It has occurred to me that this kind of execution, without trial, for what are almost always minor offenses is plainly unconstitutional. It is only a matter of time before a court case makes this perfectly clear. Like other brutish traditions that make up our national history ( slavery, women's suffrage, civil rights, gay rights) that now are hard to accept, police brutality and probably the persistent support for the death penalty in some states. need to be ruled unconstitutional violation of basic human rights.
16
Perhaps the police should simply stand back, as they have in Baltimore, and allow black men to kill each other at ever increasing rates?
31
Abuse of police by citizens is also a form of terror.
33
Based on this article it is clear to me that many believe police abuse is a form of terror based on a persons color. However, i have to disagree with this reasoning. I don't think color matters when the police are trying to do their job. I think that every action had to start with a crime of some sort. I disagree that a police is just going to come after someone if they have done nothing wrong. Something needs to happen in order for the police to step in and i don't think color has anything to do with it. However, I do agree that America needs to fix the problem of Americans killing other Americans. Instead of getting involved with other countries and trying to help solve their problems, I think that it is only fair to everyone that we fix our own issues first. Americans should not be killing one another. There is no way that everyone is going to be pleased with the changes but, something has to be done.
9
The statistic you choose to ignore is that while whites are more likely to be killed by white just as blacks are more likely to killed by blacks, blacks are six times more likely to be murdered than whites. That is the stat that matters. But it doesn't serve Mr Blows narrative so it is left out.
35
No one ever says "why worry about serial murderers because women are more likely to be killed by their husbands". no one ever says whats the big deal about Ted Bundy?
5
I dislike the tendency of calling every possible type of bad actions "terror". It would be more accurate to state that police abuse is abuse, and there is no "useful abuse that protects the society".
11
(Please edit previous - Mr. Blow, NOT Mr. Brooks)
Mr. Blow -
If in fact Tyrone Harris Jr. was armed, firing at police before being shot, your next assignment - should you choose to accept it - for a future column is to travel to Ferguson, MO and ask young Tyrone directly, face-to-face, three questions: 1) Where is your brain? 2) Where Is Your Brain? 3) WHERE IS YOUR BRAIN?
An entire nation awaits his response to such an interview by you.
Mr. Blow -
If in fact Tyrone Harris Jr. was armed, firing at police before being shot, your next assignment - should you choose to accept it - for a future column is to travel to Ferguson, MO and ask young Tyrone directly, face-to-face, three questions: 1) Where is your brain? 2) Where Is Your Brain? 3) WHERE IS YOUR BRAIN?
An entire nation awaits his response to such an interview by you.
24
Charles Blow, you are doing a lot to split the left. In what way does this advance your cause?
11
Mr. Brooks -
If in fact Tyrone Harris Jr. was armed, firing at police before being shot, your next assignment - should you choose to accept it - for a future column is to travel to Ferguson, MO and ask young Tyrone directly, face-to-face, three questions: 1) Where is your brain? 2) Where Is Your Brain? 3) WHERE IS YOUR BRAIN?
An entire nation awaits his response to such an interview by you.
If in fact Tyrone Harris Jr. was armed, firing at police before being shot, your next assignment - should you choose to accept it - for a future column is to travel to Ferguson, MO and ask young Tyrone directly, face-to-face, three questions: 1) Where is your brain? 2) Where Is Your Brain? 3) WHERE IS YOUR BRAIN?
An entire nation awaits his response to such an interview by you.
6
As a black born in Europe, who never owned a gun, never robbed a store, never befriended gangs, never got into fights, never was arrested or resisted arrest, I can tell you that there is not such a thing as a US police as state terror for any law abiding black citizen in this county. Of course, for all the citizens who don’t abide the law, they live in terror because of police, and it’s is good this way. It means that police is doing their job and I can sleep well at night, or when I walk late at night in Harlem.
You saw in the Fergusson case, where the family swore that the boy was shot at while being unarmed, that they had lied. The Facebook pics showed he had two guns, and in the surveillance video he was armed, part of a gang. Many brothers are quick to play the race card when they are caught red handed. It starts with small things, like accusing NYPL clerks of racism if they dare remind them return tens of books owed, and it ends with accusing police of terror and racism when doing their job.
Each time a police officer kills someone is either because he fears for his life or fears for the lives of people around that could be harmed.
My question to you is why do you defend people like this? Why don’t you try to use your influence to teach backs accountability instead of playing the race card at every turn and aggressively/shamelessly accusing everyone else for their mistakes?
Form what you write you seem on payroll for the black mob...
You saw in the Fergusson case, where the family swore that the boy was shot at while being unarmed, that they had lied. The Facebook pics showed he had two guns, and in the surveillance video he was armed, part of a gang. Many brothers are quick to play the race card when they are caught red handed. It starts with small things, like accusing NYPL clerks of racism if they dare remind them return tens of books owed, and it ends with accusing police of terror and racism when doing their job.
Each time a police officer kills someone is either because he fears for his life or fears for the lives of people around that could be harmed.
My question to you is why do you defend people like this? Why don’t you try to use your influence to teach backs accountability instead of playing the race card at every turn and aggressively/shamelessly accusing everyone else for their mistakes?
Form what you write you seem on payroll for the black mob...
38
Imaging a black guy being alive after this: http://bit.ly/1PajHNh I can't.
4
Thank you Mr. Charles M. Blow for this article; It fills a gaping void in journalism.
8
Thank you, Mr. Blow, for your treating this issue and so persuasively. I am finding more and more rightwingnut rants pressing the argument as though let's ignore the killings of our black youth until the black community handles the black on black killings. It's a racist rant if there ever was one. It subtly tries to diminish any wrongdoing or culpability by white officers. Your equation with terrorism is a perfect counter to those Republicans who gave us the Iraq war in defense of 9/11 even though none of those perps were Iraqi; most were Saudis, but the Saudis are good friends with George H. W. Bush, and Dubya allowed the only plane to leave our borders on 9/ll to be a jet carrying member of the Saudi royal family. If we could convince fellow Americans that the NRA actually supports local terrorism with its pervasive gun ownership, perhaps that would call attention where it needs to be.
12
thank you Mr. Blow...while the rest of the news media feeds on the latest social frenzy at least you see the real problems that no one seems interested in solving. now we just need someone to deal with the other corrupt practices like lobbying, the banking system, wall street, revolving doors for politicians, public "servants" that are above the law etc. Will any of your colleagues touch those?
I doubt it.
I doubt it.
7
Even if you aren't black, I find the police tend to favor the upper and middle classes over poor people.
19
While it does not excuse many egregious acts of abuse by police, it might be worth noting that, in what has long been known as a "war on crime," police officers have to distinguish quickly at times between "hostile combatants" and "friendlies." It is a fact of American society that, on a per capita basis, a black person is 5 or 6 times more likely to kill a police officer than a white person. Presumably that is particularly so of young black males in high crime areas. It it surprising then that police officers more often shoot young black males in high crime areas who turn out in the end to have been "friendlies?"
16
The terrorism is not just the final act of the shooting, it's the initiation and escalation of the confrontation.
A racially motivated stop followed by verbal disrespect , the application of unrestrained force and finally the feeling that any negative reaction to the insults are a direct and unacceptable affront to legally constituted authority.
They are the behavior of an occupying force, foreign or domestic.
A racially motivated stop followed by verbal disrespect , the application of unrestrained force and finally the feeling that any negative reaction to the insults are a direct and unacceptable affront to legally constituted authority.
They are the behavior of an occupying force, foreign or domestic.
20
One factor in the lack of accountability that underpins many of these cop-against-citizen crimes is that, especially in big city police departments, the cops don't live in the neighborhoods they police. Out here in rural Maine, our cops are our neighbors. If they start acting like jerks then they, their wives, their kids will hear about it from the rest of us.
Two policies that need to be implemented immediately:
1- Body cameras on all cops all the time.
2- Cops have to live in the neighborhoods they patrol.
Two policies that need to be implemented immediately:
1- Body cameras on all cops all the time.
2- Cops have to live in the neighborhoods they patrol.
16
According to FBI statistics (2011 was latest I could find), there are just about 700,000 uniformed officers policing the streets of the US. According to Buzzfeed, there were 14 unarmed black people killed by police in 2014 (though several *were* in the commission of crimes or attempting to evade). That's a rate of 0.002%. While each life lost is tragic, that number hardly constitutes a "wave" as the author put it. Conversely, a compendium of studies nicely summarized data showing that whites are, in fact, more likely to be killed by police than blacks. http://www.thefederalistpapers.org/us/study-more-whites-killed-by-police...
This article isn't "reporting", it's anecdotal fear mongering based on closely held, but false, beliefs.
This article isn't "reporting", it's anecdotal fear mongering based on closely held, but false, beliefs.
37
Mr. Blow is right to compare general police harassment and violence against certain communities as terrorism, but his specific arguments don't hold up to me. As Baron95 (should have) said, most police killings involve people who already have rap sheets, often long ones. It's telling that even the few that generate big headlines aren't usually one-sided affairs. Moreover, I, at least, do ask “Why aren’t you, America, focusing on the real problem: Americans killing other Americans?” That's exactly the question that I ask every day. We have a perverted sense of danger, focusing on airline accidents, missing pretty white girls, and terrorists. We should instead focus on much more common (if less interesting) problems.
So, Mr. Blow, you're right that the police terrorize poor urban communities, especially black communities. But it isn't the killings themselves that are the biggest problem. They are just the most visible symptom of a deeper ill. And, unfortunately, when we focus on them, we allow people to deflect the real problems by just saying that "if you're not a criminal, you're safe."
So, Mr. Blow, you're right that the police terrorize poor urban communities, especially black communities. But it isn't the killings themselves that are the biggest problem. They are just the most visible symptom of a deeper ill. And, unfortunately, when we focus on them, we allow people to deflect the real problems by just saying that "if you're not a criminal, you're safe."
4
Some of the commenters seem to be willfully stupid: gang violence whether it is black or Latino or white is largely a creation of the prohibition of drugs and possibly prostitution, a situation the result of white politicians. The other reason is poverty also at least exacerbated by political policy. The absurd level of gun vilolence is totally the responsibility of white politicians; ordinary disputes and domestic violence have escalated to murder because so many guns are at hand. But the difference between these tragedies and police violence is THOSE COPS WORK FOR US!! If we can't trust the men and women who are paid to protect us, I am terrified and I am an old white lady with bad knees!! If the difference between the two isn't crystal clear, you are deaf to reason.
15
"This to me has always felt like a deflection,"
Really, Charles? Who's deflecting? White people don't. Police, maybe. But Police have to deal with black-on-black crimes, day in and day out. Do you have any concern about it?
You apparently are concerned only when it matters you, personally. You have a bullhorn, as a columnist of arguably the most respected newspaper in the world. And you use it to the hilt.
You have little concern about the poor black men. When police stop & frisk more black men, you fear you would be one of them. Through your columns you are trying to stop that.
If you are genuinely concerned about poor black victims, you will stop this haranguing and focus on black-on-black violence & encourage your white friends to do so. You will argue FOR more of the stop & frisk policy, extending to all parts of the US, SPECIFICALLY targeting blacks & Latinas. That's how you try to reduce black misery. Both you & I (as a brown man), more so our sons maybe targeted. That's a small price to pay for peace and tranquility.
Really, Charles? Who's deflecting? White people don't. Police, maybe. But Police have to deal with black-on-black crimes, day in and day out. Do you have any concern about it?
You apparently are concerned only when it matters you, personally. You have a bullhorn, as a columnist of arguably the most respected newspaper in the world. And you use it to the hilt.
You have little concern about the poor black men. When police stop & frisk more black men, you fear you would be one of them. Through your columns you are trying to stop that.
