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Originally Posted by skarra
Well that is sort of my point - what is the number of bad interactions? And more importantly, what is that percentage. And what is it if you are white vs if you are black. These videos give us a unique opportunity to actually collect that data. And the video was not fabricated, and I've no idea what the fabricated numbers are that you refer to.
If you watched that video (I suspect few did), the unfortunate 18 year old black kid has his hands on the steering wheel when the officer goes up to him - as if though he has been taught by his parents to do that in order to avoid being shot. Does anyone here feel like they need to do that? It really makes one want to cry seeing how badly he is treated by the people with the job of protecting us.
Most of us are white and privileged, and minorities sadly are typically the opposite. Bad cops maybe are jaded by the crime they see, but if they are treating people like the way he did in that video (and has the gall to ask that poor kid why the bad impression of police) he needs to find another job. And if he doesn't want to leave, then he becomes our problem - a really BIG problem.
I get the BLM movement - it's about how their lives and outlooks are so much different from ours due solely to their financial status and color of their skin. There's been a very long history of no level playing field that contributes to that - and it will take numerous generations to overcome what has been done to them. Originally I too was in the All Lives Matter camp, but once I got the idea of what this is all about BLM makes perfect sense and the other "matters" are designed as distractions to have us move along and not do anything. If we truly care about our fellow human beings, it is important to take this first step of at least acknowledging that we have a problem.
I'd like to add to the comment about the dashcam video. I have one and have been stopped once in the last 7 years. The officer definitely took note of it and was super nice. Maybe it was because of the camera which he definitely noticed, or because I was white driving a Lexus in an upscale neighborhood one town away from home, or maybe he was a believer in good community relations - upon reflection I think the latter and a combination. But I suspect the camera did help.
I'm so grateful for the body cam and phones in general. Without them George Floyd would have been just another "resisting arrest" death. I wish there were more cameras around during the times of Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, and so many of the other creeps who got away with their crimes for so long.
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I’ve just finished a long career as a college professor. It was a rare thing for a student to treat me with disrespect. (The students who did were nearly all African-Americans who would drift into class five to twenty minutes late or sleep in class, but most African-Americans were as respectful to me as I was to them.) I had authority, and students accepted that, did what I asked, learned, and got good grades. Students almost never talked back in a disrespectful way. They didn’t complain. They didn’t call me names. I was so fortunate!
I asked my students several times, as a part of writing assignments, what they did if a cop pulled them over for a traffic violation. (95% white classes) Half of the guys said they lied. Most of the others offered an excuse. Some argued with the cop. A few accepted what they had coming or apologized. Of the women, most of them tried to get out of the ticket by either bursting into tears (this was calculated) or flirting. So, any cop, knowing this, knows that even “the best kids” are not being honest very often, though they may be polite.
Imagine being a cop in a neighborhood where people may show gratitude when you help them, but in general you are treated with suspicion or clear dislike and distrust. Most people you ask for information lie to you. People who have done something wrong lie to you. When you need to make an arrest, people gather around and say bad things about you, swear at you, tell you how terrible you are. Respect is rare, even when you are being respectful. Everyone seems to resent you. People swear at you. Sometimes they spit at you or throw things at you. Some pull guns on you. Yet you are expected to always turn the other cheek while protecting and serving.
We are asking our police officers to show the meekness and forgiveness of Jesus going to his crucifixion as we vilify them.
The wonder is not that the police resent this and start to hate the people they are supposed to help, but that more of them don’t snap and start firing. I would prefer that they be always polite and understanding, but I couldn’t do it. It would be so much easier for them if those they are policing would be as respectful as my students.