Racism

[shooter6806]

I am a retired police officer.  This is a true story…..

I’m on routine patrol when a call comes over the radio.  Shots fired.  One man down.  I’m close enough that I hit the lights and blow through town.  It is about 0100. 

I am the second squad on-scene.  The first got there about 30 seconds before me.  There is a black male, late-teens or early 20s, lying in the middle of the street.  Several gunshot wounds to the torso, one to the head.  This is a predominantly black neighborhood.  No one else is around.  All the houses are dark.

The guy in the street is pulseless, non-breathing.  We begin CPR.  I start chest compressions, the other officer gets the breath bag and begins respirations.  We do this for several minutes. 

Rescue squad finally arrives along with a couple more police squads.  Paramedics take over, hooking him up to the defibrillator and continuing CPR.  I sit back finally, exhausted.  I am covered in the guy’s blood.  So is the other officer who was first on-scene.

Suddenly I look around and see that the street is lined, on both sides, with black people, the residents of this area.  They are looking at us with disdain.  I hear one voice, screaming out above the silence. 

“YOU JUST WANT HIM TO DIE BECAUSE HE’S BLACK!!!!!”

Don’t talk to me about racism.  Don’t talk to me about white privilege.  I just tried to save a black man’s life.  It turned out he was a drug dealer and gang-banger who had been targeted by a rival gang.  I didn’t know that, and it would not have mattered.  I tried to save his life.  His own “people” did NOTHING to save him.  And naturally, none of them saw anything or would help with the investigation of his death. 

“I ain’t talkin’ to the PIGS.”

Racism.  It can be seen where it does not exist.  It can also be real.  It all depends on your point of view.

I invite your thoughts.

[Vekseid]

Prejudice can be terribly difficult to overcome. Told from the start how you should act regarding a specific group of people. In more than a few ways, the divide is self-reinforcing.

My personal opinion regarding this situation is that police officers serve too many roles, acting as both peacekeepers and investigators.

The legal system sets you up as antagonists. Privileged witnesses whose incriminating statements are testimony but whose exculpatory statements are hearsay.

There are over ten thousand federal crimes on the books, and one author likes to famously claim the average American commits three felonies a day, a more 'reasonable' critic things it is three times a month.

Conspiracies build around this:

There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.

I consider this a stopped clock moment from her. It is what I have to think about when I interact with the police.

I'm a white male, 6'3" with a build that people two inches taller than me have called intimidating.

I look at what black people in some regions go through and can only be thankful for what I was born with.

Remember the Ferguson protests and riots? Michael Brown was a horrible person to rally around. It didn't matter, however, because the cinders that sparked were genuine grievances.

There's this piece discussing it. Three warrants per household. $321 in fines per household.

Not accumulated, this is for their 2012-2013 fiscal year alone.

There have been similar situations all over the country. The patdown situation in New York.

In a couple years the Tulsa race riots will have their century anniversary. A century later, Greenwood isn't a shadow of what it could have been.



A quarter of black males go to prison at some point in their lives.

That means nearly every single member of the black community personally knows multiple people who have been incarcerated, and at least one they likely count among their closest friends. And is going to have a perhaps biased opinion about the matter.

When you arrive on the scene, they don't see your role as resolving the atrocity you arrived for.

They see you as an inquisitor - to find the guilty in general.

And it is so terrifyingly easy to be guilty.

My personal belief, is that until peace officers are separated in role, concept, and public mindset from investigators, healing this wound is going to be a Sisyphean undertaking. Individual officers and groups will be able to make progress, but the phrase isn't "Can't blame everyone for a few bad apples."

The phrase is "A few bad apples spoils the bunch."

You wear the uniform, to 99% of the people you interact with, you are inherently dehumanized. You are the same person as everyone that came before you.

Exceptional individuals don't rehabilitate the concept, they become humanized and 'one of the good ones'.

All it takes is for one officer drunk on what power they have been given for thirty seconds to wreck the image for the entirety of their profession.