If you are genuinely concerned about poor black victims, you will stop this haranguing and focus on black-on-black violence & encourage your white friends to do so. You will argue FOR more of the stop & frisk policy, extending to all parts of the US, SPECIFICALLY targeting blacks & Latinas. That's how you try to reduce black misery. Both you & I (as a brown man), more so our sons maybe targeted. That's a small price to pay for peace and tranquility.
21
I hope that they don't beat or kill you for being brown. That happens too, you know. I can no longer trust them to stop at frisking me, and I am an old white guy, respectable to the hilt. I shall always remain polite, and almost certainly compliant; but I shall record everything.
I did not feel any of this when I was growing up with cops in my family. But I think maybe those were a different kind of cop from some of those you seem to have around St. Louis. People will say that most cops are good cops, and I am inclined to agree. But not enough of the good cops stood up to the bad ones, and so now none of them can be given the benefit of the doubt. Sad to say, a similar thing happened to my profession (medicine) for similar reasons.
Oh, and by the way, oppression never brings about "peace and tranquility" for very long. People have never liked being treated like dirt; and now they don't have to accept that.
I did not feel any of this when I was growing up with cops in my family. But I think maybe those were a different kind of cop from some of those you seem to have around St. Louis. People will say that most cops are good cops, and I am inclined to agree. But not enough of the good cops stood up to the bad ones, and so now none of them can be given the benefit of the doubt. Sad to say, a similar thing happened to my profession (medicine) for similar reasons.
Oh, and by the way, oppression never brings about "peace and tranquility" for very long. People have never liked being treated like dirt; and now they don't have to accept that.
13
I believe that cops patrolling the neighborhoods and highways should be unarmed, except for taser guns. Period. Cops carrying guns appears to cause more deaths by accident and out of fear.
Blacks killing blacks and acquaintances or intimates killing their own makes sense to some extent just as it does in the case of Whites. What about Asian Americans? What about Arab Americans, though?
Blacks killing blacks and acquaintances or intimates killing their own makes sense to some extent just as it does in the case of Whites. What about Asian Americans? What about Arab Americans, though?
1
If you think police should be unarmed than please be the first to volunteer for that job.
24
New Orleans has a serious crime problem with an increase in murders and armed robberies. The overwhelming majority of these crimes are black on white or black on black. The mayor is white and the police chief black. Should the police stop looking at blacks for the crimes because they may be perceived as racists, or worse, terrorists? The problem of solving these crimes and preventing additional ones falls to the police. The incidents referred to by Mr. Blow are out of proportion to the crimes being committed by blacks. When those stop you will see fewer incidents of the terrorism of which he speaks.
23
Have I so badly misunderstood my public after 31 years of NYPD service?
All along I thought the daily (and in some precincts, EVERY DAY) gun fire was a source of terror!
I really believed that risking a child's life for wearing fashionable sneakers or jackets, or even a perceived 'dis' was yet another source.
Going out at night, standing on the wrong corner with the wrong people was yet another.
Giving kids mugging money struck me as somewhat intimidating.
Seniors, some with prison camp I.D.'tatoo's on their arms, afraid to answer a door for fear of push in robbery, threats to turn over social security checks monthly or face beatings or worse; I thought that was terrorizing.
Elderly people afraid to shop or walk the streets alone, without fear.
Gangs of kids preying on ( mugging) the elderly; a racial component here; mostly a black on white crime.
Drug dealers running entire neighborhoods (with patrol cops forbidden to initiate arrests for fear of, among other factors, initiating riots and other discord) a forerunner of drive by's and turf wars seemed to fit 'terrorizing'.
Too many tickets? In NYC the mostly middle class area's were the major source of 'summons income' for the city, but I never dreamed we were unconstitutionally terrorizing our public. Times have sure changed!
All along I thought the daily (and in some precincts, EVERY DAY) gun fire was a source of terror!
I really believed that risking a child's life for wearing fashionable sneakers or jackets, or even a perceived 'dis' was yet another source.
Going out at night, standing on the wrong corner with the wrong people was yet another.
Giving kids mugging money struck me as somewhat intimidating.
Seniors, some with prison camp I.D.'tatoo's on their arms, afraid to answer a door for fear of push in robbery, threats to turn over social security checks monthly or face beatings or worse; I thought that was terrorizing.
Elderly people afraid to shop or walk the streets alone, without fear.
Gangs of kids preying on ( mugging) the elderly; a racial component here; mostly a black on white crime.
Drug dealers running entire neighborhoods (with patrol cops forbidden to initiate arrests for fear of, among other factors, initiating riots and other discord) a forerunner of drive by's and turf wars seemed to fit 'terrorizing'.
Too many tickets? In NYC the mostly middle class area's were the major source of 'summons income' for the city, but I never dreamed we were unconstitutionally terrorizing our public. Times have sure changed!
34
Thank you for your service.
Were all your associates as good as you? Did you stand up to the ones who weren't? The brutes, the drunks, the racists, the abusers? I'm sure there were only a very few, so it should have been easy to do so, requiring less courage than your daily duties.
It's sad. If my fellow physicians had stood up to the incompetents, crooks, and abusers among us, perhaps people would not have ceased to respect us, too.
Were all your associates as good as you? Did you stand up to the ones who weren't? The brutes, the drunks, the racists, the abusers? I'm sure there were only a very few, so it should have been easy to do so, requiring less courage than your daily duties.
It's sad. If my fellow physicians had stood up to the incompetents, crooks, and abusers among us, perhaps people would not have ceased to respect us, too.
2
A real problem: people who are murdered by someone they know or who is in close proximity, such as in the neighborhood, are not the victims of professionals in OUR employ who are supposed to be keeping us safe. There is really no comparison, even on a logical level. No amount of claiming the risk is higher of a killing by a civilian can make any difference in the obvious: police shootings are wrong, way too frequent, and carry social consequences beyond "random" killings.
After all, who put the gun in the cop's hand? Are we all accessories before the fact?
After all, who put the gun in the cop's hand? Are we all accessories before the fact?
1
I was terrorized as a child by abusive parents. I know what that feels like and, lately, I've been feeling a hint of those feelings. I'm afraid of the police, again. The first time was right after 9/11. The police were more aggressive, quick to assume the worst and quick to threaten deadly force, but the police in my area were first responders when the towers fell. What's Ferguson's excuse?
4
What's real domestic terrorism is the rampant lawlessness engaged in by a small number of the locals in our inner cities that makes living in them intolerable for the otherwise decent, law abiding majority of these communities. That the police, both white and black sometimes are overly aggressive in responding to crime in these communities is unfortunate and sometimes tragic, but the common element in these cases is that the police are responding to a crime, be it the mugging of a storekeeper for some cigars, the burglarizing of a car dealership, or pointing what appears to be a gun at the police. If mom (or dad if he is around) were to teach Junior to behave like a responsible human being and not a thug, the number of these police involved incidents would fall dramatically.
11
It's not so simple.
As we saw the past week or so, there are trigger-happy criminals who shoot at and assassinate innocent police officers engaged in routine activities. And as we have seen too many time in the past 12 months, there are trigger-happy cops who shoot at and murder innocent civilians for no morally justifiable reasons.
If and when the penalties for trigger-happy shooters are applied equally across the spectrum and widely publicized, we may expect a substantial reduction in the frequency of such tragedies.
It will be necessary to gain the cooperation of minority communities and all police officers for this to work. No more remaining silent, no more covering up.
As we saw the past week or so, there are trigger-happy criminals who shoot at and assassinate innocent police officers engaged in routine activities. And as we have seen too many time in the past 12 months, there are trigger-happy cops who shoot at and murder innocent civilians for no morally justifiable reasons.
If and when the penalties for trigger-happy shooters are applied equally across the spectrum and widely publicized, we may expect a substantial reduction in the frequency of such tragedies.
It will be necessary to gain the cooperation of minority communities and all police officers for this to work. No more remaining silent, no more covering up.
6
If you're a person who's not afraid of cops, you simply haven't had the experience of being threatened by one. Or worse. Lucky you. The thing that makes fear of cops insidious is that there's nothing you can do about it. You can't defend yourself or you put your life at risk, and you can't ask them to police themselves because they don't. I'm white, small, old and afraid.
8
I am actually MORE at ease and safe when I see police officers.
That's the point.
However, when I hear other Black people in crowds here in Washington loudly saying they are "getting their Ferguson on" (I heard this while walking the Capitol Mall) that puts me on edge.
That's the point.
However, when I hear other Black people in crowds here in Washington loudly saying they are "getting their Ferguson on" (I heard this while walking the Capitol Mall) that puts me on edge.
4
It is not enough to dismiss the FBI stats with the fact that white people are more likely to murder other white people. This is because black people commit such a disproportionate share of murders. The FBI stats linked in this article show that there were about 2700 murders by black Americans and 2750 by white Americans. That is even with white people making up 6 times more of the population.
Put another way, if black Americans murdered black Americans at the same rate as white Americans murder other whites then around 1800 people would have been spared in 2013.
Obviously people can be concerned about two issues at once, but the argument put forth for prioritizing away from black-on-black crime is weak.
Put another way, if black Americans murdered black Americans at the same rate as white Americans murder other whites then around 1800 people would have been spared in 2013.
Obviously people can be concerned about two issues at once, but the argument put forth for prioritizing away from black-on-black crime is weak.
14
@Baron95: Yes – my parents taught me not to rob a store or carry a knife. But despite that and despite my heeding those and countless other warnings, I have still found myself on the business end of a cop’s pistol. Still found myself in the back of a squad car for no reason. Still found myself pressed up against a wall while my pockets were tossed. There is only one reason why those things have occurred even though I have NEVER committed a crime. That reason, Baron95, is because I am black.
16
Sorry if this is a repeat of others' comments. Regarding the photo of Tamir Rice that accompanies this article: Tamir was not a black "man". He was a boy, 12 years old. Summarily shot and killed while playing with a toy gun.
13
Mr Blow, I'm frankly ashamed at the quantity of comments that refuse to acknowledge what to me has always been a most obvious truth: it's NOT the same for blacks in the US as it is for whites.
You write, "And people with the means and inclination can decide to move away from high-poverty, high-crime neighborhoods." Your qualification regarding means is well-taken and already excludes a disproportionate number of African-Americans. But that's not all, of course. As a white man, I was attacked by a bat by our landlords for attempting to bring in a black roommate to our apartment. War veteran acquaintances of mine, on return, could only find a place in black communities to live with their families.
I'm embarrassed even to talk about things like this with you. Just as with Jewish friends, or latino, etc., it feels awful to say, "Yes, I understand that there are Americans who don't like you simply because of your race, your ethnicity." Any American who doesn't understand that it's worst of all for African-Americans simply doesn't live here.
I'm dismayed when white people say that the black community has a responsibility to solve its problems--as though the rest of us Americans didn't equally have this obligation and responsibility. This is not us/them: it's us.
Black Lives Matter rings as true as Black is Beautiful (which I really think did change perceptions). We're not acting like black lives matter.
"We as adults can decide whether or not to have guns in the home.
You write, "And people with the means and inclination can decide to move away from high-poverty, high-crime neighborhoods." Your qualification regarding means is well-taken and already excludes a disproportionate number of African-Americans. But that's not all, of course. As a white man, I was attacked by a bat by our landlords for attempting to bring in a black roommate to our apartment. War veteran acquaintances of mine, on return, could only find a place in black communities to live with their families.
I'm embarrassed even to talk about things like this with you. Just as with Jewish friends, or latino, etc., it feels awful to say, "Yes, I understand that there are Americans who don't like you simply because of your race, your ethnicity." Any American who doesn't understand that it's worst of all for African-Americans simply doesn't live here.
I'm dismayed when white people say that the black community has a responsibility to solve its problems--as though the rest of us Americans didn't equally have this obligation and responsibility. This is not us/them: it's us.
