Why are American blacks always having issues with the Police?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am white and have been stopped for being on my phone or for having a tail light out. I always listen to what the police says, never argue with them, am respectful, and don't reach for anything until I am told to do so. In many of these videos, the people getting in trouble are very clearly wrestling with the police and refusing to get out of the car or do what they are asked. I would never ever do such a thing. Also, why is there no outrage about the crime rate in these cities - mostly against African Americans?

This is why I'm sick of people like you. Officer Friendly comes to your car, sees a 'familiar' face. Officer Friendly comes to my son's car and automatically goes into defensive mode.

I guess people like Don Lemon, Van Jones, Chris Rock, George Lopez, John Henson, Jamie Foxx, and a multitude of other well-known figures are just making this up because they have nothing else to do.

y

+1. God this makes me so sad. White fellow human beings, can you really not empathize with us? Please try. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm so sad. I am just begging you, white fellow human beings, try to understand. Buy Eyes on the Prize. Really learn about our history. Try to experience it. MLK was assassinated not 50 years ago. You say it was a long time ago, but it wasn't. My father was alive. So were yours. The people that opposed civil rights did not disappear, they were not executed, they were not imprisoned. They are still here, and in many cases, they raised kids who share their lingering and often overt racism.

Maybe the African-American History Musem can be like the Holocaust museum and you get a random name and see how your life turns out as a black person at different times in our history. The thought of being black in the past absolutely horrifies me.

My husband and I have been watching Eyes on the Prize, from Netflix. We're about halfway through. It is extraordinary and I am angry that it was not shown in my history classes in high school. Everyone should see it. The parallels with today are inescapable. When I read today about the BLM leader arrested outside of Baton Rouge I immediately thought of the scenes from the documentary where civil rights leaders were arrested and called "agitators." It's the same language used today. To the extent anyone is "agitating," it's because there is a real problem that needs to be stirred up and fixed. The protesters are not creating the problem. They are highlighting the problem.

Police brutality is a huge problem and while it touches people of every race, I don't see how there can be any doubt that it falls disproportionately on blacks. It always has.

- a white woman

God bless you! I am PP you are responding to. I'm so depressed to my core this last week. Reading mean anonymous posts on the Internet is probably not helping me. Thank you thank you for being a ray of light. Talk to other white people. Like everyone else on earth, it's easier to listen when the person talking to you reminds you of yourself.

I'm glad you felt better reading my post, but I don't deserve your thanks. I am a coward. I'm not alone in this, but there it is. I support the BLM movement. I support civil rights. I am vehemently against guns. But I have never attended a rally or protest and it's unlikely I ever will. To be honest, I'm afraid to. I'm afraid of being violently arrested or shot or a bomb going off because some asshole of whatever race or religion has a grievance or mental health issues, plus a weapon, and sees a bunch of easy targets. I might have gone to a rally in my young student days, but now I'm 35 with a husband and a young child and parents to support and I can't see myself doing it.

I'm doubly ashamed because I am Jewish and I think, well, what would I have done if I were a gentile during WWII? Would I have put my life on the line to save Jews or would I have looked the other way so as not to jeopardize my life or my family's life? What would I have done if I had been an adult during the 60s in this country? And I can't say with any assurance that I would have done anything.

I will vote, I will petition, I will give money to causes I support ... but I'm not out there on the front lines. And I know I have the luxury of choosing not to be.

NP, but yeah, this is the thing. This is what keeps us in this decades-long loop that has us still hashing out problems that our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents witnessed and dealt with and moved on. People say that the great thing about America is that you have the right to challenge the status quo, but that's not really true, is it?

I grew up in a middle class household, in middle America, with middling aspirations. I didn't realize until I was middle aged what extraordinary efforts my parents had to make to give me an ordinary life. And, you know, not everyone can be extraordinary. Nor should they be expected to be so. But if you're African American, that's the cost. Many pay it, no problem, it is what it is.

