It's so invaluable to have your perspective, EEE! The public just doesn't know the "lived experience" of the police officer. In many ways, the United States is unique for a few reasons. We are flooded with weapons, so that is always in the minds of the cop. They have to always think that a weapon is a possibility that they will face, hence most encounters could be life and death situations. Yes, it's unlikely, but it's a possibility. Also, given our country's long and yes, continued association with racism, white citizens and cops don't know the "lived experience" of black Americans, especially young black Americans. White Americans don't know the frequent humiliations that some black men feel whenever they interact with cops. I'm guessing that they often assume racism even when it's not in fact the reason they are being stopped, questioned, whatever. From my understanding of recent police statistics, whites are actually killed at higher rates but blacks are more likely to have a cop go "hands-on" them. The last stats I saw indicated that 500 white people were killed by police in a year compared to 250 black people. And surely some, and possibly many of these deaths were justified, but each incident is different and it sure seems that they are often painted as if they are the same. And obviously we cannot ignore the numbers of cops who are killed doing their job. I believe it's around 50. Don't we need a thoughtful and sustained national conversation with frequently running PSAs that are delivered as dispassionately as possible? Let's hear the voices of black and white cops, and black man who are stopped, and yes, white men who are stopped. Please let me know what you think, EEE. I have never been in your shoes so I might not have it correct. IMPORTANT: even if we dramatically lower the numbers, these incidents will always happen and be videotaped, and go viral., and lead to protests, and sometimes violence, and yes, the all too predictable conservative backlash. But are the police shootings representative of a larger problem of systematic police oppression or just fairly rare occurrences? Too many bad actors have an interest in painting themselves as angels and the others as pure evil. In the interest of full disclosure, Sam Harris has had several, lengthy, highly informative podcasts which covered this topic in great detail. Peter T.
PSA PSA PSA
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It's so invaluable to have your perspective, EEE! The public just doesn't know the "lived experience" of the police officer. In many ways, the United States is unique for a few reasons. We are flooded with weapons, so that is always in the minds of the cop. They have to always think that a weapon is a possibility that they will face, hence most encounters could be life and death situations. Yes, it's unlikely, but it's a possibility. Also, given our country's long and yes, continued association with racism, white citizens and cops don't know the "lived experience" of black Americans, especially young black Americans. White Americans don't know the frequent humiliations that some black men feel whenever they interact with cops. I'm guessing that they often assume racism even when it's not in fact the reason they are being stopped, questioned, whatever. From my understanding of recent police statistics, whites are actually killed at higher rates but blacks are more likely to have a cop go "hands-on" them. The last stats I saw indicated that 500 white people were killed by police in a year compared to 250 black people. And surely some, and possibly many of these deaths were justified, but each incident is different and it sure seems that they are often painted as if they are the same. And obviously we cannot ignore the numbers of cops who are killed doing their job. I believe it's around 50. Don't we need a thoughtful and sustained national conversation with frequently running PSAs that are delivered as dispassionately as possible? Let's hear the voices of black and white cops, and black man who are stopped, and yes, white men who are stopped. Please let me know what you think, EEE. I have never been in your shoes so I might not have it correct. IMPORTANT: even if we dramatically lower the numbers, these incidents will always happen and be videotaped, and go viral., and lead to protests, and sometimes violence, and yes, the all too predictable conservative backlash. But are the police shootings representative of a larger problem of systematic police oppression or just fairly rare occurrences? Too many bad actors have an interest in painting themselves as angels and the others as pure evil. In the interest of full disclosure, Sam Harris has had several, lengthy, highly informative podcasts which covered this topic in great detail. Peter T.