Black Lives Matter rings as true as Black is Beautiful (which I really think did change perceptions). We're not acting like black lives matter.
"We as adults can decide whether or not to have guns in the home.
14
The truth is that it is time for those of us who can leave-no outstanding student loans, or civil matters- to pick up stakes and leave. It was time when the Civil War was over. Many fled to Canada and never looked back and the dynamic there is dramatically different. There has been an outpost of African Americans in France since the 1960s and again they don't deal with the day to day stresses as we do here. It is past time to look elsewhere for a new home. If you have sons, the stakes are higher, but how much longer should you subject yourself to the constant drumbeat of "because you are black, I should be able to do what I want to and with you?" How many more videos like the pool party in Texas, the young woman being beaten in a jail cell...and on and on and on before people start looking for alternatives to an impossible situation? Even moving out of the cities and to more rural areas may be enough to put some possibly life saving distance between those who shot first and walk away later...and those who just want to be judged like everybody else. Relying on a six year old neighbor to keep you from possibly being murdered is a too slender thread in my opinion....
3
It is perfectly legitimate, smart and even necessary, for a police officer approaching a particular demographic group (black males 16-15) who are 1% of the US population yet commit over 50% of the nations murders in a different stance.
Old black man and black women are not being killed by police with any frequency - so, the problem is not race.
The problem is that American black males 16-25 are the most violent demographic group in the world. The police needs to approach them as such.
Any suggestion that this demographic group needs to be treated "just like everyone else" is patently illogical.
Everyone is more scared of a strange Rottweiler than a mini Poodle and more scared of a shark than a stripped bass. It is just human survival instinct common sense. The most dangerous individuals, require the most defensive and aggressive stance.
Old black man and black women are not being killed by police with any frequency - so, the problem is not race.
The problem is that American black males 16-25 are the most violent demographic group in the world. The police needs to approach them as such.
Any suggestion that this demographic group needs to be treated "just like everyone else" is patently illogical.
Everyone is more scared of a strange Rottweiler than a mini Poodle and more scared of a shark than a stripped bass. It is just human survival instinct common sense. The most dangerous individuals, require the most defensive and aggressive stance.
23
Blow tries to decouple black on black violence from police violence, yet they are intimately related. If not for black on black violence police would not be REQUIRED to respond. It is another cynical attempt to deflect and accuse of racism.
19
You want to talk about TERROR - here you go:Selective concern?
In just the last two weeks, two cops, who happened to be white, were killed by two suspects, who happened to be black.Selective concern indeed!?
In just the last two weeks, two cops, who happened to be white, were killed by two suspects, who happened to be black.Selective concern indeed!?
19
A third grade classmate of my son's has a black dad and a white mom. She had to have a talk with him about how to act when he sees cops - completely respectful, no arguing, passive no matter what was happening. If it hadn't already, the sense of white privilege she was born with melted away that day. If you are white, imagine sitting down and having that talk with your eight-year-old son or daughter - because otherwise they might get killed. Then try to coherently argue that this is not state terror.
101
These anecdotes are a little tiring. Kids of all ethnicities are being given the exact same advice by parents. My (white) 16 yo recently got his driver's license and thereby exponentially increased his likelihood of interacting with a police officer. I gave him "the talk" about what to do if he gets pulled over - sit still, turn off the engine, turn on the interior lights so the officer can see what's happening inside the car, don't take off your seatbelt, keep your hands on the wheel. If the officer asks for your license, tell him it's in your pocket and that you are reaching for your wallet, etc. And most important of all, be polite and do as you are told!
This is not a state of terror. It's common sense and courtesy extended to officers who need to assess the potential for lethal danger even in routine situations.
This is not a state of terror. It's common sense and courtesy extended to officers who need to assess the potential for lethal danger even in routine situations.
3
Maybe so, a little bit LIKE a 'state of terror'. But such talk is how you deal with it. Very many employees have to endure a little bit of that, to keep their job, to advance. Or start your own business. Be your own boss. You may fail. Many don't have the means to start businesses.
This is life. Endure varying degrees of oppression. If you look through a magnifying glass, you will see too much of what you are looking for.
This is life. Endure varying degrees of oppression. If you look through a magnifying glass, you will see too much of what you are looking for.
3
Mr. Blow, I believe part of the answer to the question that you pose is the that the tragedy of black people being murdered by police is not simply terrorism, it is state sponsored terrorism specifically. And unfortunately this state sponsored terrorism appears to be supported by a considerable segment of the white population.
9
Mr. Blow makes an important point: not all violence is the same. Wars kill millions but wars can be just and unjust. Terrorism claims far fewer victims than crime but terrorism is a graver threat to the body politic because it is a political action. Police violence is numerically incomparable to intra-communal violence but it is far more shocking because it strikes at the very foundation of the social contract. A society in which police are more feared than criminals will not survive for long.
5
If a topic such as this one can't be presented honestly and clearly, showing both sides of the issues in an unbiased and fair fashion, resulting in such varying degrees of support vs. rancor by the readers for and against the author, is it any wonder why there is such unrest, protest and uproar in so many cities between blacks, whites and the police? We can't even seem to have a civil conversation in the comments' section with the readers.
6
When you have a community like Ferguson or parts of Baltimore, there are sometimes no good choices for police. If they stand down, and there are riots or even an average day in a high-crime area with a lot of black on black crime, police are criticized for not doing their job and letting crime rise. If they are proactive to prevent crime, it is almost impossible to do without some targeting of the most probable suspects and some extra stopping and frisking. But this type of policing lessens crime overall. They often get called into these areas by people who live there who fear for their lives or have been robbed or who report a crime being committed. They also have to obey what the city they work for requires. Police don't make the laws They are charged with enforcing them as a city wishes. When they are proactive, more incidents can happen, especially in a high-crime area where people are distrustful and hostile. Almost always in these incidents, there have been crimes committed or suspected, little cooperation, and resisting arrest or even running away. They work in this type of environment day after day where potentially anyone might pull a gun and kill them any moment. Some incidents should be investigated or even prosecuted, but we should balance that with the hundreds of thousands of arrests and tickets or warnings written without incident, or even good deeds, that we never hear about because they are not newsworthy.
10
Good, valid points, and stated eloquently. The solution, like many solutions to our problems today in the U.S. of A. is apparent. But like many solutions, the real solutions is how to make it happen in the face of entrenched interests supporting the status quo. The solution is for police to be prosecuted for committing crimes. The police unions supported by police administrators and elected officials almost always stonewall behind "extenuating circumstances" that must reviewed by a police review board. In Chicago the city recently acknowledged that hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent paying victims and families of victims of police violence. Almost all of these awards were settled out of court and the officer(s) involved were never tried.
3
It's up to all of us to create and pay for a system that everyone not only can have confidence in, but actually has confidence in. If large numbers of people feel that the police are out to get them, they will never have confidence in the system and law and order will fail. Our recent lurch towards "guns for everybody anytime" combined with an unwillingness to invest in public systems and public space doesn't help. The "private sector" isn't going to fix this one.
2
I have an African-American friend in our peaceful, middle class neighborhood with blue ribbon schools who refuses to let her boys (who are great students and wouldn't hurt a fly) walk anywhere anymore. She drives them. So yes, the killing of unarmed African-Americans is terrorism in that an event may not necessarily happen to a person, but it's instilling the feeling that something might. That fear makes it necessary for good people to change their lifestyle. I cannot believe this is America. Some may think, so what, doesn't apply to us and keeps the status quo where we like it. Well, guess what, hatred and terrorism are transferable. The mindset festers, evolves, and finds other avenues to attack. Abuse of power can be turned on the same people that turn a blind eye and sanctioned it. This is why King said an injustice somewhere is an injustice everywhere. If we don't speak against it, we may live to regret it.
8
State terrorism? This is based on assumption that the encounters under discussion, between police and citizens, were acts of the State, which they were not.
A State mission or ideology was not being pursued by the officers. Therefore terrorism is not a part of the story. This is hyper-inflated terminology spinning in circles. No logic!
A State mission or ideology was not being pursued by the officers. Therefore terrorism is not a part of the story. This is hyper-inflated terminology spinning in circles. No logic!
10
I believe Mr. Blow's column has a great deal of truth to it, state killings are tougher to dodge than civilian killings, and a major problem to be dealt with. But I think he goes too far by conflating these killings with terrorism, and calling them a "wave" of killings. They're a handful of deaths, not nearly as many as the deaths due to car accidents, drug overdoses, or of course heart disease, our number one killer.
So since heart disease kills more Americans than any other factor, and heart disease, strokes, and cancer kill more Americans than all other factors combined, does that mean that these three factors are terrorists? We should fear them more than anything else, right?
Cops that shoot unarmed black men are not terrorists because terrorists are acting with a political motivation, trying to cause societal change. These cops are overreacting with violence to a violent job, and they're not trying to change anything about society.
Also this "wave" is no wave at all. Each case is different and too many of them are arguably not wrongdoing by the police. Michael Brown, the evidence shows, brought about his own death by attacking a cop. Eric Garner's death was an unfortunate accident, in large part to his horrible health and his physically resisting a batch of cops. Sandra Bland killed herself; the cop mistreated her but did no real harm, and certainly didn't bring about her death.
So this makes some good points but is overstating things I think.
So since heart disease kills more Americans than any other factor, and heart disease, strokes, and cancer kill more Americans than all other factors combined, does that mean that these three factors are terrorists? We should fear them more than anything else, right?
Cops that shoot unarmed black men are not terrorists because terrorists are acting with a political motivation, trying to cause societal change. These cops are overreacting with violence to a violent job, and they're not trying to change anything about society.
Also this "wave" is no wave at all. Each case is different and too many of them are arguably not wrongdoing by the police. Michael Brown, the evidence shows, brought about his own death by attacking a cop. Eric Garner's death was an unfortunate accident, in large part to his horrible health and his physically resisting a batch of cops. Sandra Bland killed herself; the cop mistreated her but did no real harm, and certainly didn't bring about her death.
So this makes some good points but is overstating things I think.
6
I suppose one could argue that the preponderance of interracial violence and murder being black on white is a form of terror too. It clearly dwarfs the number of blacks harmed by cops, and it is rare for a black person to be an innocent victim in these cases. It is also rare for the violence or murder of whites at the hands of blacks to be the result of a white committing a crime.
8
Well I could agree with the article heading but nearly all the cases of police violence I know occur while people resist while being arrested and they do like this again and again and surely policemen shoot them constantly under such circumstances.
3
Something you never question: How many non-black people have been killed by police in the past few years? By focusing in only on black people killed by police, you are inherently making a racist argument. I don't know the answer to my own question, maybe black people are getting killed by police at a hugely disproportionate rate. Maybe not. But the fact that no one seems to know is a failure of the news media, including the NY Times, to report.
3
I can't answer that one, but I can offer this, from the guardian (UK): black Americans killed by police are twice as likely to be unarmed as white Americans killed by police:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/01/black-americans-killed-by...
The same data show that 29% of those killed were black, 14% Latino, and 50% white. Correcting for the percentage of each in the population (that is, self-described whites / caucasians make up ~78% of the population, self-described blacks / african americans, ~12.5%), yes, a significant excess of black people are being shot. doing the math, that's 232/64 = 3.6 times more likely.
So, we know two things. First, there are 3.6 times more police killings of blacks than whites (ignoring all other factors). Secondly, at least 32% of the black people killed are unarmed (the other category is "armed or unknown"), vs only 15% for white people. (This also ignores any disparity of "cops planting guns on people after a shooting," which we know happens, both through anecdotes, and now, through video recordings.)
