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I don't associate with them. That is my choice. I have never needed law enforcement for anything.
If my stuff was taken, I went and took it back. If my property was harmed I got it settled. If I was harmed, they too were harmed. Never paid a speeding ticket and I have received many.
Traffic law is designed to protect everybody, just so you know.
It is okay that you don't associate with police officers. Nobody is forcing you too. But killing them based on their career choices is still wrong. As long as you understand this, we can reach an agreement.
BentBow, I agree with you on some things, however I am lost on how we can associate police killings as being ok. NO killing is ok. Sometimes it is a necessary evil, but those instances must be clear cut and concise with no question as to whether or not the event was to save the life of others. We should still strive to learn from that to try and avoid it in the future if possible.
We don't have to stand on one extreme of the spectrum or the other on an event. The best answer usually lies somewhere in-between. We can't say all police are bad, nor good. We can't say all black people are bad, nor good. We can't say all white people are bad, nor good. There are just too many variables. I firmly believe that we are all born good. It isn't until we are introduced to evil and are continuously exposed to it that our moral compass begins to lose its true North.
This is why it is important to try and curb some of the violence now. We need to all work towards getting our moral compasses re-aligned. That begins with self reflection and a good look at the consequences of the actions taken so far.
This is nothing new. I personally have respect for law enforcement however this MUST change. Black people are treated differently by law enforcement and may police officer abuse their authority.
Having black skin is NOT a crime. This MUST stop. It happens every day. Black people are reaching the breaking point. If you do not like or even hate black people then you should not be a police officer in predominantly black areas. This is not about GOOD police officers, its about the rotten apples.
I understand that law enforcement is a low paid and often thankless job but police officers must stop taking out their anger and frustrations on citizens. Change must come in the way in which officers treat the community AND the improvement of the training and salaries of police officers as well.
I know that many of the usual suspects will go off of the topic but this is about changing the manner in which law enforcement interacts with the communities that they police. This thread is about ideas and solutions. Please keep it moving if you have neither to offer.
Possibly, if you were a white woman you would be told if you perform some kind of sexual favor, you won't get in trouble. Not all police are guilty of this, but a few bad apples are.
Possibly, both sides ought to see people of all colors experience harassment. I know young white men who when they first start off driving are pulled over more than those 25-50 yrs of age. Usually, because young people are known to drive while smoking pot or drunk. Being blind, is no excuse for admitting these things happen too many people of all colors. We have 2 ranchers in the west who were killed by police for no reason, expect one did have a CW and the other was holding a gun that the officers had told him to bring, to shoot his bull, that was injured in the road. Both men were 60 yrs old with no run ins with the law. Having a gun in ones possession is becoming a problem with law enforcement, people are going to have to learn to bring tensions down, also!
One big difference white people are NOT calling for the death of police officers. The young man that was killed this weekend was a police officer since he was 22, black and just had a child. So, doesn't look like it matters to the shooters on color its just they are police.
Time for your youth to take personal responsibility get jobs, be respectful when pulled over, start making a difference in your own communities.
"Blacks commit more crime" - well, Blacks are sentenced to longer jail terms and are more likely to be caught. If the NYPD was 80% black and they went around looking for white drug users (marijuana etc.), they'd catch plenty of young white people. But that's not how it works...if my target is young, cute white girls, I can catch plenty of them doing all sorts of crap. If my target is young, working class men of color, I'll catch plenty of those as well.
"Why don't blacks focus on lifting up their communities instead of blaming white people" - Ok, but when blacks do that, they're accused of being racist and separatist. Malcolm X, even before he moderated his views always talked about blacks needing to be self-reliant. People are OK with black self-reliance if the language bashes blacks and absolves whites. However, if the language bashes BOTH BLACKS AND WHITES, then people think it's racist and divisive.
"Just respect cops and there won't be any problems" - There's some truth to this. In many situations, my fellow black men react too strongly to police presence and don't always de-escalate a tense situation. However, we've made the mistake of lowering the bar too far for police officers. If a 21-year old, middle class white girl was belligerent towards a large black male police officer, we wouldn't expect him to throw her on the pavement and kick her a**. Somehow, it's OK to do that with a young male of color. The cops have a tough job...they are well trained and should use all of that training besides the part where they pull their weapon and shoot. Killing someone should be a last resort. If you're so scared of black men that you shoot without them so much as moving, you're in the wrong line of work.