Harm to your family's well-being, your paycheck, your social standing are acceptable reasons to avoid involvement in protests. My dad told me it's the reason he didn't go to the march on Washington in '68 - he couldn't risk leaving his family without a breadwinner (and he didn't have enough leave), but I think it's ironic...or something...that speaking up about an injustice carries so much risk. And that the risk my father carried half a century ago is still pretty solid today.

What shocks and saddens me even more is that the fears he had about risks his children faced outside his household are the same I hold for my children. Forty years later. I used to roll my eyes at him (in 1986, when I got my drivers license) and say that stuff doesn't happen anymore! It's unbelievable to me that that stuff DOES happen. More and more.

It's unbelievable to me that this is the America anyone wants.

Another AA here. We are the same age and my parents didn't participate in the '60s either. They got married in 1968, which is the same year my mom graduated from high school and my dad graduated from college. My grandparents weren't willing to let them risk their lives and futures and my parents weren't rebellious enough to go protest anyway. I used to feel a kind of way about this but now, I get it. I can't protest in any way -- not even a tshirt or a pin -- and keep my job, and I need to be able to provide for my family. And the reason I have this education and lifestyle is because my parents went to college and grad school and sacrificed to make sure I went to good schools, got opportunities they didn't have (Piano lessons, art classes, dance lessons, summer camps, overseas travel), and paid my way through college. Do I risk that? But what about the people who are out there taking risks for me?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not black but a minority. Why is it always (mostly 95%) that blacks are having issues with the local police? I don't see Asians, Hispanic, African (African immigrants), indian, Arabic, etc is the news getting shot,mets.

Because they commit more crimes.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a white male, I ask this of black people -

1. Can we teach your children?
2. Do you feel a moral responsibility to help your brothers and sisters living in high-crime, high-poverty areas?
3. What exactly do you want from whites? (b/c we can't seem to get it right)
4. For the many of you with degrees and nice cars and homes and quite possibly private school for your kids - do you feel connected to AAs who aren't as fortunate? (I can tell you that many of the AAs I know in that category have told me that they chose living in Area A and sending their kids to Private School B in order to keep them away from any negative influences.)

I am certain these are questions that have been raised before, but I don't believe they've ever been directly addressed in a civil manner.

I am not black but I can tell you right off that you won't get a single answer because black people are no more monolithic than white people. That's like asking white people if they like smoked salmon. Some do, some don't, some can take it or leave it. The social strata of black Washingtonians alone would take a fairly long book to document, not to mention their answers to your questions. It is important to begin seeing people as individuals, not members of groups.

And this is the answer I expected. It goes both ways. Whites are also not monolithic, yet this is what we see and hear in the news, yes? Your response doesn't help at all. It simply continues to mask a very dangerous problem in our society that will continue to divide our country. You don't kill cancer with Advil.

I've had these conversations with African American friends. I'm not afraid to ask. They're not afraid to respond. They are all highly educated, living very comfortable lifestyles. Two teachers (older generation) - who participated the Civil Rights Movement, who grew up in segregated communities - said desegregation destroyed the black community. What they once had as a community was destroyed b/c there were no longer teachers and parents and aunts and uncles and grandfathers and small business owners looking after their children. I worked with a teacher whose dad was a Farrakhan follower - clearly not as militant as his father, but inspirational and devoted to his students. I work with kids who see a white face and automatically turn off. It takes time to break through that exterior only to find some frightened child behind that angry facade. I have AA friends in NYC who love how Harlem was gentrified b/c the safety issues are slowly dissolving and through revitalization.

I don't view anyone as monolithic. However, the news does, which distorts people's views. There will always be whites who hate blacks and blacks who hate whites. However, you can't get past this stage until you open up lines of communication b/c we don't move forward until the ugly comes out.

You're taking the coward's way out, which only keeps us separated.

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you have not fully awaken yet because this is one of the most incoherent responses I've ever encountered. If this is how you plan to communicate, race relations will be better if you abstain.