Less death-by cop for everyone (which also, paradoxically, leads to less death-of-cops) is obviously the best goal. But Black men are not paranoid if they feel they've got a faint target painted on their backs, every day, no matter how unarmed and law-abiding they may be.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/01/black-americans-killed-by...
The same data show that 29% of those killed were black, 14% Latino, and 50% white. Correcting for the percentage of each in the population (that is, self-described whites / caucasians make up ~78% of the population, self-described blacks / african americans, ~12.5%), yes, a significant excess of black people are being shot. doing the math, that's 232/64 = 3.6 times more likely.
So, we know two things. First, there are 3.6 times more police killings of blacks than whites (ignoring all other factors). Secondly, at least 32% of the black people killed are unarmed (the other category is "armed or unknown"), vs only 15% for white people. (This also ignores any disparity of "cops planting guns on people after a shooting," which we know happens, both through anecdotes, and now, through video recordings.)
Less death-by cop for everyone (which also, paradoxically, leads to less death-of-cops) is obviously the best goal. But Black men are not paranoid if they feel they've got a faint target painted on their backs, every day, no matter how unarmed and law-abiding they may be.
2
I work with a lot of black colleagues. None of them complain of police terrorism. The reason is simple: we share a common middle class culture of hard work, discipline, and respect. As long as a smart black kid has to deliberately hide his academic interests for fear of being beaten up for "acting white", or the decent neighbor is afraid to speak up when observing a crime because "snitches get stitches", we are going to have a "race" problem. In truth, it is more accurately a problem of cultural values.
10
There are a lot of angry readers it seems. I agree with the point Mr. Blow is making, but given that it's an op-ed and therefore probably not enough column space to delve deeper, I think one point that readers are not considering is the historical perspective. Yes, we are all potentially victims of policing that, in my opinion, is become more militarized and therefore more prone to "mistakes" of killing unarmed citizens (though with Tamir Rice, for example, calling it a "mistake" seems like such an understatement), but historically, African Americans in this country, until very recently, were literally targeted by police officers and terrorist groups, ranging from the KKK to the Citizens Council's of the South, which were comprised of governmental officials and law enforcement officers. Indeed, police officers in the south were complicit in, and even performed, lynchings and murder. Up north, the situation may not have been as institutionalized, but certainly the police "mistakes" seem to target people of color much more often--has everyone forgotten Amadou Diallo already? So while I actually do believe most police officers perform their job with great care and they have my respect, the number of "mistakes" is intolerable particularly in comparison to other nations, and we need to do some serious soul searching to address why this is happeneing
7
So much pushback from readers about a simple matter of equal rights. So many apologist for racism.
8
The police are killing and locking up 12 year old *black children, if that's not enough for people to see how corrupt the police systems are, then nothing anyone says will, God bless you Mr. Blow, keep articles like this coming, even though, too many still have their heads willfully stuck in the sand.....
5
Your choice of the "community violence" comparison is a good straw man against which to pit your argument, but it seems to me the least of the reasons many progressives such as myself have had a hard time getting on the "Ferguson Movement" bandwagon. The problem can be found in your statement: "... that there is no amount of righteous behavior, no neighborhood right enough, to produce sufficient security." Certainly we would like to move to a place where fewer potentially violent confrontations end in death -- civilian or police -- but to characterize many of these confrontations as emerging from "righteous behavior" is a kind of intellectual dishonesty to which I can't sign on. My biggest fear is that the sometimes anarchist path taken by the Ferguson Movement will cost us the election by alienating people who feel that their right to see with their own eyes has been redefined as racist. The last time truth was forced to follow the party line we ended up at war in Iraq.
8
The black community will continue to blame others for their plight, while people like Ben Carson get largely ignored by these self-proclaimed spokesmen for the entire black community.
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/08/13/ben-carson-talks-...
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/08/13/ben-carson-talks-...
9
As an answer to the question in the final paragraph: because a shameful amount of white Americans still feel, deep in their heart , or subconsciousness, that white are simply above (in what way is the question of course) blacks. They probably don't practice this in any way, and are probably not even very aware, or aware at all, of such feelings. But they are still there. Very sad.
3
You know this how? You can read peoples minds? If so, kudos to you.
Charles, as to the question you pose in your final paragraph, I think many view the BLM movement itself as a 'deflection'. A rally around an important, but should-be secondary cause because the larger problems facing the Community seem to lack solutions (they don't).
2
End the War on Drugs. There's no reason guns should be used to control drugs any more than we use them to control alcohol.
2
Amen, Mr. Blow! You are so correct, and you cite my own favorite Zakaria column on this subject as well. Why don´t YOU run for President? Thanks to the USA´s outdated constitution, Zacharia cannot. I would vote for either one of you, I´m sure.
Thank you Charles Blow for eloquently and relentlessly stating obvious truths. Hopefully they will begin to sink in. We expect criminals to engage in criminal behavior and do what we can to avoid their presence. We also expect criminals to be brought to justice, and eventually most are. We do not expect police to engage in criminal behavior. It does create a feeling of terror to know that when police engage in criminal behavior, particularly against Black people, they are exceedingly likely to get away with it.
In places, like Baltimore, where the combination of ineffective policing (to say the least) and poisoned community relations results in criminals regularly getting away with murder the conditions are ripe for spirals of violence such as we are experiencing now. When there is no justice, wrongdoers are emboldened, and cycles of retaliation become the order of the day. This is what no justice, no peace looks and feels like. It will continue until justice rolls down like waters, as Amos said and prophets ever since have repeated.
In places, like Baltimore, where the combination of ineffective policing (to say the least) and poisoned community relations results in criminals regularly getting away with murder the conditions are ripe for spirals of violence such as we are experiencing now. When there is no justice, wrongdoers are emboldened, and cycles of retaliation become the order of the day. This is what no justice, no peace looks and feels like. It will continue until justice rolls down like waters, as Amos said and prophets ever since have repeated.
2
Of course police brutality has to stop. And of course blacks have a lot more to fear when they interact with cops, than do white people like myself. In fact, I think a lot of the reason for higher crime rates in poor black communities is the result of a broken relationship between those communities, and law enforcement: with deeply rooted district on both sides.
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But I'm scared we might go to the other extreme. There are two kinds of racist policing. The American kind we all know: watch minorities like a hawk, and come down hard on them for the slightest infraction of the law; shoot them at the slightest suggestion of defiance. It's an extension of Jim Crow that we need to address. But there's also the European kind of racist policing: simply neglect poor minority communities. Don't send police, or if you do, send too few. Let the people in those communities police themselves, and then label them outlaws if they do. The French are notorious for this, and I would argue that it's as bad, or worse, than the American version of racist policing.
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I fear that law enforcement agencies in the U.S. may take these criticisms and become more European in their style of racism. I hope they don't. I hope they actually mend their broken relationships with minority communities. But only time will tell.
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But I'm scared we might go to the other extreme. There are two kinds of racist policing. The American kind we all know: watch minorities like a hawk, and come down hard on them for the slightest infraction of the law; shoot them at the slightest suggestion of defiance. It's an extension of Jim Crow that we need to address. But there's also the European kind of racist policing: simply neglect poor minority communities. Don't send police, or if you do, send too few. Let the people in those communities police themselves, and then label them outlaws if they do. The French are notorious for this, and I would argue that it's as bad, or worse, than the American version of racist policing.
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I fear that law enforcement agencies in the U.S. may take these criticisms and become more European in their style of racism. I hope they don't. I hope they actually mend their broken relationships with minority communities. But only time will tell.
2
I would suggest to you that the European style of policing is going on right now in places like Chicago and Philadelphia. Baltimore asked for fewer police and crime skyrocketed. So what is the answer?
Our collective problem is our inability to see ourselves as connected and interdependent. It seems to be woven into the fabric of our existence. I think Einstein was right- the next revolution that advances civilization will be one of raising consciousness- not more rational/intellectual endeavor.
Of course this is terrorism! It is this view of separateness that prevents understanding and compassion- no different than how shocked and dismayed white people were by the Watts riots- black people had been suffering egregious insults for years, then the straw that broke the camels back....
Of course this is terrorism! It is this view of separateness that prevents understanding and compassion- no different than how shocked and dismayed white people were by the Watts riots- black people had been suffering egregious insults for years, then the straw that broke the camels back....
2
Is Charles Blow unable to keep two ideas in his head at the same time? Can't people abhor and protest *both* police corruption (in the broadest sense of the term) *and* violent anti-social behavior by those being policed?
11
Both problems are real, and demand solutions. The police brutality is probably the easier problem to solve, because the police can be video taped and trained. Police defending themselves in the case of real attack must be allowed. Training the police to deescalate will help all sides see that progress is desired by everyone. All it involves is good will on all sides. That seems little enough to ask. Come on, people, why not? In fact, solving this problem might be part of the solution for the problem of aimless young men turned to crime.
In none of this do we suggest that the police have an easy time. They need our support, (and maybe larger salaries.)
In none of this do we suggest that the police have an easy time. They need our support, (and maybe larger salaries.)
4
The vast majority of police are not terrorists. The vast majority of Catholic priests do not rape children. However, the police protect and cover for their worst members (see the video of them turning their backs on the mayor) the same way the Catholic hierarchy protected the rapist priests.
The solution is not easy, because no police force will tolerate their murderous fellow officers being exposed.
The solution is not easy, because no police force will tolerate their murderous fellow officers being exposed.
9
Mr. Blow, this is very well argued. It is indeed terrorism when one class of people intimidates another class, using everything from public ridicule to wage discrimination, from social ostracism to physical assault, from injury and the threat of killing to actual and outright killing.
All to force that other class of people into constant awareness of their "lesser" status, their poorer treatment, their unequal access to opportunity and justice and even the simple right to walk around unmolested.
I grew up female, which means I know what it's like to be taught by my parents that I have to take special steps not to be harmed by those men who choose to behave badly. That society will not stop them, so instead I must stunt my life, limit my actions, watch my dress and speech, just to avoid being harmed by these horrible people who unfortunately, dominate society or are at least condoned by too many.
This does breed anger, against the patent inequality of treatment, against the society that fosters and implicitly approves it, and even at myself, for so often having to choose between cowering or confrontation, for having had to compromise my life because I live in a society that doesn't want to admit or address the problem.
Rape culture is terrorism. Public policies that keep down the poor through imprisonment, unpayable fines, lack of education, health care, and living-wage jobs is too. So is over-"policing" black people. STATE-sponsored terrorism. Let's take it on!
All to force that other class of people into constant awareness of their "lesser" status, their poorer treatment, their unequal access to opportunity and justice and even the simple right to walk around unmolested.
I grew up female, which means I know what it's like to be taught by my parents that I have to take special steps not to be harmed by those men who choose to behave badly. That society will not stop them, so instead I must stunt my life, limit my actions, watch my dress and speech, just to avoid being harmed by these horrible people who unfortunately, dominate society or are at least condoned by too many.
This does breed anger, against the patent inequality of treatment, against the society that fosters and implicitly approves it, and even at myself, for so often having to choose between cowering or confrontation, for having had to compromise my life because I live in a society that doesn't want to admit or address the problem.
Rape culture is terrorism. Public policies that keep down the poor through imprisonment, unpayable fines, lack of education, health care, and living-wage jobs is too. So is over-"policing" black people. STATE-sponsored terrorism. Let's take it on!
5
Not being safe in many former neighborhoods; where I once walked in both safety and civility is also a form of abuse. A very dangerous and overlooked form of abuse of my own and many others civil rights.
10
Thank you, Charles Blow.
