How? And what's "semi-institutionalized" racism?
What does this even mean?
And so things are getting better?
Ugh, this always bugs me....
Are you white, or black? And with all due respect....if you're white, what makes you so uniquely enlightened that you are able to understand this problem, but other white peope aren't? For that matter, black people are hardly monolithic on this either.
The whole "you just don't understand" approach is just another thing that prevents dialogue, because any form of disagreement is dismissed because "you just don't get it.".
There are some very crummy white areas where the same basic problem exists. But I agree - it is a problem.
Completely agree that this is a huge problem. And I think this can blend in with "scared shitless" because part of the us v. them mentality is born and sustained out of a concern for their personal safety.
The reality is that this is an incredibly knotty problem with no easy solution. And it is not something that can be fixed from one side only. The only realistic way it can ever improve is by an incremental rebuilding of trust on both sides. That means decent people on both sides making an effort to be decent to each other. And that's the core difference of opinion, not that suburban white guys don't get it.
Jigo is right. Whether or not cops deserve to be treated politely isn't the point. Whether black people have cause to be angry isn't the point. The point is that if people on both sides don't start treating each new encounter with the other as an opportunity to improve relations, relations will never improve. Right or wrong, justified or not, that's the reality. Because if individual cops keep experiencing widespread, generic hostility/animosity (and i'm not talking just about shootings) because of the nasty actions of other cops, then the us v. them mentality will endure no matter how much training cops get.
It's a choice between the emotional satisfaction of venting your rage, or actually engaging in conduct that might help solve the problem.
Basic question - has the militant black lives matter reaction to the Michael Brown shooting actually improved anything?
How? And what's "semi-institutionalized" racism?
I am not a sociologist so I created my own term. As we all know, institutionalized racism is that which is enshrined in law through legislation or other legal means. Semi-Institutionalized racism is not legislated per se, rather, it is either the permissive condoning of certain intentional policies or behaviors that have a disproportionate impact on minority groups (harassing young black men) or legislation that isn't prima facie racist but is employed in a racist manner (stop and frisk as a general example).
How do we deal with it you ask? Choose as a society to no longer tolerate it.
Ugh, this always bugs me....
Are you white, or black? And with all due respect....if you're white, what makes you so uniquely enlightened that you are able to understand this problem, but other white peope aren't? For that matter, black people are hardly monolithic on this either.
The whole "you just don't understand" approach is just another thing that prevents dialogue, because any form of disagreement is dismissed because "you just don't get it.".
I'm white. And I have a very different relationship with the cops than my black friends do. Yes, one can argue until the sun implodes that this a bull-shit concept, but I think that it is true for many and that yes, the difference in their personal experiences does have a bearing on how the issue at large is discussed and evaluated. An anecdote:
I have been pulled over for speeding twice. Both times I got out of it. The trooper was friendly and respectful, as was I as I have no reason to be intimidated or otherwise have reason to believe that he had an ulterior motive for stopping me. It probably helped that I had a DoD sticker on the windshield. That is my experience. Cops were seen as positive in my lily-white childhood where we had two whole black kids and one asian in my middle-school.
Contrast: When I was in college, I was riding with my frat brother, who is black and from Mississippi, back to school from Milwaukee. We were in a rural area. We were pulled over for speeding. My friend was frightened and explained that in Mississippi getting pulled over usually meant that it was a prelude for the police to search the vehicle and otherwise use "speeding" as a pretext. Growing up, he learned from experiences from his father, and older brother, as well as his own encounters, that the cops were not their friends and that driving while black was all the excuse they needed to make for an unpleasant afternoon. In this instance, the state trooper was polite enough and gave my friend a ticket for going eight over.
Make what you will out of that, but it is clear to me that, at least for some, there is indeed a very different relationship between law enforcement. It isn't limited to blacks but ANY group the
Power Trip or
Us vs. Them cops find undesirable whether it be scuzzy stoners (my burn-out friends were harassed non-stop in high school) or homosexuals. Now, when people say that certain folks, like us suburban white guys, simply can't understand certain aspects of their interaction with the law, it isn't meant to be an insult but a fact. It doesn't make us bad, but it should provoke some thought.
Basic question - has the militant black lives matter reaction to the Michael Brown shooting actually improved anything?
Well, we are talking about it aren't we? Some departments have mandated body-cams. I know in Seattle those body-cams have busted two bad cops for engaging in ego-trips by escalating nothing into assault. They are now off the force.
It is a start.
