Neighbors call police on 12-year-old African American child because he was mowing their lawn

Over the past few weeks, several reports have emerged of people calling the police or taking physical action against black children in acts of flagrant racism. First, there was the woman who achieved meme status after calling the cops on a black family having a BBQ in the park, then there was the woman - now known as Permit Patty - who phoned police on a young black girl selling water outside her business, and then, just a couple of days ago, there was a woman who assaulted a black teenager while he was at a public pool with some friends.

Needless to say, all these women were white.

Now, in yet another absurdly racist act, a white family in a small neighbourhood called law enforcement on a 12-year-old boy... because he was mowing their lawn.

Reginald 'Reggie' Fields, who lives in Maple Heights, Ohio, was trying to earn a little extra pocket money this week by mowing some of his neighbours' lawns. He, his siblings, and his cousins had been asked by one woman on the street - Lucille Holt - to cut the grass for a small fee, and so they happily obliged.

However, while working, Reggie accidentally strayed onto Holt's neighbours' yard - which was easily done, considering there are no fences or boundaries separating the two plots.

Rather than explain to the 12-year-old entrepreneur that he had made a simple mistake, though, the people occupying the neighbouring home decided to call the police to report him for his actions.

Yes, apparently "mowing lawns while black" is also a crime in the states these days.

Thankfully, the incident did not go undocumented, and Holt managed to capture the encounter on camera.

"They said I was cutting their grass. I didn't know it!" Reggie said to reporters later on.

But if the neighbours' intention was to put the kids out of business, their plans backfired massively. After the video went viral, Reggie was inundated with requests from people all over the city who needed some work done in their gardens.

"People are inboxing me like, 'how can I get in touch with this children? Where are they at? I got property I want these kids to cut,'" Holt said.

And Reggie himself said that he was keen to take on more work, as he wanted to buy new equipment and expand his business. "Just give me a call. I will be there. On time!" He said.

Holt added that her neighbours had done things like this before.

"They call the police for everything, they call the police because my kids were throwing snowballs," she explained.

In her eyes, they should be proud of young people working hard in the community.

"They should be glad these kids aren't here breaking their cars windows out. They should be glad they aren't here stealing their cars," she said. "They called the police because the kids were cutting their grass - who does that?"

Ultimately, with the levels of police brutality against black people being what they are in the states, calling the cops on a person of colour for no reason should be regarded as an act of violence. Reggie is lucky that he did not face any negative consequences from the incident - and the people who contacted law enforcement should feel ashamed of what they did.