1
"Kill a cop" and "Rape a b..." rape lyrics and holding guns sideways in selfies mass distributed on line are also a form of terror. Think about it. But of course if Mr. Blow and the rest of the civil rights establishment would simply start 'doing their jobs' and demonstrate and burn financial districts down until the our few percent business nobility stopped "free trade" sending most manufacturing jobs to China and Mexico and importing 1 to 2 million brown slaves a year to kill wages here the poverty cause of most of minority-cop violence in the USA would disappear. But no, the black liberals just like the white, brown and tan ones have all been bought off by big money and so need to blame all our economic and social ills on racism. How convenient for the 1% and our rainbow political leaders that none of our nation's problems are apparently due to their lazy ignorance, cowardice or just plain mass corruption and greed.
7
People form their opinions of other people due to the experiences they have shared with those people. If it is a good experience than the person remembers it as such; with a bad experience the same is remembered. It is human nature. If a person has not lived, been educated, or worked with people of diversity than they have missed/been robbed of the human experience. Unfortunately people are categorized as a whole race when everyone should be looked at and respected individually. Let's start there.
When I was in college the National Guard was on campus because of Vietnam protesters. I went out of my way to avoid them. I am pretty sure at the time that I thought the Guards would be well trained, but then Kent State happened. The other night the Oathkeepers were on the streets of Ferguson. The police seemed to have no problem with that and now I read that the police may have known they were coming ahead of time. And then some black kid gets shot. When you inject firearms into a situation there are all sorts of variables, mental health, stress, anxiety. You don't know how people will react. The State has a responsibility to put people out there who will exercise good judgment. I am reminded of Darren Wilsons comment that Mike Brown looked like a demon or a monster. And this was after he shot him. Carrying firearms should require training and clear thinking. Otherwise, it will all be coming to a community near you.
3
Times readers, I just want you to know Charles M. Blow doesn't speak for me.
Attempting to excuse looting, burning buildings and shooting at police officers as just an "extreme reaction" to racism is intellectually dishonest, deliberately misleading and portrays ME as a victim just because of my skin color.
The saddest and angriest day of my life was when my father died. My reactions were extreme. My dad was my role model. He taught me how to love America, be a positive citizen and interact with people of all races. Police officers in my hometown respected me because my dad earned their respect. And I honor that to this day.
There are Black people in this country who are horrified by the ignorant, belligerent, thuggery that plays out on our televisions live from Ferguson and Baltimore that become blueprints for the same kind of behavior across the country.
What Charles M. Blow will never tell you is this: As Black people we have the power to end police misconduct and violence towards our youth--by changing our youth. If we as a community put an end to the behavior, conduct and confrontations that lead to the fear and distrust, we remove the fuse from the powder keg.
Diffuse this anger and tension. Take back the community. Restore order and civility and stop the violence. Reject popular culture that we are supposed to act out and never suffer the consequences.
That would make the actual bad acts by police officers that kill innocent people even easier to address.
Attempting to excuse looting, burning buildings and shooting at police officers as just an "extreme reaction" to racism is intellectually dishonest, deliberately misleading and portrays ME as a victim just because of my skin color.
The saddest and angriest day of my life was when my father died. My reactions were extreme. My dad was my role model. He taught me how to love America, be a positive citizen and interact with people of all races. Police officers in my hometown respected me because my dad earned their respect. And I honor that to this day.
There are Black people in this country who are horrified by the ignorant, belligerent, thuggery that plays out on our televisions live from Ferguson and Baltimore that become blueprints for the same kind of behavior across the country.
What Charles M. Blow will never tell you is this: As Black people we have the power to end police misconduct and violence towards our youth--by changing our youth. If we as a community put an end to the behavior, conduct and confrontations that lead to the fear and distrust, we remove the fuse from the powder keg.
Diffuse this anger and tension. Take back the community. Restore order and civility and stop the violence. Reject popular culture that we are supposed to act out and never suffer the consequences.
That would make the actual bad acts by police officers that kill innocent people even easier to address.
20
Thank you. I teach in a very diverse school where we have a fairly balanced mix of children. All of our kids come from upper middle class families, most of whom have at least one parent who has attended college. So when I hear these kids, who drive their own cars, who attend elite athletic training facilities, who have newer and better cell phones than I do, complaining about police oppression, I wonder how much is just going along with what is popular and how much is legitimate complaint. No good parent of any race, gender preference or religion, want their children to fail. Too many are making excuses for low scores and bad behavior using a slate of excuses ranging from racism to discrimination due to disabilities to any of a variety of nebulous complaints. I do think that lowering standards of hiring for police have resulted in a talent pool that is less intelligent, less exposed to variety of cultures and generally less willing to think outside the box. But I also see a great deal of outright defiance in school and outside for even the most innocuous request of some students. When I nearly get punched for asking a young man to stop grinding against his girlfriend during lunch, it was not because of race but because it was inappropriate. Yet of all the times I've stopped students from PDA in the halls, the one time I nearly get punched was a kid who was black. This is the type of behavior that is being promoted by those who riot in the streets.
2
God bless you, and thank you for sharing stories that I knew to be true as a Black man that all of us in America need to hear.
Violence, defiance, militancy and no consequences for bad acts or choices has become the soundtrack of Black culture in America during the Obama Era.
That is a fact, and law enforcement far too often is reacting to that reality preemptively.
Violence, defiance, militancy and no consequences for bad acts or choices has become the soundtrack of Black culture in America during the Obama Era.
That is a fact, and law enforcement far too often is reacting to that reality preemptively.
1
Gangs are a form of terror, too. When a person is killed for wearing "wrong colours", it amounts to terror act - killing civilians to inflict fear.
Perhaps if we treat gangs as domestic terrorism, a lot of lives would be saved.
Perhaps if we treat gangs as domestic terrorism, a lot of lives would be saved.
8
Police misconduct does induce terror as a shared emotional response. But unless it is organized and intentional, it cannot really be called a form of "terrorism."
From what I have seen, it seems that police wrongdoing is mainly the result of inadequate training and supervision, and bad habits among officers, along with a scattering of corrrupt individuals. I haven't seen anything that suggests "abuse" in the formal sense of a concerted effort to exert inappropriate control through fear. It might exist, but I have not personally seen the evidence.
From what I have seen, it seems that police wrongdoing is mainly the result of inadequate training and supervision, and bad habits among officers, along with a scattering of corrrupt individuals. I haven't seen anything that suggests "abuse" in the formal sense of a concerted effort to exert inappropriate control through fear. It might exist, but I have not personally seen the evidence.
The problem is clear in this posting from Arizona. Was Tamir Rice provoking the police? He was a 12 year old kid sitting on a swing with a toy gun. Eric Garner was selling a few cigarettes on the street, Michael Brown was simply walking down the middle of a street, Sandra Bland was clearly driving responsibly when a policeman did a U turn and pulled up close in back of her. None of these people were 'provoking' the police. The police were provoking and threatening them with a totally unnecessary use of force. Shame on them!
1
Especially in today's climate with gun violence and gun-related deaths in the news, why would ANY parent allow, tolerate or even purchase a toy gun for any child? His death was a terrible tragedy, no doubt. I'm sure young Mr. Rice was literally scared to death when the police arrived on the scene. But for one minute, think of how this scenario must have been interpreted by the police or any civilian who saw a person with a gun. Police aren't mind readers. They saw a person with a gun. They responded accordingly. The grand jury found the police officer innocent. This tragic accident is just that - a very terrible, tragic accident due to child carrying a toy GUN.
I'm at a loss how Mr. Blow can write something like:
"And people with the means and inclination can decide to move away from high-poverty, high-crime neighborhoods."
The fallacy is obvious.
"And people with the means and inclination can decide to move away from high-poverty, high-crime neighborhoods."
The fallacy is obvious.
6
First, thank you Mr Blow for a much more reasoned commentary than the one proposed in your prior column. You note today: "One could argue that America’s overwhelming response to the terror threat is precisely what has kept the number of people killed in this country as a result of terror so low. But, if so, shouldn’t black Americans, similarly, have the right to exercise tremendous resistance to reduce the number of black people killed after interactions with the police?"
Please consider that perhaps both efforts are overwhelming and overblown at a time when we need to pull together as one Nation properly using/deploying resources to better the whole society.
Please consider that perhaps both efforts are overwhelming and overblown at a time when we need to pull together as one Nation properly using/deploying resources to better the whole society.
The picture of Tamir Rice, age 12, who was killed by police when they mistook his toy guy for a real one is neatly placed underneath the headline of "Police Abuse Is a Form of Terror". Mr. Blow, why not address the issue of toy manufacturers who make and sell toy guns? What does it say about the parent who purchases a toy gun for their child? What kind of message is that sending to a child? And let's not forget about all of those video games that promote nothing but gun violence and death. Why not some commentary about that?
Before lambasting the police of terror and gun violence, maybe we should start with the basics and band all plastic guns and the ones that are still around? How about not giving them to children as toys in the first place? Perhaps young Tamir Rice would be alive today.
5
Oh my goodness fast&furious-your words:
"It changed my world. I'm not safe anywhere. I can't ever go to the police for help. I don't feel like a citizen of this country anymore. I've had trouble sleeping for 20 years. I feel like I exist outside of society - I don't have the sense of freedom or safety other people seem to
have".
I am female; I am small; I am white;
But I was not 40, I was 75 years old.
And one more thing-I live in my house all alone.
No man present to stand up to "The Man".
Driven with purpose into the Criminal Justice System, after teaching primary schoolchildren for 33 years.
THEY dismissed THEIR case because "they had no witness", and I refused to plead to something I did not do.
After more than a year fraught from their intentions and, as you describe so well, continuing perhaps into the 'forever'.
"It changed my world. I'm not safe anywhere. I can't ever go to the police for help. I don't feel like a citizen of this country anymore. I've had trouble sleeping for 20 years. I feel like I exist outside of society - I don't have the sense of freedom or safety other people seem to
have".
I am female; I am small; I am white;
But I was not 40, I was 75 years old.
And one more thing-I live in my house all alone.
No man present to stand up to "The Man".
Driven with purpose into the Criminal Justice System, after teaching primary schoolchildren for 33 years.
THEY dismissed THEIR case because "they had no witness", and I refused to plead to something I did not do.
After more than a year fraught from their intentions and, as you describe so well, continuing perhaps into the 'forever'.
3
I agree. Police abuse is a form of terror. Somehow our police force has developed a Culture of Intimidation to which we the citizenry must submit wholly or be met with overwhelming, even deadly force. There is no excuse for escalating petty crimes or traffic violations into "perceived threats" that required shooting someone.
I favor a detailed overhaul of police training; and a standardization of police field reports to document and collect data on why force was deemed necessary. Statistical reviews would reveal the more violent members of the police force. I also believe it is a person's right to remain in their vehicle until they feel safe, when confronted with an aggressive officer, or to request more police presence.
There are also numerous ways the citizenry can make officers feel safe upon approach. Moving slowly, placing keys on the car dashboard, etc. More effort can also go into training the public. Warnings from the police can help, "You are making me feel unsafe, please sit on the ground". Such communication would acknowledge that both parties are human beings due respect.
I favor a detailed overhaul of police training; and a standardization of police field reports to document and collect data on why force was deemed necessary. Statistical reviews would reveal the more violent members of the police force. I also believe it is a person's right to remain in their vehicle until they feel safe, when confronted with an aggressive officer, or to request more police presence.
There are also numerous ways the citizenry can make officers feel safe upon approach. Moving slowly, placing keys on the car dashboard, etc. More effort can also go into training the public. Warnings from the police can help, "You are making me feel unsafe, please sit on the ground". Such communication would acknowledge that both parties are human beings due respect.
Sir, as always, you have simply and eloquently hit the nail on the head.
The, "well Blacks kill Blacks a lot" argument is, as you say, completely irrelevant, and does not remotely relate to issues of Cops terrorizing a community, or an entire minority group. You may as well say if you murdered a seriously ill person: "Why does it matter? He was likely to die anyway." Sadly, even the use of such an unrelated deflection technique shows that perhaps Black Lives can easily be dismissed in the minds of those who make such remarks.
