My Family Has Been Racially Profiled Everywhere from Harvard to Our Own Home

[nightflight]

Your anecdotal interaction with the police does not mean much. No one is arguing that the police only stop African Americans. However, regardless of your personal experience, the statistics show the African Americans are stopped by the police more. Take Ferguson for example, more African Americans are stopped, but the white people they stop have a higher rate of possessing contraband. So you could be stopped by the police, but there are more African Americans getting stopped than you for nothing. If there was no racism, this rate would be the same as it is for other ethnic groups.

Men are stopped more too.

 

[contango]

Your anecdotal interaction with the police does not mean much. No one is arguing that the police only stop African Americans. However, regardless of your personal experience, the statistics show the African Americans are stopped by the police more. Take Ferguson for example, more African Americans are stopped, but the white people they stop have a higher rate of possessing contraband. So you could be stopped by the police, but there are more African Americans getting stopped than you for nothing. If there was no racism, this rate would be the same as it is for other ethnic groups.

I realise one data point that isn't from the same country isn't hugely useful, but it's as useful as other people's individual data points.

I don't doubt for a minute that there are some racist police officers, and don't hesitate to agree that they shouldn't be police officers. But sometimes I have to wonder whether "racism" is as widespread an issue as it's made out to be.

I remember some years ago in the UK reading about a study that looked into interactions between the police and black teenagers, trying to establish whether problems were due to police racism or behaviour that was specific to black teens (as opposed to teens in general). One of the behaviours the study noted was the frequency with which groups of black teenagers would pull up their hoods and adopt "gangsta" style poses when they saw a police patrol car.

In simplistic terms, if people respond to the mere sight of a police patrol car by changing their behaviour it's not entirely surprising that the police take note, and acting in a way that looks like you're more likely to be committing a crime will only exacerbate the issue.

If I responded to a police patrol car on the road by applying the brakes and trying to act like a perfect citizen I wouldn't be surprised to be checked out. If I responded to the patrol car by winding down the window, turning the stereo up loud and giving the police a general "up yours" attitude I'd be even less surprised to be checked out. None of those things are necessarily illegal in and of themselves but if the police are expected to catch criminals and are allowed to perform routine stops to check someone's credentials, why paint a target on your chest?

 

[MachZer0]

I got stopped by the police at about 4 o'clock in the morning during my student days. They wanted to know who I was, where I'd been, where I was going etc. It must have been because I'm black.

Except I'm white. Perhaps it was because a few crimes had been committed and walking around at stupid-o-clock was sufficiently unusual for them to check me out.

Part of our exchange was quite funny, when I said I was a student they asked if I was in a rush to get back home. I said I had a 9 o'clock lecture but given it was already 4 o'clock a few more minutes to talk to them wasn't going to make any difference.

When everyone gets teated the same, it isn't fair to black people

 

[rick357]

It is in mens fallen nature to find a reason that they are better than the next guy...as to racism from tower of Babel till our Lord returns it is a fact...but its two sided to assume all black men are criminals is racist to asume all white people feel that way is also racist....as christians we are to give gosple to the lost and streangthen the faith of our brethren...we can say its wrong but the world will be the world....it would be nice if we were not

 

[whatbogsends]

I got stopped by the police at about 4 o'clock in the morning during my student days. They wanted to know who I was, where I'd been, where I was going etc. It must have been because I'm black.

Except I'm white. Perhaps it was because a few crimes had been committed and walking around at stupid-o-clock was sufficiently unusual for them to check me out.

Part of our exchange was quite funny, when I said I was a student they asked if I was in a rush to get back home. I said I had a 9 o'clock lecture but given it was already 4 o'clock a few more minutes to talk to them wasn't going to make any difference.

You probably would have found it to be less funny if, instead of listening to your account of why you were there, the police officer decided he was going to tase you and arrest you just because you were there.

 

[HonestTruth]

Wrong again!

“Our job as prosecutors is to determine whether those elements of a crime are present to prove to a jury, and we just didn’t have that here.”

City attorney: FNB seats in skyway are public | NewsCut | Minnesota Public Radio News

I have used those seats and have seen innumerable people (including homeless whites sipping coffee from large cups) using them for over 25 years. Never once have I ever seen any white person stopped by security guards or hassled by police in all that time.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

Such a judgement would be wrong on both counts (dress and skin color).

That's rather odd, considering that when I witnessed a robbery the first things they asked me were what was the guy wearing and what did he look like...