You see the problem in America is a bit deeper than you have good cops bad cops. It's an image of the black community, how often do you here the articulate person in the community on the news, where have the shows like a different world gone?
Watch blacks on reality TV and see the lowest in the community.
The police department have an image of what criminal looks like. The only problem is when you go to the hbcus and the see the guys hustling in the projects it's the same looks, it's the same car and the same slang.
That's the problem.
I think that is a part of the problem.
I'll share my opinion, since you asked for it. It may not be too popular. If you feel like the police are overly suspicious of you and don't treat you with the same level of respect that they'd treat whites or Asians, I'd take your word for it. And think what you pointed out may be a part of it.
But I also so a video from a black preacher who was interviewed on TV during the riots or right after, and he had some good points to make. He said that a lot of black youths are disrespectful toward police officers and if they would go along with the policeman's instructions in a respectful manner, then these things wouldn't happen. One of the shootings allegedly happened when a very large 17-year-old who had recently robbed a store allegedly rushed a police officer, and the officer was following his training. For me, that's not worth rioting over. If someone dies doing that, it's sad, but you shouldn't rush police officers. If that is not what happened and the boy wasn't being aggressive, or if someone gets shot running away, I can understand protests over that. People should not riot, anyway, of course.
This is politically incorrect, but much of black, inner city culture is a big mess morally in terms of sexuality and family. Much of the country is, too, but it's a really big deal in the black community. I read an article (by an American black man, btw) pointing out that after the government started giving out money to single mothers, single motherhood went way up, especially in black communities. I don't remember the exact statistics, but the number of households without fathers is staggering in the black community. It's a problem with whites, too, but a smaller percentage. I don't think it's only money. The philosophy about sex changed with the sexual revolution. My wife is from Indonesia, and she was commenting on how shocking it is to see on TV that people will actually go on national TV and talk about all the people they were sleeping with and do paternity tests. Why aren't these people ashamed for sleeping around like that? She saw Jerry Springer at my mom's house, she said, when she first came to the US, and she was utterly shocked by that. We don't watch much TV.
I don't know the statistics, but I know that there are statistics about kids not doing as well in school, having more problems with crime, more teen pregnancy, probably more drug abuse, etc. when there isn't a father in the home. I can't expect youths who were raised without a father to, on average, be as respectful to a police officer as the ones with a child in the home.
So you do end up with police officers, often white police officers, who encounter blacks youths who are disrespectful or are breaking the law. And there is the whole media stereotype from rap music and movies of the black thug. Between these two things, a white cop in the inner city may end up being more suspicious of blacks than he is of whites. If nothing else, if he's a minority, his self-defense mechanisms may kick in. He's not part of the 'in-group', sociologically speaking, and he sticks out like a sore thumb.
Every once in a while, I'll hear someone say that when x% of people on death row are black and only y% of the population is black, that this is proof positive of systemic racism. I find a problem with that logic. If a higher percentage of blacks are committing death-penalty crimes, then that isn't proof of racism. Now if whites and blacks are committing these crimes at the same rate or being convicted of these same crimes at the same rates, and more blacks get the death penalty, then they have a solid case for racism. As a white man, it doesn't go over well for me to say stuff like that. Black leaders need to have that message and talk about cleaning up some of the issues in their communities. Black preachers certainly have a role to play. I really appreciate it when I hear black preachers talk about the need for sexual morality, for returning to marriage, to fathers in the home, and that sort of thing. I'm happy to see in your posts that you are a family man, that you work hard to support them, and that you are successful. I think if we saw more of those basic things in black communities, it would really help the image of blacks in this country and also help prevent some of the crime. Marriage and fathers in the home would help a lot.
I know I don't have first-hand experience being stopped by the police as a black man. But a lot of whites outside of these areas don't like to see protests or riots when it looks like the person who killed had attacked a police officer. It doesn't make sense to me to riot over that. I can understand the other perspective. I understand grief and mourning. I do get the outrage if someone is put in the police car and arrives dead at the other end. I don't think they should cruficy the cops in effigy before an investigation, but that certainly should be taken seriously. And shooting someone who is running is also another thing that should outrage people. I do wish some of the black community leaders (who go by 'Rev.') should be more careful about trying to stir up racial animosity over every issue like this. If someone robs a store and attacks a policeman and dies, I don't think they should grandstand and make it a racism issue, stirring up trouble. There are cases where it is a more legitimate concern. I wonder if some of these leaders who have one hammar, racism, just enjoy the limelight or donations to their cause too much, and aren't responsible enough to consider whether what they say will cause division and stir up trouble in the community. There are times when racism is a real issue, and I can understand that.
I watched a video on YouTube recently that's titled "Don't Stay in School." The content is better than the title of the rap. It's a rap from a white English guy about how the curriculum in school taught him a lot of useless knowledge about Shakespeare and dissecting frogs, but didn't teach him the laws for the country he lived in or how to handle money, etc. I got a civics class in high school that I thought did a pretty good job of explaining the basics of the federal government. I took a law elective in high school, which was probably one of the most useful courses. But I think most students never learn in school what the scope of the policeman's rights are, and how to respond if they are arrested or detained. I think that sort of thing, and teaching some basic respect in schools, across all races of course, could be very helpful. Also, if people knew the limitations of the rights of the police, that could put some limits on what they do, and eventually the students who took the high school course would be the police officers.