As for Terrorism, I feel the analogy is very pertinent, and painfully accurate. The sad truth is that the average US citizen is far more likely to have a negative policing experience, perhaps very negative experience, than they are to experience a terrorism attack. I mean this for everyone: Black, White, Rich, Poor - truly every citizen. If you live in an urban environment, the odds go up a great deal. If you are Black, or any minority, or Poor, the odds likely go up to something stunning. It may now be the most likely dangerous (certainly negative) experience you can encounter, if you are one of those groups regularly targeted by police bias and profiling. What does it say when a vast majority of Black citizens have a direct personal experience of such an encounter, with many of those slso knowing in their immediate circle who has been police assaulted, brutalized - or worse?
Now: when can we expect to see a response from the DOJ?
The, "well Blacks kill Blacks a lot" argument is, as you say, completely irrelevant, and does not remotely relate to issues of Cops terrorizing a community, or an entire minority group. You may as well say if you murdered a seriously ill person: "Why does it matter? He was likely to die anyway." Sadly, even the use of such an unrelated deflection technique shows that perhaps Black Lives can easily be dismissed in the minds of those who make such remarks.
As for Terrorism, I feel the analogy is very pertinent, and painfully accurate. The sad truth is that the average US citizen is far more likely to have a negative policing experience, perhaps very negative experience, than they are to experience a terrorism attack. I mean this for everyone: Black, White, Rich, Poor - truly every citizen. If you live in an urban environment, the odds go up a great deal. If you are Black, or any minority, or Poor, the odds likely go up to something stunning. It may now be the most likely dangerous (certainly negative) experience you can encounter, if you are one of those groups regularly targeted by police bias and profiling. What does it say when a vast majority of Black citizens have a direct personal experience of such an encounter, with many of those slso knowing in their immediate circle who has been police assaulted, brutalized - or worse?
Now: when can we expect to see a response from the DOJ?
1
How could any community have justice and peace when they cannot trust its law enforcement? That's what minority communities face. Have a violent family member? Should you call the cops and make it worse, or deal with it? No wonder there's outrage! We should all be outraged! All communities need to be able to trust law enforcement, but I guess that's a just luxury for the well-to-do.
Cleaning up the extreme mess of violence - by police and within crime-prone inner city communities (the two are inter-related) - will take partnership by all parties. Civic leaders will need to ensure police do their job fairly and compassionately. Police will need to root out bad policies and bad cops. And community members will need to get real about violent troublemakers in their communities and work in partnership to out them - they are a plague.
Just one example: Tyrone Harris who was most recently shot in Ferguson by plainclothes police officers during the memorial protests... Family and friends claimed he was an innocent guy and had no gun - and behold, a video shows him drawing a weapon from his pants. His nickname on Facebook is reported to be Ty Glock, And the same profile featured multiple pics of him and his friends brandishing what the NY Daily News called "a disturbing number of weapons." He has been arrested for grand theft auto, and for weapons charges. He has been a menace to the community for years and does not deserve his freedom.
Just one example: Tyrone Harris who was most recently shot in Ferguson by plainclothes police officers during the memorial protests... Family and friends claimed he was an innocent guy and had no gun - and behold, a video shows him drawing a weapon from his pants. His nickname on Facebook is reported to be Ty Glock, And the same profile featured multiple pics of him and his friends brandishing what the NY Daily News called "a disturbing number of weapons." He has been arrested for grand theft auto, and for weapons charges. He has been a menace to the community for years and does not deserve his freedom.
9
There's a large gap between not deserving freedom, and deserving summary execution.
JFS - in case you didn't actually read about this particular shooting, he fired on cops and they fired back. Actually he's alive. Hardly summary execution. If you were a citizen in any state and had a legal firearm and were fired upon, you could use deadly force and not be prosecuted. You need to stop exaggerating and having knee-jerk reactions if any of these problems are going to be solved.
I wasn't making a statement about Harris, actually, nor disputing many of your specific points. (Parents of any race may think their kids are little angels--or at least, unarmed--when it's not so.) But there's a pattern of conflating "deserves to be arrested and tried" with "deserves to be taken in a hail of bullets, in a style that used to be reserved for outlaws, wanted, alive or dead." Your comment was as good a place as any to comment on that.
Police departments trained in non-violent arrests make plenty of arrests. Their officers are no more likely to be injured--in fact, they're less likely to be injured. It takes some time, some patience, and some very specific skills to take someone into custody that way. But if officers can do it to armed, desperate, home-owning white guys (and they do), they can also do it to armed, desperate, poor black guys.
Police departments trained in non-violent arrests make plenty of arrests. Their officers are no more likely to be injured--in fact, they're less likely to be injured. It takes some time, some patience, and some very specific skills to take someone into custody that way. But if officers can do it to armed, desperate, home-owning white guys (and they do), they can also do it to armed, desperate, poor black guys.
I do agree that the effect of police abuse must be terrorizing to those subjected by it. However, comparing it to terrorism is doing a disservice to the cause: The fear of terrorism is - for all Americans - purely abstract. Dying or being injured by a terrorist attack is so unlikely that it is an almost non-existent danger, akin to dying from a lightning strike.
However, being harassed and having one's life severely disrupted by police abuse is a frequent, likely occurrence in many neighborhoods.
However, being harassed and having one's life severely disrupted by police abuse is a frequent, likely occurrence in many neighborhoods.
3
“Why are you not writing about the real problem — black-on-black crime? Young black men are far more likely to be killed by another young black man than by the police. Why do people not seem to protest when those young people are killed? Where is the media coverage of those deaths?”
Mr. Blow, you still refuse to answer your own questions.
Why not address ANY toy manufactuere that makes and sells toy guns for kids? What parent would purchase a toy gun for their child in the first place and what kind of message is that for a child?
8
When activists use Michael Brown and Ferguson Missouri as a symbol of their cause,they alienate most other Americans.
Then they lament the negative stereotype that they reinforce themselves.
Then they lament the negative stereotype that they reinforce themselves.
23
Speak for yourself. This American supports the victims.
2
"Most other Americans" are not aware that Ferguson, Mo., issued 30,000 arrest warrants in a city of 23,000 in 2013. Most other Americans think they know the impact of racism ("Oh, someone called you a name?"), but they are unaware of the depth of history, how, for example, blacks were re-enslaved for almost 100 yrs. after the Civil War when they were jailed on minor charges and their labor was then hired out of local sheriffs with the money going to the sheriffs themselves. Most Americans are unaware of how thriving, growing black communities with black owned business have been ruined by the construction of new freeways through those areas (Dallas, Texas and many others) or by organized white against black riots (Tulsa, etc.) that wiped out modest wealth that could have been passed down for generations to this day (billions of dollars of black wealth, in fact). Most Americans are unaware that, in 1919, there was an orgy of hanging and burning alive of black Americans across much of the nation.
Michael Brown was not a hero, but he did not deserve to be shot and killed, even if it was legal. He, like other residents of Ferguson, was subjected to a constant police presence. There will never be a "perfect" victim of excessive police violence, but his killing was part of a city govt. gone insane with fines and fees to run the govt. itself. The city govt. found it could oppress the residents of Ferguson and they didn't stop until the heat got to be too much.
Michael Brown was not a hero, but he did not deserve to be shot and killed, even if it was legal. He, like other residents of Ferguson, was subjected to a constant police presence. There will never be a "perfect" victim of excessive police violence, but his killing was part of a city govt. gone insane with fines and fees to run the govt. itself. The city govt. found it could oppress the residents of Ferguson and they didn't stop until the heat got to be too much.
3
And yet, we don’t ask “Why aren’t you, America, focusing on the real problem: Americans killing other Americans?”
Exactly how is Blow immune from his own question? You act as if this occurs in a vacuum. It doesn't.
Exactly how is Blow immune from his own question? You act as if this occurs in a vacuum. It doesn't.
8
Right, it's the victims fault.
1
I laud Mr. Blow's categorization of state sponsored violence as terror, and black demonstrations as a logical response to terror. However, he misses the larger more unifying point that the terror is institutional and crosses racial boundaries both ways. The cops in the Baltimore shooting of a black man were black and white. The victim in Albuquerque was white and the cops were white and Latino. Those are important caveats to remember.
6
Mr. Blow makes a valid point. Citizens should not have reason to fear the police. Agreed. Obviously, we can not abandon the crime infested ghettos where thousands of black men kill each other every year, and agressive community policing is the only proven strategy effective against the dangerous predators ruining the lives of millions of blacks economically unable to relocate to safety and better schools. Nor can we easily reduce the 5 to 10 blacks annually that are wrongly killed by police out of hundreds of thousands (or millions) of police encounters with young black males. Body cameras and better training will reduce mistakes, but occasionally wrongful deaths are statistically going to happen. One thing that we now know is that crime is skyrocketing in black communities across the country after the Obama administration and media have continued to attack the police who are trying to protect and serve, so disarming the police is not the answer.
7
Mistakes happen, when you're black.
1
I know that the perception of crime in black neighborhoods is skyrocketing among white suburbanites. Finding actual, unbiased documentation, except in a very vew specific instances of looters piggybacking on protests, is something else again. Violence has been high during recent heat waves, but violence during heat waves is generally high ( http://www.weather.com/health/news/heat-drought-linked-violence-worldwid... )
Mr. Blow makes so many good points here, but I think he detracts from his thesis by describing these acts as "domestic terrorism." Federal law requires that for an act to be defined as terrorism, it must be a crime, it must be dangerous to human life, and it must be intended to intimidate or coerce civilian population. 18 U.S.C. § 2331(5).
Mr. Blow's understanding of the term is much broader. He seems to include a police officer's action that is not a crimes or is not dangerous to human life but that has the effect of intimidating people, whether or not the officer intended the action to have that effect. Of course, Mr. Blow can define "domestic terrorism" any way he wants, but I think that using such a broad definition for a such an emotionally-charged word is to risk descending into name-calling. (The word "racist" is often used in that way.)
Mr. Blow's understanding of the term is much broader. He seems to include a police officer's action that is not a crimes or is not dangerous to human life but that has the effect of intimidating people, whether or not the officer intended the action to have that effect. Of course, Mr. Blow can define "domestic terrorism" any way he wants, but I think that using such a broad definition for a such an emotionally-charged word is to risk descending into name-calling. (The word "racist" is often used in that way.)
1
Blow meant exactly the definition of terrorism. Police do break the law, intimidate, and kill mostly black people.
1
if a civilian perpetrating the same act would be seen as a crime, then it is a crime.
Ted, In the legal definition, intent is an element of the crime of terrorism. The fact they the victim feels intimidated is not enough to make it terrorism. The actor must intend that the victim feel intimidated. As for the act being a crime, obviously murder is a crime. However, it is NOT a crime for a police officer to stop a driver for a broken tail light or similar traffic offense.
Joe, Police officers are allowed to do things that would be a crime for a civilians, e.g., stop and frisk someone on the sidewalk, or point a gun at them, or put them in handcuffs.
Anyhow, my point is that the word "terrorism" is being used as a catch-all term. FYI, some people who try to justify bad conduct by the police also use the word "terrorist," but they are referring to young black men who "terrorize" inner-city neighborhoods.
Joe, Police officers are allowed to do things that would be a crime for a civilians, e.g., stop and frisk someone on the sidewalk, or point a gun at them, or put them in handcuffs.
Anyhow, my point is that the word "terrorism" is being used as a catch-all term. FYI, some people who try to justify bad conduct by the police also use the word "terrorist," but they are referring to young black men who "terrorize" inner-city neighborhoods.
Bad guys, white or black, do bad things. It is their nature.
Add to the mix the ready availability of guns and we have an explosion waiting to happen.
