RE: Response to the killing of George Floyd
Can we articulate some of these normal practices that lead to discrimination or disadvantages due to one's race?
Going to be long again, sorry.... I really wish we were having these conversations at a TG over a few beers...
I'd decided to watch some 'Cops' episodes which of course are anecdotal and are likely to show cops at their best rather than worst... but because what I was looking for was 'systemic' issues, that is precisely the sort of evidence that might identify such issues.
Like all of those 'home' or 'bar' rehab shows (though these are not scripted) there seems to be a formula to these encounters. Overwhelmingly, here is the formula:
Cop is patrolling his beat, which may be an area with specific 'hotspots' for crime.
Cop witnesses
a: someone he's had previous experience with who has had frequent run-ins with the law, usually drugs
b: someone in a place known for a certain type of crime, exhibiting behavior consistent with engaging in that crime, whether it be drugs, prostitution, etc.
c: someone actually breaking minor laws... from signs of driving drunk or an expired registration... to the more mundane, a burned out tail lamp.
Cop informally 'identifies' himself to the person... He pulls his car to where he can be seen, he pulls in behind them, he 'turns' on them... he is seeking a reaction... if he doesn't get one, he likely just moves on... but guess what? He gets one.
They run or they tell obvious lies... things that make no sense and really insult people's intelligence to believe them... often simply demonstrating incapacitation.
The cops catch up or catch them in a lie and begin to apprehend
If they ran, this includes guns being drawn, loud but clear orders (with arguing and only partial-compliance in response... cops really show lots of restraint here in most cases)... a knee to the upper shoulders while the cuffs are being put on... that is quickly removed as soon as they are under control. If they do not run, it often includes a... 'Because there are two cops and 3 of you, or someone claiming to be a victim here... I'm going to put you in cuffs and have you sit on the curb or in this car while I figure it out.' Sometimes there is argument and resistance, which almost always leads to them being taken to the ground, knee to the shoulder/neck area and forced compliance. When there is compliance, there is either proof of a crime and they are formally arrested, or there is not and they are let go.
They find out that the person has numerous warrants and that's why they ran... or they were hiding their crime and that's why they failed to comply. SOmetimes you get ridiculous claims of injury or health issues or racism... my favorite ones are the guys who run for half a mile and then loudly and for minutes, complain about their heart or ankle... Sometimes I think, oh come one, you can be a little nicer... but once again, the reaction comes from an illegal action... and what evidence would show to be a likely lie. I don't see any of them make the situation worse... we could work on this part.
Of course, they aren't going to show the person who was innocent and just got scared or are defiant in general, but didn't do anything.... but let's just deal with this for a minute.
ALL of the trouble here, including the presupposition of forced compliance and cuffs for 'safety' stem from the fact that in every case where someone is arrested, the person KNOWS that they are currently violating the law.
I am literally trying to accept 100% the idea of 'the system is inherently racist' and to seek ways to address it, because none of these legal actions nor practices to this point has anything to do with race. The show of course demonstrates a wide variety of races and genders of police, victims and perps... and the actions/reactions are all the same. This is the goal, and I suspect is the general truth with individual exceptions. You can't write rules to address cops who don't obey them either. The guy who kept his knee on George Floyd was inconsistent with any of the police on 'Cops', who represent dozens of jurisdictions who all do it the same way as each other, and different from him.
If you decriminalize drugs and turn minor traffic violations into 'automatic' tickets, you can cut back on a lot of this... but that doesn't address the problems that drugs cause (not just for the users) nor does it make people who ignore fines somehow decide to pay them... to somehow get people in defiance of court orders to suddenly obey them. So, if we're going to do the former, we have to address the latter. We can talk about rehab and counseling, but that's already pretty common and people often just don't do it... so what do we do when that happens? We can decriminalize drugs, but we can't do that for ALL drugs and even if we do, what do we do when someone is 'impaired' and causes damage or an injury to someone else? How do we define 'impaired'? What is the BAC for THC or the 'safe' level of meth? If you're a criminal because you can't afford the meth you require, what about that changes when meth simply moves from the alley to the pharmacy?
Better/faster identification of people, cars etc would help a lot. Whether it be facial recognition software, the ability to scan an ID while you're still talking etc... this would help a lot I think.
I can see some value in not targeting individuals based on prior events so that someone down on their luck doesn't simply keep doubling down trying to get lucky to 'get out'... but again... if they are clean and don't run, I suspect this would soon stop. They run and the 'harassment' continues because it is so often successful at identifying crime... It's not harassment if its true, right? I'll be willing to encourage this practice stop/decrease a lot, absent any other evidence... but how does this lead to a reduction in the incidence of crimes by that person and not increased defiance... and more importantly... what is 'racist' about continuing to cast your bait where you consistently catch fish?
This is why I say the major (if not only) 'systemic' issue is poverty and not racism.
That is it exacerbated/concentrated by concentration of poverty thus a concentration of crime and vigilance against crime
That it is exacerbated/concentrated by concentrating race in order to create 'power blocks'
The most interesting part about that is that while certainly there are racist Republicans.... that the original idea of concentrating minorities was 'segregating' them... proffered by racist members of the Democratic Party... and this eventually became about doing almost exactly the same thing, but now under the guise of 'empowering them through segregating them' by the same party, supposedly their advocates.... and now integration is described by the left as racism, while segregation is not? How things have (not) changed.
The only difference between only letting black people live within a specified boundary... and encouraging them to live within a specific boundary is the use of force vs the use of coercion... Carrot v Stick. It makes no difference to the concept that separate is inherently unequal. THIS is undeniably systemic racism.
So I quite honestly can't find anything about our policing system that results in a racial disadvantage. I am willing to tweak it somewhat based on the idea of cutting more slack to the poor in some way, but that would apply as much to poor whites as hispanics or blacks.
The area that I DO see some systemic racism is the lack of profit potential, leading to a lack of investment, leading to a lack of upward mobility within the black community, based on a desire to consolidate/segregate minorities within physical boundaries and to discourage upward mobility (gentrification) in an effort to keep the area 'affordable'. This is in direct support of the same concept whereby an artificial min wage leads to price increases that eliminate most if not all of the advantage. Socialism fighting capitalism, but only in certain pockets.
That's enough for now. I'd appreciate any responses read what i said in its entirety and then began by responding to the major categories of comments dealing with what aspects of policing (the system) are truly racist vs what aspects of 'power consolidation and affordability' are truly racist. I'm not saying you have to support my underlying examples, but arguing about my example vs yours is not nearly as important as arguing about my contention, supported by my example... vs your contention, supported by yours. We can discuss those later.
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Response to the killing of George Floyd