It doesn't even take that. It can just take being stressed, being curt and not as attentive and empathetic as you could be.

Anyway, those are my thoughts.

I know you are a good person. I am sorry you had to go through this.

[Markus]

I am a retired police officer.  This is a true story…..

I’m on routine patrol when a call comes over the radio.  Shots fired.  One man down.  I’m close enough that I hit the lights and blow through town.  It is about 0100. 

I am the second squad on-scene.  The first got there about 30 seconds before me.  There is a black male, late-teens or early 20s, lying in the middle of the street.  Several gunshot wounds to the torso, one to the head.  This is a predominantly black neighborhood.  No one else is around.  All the houses are dark.

The guy in the street is pulseless, non-breathing.  We begin CPR.  I start chest compressions, the other officer gets the breath bag and begins respirations.  We do this for several minutes. 

Rescue squad finally arrives along with a couple more police squads.  Paramedics take over, hooking him up to the defibrillator and continuing CPR.  I sit back finally, exhausted.  I am covered in the guy’s blood.  So is the other officer who was first on-scene.

Suddenly I look around and see that the street is lined, on both sides, with black people, the residents of this area.  They are looking at us with disdain.  I hear one voice, screaming out above the silence. 

“YOU JUST WANT HIM TO DIE BECAUSE HE’S BLACK!!!!!”

Don’t talk to me about racism.  Don’t talk to me about white privilege.  I just tried to save a black man’s life.  It turned out he was a drug dealer and gang-banger who had been targeted by a rival gang.  I didn’t know that, and it would not have mattered.  I tried to save his life.  His own “people” did NOTHING to save him.  And naturally, none of them saw anything or would help with the investigation of his death. 

“I ain’t talkin’ to the PIGS.”

Racism.  It can be seen where it does not exist.  It can also be real.  It all depends on your point of view.

I invite your thoughts.

Well first of all, thank you trying to save the man. I think we all have to remember, that things are not sometimes as they may appear at first glance.
Racism goes both ways, and to an extent, I would venture to say we all suffer from it, to varying degrees.
Unfortunately as its been pointed out, it takes the actions of only a few to smear the many. And there have been incidents which have smeared the reputation of the police.
Nevertheless stories like yours should be told so as to present a more balanced, nuanced picture of the force, remind the public of the good along with the bad.
Thanks for sharing.

[Missy]

Well first of all, thank you trying to save the man. I think we all have to remember, that things are not sometimes as they may appear at first glance.
Racism goes both ways, and to an extent, I would venture to say we all suffer from it, to varying degrees.
Unfortunately as its been pointed out, it takes the actions of only a few to smear the many. And there have been incidents which have smeared the reputation of the police.
Nevertheless stories like yours should be told so as to present a more balanced, nuanced picture of the force, remind the public of the good along with the bad.
Thanks for sharing.

+1

[Twisted Crow]

I could never be a cop in this day and age. I know some buddies from the military that have considered it, though I personally couldn't. Given my past training and natural instinct drawn from it, I imagine it would be a hard habit to reform from whatever police training could be like. Or what I imagine it is like.

Protectors of the peace and investigators of crime. Both of them like they would be stark contrasts from training a mind for war. *shrugs*

Though, I guess we have military police. I still always imagined that being a different world from that of local policemen.

[Tolvo]

I could never be a cop in this day and age. I know some buddies from the military that have considered it, though I personally couldn't. Given my past training and natural instinct drawn from it, I imagine it would be a hard habit to reform from whatever police training could be like. Or what I imagine it is like.

Protectors of the peace and investigators of crime. Both of them like they would be stark contrasts from training a mind for war. *shrugs*

Though, I guess we have military police. I still always imagined that being a different world from that of local policemen.