I believe that America's reaction to 9/11 might have different had the attacks been carried out by, say...Norwegians. Other white Christians...someone other than the other. I doubt that we'd have invaded Northern Europe.
It is a dangerous world out there, but the police are supposed to offer us some kind of buffer to that danger. They are not supposed to be a part of that danger.
We are trying to run this vast enterprise of a Nation on the cheap. Instead of collecting tax revenue from the hoarders of our wealth we are collecting fines and fees and spare change.
It is no surprise that right wing extremism has been twice as deadly as Muslim extremism. The tea party and the nra are two of the best funded terrorist organizations in the world.
Add to the mix the ready availability of guns and we have an explosion waiting to happen.
I believe that America's reaction to 9/11 might have different had the attacks been carried out by, say...Norwegians. Other white Christians...someone other than the other. I doubt that we'd have invaded Northern Europe.
It is a dangerous world out there, but the police are supposed to offer us some kind of buffer to that danger. They are not supposed to be a part of that danger.
We are trying to run this vast enterprise of a Nation on the cheap. Instead of collecting tax revenue from the hoarders of our wealth we are collecting fines and fees and spare change.
It is no surprise that right wing extremism has been twice as deadly as Muslim extremism. The tea party and the nra are two of the best funded terrorist organizations in the world.
5
Your posts remind me of the "this is your brain on drugs" commercials.
Give it a rest, Charles. Try Moynihan's admonition to administer some benign neglect to the issue. Cops are not Phi Beta Kappas to be gin with, and their daily experiences on the street would drive the average citizen nuts. They're under constant duress while you sit in your air conditioned sanctuary scourging their ranks for the actions of a relative few. Let me put it this way. Police are a lot more evenhanded in their treatment of the public than you are in your invective against them.
19
"How is it that we can understand an extreme reaction by Americans as a whole to a threat of terror but demonstrate a staggering lack of that understanding when black people in America do the same?" Because a lot of the reaction to police "violence" is in cases where the police were justified. The gentle giant is a perfect example of police acting appropriately and a black you threatening an officer into self defense. The real terror must was when officer realized that the gentle giant was for all intents an purposes using force and trying to take his gun.
7
I agree that police misconduct can be a form of terrorism, and as such should get the attention it deserves. That does not however negate the daily terror law abiding black people are subjected to by the thugs in their midst. There is no sense of safety in most black neighborhoods, and that deserves scrutiny as well. The media creates this 'fog' and more ink is spilled if a white cop kills a black person than if roving thugs create mayhem on a daily basis. The cry is not to worry about one over the other, it is for balance, and the media provides no context in that regard. There is a reason that taking a simple walk in a black neighborhood involves carrying a stick, bat, old golf club, etc. and it is not to protect themselves from the police.
7
Would that be allowed in a white community? Equal rights now!
2
Mr. Thompson, allow me to suggest the economics of what you say is complicated and perhaps a bit prejudiced. What is offensive (to poor people of all color) about not having to carry a bat in a gated community is the law. The law is supposed to belong to everyone, equally, no? Blaming the victim is all about the ballot box, not the remedy or reality of race relations.
I'm having a lot of trouble with what's happening in our country. This topic of discussion is only one of many things going on that reminds me of Germany in the 30's.. I'm not kidding. Things weren't going well and there was a lot of anger. Which, by the way, was state sanctioned. I wrote a letter yesterday regarding controlling the press covering US military engagements. That happened back then too.
4
Just stop it. There is no comparrison.
1
This terror extends to prison guards as well. The recent reports of extreme torture at the Clinton prison after the prisoner escape is ample evidence. Rikers Island is yet another, especially as the guards are not sufficiently trained in handling prisoners with mental health issues.
3
It's a complex problem having far more to do with deeply embedded perceptions and paralyzing contradictions that are not easily resolved.
To draw a comparison between terrorists of the post-9/11 variety (and our country's alacrity to bolster our defenses) and our collective inability to react to the terrorism felt by the American black community at the hands of their local police department (which, coincidentally, received a boost in public support after 9/11) is insufficient and misleading.
Americans in general (and particularly white Americans) have been raised to respect and trust our police officers. We don't easily isolate and condemn injustice in our police departments without fearing we'll be seen as condemning the whole. Sadly, we're left in a paralyzing state of cognitive dissonance.
To draw a comparison between terrorists of the post-9/11 variety (and our country's alacrity to bolster our defenses) and our collective inability to react to the terrorism felt by the American black community at the hands of their local police department (which, coincidentally, received a boost in public support after 9/11) is insufficient and misleading.
Americans in general (and particularly white Americans) have been raised to respect and trust our police officers. We don't easily isolate and condemn injustice in our police departments without fearing we'll be seen as condemning the whole. Sadly, we're left in a paralyzing state of cognitive dissonance.
2
Guess what? I raised my children to respect police (and other adults, mind you) too. People raved about how respectful and polite my children were and are. But as soon as my oldest son was able to walk to and from places by himself, in this particular instance from a barbershop in the middle of a summer Saturday afternoon, a police officer stopped him to ask where he's going. For doing absolutely nothing but walking home while a 14-year-old black kid.
Ironically, your response that "isolating and condemning" some officers without fearing you'll be seen as "condemning the whole" is precisely what most black people feel in this society. "Condemning" all for the actions of a few. That's why my son couldn't walk down the street unmolested by a bored police officer—the profile he fit was being black and young, not an honor student, or Sunday School attendee, or beloved child.
The cognitive dissonance you state is the unceasing and irrational insistence of some white Americans that everyone who gets unwanted attention by police officers, especially blacks, deserves it. It is simply not true. Wrap your head around that.
What I want to know is this: When will my sons be given the respect that everyone insists they dole out to them?
Ironically, your response that "isolating and condemning" some officers without fearing you'll be seen as "condemning the whole" is precisely what most black people feel in this society. "Condemning" all for the actions of a few. That's why my son couldn't walk down the street unmolested by a bored police officer—the profile he fit was being black and young, not an honor student, or Sunday School attendee, or beloved child.
The cognitive dissonance you state is the unceasing and irrational insistence of some white Americans that everyone who gets unwanted attention by police officers, especially blacks, deserves it. It is simply not true. Wrap your head around that.
What I want to know is this: When will my sons be given the respect that everyone insists they dole out to them?
3
The uptick in confrontations between the Black community and the State as reflected by the Police Department in Mr. Blow's argument may correlate strongly to the decline of Mid Western Rust Belt cities like St. Louis, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Chicago. In the era during the rise of manufacturing and good paying union jobs, cities like these provided a means for Blacks to rise out of poverty and also a vision of hope for Black families. Since the decline of Blue collar union membership including good paying manual labor railroad jobs, automobile & factory work by offshoring manufacturing of cheap labor countries, Blacks have suffered greatly. Black families have broken apart as Welfare mandates that women with children need to live apart from physically able (although unemployed) men. Illegal activities spring up in cities with high poverty rates including gangs involved in criminality to support addiction. Children growing up with no hope for a prosperous future tend to hunker down & adapt to tough environments by blending in with other tough role models in order to remain safe from bullying & violent encounters including robbery & assault. Police served with protecting these communities often with single mothers struggling to control & discipline their children often adapt to the same cultural mores as the children by being brusque & disrespectful for fear of appearing weak, maintaining a vicious cycle of brutality & inhumanity.
2
Have you noticed, we spend more time arguing about reality than we do about solving problems? Take police violence, for Whites it is about irresponsible Blacks or more benignly poor people mired in poverty, for Blacks it is about oppression and systemic racism. Both sides are wrong and right. We all process the world through our own consciousness. We are all biased. Societies however must agree on an objective truth that filters out bias. For despots it’s easy, the state says what the truth is and the people accept it or else. In a Democracy, it is harder, we rely on politicians and intellectuals to sort things out and they have abdicated the responsibility.
The right has decided that they can make up their own reality and hammer it into the public consciousness using techniques based on advertising, instead of seeking truth they seek advantage.
The left has turned to identity politics and decided everyone’s truth is valid. The truth of women and minorities is more valid then that of White men, which is to be ignored. Their ideas rely on abandoning the idea of objective truth because whatever you choose will be subject to bias. Since the attempt is futile why try, just pick one that suits your objectives and go with it.
Objective truth is a compromise, always imperfect, but a necessary construct, without it, there is nothing but a tower of babble about what things mean. Spurred on by social media and TV we are tearing ourselves apart.
This is how Democracies fail.
The right has decided that they can make up their own reality and hammer it into the public consciousness using techniques based on advertising, instead of seeking truth they seek advantage.
The left has turned to identity politics and decided everyone’s truth is valid. The truth of women and minorities is more valid then that of White men, which is to be ignored. Their ideas rely on abandoning the idea of objective truth because whatever you choose will be subject to bias. Since the attempt is futile why try, just pick one that suits your objectives and go with it.
Objective truth is a compromise, always imperfect, but a necessary construct, without it, there is nothing but a tower of babble about what things mean. Spurred on by social media and TV we are tearing ourselves apart.
This is how Democracies fail.
7
I have to say, I generally don't agree with your columns. More on tone than substance. They are too ideological, too much preaching to the choir and not enough on trying to win converts. But, on this article I think you are spot on.
4
Thought experiment: What would be the US response to a report that police in Vladimir Putin's Russia killed over 1000 unarmed civilians each year. (Of course the police claim these were criminals and that their lives were threatened.)
3
Yes, Mr. Blow hits hard at the hypocrisy that is rife in this country. More than 150, 000 Americans have died within this country since 911, and nothing is often said about it. Yet, we are often quick to lay the blame on others, those "foreigners". Why is this so? There is a long history about this: During slavery, one of the greatest calamities that ever befell the black race, nothing was said about the inhumane treatment of blacks, although so much was being spilled out there about freedom.
3
Most police abuse involves officers punishing people that they have no legitimate right to punish or overreacting to perceived threats or failure to comply. Most people abused by police are not abused due to racial motives. When one looks at the merits of the most high profile cases of the last few years, the motives for police behaviors are not attributable to any single cause. While race might reasonably considered in the motivation of officers, it is not at all obvious that it was the precipitating cause in any case considered. That is perhaps a source of frustration in itself, the uncertainty.
2
The threat of lethal force from a stranger - any stranger - is terrorism.
2
REFRAMING the conversation, statistics show that gun violence is the top threat to national security. Since the assassinations in 1968 of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, more than twice the number of US citizens have been killed by guns than in all the wars since the country was founded. That means that taken as a proportion of the entire population, a person is more than twice as likely to be killed by gunshot on US soil than on a battlefield. We are our own worst enemies. Domestic violence in the form of gun violence is far more of a threat to national security than any foreign terrorist group. In fact, the NRA must be branded as precisely what it is: a terrorist organization that provides material support to terrorists. If we're serious about defending ourselves against terrorism, then we must go after the most dangerous terrorists, starting with the top leaders of the NRA, who have more blood on their hands than any foreign enemy. The Constitution says that citizens have the right to bear arms, not to slaughter each other in greater numbers than those killed in fighting wars. Especially cynical is the abuse of power by rogue police officers who slaughter innocent citizens because of their color. Those officers who perpetrate such crimes are good candidates to be sent to Gitmo, where they will be identified as the worst of the worst and the most dangerous terrorists. Obama needs to issue a secret military order to end gun violence. Whatever it takes!
1
Some within this forum like to believe there's no systemic racism among the Fraternal Order of Police. This is a unionized brotherhood, galvanized by their power to arrest, detain or legally kill human beings. They take an oath swearing their allegiance to the fraternity. It's a blue bond with no civilian oversight in most communities.
Good cops coexists with bad. Good cops are complicit when those who commit acts against people, outside of legal standard practices, that are condoned by their silence, their bling eye. But let's be clear. Mr. Blow is on target. We have a society where we are conditioned by stereotypes that go against the constitution when it applies to people of color.