I think we need to focus more on how the communities interact with law enforcement first. It's one of the most dangerous jobs on this earth and is often thankless and unappreciated. My younger brother is an officer as was his father. His father was shot in the head (survived thankfully) years ago attempting to stop a thief from robbing an elderly lady as she exited a grocery store. He didn't do anything to provoke that man, the man already had his mind made up on the crime he planned to commit. Despite that, he gets up every morning and puts that uniform on, kisses my niece and my sister-in-law goodbye and goes to work knowing full well that he may encounter some crazy person intent on seeing that he doesn't go home.
If the community would change their method of thinking and how they react to police, the police may chance the way they interact with the public. Personally I have never had a bad encounter with an officer. I do as they ask, and they send me on my way. I've even encountered officers while I've been concealed carrying. I make it known up front that I am legally carrying a firearm, and hand them my ID with my permit. I've never even been asked to give the weapon to them. I've always gotten a "Thank you for letting me know, and you have a nice day." If I did something wrong, I admit to it. They didn't force me to speed, I made a conscious (and bad)decision that I had to pay for.
Traffic law is designed to protect everybody, just so you know.
It is okay that you don't associate with police officers. Nobody is forcing you too. But killing them based on their career choices is still wrong. As long as you understand this, we can reach an agreement.
No one was harmed and I was not driving recklessly, when I was pulled over for speeding, either. Actually keeping with the flow of traffic, relatively. Again, I have never paid one of them.
What could happen, has taken more liberty than all other words.
Laws for what did happen, preserve the "liberty for all" preference we were established under.
Show harm, or shut up!
"Blacks commit more crime" - well, Blacks are sentenced to longer jail terms and are more likely to be caught. If the NYPD was 80% black and they went around looking for white drug users (marijuana etc.), they'd catch plenty of young white people. But that's not how it works...if my target is young, cute white girls, I can catch plenty of them doing all sorts of crap. If my target is young, working class men of color, I'll catch plenty of those as well.
"Why don't blacks focus on lifting up their communities instead of blaming white people" - Ok, but when blacks do that, they're accused of being racist and separatist. Malcolm X, even before he moderated his views always talked about blacks needing to be self-reliant. People are OK with black self-reliance if the language bashes blacks and absolves whites. However, if the language bashes BOTH BLACKS AND WHITES, then people think it's racist and divisive.
"Just respect cops and there won't be any problems" - There's some truth to this. In many situations, my fellow black men react too strongly to police presence and don't always de-escalate a tense situation. However, we've made the mistake of lowering the bar too far for police officers. If a 21-year old, middle class white girl was belligerent towards a large black male police officer, we wouldn't expect him to throw her on the pavement and kick her a**. Somehow, it's OK to do that with a young male of color. The cops have a tough job...they are well trained and should use all of that training besides the part where they pull their weapon and shoot. Killing someone should be a last resort. If you're so scared of black men that you shoot without them so much as moving, you're in the wrong line of work.
I kind of agree with this to an extent... but my viewpoint is a little different than yours.
Police aren't painting targets on people. They are however, looking for the people who statistically commit more crimes. The goal is to get that crime rate down. If blacks stop committing the majority of crime (this isn't all encompassing and isn't the case everywhere) then police will turn to the people committing the most crimes.
Blacks aren't accused of being separatists when they are lifting up their communities. They are accused of being racist and separatists when they attempt to lift up their community by bringing down another. There is a way to lift up and support a community without any mention of race. We can actually accomplish the same goal together if we can let race go.
It's not ok for ANY cop to treat ANY person with indignity. The problem lies with where cops deal with the most violent crimes. If they have had 10 suspects, and out of those 10 7 were black men who have attempted to flee, fight, or harm them, they are on guard when they approach the next suspect that looks like the previous ones. Talking is one thing, physical action is something entirely different.
No one was harmed and I was not driving recklessly, when I was pulled over for speeding, either. Actually keeping with the flow of traffic, relatively. Again, I have never paid one of them.
What could happen, has taken more liberty than all other words.
Laws for what did happen, preserve the "liberty for all" preference we were established under.
Show harm, or shut up!
Your race has brought this on you. Their committing crimes, and thus you are sterotyped. Just like muslims.
In other words, "You have to pay for the sins of your people."
Okay, but since some white people are racist, have money and are privileged, all white people are like that. "That's not true. I'm not racist. and I've worked hard for what I have. You can't lump all of us into the same category"
So it's OK for me to pay for the sins of SOME black people, but you shouldn't be held responsible for the sins of SOME white people?
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