fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2936 ]

[ SECRET POST #2936 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2936 ⌋

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I honestly think the current discussion about racism in the police force is misdirected. Because I have no doubt that the reason a lot of police officers profile black men as threats is because most of the criminals they deal with on a day to day basis are young black men.

In the past six years for example, every single time there's been a crime alert in my apartment, area, or university, the suspect was described as a young, black male. Every. Single. Time.

In those circumstances, what do you expect? That police officers aren't going to be more suspicious of black men? They're only human.

The problem isn't that cops are racist. The problem is that young black men have no opportunities and are poor so many turn to crime.

I don't think black people in actuality commit more crime. White people certainly commit tons of white collar crime. But black people do commit the types of crimes the police are likely to be called in for.

I feel like the police aren't really at fault here -- they're the canary in the mine. Yeah America is racist. The reason that racism crops up in the police force is because they're the ones that have to deal with the fallout.

But tackling racism in the police force is like treating a symptom and not the cause, IMO.

I kind of agree and kind of disagree.

I think, first, that even if you say that, it doesn't really address the related problem of police being too violent, and even more too violent towards minorities. Even if police views of black men are justified, that doesn't mean that the policies that police use are justified.

Second, I think there's something to be said for treating both symptoms and causes of a problem. Alleviating symptoms is not in and of itself a bad thing.

In regards to police being too violent, I don't think that's an issue with the police so much as it is an issue with America's gun culture.

Suspects/potential criminals are FAR FAR more likely to be armed in the US. So the police is more violent as a result.

I'm not saying alleviating the symptoms would be bad, just that I think that it's probably pointless until you hit the underlying cause -- its' just going to crop up again.

You can give police officers as much training on racial sensitivity as you want. But if, day in and day out, they see mostly black men as criminals, then they're going to start profiling black men as criminals -- they're only human and in their line of work mistakes can cost lives.

The only way to stop the profiling would be to have fewer black criminals -- which would mean actually giving black people real opportunities and looking at American society as a whole. Instead of just singling out the police.

Suspects/potential criminals are FAR FAR more likely to be armed in the US. So the police is more violent as a result.

That might be true, but the problem is that the level of violence used against black suspects tends to be greater than that used against white suspects. And your supposition that police, through experience, have been conditioned to think that criminals are more likely to be black doesn't completely explain the fact that they seem less likely to kill armed and violent white suspects.

In any case, while it's unproductive to treat the symptom rather than the cause, it's also unproductive to completely ignore the symptom. The symptoms of racism cause real harm to real people, and should be dealt with in tandem with the cause.

"The symptoms of racism cause real harm to real people, and should be dealt with in tandem with the cause."

Agreed…just, I think people are unfairly singling out/targeting the police. I don't think they're any worse than huge swathes of the American public at large. Their jobs, though, mean that their decisions tend to have consequences that actually resonate outwards. Compared to Joe Smith in marketing at least.

And while I agree that treating the symptoms isn't bad, the symptoms are still going to re-appear unless you hit the source.

"I don't think they're any worse than huge swathes of the American public at large."

The problem is that the police are supposed to be held to a higher standard than that huge, violent swathe. That's why teachers tell kids not to talk to strangers, but that they can go to a cop for help. If we are going to give the police the authority to use deadly force if necessary, it has to be with the expectation that they will use some discretion and common sense when exercising that authority. If they can't, then they need to not be police.

IDK the lack of police accountability is a pretty big issue regardless of the whole race thing. You could also say that the horrible racist killings are a symptom of the bigger issue that the police can get away with shit like that.

The problem isn't that cops are racist. The problem is that young black men have no opportunities and are poor so many turn to crime.

The problem is both. Both issues feed into each other and create extreme situations where you can't hold the environment accountable for the fuck-ups that individuals perpetrate. That black guy might have killed innocent people in part because of his upbringing, but he's still going to prison. The same should apply to cops, when profiling leads to a person who isn't actually committing any violent crime ending up severely injured or dead.

I live in a community which is over 90% white. Very rarely is a criminal around here a black person; there have been a few cases of blacks involved with organized crime being arrested around here.

I think the fact that you are seeing an association of blacks with crime kind of proves the point that that is the association both public and police are making.

I mean, maybe the black suspects are getting mentioned because of the bias more than the other way around.

This is one of those issues where geography is also part of a big deal.

I lived in a big city in michigan. Guess where all the white people lived. Guess where all the black people lived. Sure enough, black people tended to live in the underprivileged part.

At the same time, I've lived in rural upstate new york. There, it's white people who get the cops called on them cause there's a large poor white community and they are up to all kinds of shit.

I've also lived in rural northern New York. The sad part is that even though the cops spend all their time arresting white people for dealing coke and driving drunk and shooting people and stealing shit, the one time a black guy robs a gas station the cops are all "well, those people are all criminals."

And by "those people," they obviously meant Canadians.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #2936 ]

I think people are unfairly targeting the police

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