What is incoherent about PP's response? The media most certainly distorts peoples views, or attempts to do so at every turn. We do need to have more open communication, not the political correct bullshit that only silences us, divides us and shuts down any meaningful dialogue. But that is what the left wants-they want to keep "we the people", quiet, dependent, powerless, complacent and victimized. Anyone who speaks the truth is labelled an idiot, racist, stupid, asleep or incoherent. That is not the America I want to live in or have my kids growing up in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not black but a minority. Why is it always (mostly 95%) that blacks are having issues with the local police? I don't see Asians, Hispanic, African (African immigrants), indian, Arabic, etc is the news getting shot,mets.

Because they commit more crimes.

White fraternity guys commit more of the rapes on campus. White people make and smoke more meth.

I can do that too. How is it helpful to fixing the problem of police brutality?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a white male, I ask this of black people -

1. Can we teach your children?
2. Do you feel a moral responsibility to help your brothers and sisters living in high-crime, high-poverty areas?
3. What exactly do you want from whites? (b/c we can't seem to get it right)
4. For the many of you with degrees and nice cars and homes and quite possibly private school for your kids - do you feel connected to AAs who aren't as fortunate? (I can tell you that many of the AAs I know in that category have told me that they chose living in Area A and sending their kids to Private School B in order to keep them away from any negative influences.)

I am certain these are questions that have been raised before, but I don't believe they've ever been directly addressed in a civil manner.

I am not black but I can tell you right off that you won't get a single answer because black people are no more monolithic than white people. That's like asking white people if they like smoked salmon. Some do, some don't, some can take it or leave it. The social strata of black Washingtonians alone would take a fairly long book to document, not to mention their answers to your questions. It is important to begin seeing people as individuals, not members of groups.

And this is the answer I expected. It goes both ways. Whites are also not monolithic, yet this is what we see and hear in the news, yes? Your response doesn't help at all. It simply continues to mask a very dangerous problem in our society that will continue to divide our country. You don't kill cancer with Advil.

I've had these conversations with African American friends. I'm not afraid to ask. They're not afraid to respond. They are all highly educated, living very comfortable lifestyles. Two teachers (older generation) - who participated the Civil Rights Movement, who grew up in segregated communities - said desegregation destroyed the black community. What they once had as a community was destroyed b/c there were no longer teachers and parents and aunts and uncles and grandfathers and small business owners looking after their children. I worked with a teacher whose dad was a Farrakhan follower - clearly not as militant as his father, but inspirational and devoted to his students. I work with kids who see a white face and automatically turn off. It takes time to break through that exterior only to find some frightened child behind that angry facade. I have AA friends in NYC who love how Harlem was gentrified b/c the safety issues are slowly dissolving and through revitalization.

I don't view anyone as monolithic. However, the news does, which distorts people's views. There will always be whites who hate blacks and blacks who hate whites. However, you can't get past this stage until you open up lines of communication b/c we don't move forward until the ugly comes out.

You're taking the coward's way out, which only keeps us separated.

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you have not fully awaken yet because this is one of the most incoherent responses I've ever encountered. If this is how you plan to communicate, race relations will be better if you abstain.

What is incoherent about PP's response? The media most certainly distorts peoples views, or attempts to do so at every turn. We do need to have more open communication, not the political correct bullshit that only silences us, divides us and shuts down any meaningful dialogue. But that is what the left wants-they want to keep "we the people", quiet, dependent, powerless, complacent and victimized. Anyone who speaks the truth is labelled an idiot, racist, stupid, asleep or incoherent. That is not the America I want to live in or have my kids growing up in.

Every day I become more convinced that right wingers are unable to follow a simple conversation. So, since at least two posters are unable to find anything incoherent about the PP's post, allow me to break it down:

And this is the answer I expected. It goes both ways. Whites are also not monolithic, yet this is what we see and hear in the news, yes? Your response doesn't help at all. It simply continues to mask a very dangerous problem in our society that will continue to divide our country. You don't kill cancer with Advil.

