One also has to ask why are the poor so poor? Yes, in a few instances it is bone laziness. But in the great majority of cases there are a myriad of other causes --- poor education, lack of employment to name just two. It is my experience that the working poor are some of the hardest working people I have ever met. Some hold two or three or more part time jobs and work 60 to 80 hours a week just to provide food and shelter. On the other hand some of the rich were simply born that way and are and always have been bone lazy. Others have worked extremely hard and deserve the rewards of their intelligence and hard work. However one must question the extent of that reward. About 1960 the CEO of a company typically took home about ten times more than the lowest paid full time worker in that company. Today in many cases it is a factor of several hundred and perhaps over a thousand. This is obscene. Carried to the extreme this is what revolutions are made of. This is a far more complex problem than partisan loyalties or left and right political philosophies. Justice should play a part but is largely ignored.
The DOJ report showed that in Baltimore, in two areas that have 11% of the population, 44% of the stops were made.
There have been studies done that show that not only in areas like Ferguson, black people are being used as cash cows.
This article concluded "When we began this analysis, we expected that fines would be correlated with income levels—and that places with poor populations would disproportionately levy fines. But that’s not what we found. Some rich cities use punitive fines for revenue, and some poor ones do too. The best indicator that a government will levy an excessive amount of fines is if its citizens are Black."
In Milwaukee, if you are caught driving with a suspended license, you lose the ability to drive for 2 years, but a DUI? You only lose the ability to drive for 1 year. Black people area affected more by the former. Their local transportation sucks, so if they lose their license they can't work. So someone who didn't have the money for their license goes further in debt and loses their job because they are targeted more often. Now if they also get towing or impound fee, on top of the ticket, and lose their jobs, what options are left for them? You can go into a black area and see a cop on every corner trying to catch someone and getting them on minor stuff, not signaling etc. White area's not so much. It is a cycle of over policing and fines and black area's are being harassed and burdened by it, but people say they are only getting what they deserve.
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It bothers me that some people here appear to want to sit in disbelief because their experience with police is different. Well your experiences, and mine, are not the be all and end all of reality and how things go in this life. I've seen people who seem to have few to no black friends, sit back and judge based on stereotypes. There is no empathy because there is no relationship. There are few if any places black people can go where we are not in contact with white people. Teachers, friends, school mates, store owners, doctors, pastors, employers, family by marriage, and co workers among others are a daily part of our lives. Yet in many white areas white people can go all day with out seeing a black person beyond tv and movies. Vermont has what a 3% black population? I knew a girl who went to college with a white girl who had never seen a black person before. When a tragedy happens to a white person, we can imagine that as happening to someone we know and love. When a white person does something heinous, few can write off your entire race as evil or beyond hope because we have real world experience and relationships that that trump the stereotypes. Yet when a black person does something, we are judged collectively and the entire community is lumped in as the same. Then when black people say x,y,z is happening and harming us, no one listens and if they listen they don't believe. We've been telling of police brutality for decades, no one believed. So now technology is there that we can record it and prove it. STILL no one believes or there aren't enough facts or no one knows happened before the video started. And no one gets punished for killing us. So people are angry. So an area gets destroyed, and suddenly, everyone is paying attention. I don't agree with the method, but I understand it.
It is really distressing to me see the callous disregard and stereotyping of PoC around this forum and the discussion with police violence. When I first found this forum, I thought it would be a place I could recommend to friends or people starting out in their walk with God, but it's really not especially if they run into the the politics and current events forums. Mature Christians can handle it, but it would only discourage new believers. The compassion, understanding, and discernment that is expected is in short supply. I've been told I'm too idealistic though, so maybe that's it.