It depends on the matter. Certain things you're likely more trained in if you're former military, police officers aren't as often trained in trigger discipline for instance which can be a factor in a lot of murders by police. Police are largely under trained for a lot of matters that they're given control over. For instance for wellness checks often police are called, and this has a high rate of resulting in dead mentally ill people. Because rather than sending health care professionals police are being sent with guns as their main trained form of defense and control being their guns. Certain cities are trying to change this by either training police in deescalation(Which is not commonly taught to new officers) and in mental health care(Again rarely taught in the USA to any meaningful level). As well as creating certain divisions who are cops that are specifically set up for wellness checks and caring for people during breakdowns.

In regards to racism it also depends on the department, certain ones are very notorious and full of people with ties to white supremacist groups(Such as the NYPD, CPD). But certain ones aren't and have lower rates of this happening. Police unions also tend to do whatever they can to defend fellow cops, whether the cop is innocent or guilty. The mentality of "We need to protect all of our own" creates a problem when people being defended are the bad apples spoiling the bunch. And certain precincts have cultures where they discourage and get rid of cops who whistle-blow for things like corruption and racism. When there are situations where on camera a cop guns down someone from behind, they destroy what evidence they can and it goes on record they did this and tried to get people to lie, and one person involved gets just a light sentence, it sends the message that cops are not being held accountable and are above the law and creates further animosity. If people were actually being held responsible often a lot of this would be lessened.

This is on top of the issues of the police getting a lot of funding for surplus military gear. So cops during a lot of incidents like Ferguson showed up with armored vehicles looking like a fascist military crackdown wearing full body armor without badges and without faces visible making them appear like storm troopers. And these are people not trained in the use of this gear and who do not how to use them in a restrained manner, acting as military without military training. A lot of the time in these incidents there is not deescalation, and we've seen instances where cops showing their faces, showing their badges(Meaning they can personally be held accountable), and actually talking with people and creating dialogue rather than screaming orders at the end of a gun that we see things diffuse more easily. When your average citizen is treated like they are a combatant and the enemy it creates an atmosphere of terror.

[Markus]

In regards to racism it also depends on the department, certain ones are very notorious and full of people with ties to white supremacist groups(Such as the NYPD, CPD). But certain ones aren't and have lower rates of this happening. Police unions also tend to do whatever they can to defend fellow cops, whether the cop is innocent or guilty. The mentality of "We need to protect all of our own" creates a problem when people being defended are the bad apples spoiling the bunch. And certain precincts have cultures where they discourage and get rid of cops who whistle-blow for things like corruption and racism.

^ this

[Tolvo]

Cops not representing the people they're policing is another factor I should mention. For instance in the case mentioned where the OP arrived after and was trying to revive a dead black male, it was a black community seemingly policed by non-black cops. We run into it a lot here in Illinois around Chicago where a precinct will draw from certain groups like predominantly white people living in white neighborhoods who are then sent into majority black neighborhoods that they don't know. This will create animosity and a mentality of "Us vs them" and will force the differences in both groups to be apparent with one having power and the other lacking power. If you had a ton of black cops policing majority white suburbs this sort of animosity would happen with the racial roles reversed. This also presents the problem that the cops will only know the people there through their interactions while policing so it will bias them to view the people there as more criminal and dangerous.

[Twisted Crow]

It depends on the matter. Certain things you're likely more trained in if you're former military, police officers aren't as often trained in trigger discipline for instance which can be a factor in a lot of murders by police.

I somewhat agree here but the problem is that we are trained for a radically different environment in spite of certain habits we pick up in the field. It would depend on which of these habits and instincts that a former soldier could shake psychologically. It isn't even limited to any bloodthirst or post-trauma, either. "Kill or be killed" and "Eliminate threat or fall back" works in an environment when things are pretty black and white. There are combatants and non-combatants. So trigger discipline is important, yes. But in that environment, mistakes are made and collareral damage is inevitable. It is hard to imagine cops in their environment being able to use this excuse and have people accept it as readily as they might for soldiers in theirs. Cops just seem to be in a world of murky gray, by comparison. I imagine that a drugged-up citizen waving "what appears to be a weapon" is not necessarily as cut and dry for an enemy combatant when compared to, say, a terrorist with an explosive.

