cutting.

Reggie is not even the youngest victim of #LivingWhileBlack. A few weeks ago, an 8 year old girl selling cold water to passersby to finance a trip to Disneyland was approached by a white woman who pretended to call the police. In 2012, police were summoned to a primary school in Georgia, where they handcuffed a six-year-old kindergarten student – for having an angry fit.

Holt-Colden and Reggie are both black; the neighbor who called the police on Reggie is white, but Holt-Colden does not know why the woman called the police. According to Holt-Colden, the same neighbor called the police in the past – in December, the neighbor reported a snow fight between the children of Holt-Colden. The Post contacted the Maple Heights Police Department to check the call regarding a snowball fight. "If the kids were white," Holt-Colden said of Reggie and his family, "they would not have called." She told the Post that neighbors of various races lived in "

When the police came, Holt-Colden said that Reggie's nine-year-old cousin was frozen in fear in his driveway, worried that It was not.

But Reggie continued to mow. The children were neither cited nor arrested by the police.

Still, Holt-Colden said she was angry that an officer responded in the first place.

The Cleveland area was recently shaken by the death of Saniyah Nicholson, a 9-year-old child killed in crossfire during a shootout in the eastern part of the city. His death raised concerns about the inactivity of thousands of out-of-school students for the summer, according to Holt-Colden.

Saniyah was sitting in front of a boxing club in east Cleveland, according to WJW-TV. two rival groups started shooting at each other. The bullets missed the older men but hit the little girl while she was sitting in her mother's car. Her family had the intention of burying it Saturday

Holt-Colden says she wants more people to do what 's right. they can to keep their children busy with meaningful tasks. She worried that Reggie's interaction with the police would be discouraging.

Many others have written to prevent this from happening.

"People tell me," How can I get in touch with these kids? "They have?" I have assets that I want these kids to cut off, "said Holt.

She started a GoFundMe page for Reggie. On Saturday afternoon, people had given over 8,600 $, the equivalent of more than 430 lawns

but Reggie and his team do not rely on this advertising-generated boon Some people donated supplies – a leaf blower and a lawn mower – to help his business and he is still mowing the lawns.

He even did flyers on orange paper with a picture of a lawn mower: "Mr. Reggie Lawn Cutting Service. Take one step at a time. Schedule an appointment I'll be at the time … "