As I've written in the past, my ex-girlfriend's Dad was a Baltimore state trooper. Nice bear of a guy. Never drew his weapon. He went onto the be a Fed.
It gave me a little insight on law enforcement. That they can't be trusted as much as they distrust you. Go ahead and lie to the police, they lie to you.
Yes, he said that.
It occurs to me that there are two points of view here.
1) stop systemically profiling Black people and killing them
2) stop committing crimes so you aren't profiled
Blacks have gotten the horrid stereotyping of being lifelong criminals. Since the American culture portrays them now as gangsters and drug dealers, we assume this is the case. When you are in the city, this is what you see and you associate it as such.
In order to change this dynamic one or the other has to change. Neither will. We are at an impasse.
Is there profiling? Yes! It stands to reason, if something walks and talks like a duck, it is a duck. Is it right? If your life depended on it...fuck yes.
But either side don't seem to understand the other side either.
Stop committing crimes so the police don't profile should be what solves this puzzle. But, then people commit crimes and tell us they were profiled. Good grief.
The truth is this...who wants it more?
If the Black community want to change their status with the police, it has to be a community change. Such as, show the community they aren't the criminals and admonish the ones who are.
And the police have to recognize that a criminal is a criminal regardless of color.
And the community have to understand that when a criminal is caught, it isn't always because of his skin color.
These are heavy loads to carry for everyone. Because a lot of pride if fucking people up. Things haven't changed because we're taught neither side will budge. How about this discussion where we aren't called "racists" for putting out a challenge.
Law enforcement has to exist. If we want good ones to continue to serve, they have to find a way to change their image as well.
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