Granted, I am sure a soldier could adjust, depending on the person and how deep that instinct is. I won't argue that possibility, but I know some conditioning wouldn't be easy to break in my experience. Particularly when it is beaten into the brain as it often is... in that world, anyway.  I don't think I would be cut out to do it, is all I'm saying.

[Tolvo]

Trigger discipline is more than just when it is alright when to shoot to kill. I'm talking about how when you look at footage of a lot of incidents in question even ones that ended non-lethally, cops in them often show no restraint. They will command citizens to do something with the gun aimed at the person's torso with their fingers on the trigger ready to pull. They aren't aiming with their fingers near the trigger but not on them, or have them raised but not directly aimed. This is something soldiers are more often trained to understand the difference in, as well as counter-terrorist operatives are trained in this. Your average police officer is less likely to know you aren't supposed to point at someone with your finger on the trigger unless you plan to kill them. It also comes up in cases where former soldiers are cops and are in a situation where they practice trigger discipline and do not fire while the non-military trained police beside them don't have trigger discipline and kill the person they are confronting.

If someone has a gun in hand that is a different matter, in a lot of these high profile cases the person however did not and often didn't even have anything in hand and were shot multiple times then executed on the ground. Ferguson for instance Michael Brown was killed execution style. If a person is unarmed and shot multiple times fatally and you go up and execute them it's very black and white that they wanted the person to die.

It also is put in contrast with a lot of cases where white people are doing the same things or worse things than black people in high profile cases and the police and law enforcement show incredible restraint. Such as the Bundy takeover of a government facility when a member escaped with a rifle and rammed a barricade and got out with a rifle and aimed it at law enforcement and eventually was gunned down. They gave him an incredible amount of leeway before deciding to finally kill him. So when people see white people carrying assault rifles around but a black man getting shot because he picked up a bb gun in a store that he was waiting to purchase and someone called the cops, it creates a severe level of animosity and view that police will kill people based on skin color.

[Darkcide]

I think that on the topic of racism in America, it is so ingrained into the fabric of our country, that most people do not realize it. I can only speak on the issue from the viewpoint of a man of color, but a constant in my life is having the notion that I don't matter reinforced both explicitly and implicitly.

I think that when you are a person of color, you realize there is a wholly different America that you live in, and that people who do not have to experience it, won't know, and in many cases, won't care because it does not impact them. As someone who has been on the end of overly aggressive policing, I can say that it happens more often than people think, and the distrust and fear a lot of Black Americans have towards law enforcement, exists for a reason.

Not to say all cops are bad, but all it takes is one instance of police brutality, racial profiling, or police officers protecting their own, even when they do wrong to shatter a community's trust in cops. And historically, people of color have a very precarious relationship with law enforcement.

[Tolvo]

I'm white but I am transgender, queer, and disabled. These groups also have a long history of abuse by law enforcement and have a lot of distrust of police because of it. The LGBTQIA+ rights movement was essentially founded in response to police brutality(The Stonewall Riots). It is a part of why there is an entire conversation about no cops at pride, on top of there also being plenty of POC who are trans and queer. Disabled people are usually not even a part of these conversations because often people don't care if it the person wasn't actually a threat but since they were schizophrenic they consider it self defense to kill them. Schizophrenic black people are basically not considered human and are pretty easily gunned down without much of an outcry at all. It's a part of why suicide by cop is so common for disabled white people and especially disabled POC who know most cops will just kill them without hesitation. I'd say though the longer history is oppression of POC and especially black people given our country's law enforcement and their roots in slavery. Law enforcement executing members of the Civil Rights movement and fighting against equal rights every step of the way is still recent memory.

[Ziether]

1) Thank you, shooter, for doing a largely thankless job and not letting it break you. I can't stress how important people like you are, especially in this imperfect world, which leads me to:

2) Thank you, Veks, for that well-written analysis. I think it's given me ammunition to discuss the subject with civility and compassion when dealing with the very emotionally invested members of my family. It won't be the first time your wordings have helped.