Of course whites are not monolithic. I made that point myself by saying asking such questions of "black people" is like asking "white people" if they like smoked salmon. In both cases, there are a variety of answers and expecting an entire community to agree on a response is foolish. Who cares what we see on the news? We are having a conversation, not responding to the news. What does cancer and Advil have to do with the fact that the Black community is not monolithic? This entire paragraph is disjointed and not responsible to my post.

I've had these conversations with African American friends. I'm not afraid to ask. They're not afraid to respond. They are all highly educated, living very comfortable lifestyles. Two teachers (older generation) - who participated the Civil Rights Movement, who grew up in segregated communities - said desegregation destroyed the black community. What they once had as a community was destroyed b/c there were no longer teachers and parents and aunts and uncles and grandfathers and small business owners looking after their children. I worked with a teacher whose dad was a Farrakhan follower - clearly not as militant as his father, but inspirational and devoted to his students. I work with kids who see a white face and automatically turn off. It takes time to break through that exterior only to find some frightened child behind that angry facade. I have AA friends in NYC who love how Harlem was gentrified b/c the safety issues are slowly dissolving and through revitalization.

Again, what does this have to do with my point that the black community is not monolithic? The poster actually demonstrates that there are various opinions within the community. However, I must say that I believe he must have misunderstood what was said about desegregation destroying the black community. Black neighborhoods were not destroyed by desegregation, but by urban renewal. Nobody went into black neighborhoods and forced some to move to white neighborhoods so that they could make space for a few whites. This poster's conception of desegregation is simply ridiculous.

I don't view anyone as monolithic. However, the news does, which distorts people's views. There will always be whites who hate blacks and blacks who hate whites. However, you can't get past this stage until you open up lines of communication b/c we don't move forward until the ugly comes out.

My point was that the black community was not monolithic and that we should see each other as individuals. This poster called me a coward and said my answer was unhelpful, but now claims to agree with my point. Which is it? What does the news have to do with this? Even if the news does show people as monolithic -- and I don't necessarily agree that it does -- I clearly haven't been influenced by the news because my point is exactly the opposite. What does this have to do with my post?

Finally, i am in favor of communication. However, I prefer productive communication. Productive communication does not begin with a series of loaded -- in some cases insulting -- questions aimed at nonexistent monolithic "black people". This poster appears to believe that he has all the answers and his idea of communication is to put others on the spot. He is not interested in learning, so much as exposing what he sees as problems in the black community. If you want to break down barriers, begin with listening.

[Anonymous]

http://dcist.com/2016/07/teen_who_attacked_metro_passenger_i.php

To answer op, it is behavior like this attack on the metro which happens often for no reason. I hear about these unprovoked attacks by African American teens almost daily in DC and this is why they have trouble with police.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://dcist.com/2016/07/teen_who_attacked_metro_passenger_i.php

To answer op, it is behavior like this attack on the metro which happens often for no reason. I hear about these unprovoked attacks by African American teens almost daily in DC and this is why they have trouble with police.

yes

And let's see people continue to make excuses for this behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://dcist.com/2016/07/teen_who_attacked_metro_passenger_i.php

To answer op, it is behavior like this attack on the metro which happens often for no reason. I hear about these unprovoked attacks by African American teens almost daily in DC and this is why they have trouble with police.

yes

And let's see people continue to make excuses for this behavior.

So let me get this straight, a black woman comments that SHE doesn't commit such crimes nor do her black sons nor her black nephews nor her black neighbors and subsequently she takes offense to the suggestion that such behavior is some kind of trademark for blacks altogether and objects to the insinuations people are making about blacks - you're saying she's making excuses?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://dcist.com/2016/07/teen_who_attacked_metro_passenger_i.php

To answer op, it is behavior like this attack on the metro which happens often for no reason. I hear about these unprovoked attacks by African American teens almost daily in DC and this is why they have trouble with police.

yes

And let's see people continue to make excuses for this behavior.

