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

[Joykins]

That doesn't work, either. The Slave Patrols aren't so easily fooled.
I have a great idea!

They could be WHITE! That would solve the problem!

Yeah, Whiteness solves all social problems!

(and people kinda wonder why Black folks don't vote for Republicans)

If they all became white we'd just find some other underclass to harass, I bet.

 

[MachZer0]

Correction: those charges were dropped against the innocent black man because he did nothing wrong and several whites voluntarily came forward to say they also use that open space without being hassled by white cops. I live nearby and know this for a fact.

Do you?

There was no reason given for dropping the charges. It was more likely prosecutorial discretion than an indication that he did nothing wrong since he obviously DID do something wrong.

 

[keith99]

I lived for 3 years in a poor neighborhood with pretty high rates of property crime and drug and prostitution activity. Walked around in jeans and a hoodie whenever the weather was cool. Never stopped and hassled by a cop. But then I'm a white guy.

A hoodie seems rather different to me if it is worn when it is cold and when it is worn when it is 90 degrees and 90% humidity.

It was the standard to wear when camping when I was a kid and I do not recall anyone ever getting stopped. But then camping meant mountains with crisp days and cold nights. Just a t-shirt at night might have stood out, as in why isn't that fool feeling the cold.

 

[KarateCowboy]

Oh my goodness! Are you also saying it is okay to rape a woman because of the way she dresses? Sure sounds like it.

It's a tangent, but: They way you dress, and appearance, matters. That's why they say to dress nicely for interviews. There is also something called the "victim profile". Eye contact, posture, etc., are all factors in if you will become a victim in a dangerous area. Maybe it shouldn't be that way; I shouldn't have to lock my doors when I leave, either.

The way you dress, carry yourself, and speak says a lot, and for good reason. One the one hand, I feel like I have more in common with a black American wearing khakis and a polo than I do with, say, a Swede who I have a hard time understanding. On the other hand, if the black American speaks in a ghetto dialect and can jump up, spin around, and have his pants on backwards, then I would probably feel more "familiar" with the Swede.

 

[KarateCowboy]

I lived for 3 years in a poor neighborhood with pretty high rates of property crime and drug and prostitution activity. Walked around in jeans and a hoodie whenever the weather was cool. Never stopped and hassled by a cop. But then I'm a white guy.

I think the fitting also plays into it. Hipster jeans and hooded sweatshirt is different from gangster jeans and hooded sweatshirt.

 

[Panzerkamfwagen]

I think the fitting also plays into it. Hipster jeans and hooded sweatshirt is different from gangster jeans and hooded sweatshirt.

Is it racist to point out that black people are more likely to commit crimes than white people?

 

[HorsieJuice]

Is it racist to point out that black people are more likely to commit crimes than white people?

Depends on what your motives behind it are.

 

[Panzerkamfwagen]

Depends on what your motives behind it are.

To get people to call me a racist.

 

[HorsieJuice]

To get people to call me a racist.

Then you're just a troll.

 

[KarateCowboy]

First of all, that's a racist stereotype. .

How is it racist?

 

[HonestTruth]

There was no reason given for dropping the charges. It was more likely prosecutorial discretion than an indication that he did nothing wrong since he obviously DID do something wrong.

I live much closer to the situation than you do and am far more informed on this than you are.

The man did nothing wrong. The prosecutor knows that a counter lawsuit for malicious prosecution would be far more costly to him and the city so that's why they dropped all charges. After all, there were plenty of white witnesses who were left alone and came forward to defend the innocent black man.

 

[CaDan]

To get people to call me a racist.

Says the guy who chose to call himself Nazi Tank.

 

[CaDan]

There was no reason given for dropping the charges. It was more likely prosecutorial discretion than an indication that he did nothing wrong since he obviously DID do something wrong.

Of course it was prosecutorial discretion. But that doesn't prove your point. Prosecutorial discretion here reflects the lack of evidence for an offense--especially the offenses alleged by SPPD.

 

[MachZer0]

Of course it was prosecutorial discretion. But that doesn't prove your point. Prosecutorial discretion here reflects the lack of evidence for an offense--especially the offenses alleged by SPPD.

We don't know what it reflects because no reason was given

 

[CaDan]

We don't know what it reflects because no reason was given

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

 

[keith99]

Is it racist to point out that black people are more likely to commit crimes than white people?

If you have evidence to back it up no.

If you do not then yes.

 

[MachZer0]

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

Thank you. It wasn't lack of evidence of an offense, as you claimed, but rather lack of enough evidence to persuade a jury

 

[keith99]

Thank you. It wasn't lack of evidence of an offense, as you claimed, but rather lack of enough evidence to persuade a jury

Wow you sure read things the way you want to.

The article cites states the only thing 'wrong' the guy did was refusing to give his name when harassed by a security guard.

There is absolutely nothing in the article that indicates the issue was proof it just says that this is where the dividing line is for the DA.

You were perhaps expecting the DA to say the guy was illegally harassed and all but lose a civil lawsuit against the city?

 

[contango]

I used to wear hoodies and jeans all the time, the cops only ever stopped me once, because of vandalism in the area (which ironically turned out to be one of my friends).

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.

 

[SummerMadness]

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.

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.