[Kitteredge]

It's hard to gain much perspective on race and racism from a single event, but as Americans we are well aware of how these interactions mount to a larger, continual ordeal from the basis of our existence as a nation. It must be deeply frustrating to do good deeds - incredibly good deeds - and be viciously attacked for them.

Recently, Ta-Nehisi Coates said that racism isn't just straight up brutality, it's giving one side the benefit of every doubt while every other side is regarded with extreme suspicion. When added to the structures of power, this becomes systemic and potentially very oppressive. And that has been the case from everything from our legal system to media representation. For decades, African Americans were refused bank accounts, good jobs, homes, access to doctors and lawyers, and many other things such as higher education, which stymied the growth of much of a middle class, self-regard, hope, the accumulation of even a nominal amount of wealth, and so on. Media depictions were of savages, idiots, shucking and jiving fools, servants.

This is powerful stuff, and it still continues. Look at how your average white teenage rapist is treated in the media versus how Tamir Rice was treated, who was blown away by cops in a park. Not only was he killed - and many killed like him - he was slandered. It's never the cops' fault. Not only do many police departments completely fail to hold their own to account, the entire media/press apparatus fails to do so, too.

This is institutional racism, but also daily racism, and it's hard for a white person to come close to understanding. My wife is black and the stories of her interactions with police are astounding. As a white man, I have no concerns about police whatsoever, but the ways she has been treated, as a basic human citizen, are revolting. Absolutely revolting.

We need good cops, as there have always been good cops. But, more, we need to dig incredibly deep and recognize the rot in our system, from top to bottom, not only in law enforcement, but in the law, in education, in almost every field.

[la dame en noir]

From my assumptions - the majority in this conversation are non-black, so the opinions & experiences will be vastly different from mine.

I'm a black queer woman. I'm 5'2" and not very intimidating - if at all. Cops scare the ever loving fuck out of me, just being around them gives me a since of awareness that I feel isn't necessary and that my white girlfriend and none of my white friends ever have to go through. I got pulled over for 5 over the speed limit on the freeway one night after coming home from a performance gig, I was incredibly tired and the drive was over an hour long. When the cop pulled me to the side, I felt like my heart would leap out of my chest, my fingers were numb, my lips were numb, and I was scared to death.

All I could think about were the countless black men, women, children killed for absolutely no reason because some of these goddamn cops shouldn't have been given the badge. I had my hands on the wheel and I kept thinking to myself "if I have to get out my insurance, its in the glove compartment - what if he thinks I have a goddamn gun? I don't even know how to shoot!"

Thankfully, I'm pretty sure the cop could see how fucking terrified and tired I was, because he let me go home with a safety warning.

There are so many stories I've read where a white man will shoot up a place, shoot a cop, etc and go to jail scot free. Does this happen with a black man? No - they're 9/10 shot down like goddamn animals. Black people are feared amongst a lot of people and it's a system of fear ever since the abolish of slavery.

My own girlfriend told me she would subconsciously cross the street if she saw a black man on the same side as her. It's little things like that. Anti-blackness is not just an American thing, it's all over the world. Even black people have some within our own community.

Cops are known for harassing black folks far more than poor white folks. BUT ALSO - something people seem to forget, poor white folks are harassed by cops too (again, it's a system). I'm not sure how many people remembered learning this in early US history, but there was a time when rich white men were afraid that poor white folks (usually Irish & Italian immigrants) and black free folk would get together and overthrow them. That's when it became clear that they would need to make a clear line between black and white - who was better than the other.

It's never really about race - America just makes it about race because our country has been founded on race & fear for centuries. It's always been about keeping the poor down and ignorant and the rich in charge.

(sorry for going off on a tangent and in different directions)



Back on the subject - There are cops that just don't need a badge at all. White privilege is a thing, it has nothing to do with how much money someone has. And I'm incredibly afraid of cops and I'm afraid to be in all white spaces because of who I am.

[la dame en noir]

From my assumptions - the majority in this conversation are non-black, so the opinions & experiences will be vastly different from mine.

