Anonymous wrote:I’m a black mom, with 2 sons, and I would not stay silent about this comment. My 12 year old is starting to stay home alone and I absolutely want him to call 911 if there is an emergency and We are not home. When they were younger, their instructions if separated from us in public were to stay put and ask a mom for help, but if there are no Moms, then look for a worker or police officer. It’s a very nuanced conversation, IMO, for younger kids. Don’t make little kids afraid of the police.

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Anonymous wrote:African American here. We are told this in the womb. We are also told that white people are not our friends. Both are true.

You sound hateful, which is kind of ironic and sad.
How many police officers do you know? White people?

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Anonymous wrote:African American here. We are told this in the womb. We are also told that white people are not our friends. Both are true.

You sound hateful, which is kind of ironic and sad.
How many police officers do you know? White people?

Anonymous wrote:African American here. We are told this in the womb. We are also told that white people are not our friends. Both are true.

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Anonymous wrote:African American here. We are told this in the womb. We are also told that white people are not our friends. Both are true.

Look up self-fulfilling prophecy.

Also, racism.

Anonymous wrote:So, if they aren't our friends, are they automatically the enemy?

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Anonymous wrote:I agree with your son. Mr. Rogers and his advice to seek out the “helpers” no longer applies.

OK, so you won't be calling the police if someone breaks into your home? You won't be calling the police if you see or hear a neighbor beating his wife? You won't be calling the police if you drive by your elementary school, and the windows are smashed in?

I demand justice for George Floyd. But I'm also not such a hypocrite as to say that all police = bad when I know damn well who I would call if I were robbed at gunpoint again, as I was four years ago.

Here’s the thing: I will call the police if I have to. I have had relatives, friends, and co-workers who were and are police officers that I’ve trusted with my life and well-being. But, having said all of that, I will never know, when I call 911, if the officers responding will be Officer Friendly or Officer From Hell Willing to Murder Me Nonchalantly While His Colleagues Watch. The key, for me, is that while many can be reasonably sure that a police officer will help them, or at least not deliberately hurt them, I have the deep layer of risk that’s associated with having to find out the hard way.

And I don't doubt or dispute that, at all. But for so many people who have sought and benefitted from police involvement for so many years to suddenly be like "police are not OUR friends" I'm like...funny, that's not what you said when you called the cops because your neighbors were setting off fireworks on July 7 a few years ago.

Do you know that black people have called the police for help, and gotten arrested or shot when THEY were the ones who called? Even as the victim of a crime, i have to weigh this risk. The police are a last laat absolutely last resort. They are not my friends and there's nothing funny about this.

I agree, there's nothing funny about this. I agree, sometimes the very people who have called the cops are the ones that end up getting harmed or killed.

I am not disputing any of this.

What I AM saying is that a whole bunch of people are massive hypocrites for acting like:
1) Police injustice and absue of power is just now happening, because they decided that now was the moment to wake up to it. Never mind Sandra Bland. Never mind Rodney King. I just now decided "enough was enough," so NOW police brutality and abuse of power is a problem.

2) Those talking a big game right now about how police are not their friends would be RACING toward a police station if they noticed someone tailgating them, holding a gun. It's very easy to say one thing behind a keyboard, and to do something else in real life.

Okay. I think it's also fair to point out that the subject of this thread is a teenager who has reach those conclusions.

No, what we know is that a teenager reached the conclusion that police aren't our friends with a 5-year-old, and instead of using the moment for context and conversation with his or her children, OK came racing to DCUM to crow about how enlightened he/she is.

I wonder if OP will regret that if her 5yo gets lost at the county fair and doesn't go to a police officer for help. Betcha OP would go racing toward a police officer to ask for help finding her kid.

Anonymous wrote:African American here. We are told this in the womb. We are also told that white people are not our friends. Both are true.

Anonymous wrote:It’s terrible to paint everyone with one brush. There are horrible officers and wonderful caring ones, too.

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Anonymous wrote:I agree with your son. Mr. Rogers and his advice to seek out the “helpers” no longer applies.

OK, so you won't be calling the police if someone breaks into your home? You won't be calling the police if you see or hear a neighbor beating his wife? You won't be calling the police if you drive by your elementary school, and the windows are smashed in?

I demand justice for George Floyd. But I'm also not such a hypocrite as to say that all police = bad when I know damn well who I would call if I were robbed at gunpoint again, as I was four years ago.

Sadly we can't choose which cop show's up when we need them; a "good cop" or a Chauvin. If a person black person made the call, and your robbery was in progress, it's a coin toss as to who would be arrested or shot.