Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Will Anything Change?

Nationwide protests, rampant looting and generally expressions of support and promises to reform but will anything actually change?
 
Certainly most police don't behave as atrociously as kneeling on a handcuffed prisoners neck until he dies but remember the other officers there didn't intervene.  One thing that happens to authority figures with power is that they start to consider themselves special.
 
They aren't, they have a dangerous and difficult job but they are citizens just like everyone else.  They need to treat their felloe citizens as equals and with respect.  Yes some need to be subdued and others may end up shot as they resist but those should be last resorts. 
 
One major impediment is that there is a long history of racial antagonism which has led many police to view African Americans with distrust.  Overcoming this won't be easy but it is possible.
 
Racial profiling is the problem and we have racial profiling because of some fairly isolated incidents.  I really don't know how many white criminals react violently to traffic stops, we generally don't hear about them, but African Americans who do tend to become well publicized
 
We amplify everything they do and a sort of lore builds up that makes police more afraid and suspicious.  Reversing that is a long arduous task.
 
Yes traffic stops can go badly but the police should treat all of them the same way. 
 
Until we start equal treatment we are not likely going to see any real change.

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