I'm a black queer woman. I'm 5'2" and not very intimidating - if at all. Cops scare the ever loving fuck out of me, just being around them gives me a since of awareness that I feel isn't necessary and that my white girlfriend and none of my white friends ever have to go through. I got pulled over for driving 5 over the speed limit on the freeway one night after coming home from a performance gig. I was incredibly tired and the drive was over an hour long. When the cop pulled me to the side, I felt like my heart would leap out of my chest, my fingers were numb, my lips were numb, and I was scared to death.

All I could think about were the countless black men, women, children killed for absolutely no reason because some of these goddamn cops shouldn't have been given the badge. I had my hands on the wheel and I kept thinking to myself "if I have to get out my insurance, its in the glove compartment - what if he thinks I have a goddamn gun? I don't even know how to shoot!"

Thankfully, I'm pretty sure the cop could see how fucking terrified and tired I was, because he let me go home with a safety warning.

There are so many stories I've read where a white man will shoot up a place, shoot a cop, etc and go to jail scot free. Does this happen with a black man? No - they're 9/10 shot down like goddamn animals. Black people are feared amongst a lot of people and it's a system of fear ever since the abolish of slavery.

My own girlfriend told me she would subconsciously cross the street if she saw a black man on the same side as her. It's little things like that. Anti-blackness is not just an American thing, it's all over the world. Even black people have some within our own community.

Cops are known for harassing black folks far more than poor white folks. BUT ALSO - something people seem to forget, poor white folks are harassed by cops too (again, it's a system). I'm not sure how many people remembered learning this in early US history, but there was a time when rich white men were afraid that poor white folks (usually Irish & Italian immigrants) and black free folk would get together and overthrow them. That's when it became clear that they would need to make a clear line between black and white - who was better than the other.

It's never really about race - America just makes it about race because our country has been founded on race & fear for centuries. It's always been about keeping the poor down and ignorant and the rich in charge.

(sorry for going off on a tangent and in different directions)



Back on the subject - There are cops that just don't need a badge at all. White privilege is a thing, it has nothing to do with how much money someone has. And I'm incredibly afraid of cops and I'm afraid to be in all white spaces because of who I am.

[Twisted Crow]

It's never really about race - America just makes it about race because our country has been founded on race & fear for centuries. It's always been about keeping the poor down and ignorant and the rich in charge.

You know something? I actually agree with this part more than anything. So, yeah... this.

I have been profiled before as a vagrant simply because I have a beard, unkempt hair and I am not very style-conscious. I have also been threatened before in one of these instances. Though, this isn't as bad as some stories I have heard concerning policemen. Particularly ones that had them use excessive force when it clearly wasn't necessary to do so.

[Tolvo]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/01/sacramento-rally-fbi-kkk-domestic-terrorism-california

Also an example of things that worry people that just came out. The FBI investigated a left wing group because members of it were stabbed by Neo Nazis. Law enforcement worked with the Neo Nazis to identify members of BAMN and investigated them, the FBI investigated them as a terrorist group for being a threat to the KKK, who they did not consider a hate group and seemed to believe were not racist. Even though the KKK wasn't present and the labelled the Neo Nazis as members of the KKK though defended the KKK. Their reasons for investigating them as terrorists as well were cited as them saying things like "Smash fascism." Their protesting of police brutality. Being anti-racist. As well as supporting victims of sexual assault. This article contains links to other recent incidents as well like the FBI considering Native American groups terrorists, spying on black people, and spying on people against climate change denial.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/05/antifa-charges-california-activists-stabbing

Earlier reporting relating to this.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/documenting-hate-new-american-nazis/

An episode of Frontline about investigating modern Neo Nazi terrorist cells.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/an-atomwaffen-member-sketched-a-map-to-take-the-neo-nazis-down-what-path-officials-took-is-a-mystery/

Frontline looking into how the FBI don't take these threats seriously often. Including letting a Neo Nazi terrorist go after discovering his bomb workshop, afterwards he seemingly was on his way to attempt a mass shooting when local police stopped him. As well as information on the Pentagon not taking these threats seriously.

