CULTURE FILES // Officer of the Peace: An Olympic fencer turned police officer makes a plea for understanding

story by Heather Shayne Blakeslee

illustrations by Christopher Spencer

EXCERPT //

“Ivan Lee, a former Olympic fencer who is now a police officer in his home borough of Brooklyn,  spoke with me—and his fencing compatriot, illustrator Christopher Spencer—through the glow of a computer screen that bridged the distance between Philadelphia and New York City. At various points, they talked shop. There were impassioned remembrances of bouts past, disdain for crooked referees, and good-natured ribbing about who got a recent Hungarian recruit for their women’s team (Lee won).

Lee is used to winning, and he’s used to bridging distances. Today, he’s right in the middle of some of the most widespread civil unrest in the United States since the ’60s, and he’s judged twice by many at the protests: once for wearing a uniform—police blues instead of his fencing whites—and again for being a Black man in law enforcement. What he wants is to be judged as an individual, for his character and actions, and to have the freedom to do the same.

He knows that his early childhood with attentive parents and time to himself, his experience as an elite athlete, and being from and of Brooklyn’s joyful, polyglot neighborhoods, has uniquely prepared him for this pivotal moment in our country’s history. …

‘Now, being a Black police officer, it becomes twice as difficult because I’m getting it from both sides,’ Lee said. ‘I get it from people in the Black community. I’ve been called “Uncle Tom,” I’ve been called every name in the book; “sell out,” “racist pig.” You know, I’ve had White people in New York City come up to me and scream about Black Lives Matter, call me a murderer, and I’m like, “Thanks, appreciate it.” You know?’ Lee laughs at this last scene and shakes his head. …

‘I try to explain to the police officers, the young officers in training, the young recruits, I say, “Raise your hand if you’re not from the five boroughs,” and you always get a good percentage. They live in Long Island, they live in Westchester. I say, “Raise your hand if you’re from the five boroughs,” and you get a smaller percentage, sometimes 50 percent.  

‘So I say, “Let me explain something. I was born and raised in Brooklyn. I’m from the five boroughs. I live and work in the same city. This is my home. I’m working where I live. A lot of you guys don’t live here. You just work here. But you’re working in a multicultural society. There’s a lot of different backgrounds, a lot of races, a lot of different languages spoken.”’ …

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