I do need to plow my own way through the Ferguson Report, which, by all accounts, is a scathing compilation of a police department that both exists to fund the local government and should be wearing white sheets while on the job.
Let's face it: There are a hell of a lot of police departments that couldn't withstand the same degree of scrutiny, either. You'd find the same levels of racism, including emails, there, too. It's systemic. There are a shitload of other towns or cities, just waiting for a similar spark to ignite an uproar.
But for now, let's just watch some Gravity Inspectors at work:
Cat Pawtector!
2 hours ago
6 comments:
Those cats are merely juniors at gravity control.
A cat can jump onto your lap so softly you won't notice it. Then it will invoke gravity and settle down. THEN you notice it.
I wish these reports and reported events would focus on what is actually racist and leave out reality. For instance, I live in what has been called "the most diverse city in America", but the ONLY people that walk down the middle of the street like it's a sidewalk here are black, and mostly young males. No Asians, no Caucasians, no la Raza, noone over 30.
Focus on what the Ferguson PD is doing wrong, don't just throw everything at he wall.
3383, then they could address that, without making the traffic stops overwhelmingly on the Black residents, and making the searches mainly on the Blacks stopped, while they found contraband much more often when they searched other races vehicles, for instance.
Have you considered that, perhaps, the youth response to the fact that they ARE going to be stopped and questioned or searched REGARDLESS of what they do is to take a small stand to show THEY have some power too? When the police are going to harass you anyway...
That kind of response, of deliberately trying to draw attention to yourself, sounds counterproductive. I do think there is more than one issue, in that many police officers are jackholes to everybody, not just African-Americans.
The Ferguson PD exists to generate extra revenue for the city. That was made abundantly clear by the report. The police in that town (and many others) are an unofficial taxing authority, but with guns and tasers.
People resent that. Can you imagine how the Tea Party would have reacted to that shit? Hell, just providing health insurance almost sparked a revolt. Having the cops jack people out of their homes and cars for doing nothing and then hit them with tickets and abuse?
0_0, of course it's counterproductive. But when you live in a de facto police state, where the man's boot is on your throat (retread the report, there was little to no way out for most Black youth...poor, treated like criminals from the day they were born and viewed as a source of revenue or bodies to keep the jailers in work), "standing up" to authority gives you cred with your crowd. Remember when you were young and invincible?
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