When Neo Nazi terrorist cells that openly plan to murder and have bombs and weapons are not treated as a serious threat, but black people or native Americans or leftists protesting are, it creates a severe divide and it is noticed that white supremacist terrorists are more often left alive and treated better by police than POC who simply talked back or were perceived to be criminal in some way.

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/01/690591913/court-approves-historic-reforms-to-chicago-police-department

Though a possible good thing at least, for around here there are reforms coming to the Chicago Police Department. The proposed reforms involve mental health support for officers, more training in various related issues to communities and groups and policing, even including training on respecting disabled people and transgender people. These were urged in response to the murder of Laquan McDonald by police.  While the police union fought it as much as they could Chicago Lawmakers have gotten it approved in court. As is mentioned it is a first step, and we'll have to see if police follow these reformations but it is at least a step in the right direction.

[karkas132]

I am a retired police officer.  This is a true story…..

I’m on routine patrol when a call comes over the radio.  Shots fired.  One man down.  I’m close enough that I hit the lights and blow through town.  It is about 0100. 

I am the second squad on-scene.  The first got there about 30 seconds before me.  There is a black male, late-teens or early 20s, lying in the middle of the street.  Several gunshot wounds to the torso, one to the head.  This is a predominantly black neighborhood.  No one else is around.  All the houses are dark.

The guy in the street is pulseless, non-breathing.  We begin CPR.  I start chest compressions, the other officer gets the breath bag and begins respirations.  We do this for several minutes. 

Rescue squad finally arrives along with a couple more police squads.  Paramedics take over, hooking him up to the defibrillator and continuing CPR.  I sit back finally, exhausted.  I am covered in the guy’s blood.  So is the other officer who was first on-scene.

Suddenly I look around and see that the street is lined, on both sides, with black people, the residents of this area.  They are looking at us with disdain.  I hear one voice, screaming out above the silence. 

“YOU JUST WANT HIM TO DIE BECAUSE HE’S BLACK!!!!!”

Don’t talk to me about racism.  Don’t talk to me about white privilege.  I just tried to save a black man’s life.  It turned out he was a drug dealer and gang-banger who had been targeted by a rival gang.  I didn’t know that, and it would not have mattered.  I tried to save his life.  His own “people” did NOTHING to save him.  And naturally, none of them saw anything or would help with the investigation of his death. 

“I ain’t talkin’ to the PIGS.”

Racism.  It can be seen where it does not exist.  It can also be real.  It all depends on your point of view.

I invite your thoughts.

To start, thank you for your service as a police officer, it is a stressful job that is overworked, underpaid, and under appreciated.

Heres my rap on the issue.

Racism exists, indefinitely it exists, however it is not as prominent or pervasive as people think it is. Are black people over represented in prison? Absolutely, centuries of oppression towards African American communities have forced them into the poorest rungs of society and even after program after program is established to help them get out of it its still not enough to help them out.

However at the end of the day, I believe that racism is another useful dividing line for politicians to keep the poor and downtrodden from uniting together and rising up. Making african american communities think that all white people even the most poor and downtrodden of us enjoy privileges they dont helps keep us dividing, and so MAKING it that way is even MORE useful, by using the police force to continuously harass black communities and not white communities creates white privilege, and by creating white privilege and making it exist they give minority communities a rallying cry against OTHER poor downtrodden communities of white folks and there by keep us divided.

In turn white folks get exacerbated and start to lash back out against minority communities, sometimes they form white supremacist groups, other times they don't and they just get tired of being told that their life is all peachy keen and they have it easy because of the color of their skin but even believing something like that gets you labeled as a racist so whether you are actually racist or not you are viewed as racist because you debate the idea that your life is more privileged than other poor peoples lives and here we are, nipping at each others throats unaware of the puppet strings we're being pulled on because we're all blinded by rage.

Privilege, comes from power, and power, comes from wealth and the wealthy will continuously manufacture outrage to keep the poor divided.