So let me get this straight, a black woman comments that SHE doesn't commit such crimes nor do her black sons nor her black nephews nor her black neighbors and subsequently she takes offense to the suggestion that such behavior is some kind of trademark for blacks altogether and objects to the insinuations people are making about blacks - you're saying she's making excuses?

+1. That's like saying if someone of your race is guilty of a crime, you are personally to blame and should be subject to harsher treatment. Are you asked why your community, and specifically you, can't stop the next Dylan Klebold? Do you expect the police shoot first, ask questions later because your son is a white male with loner tendencies and could be perpetrating a shooting if a vague threat is called in and he fits the profile? Would it be "making excuses" to want the police to distinguish between someone that has committed a crime and someone that has not committed a crime when using deadly force?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG OP, LOL. You are an idiot. World Class.

"Why do so many women have problems with getting raped?"
"What is wrong with little kids that so many of them get molested?"

and other insightful questions from Brainiacs like OP....

+1 Ignorant too!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not black but a minority. Why is it always (mostly 95%) that blacks are having issues with the local police? I don't see Asians, Hispanic, African (African immigrants), indian, Arabic, etc is the news getting shot,mets.

Because they commit more crimes.

Correction: They get arrested for more crimes.

There are many studies, particularly on drug use, that show whites and blacks engaged in criminal behavior at very similar rates.

[Anonymous]

Drug use or drug sale? Drug sale open air market ?
if drug use, the pendulum has swung on that one. So many places legalized now not sure who is getting arrested for drug use. Possession above a certain amount possibly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://dcist.com/2016/07/teen_who_attacked_metro_passenger_i.php

To answer op, it is behavior like this attack on the metro which happens often for no reason. I hear about these unprovoked attacks by African American teens almost daily in DC and this is why they have trouble with police.

yes

And let's see people continue to make excuses for this behavior.

It then becomes hard for people to see AA teens as individuals, because, as a group, they are responsible for so much crime!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://dcist.com/2016/07/teen_who_attacked_metro_passenger_i.php

To answer op, it is behavior like this attack on the metro which happens often for no reason. I hear about these unprovoked attacks by African American teens almost daily in DC and this is why they have trouble with police.

And what about the unprovoked attacks by whites throughout the country. The police in those jurisdictions have to contend with them as well. But I do understand you PP. When a Black person does something that Black person is representative of all Blacks. However, when a white person does something, he is an individual and is not representative of you. Piss off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://dcist.com/2016/07/teen_who_attacked_metro_passenger_i.php

To answer op, it is behavior like this attack on the metro which happens often for no reason. I hear about these unprovoked attacks by African American teens almost daily in DC and this is why they have trouble with police.

yes

And let's see people continue to make excuses for this behavior.

So let me get this straight, a black woman comments that SHE doesn't commit such crimes nor do her black sons nor her black nephews nor her black neighbors and subsequently she takes offense to the suggestion that such behavior is some kind of trademark for blacks altogether and objects to the insinuations people are making about blacks - you're saying she's making excuses?

+1. That's like saying if someone of your race is guilty of a crime, you are personally to blame and should be subject to harsher treatment. Are you asked why your community, and specifically you, can't stop the next Dylan Klebold? Do you expect the police shoot first, ask questions later because your son is a white male with loner tendencies and could be perpetrating a shooting if a vague threat is called in and he fits the profile? Would it be "making excuses" to want the police to distinguish between someone that has committed a crime and someone that has not committed a crime when using deadly force?

You know what the difference is, skin color. When Dylan Roof was arrested in South Carolina the police took him to Burger King because he said he was hungry. The police knew he had a gun because he had just open fired on a church full of people. When the police approached Tamir Rice they immediately opened fire, no questions or warnings. Not because Tamir had shot anyone, he hadn't, but because they were told he had a gun.