Here are a couple of examples that shed light on police tactics that some of you may not be aware of...
1. In Florida, North Miami Beach’s police department had been caught using mugshots of actual Black people for target practice.
2. Chicago City Council on unanimously approves a landmark ordinance that sets aside $5.5 million in reparations for Blacks who were victims of police torture that had been going on for twenty years.
These are recent events, folks!
There are too many examples to cite of a corrupt and systemic denial of the humanity of 13% of this nation's population. So maybe we should accept that fact that #blacklivesmatter and heal a wound that's purulent.
Good cops coexists with bad. Good cops are complicit when those who commit acts against people, outside of legal standard practices, that are condoned by their silence, their bling eye. But let's be clear. Mr. Blow is on target. We have a society where we are conditioned by stereotypes that go against the constitution when it applies to people of color.
Here are a couple of examples that shed light on police tactics that some of you may not be aware of...
1. In Florida, North Miami Beach’s police department had been caught using mugshots of actual Black people for target practice.
2. Chicago City Council on unanimously approves a landmark ordinance that sets aside $5.5 million in reparations for Blacks who were victims of police torture that had been going on for twenty years.
These are recent events, folks!
There are too many examples to cite of a corrupt and systemic denial of the humanity of 13% of this nation's population. So maybe we should accept that fact that #blacklivesmatter and heal a wound that's purulent.
7
I think we all understand where Charles is coming from. Time to write about something else.
8
Sure, Dan; because YOU'RE tired of talking about it, let's ask Blow to write about something else. Here's a thought: just stop reading his column.
1
I agree with your article, Mr. Blow. I wish you would enlarge your argument though. A young woman walking in an african-american neighborhood has to deal with a gauntlet of inappropriate comments just to get to the subway. Those making the comments are usually black men. And I can assure you the comments only serve to "terrorize"....putting women constantly on edge for their safety....and then internalizing the terror as one has to anticipate it the next time one simply wants to walk in the neighbhorhood.
10
Mr. Blow, I don't buy it. The terrorism is *within* the community. "Don't be a snitch": a mindset has been internalized that protects a criminal element. At the end of the school day, a kid comes into the classroom and just sits, kind of shell shocked, from all the disorder and disruption caused by his classmates. No police caused that terrorism.
18
I live in New Orleans Mr. Blow and I can assure you that violent crime committed by young black males is much more of a "terror" than any given police actions. Cops respond to the situations they are presented with and being nice to most of the thugs will only get you shot. Though a liberal and Obama supporter, it sickens me to see this national media trend of putting the blame on the police when they have to use force to take down these thugs while completely ignoring what the thugs did to bring on the police action. Most of these criminals have rap sheets as long as your arm. Sure cops make mistakes like the rest of us, but put the blame for these violent acts where it should be - the punks who have no respect for their lives nor that for anyone else.
25
The fact that you are using the words like "thugs" and "punks" throughout your post reveals your mindset and makes your argument lopsided and emotionally charged rather than logical. You obviously the us vs. them type so of course your mind is closed to Blow's points. It's like talking to a bigoted wall.
1
So the appropriate answer is to set up a PLO-Israel kind of apartheid? Or the equivalent of the white-supremacist militia camps? That is the next logical extension of this argument. Not a place I want to live, and I suspect that Mr. Blow doesn't either.
Black lives do matter - and it is incumbent on law enforcement personnel to respect that. Many of them don't. Epidemic problem. Must fix now.
But there is a real problem advocating for "tremendous resistance" as required response.
Black on black crime, especially murder is still epidemic, at least on the homicide front. If you are arguing that police as an occupying terrorist force don't have the responsibility for enforcing laws in the black community, how would you protect your law-abiding black son or mother from the high likelihood of being victimized within the community?
Black lives do matter - and it is incumbent on law enforcement personnel to respect that. Many of them don't. Epidemic problem. Must fix now.
But there is a real problem advocating for "tremendous resistance" as required response.
Black on black crime, especially murder is still epidemic, at least on the homicide front. If you are arguing that police as an occupying terrorist force don't have the responsibility for enforcing laws in the black community, how would you protect your law-abiding black son or mother from the high likelihood of being victimized within the community?
9
Maybe it is just me, but tucked into this essay is a "mind-blowing" statement (confession?) that is really the root of our "American community" problem. Did anyone else catch the following paragraph?
"And people with the means and inclination can decide to move away from high-poverty, high-crime neighborhoods."
Isn't this where the possible solution to our community problem lies? Through individual "rational acts" of believed self-defense, we are abandoning the less fortunate neighborhoods by our choices of where we live.
Our family have made intentional choices about where we have lived. Yes, safety has been a consideration, but only one consideration. We have also considered social and economic impact.
During 6 years of living in Connecticut we witnessed an intense level of people living income segregated lives. We were living in the "liberal" bastion of a "Blue State," and were disappointed in how actively people were in effecting income segregation in their choices of home and neighborhood. While working at the University of Connecticut I listened to faculty on selection committees steer highly recruited administrators toward the "white and wealthy" enclaves of the region. It was similarly "mind blowing" to Mr. Blow's assertion about our "inclinations" of where we live.
I strongly believe in the right to privacy, but this morning I am wondering where a certain favorite NYTimes columnist of mine wakes up every morning?
"And people with the means and inclination can decide to move away from high-poverty, high-crime neighborhoods."
Isn't this where the possible solution to our community problem lies? Through individual "rational acts" of believed self-defense, we are abandoning the less fortunate neighborhoods by our choices of where we live.
Our family have made intentional choices about where we have lived. Yes, safety has been a consideration, but only one consideration. We have also considered social and economic impact.
During 6 years of living in Connecticut we witnessed an intense level of people living income segregated lives. We were living in the "liberal" bastion of a "Blue State," and were disappointed in how actively people were in effecting income segregation in their choices of home and neighborhood. While working at the University of Connecticut I listened to faculty on selection committees steer highly recruited administrators toward the "white and wealthy" enclaves of the region. It was similarly "mind blowing" to Mr. Blow's assertion about our "inclinations" of where we live.
I strongly believe in the right to privacy, but this morning I am wondering where a certain favorite NYTimes columnist of mine wakes up every morning?
4
Older White Conservatives should be able to relate in some small way to the fear and anxiety of living in a police state. It is the same kind of fear they have of the Government coming to take away their guns and their religious freedom. A feeling of powerlessness against a State that doesn't seem to care about your life or opinions.
3
The problem is how the majority treats the minority. Whether it manifests itself in, police violence, red lining, maintenance of local boards of education, failing to hire an individual, unwarranted fear of a person's appearance, etc., ! Elimination of the concept of groups might solve the problem, at least on the systemic level.
1
Are all the shootings of police by people stopped for minor traffic offenses or people involved in domestic disputes shooting police responding to complaints by neighbors constitute terrorism against the police or society as a whole? Hyperbolic statements if understood to be emotive rather than factual are no problem, but if they are taken seriously can lead to inappropriate responses.
2
I completely agree with the characterization of police brutality as a form of systematic terrorism. I will take it one step further: the conservative power base has learned from its terrorism of African Americans and is more and more applying it to ALL people starting with those they have been able to capture in the web of inequality of compensation, opportunity and wealth created for this purpose. I find myself living in conditions that before, unfortunately were most often enforced on African Americans, I can only conclude unless there is massive change it's not happening to other people, that soon almost anyone can find themselves experiencing what African Americans well know their entire lives.
I personally have experienced police brutality, businesses and government agencies that respond to anything but absolute submission with the threat of police action, and vigilante reaction involving the waving of guns just while doing my Saturday shopping that put me in the crossfire of police sanctioned enforcement of "the peace" whatever sick notion the police think they are protecting. I am a white, 55 woman. I've encountered this at the grocery stores, at drugstores, at the unemployment office, even a car rental outlet.
The alacrity and minimal provocation I've seen police and off-duty police threaten myself and others is absolutely terrifying. I feel unsafe at all times. Not because of the people among whom I live but by the force of the law.
Terrorism indeed.
I personally have experienced police brutality, businesses and government agencies that respond to anything but absolute submission with the threat of police action, and vigilante reaction involving the waving of guns just while doing my Saturday shopping that put me in the crossfire of police sanctioned enforcement of "the peace" whatever sick notion the police think they are protecting. I am a white, 55 woman. I've encountered this at the grocery stores, at drugstores, at the unemployment office, even a car rental outlet.
The alacrity and minimal provocation I've seen police and off-duty police threaten myself and others is absolutely terrifying. I feel unsafe at all times. Not because of the people among whom I live but by the force of the law.
Terrorism indeed.
5
• Number of people fatally shot by British police in the past three years: 2
• Average number of people fatally shot by U.S. police each day so far this year: 2.6
Population of Britain: 65,000,000
• Average number of people fatally shot by U.S. police each day so far this year: 2.6
Population of Britain: 65,000,000
5
State supported violence affects all and any of us where community violence affects only the members of the community. We can escape the community violence by leaving it but the state with its pooled resources can reach us anywhere within the state and even after our death. Thank you, Mr. Blow for make this clear to me.
1
Many of the comments below have mentioned some version of "black men bring violence upon themselves." But how is that an answer to the threat implicit in every interaction between people of color and the people we have empowered to "protect" them? Especially when you don't see a huge number of reports about white people being arrested for "resisting arrest?" Or of white people being short because someone sees a gun? Why aren't the "open carry" idiots shot down in the street if it is so universally dangerous to carry a gun in America? Because it is only dangerous if you're black.
12
Deflection from or diversion from the whole truth is a form of brain washing being manipulated by the rich and powerful, corporations, governments and its agencies by using media releases. For 60 years studies and experiments have been conducted on how to stimulate people's emotions to react in a prescribed way without them knowing it. It is working very well today, because we are so misdirected away from the cause of the effects we see and hear that we don't know we are in a global economic war that will decide the fate of our planet.
Too many want to live in a bubble where they get something for nothing especially here in America. What most don't want to realize is that in the end we all pay the price for what we want for free. Nothing is free and no one is free. If you think you can freely confront your parents, teachers, churches, government, police and differences you dislike and not pay a price... you are wrong.
Too many want to live in a bubble where they get something for nothing especially here in America. What most don't want to realize is that in the end we all pay the price for what we want for free. Nothing is free and no one is free. If you think you can freely confront your parents, teachers, churches, government, police and differences you dislike and not pay a price... you are wrong.
2
Blow brings up one of the most controversial issues besetting Western Civilization in the Modern Era, the era where humans not God became the source of society and of governmental authority. Do the ends justify the means? If a beneficial goal which is very hard to achieve is achieved by using malevolent means, does the good ends justify the bad means? For most people, the answer is yes. In this article, Blow is implying that he agrees, to what extent which he does not say, but by leaving it open allows the reader to imagine.
Do the ends justify the means? If the means are bad, is it not likely that those and other bad means are used to achieve other desired results? Will acting badly be excused by people seeking their goals until acting badly is so common that everyone is affected adversely? Is making life less civil an acceptable outcome?
Do the ends justify the means? If the means are bad, is it not likely that those and other bad means are used to achieve other desired results? Will acting badly be excused by people seeking their goals until acting badly is so common that everyone is affected adversely? Is making life less civil an acceptable outcome?
The problem you ignore, Charles, is that in almost every case, the black person killed was resisting arrest, fighting with the police, or trying to run away. By provoking the police, they caused their own deaths.
19
Are you sure it wasn't the police provoking the citizens?
I'm stunned by how many (white) Americans want the police to have the authority to shoot whomever they please, even when they're running away.
The truthful reality that you ignore is that armed threatening law breaking white men like Cliven Bundy, James Holmes, Jerad Loughner, Eric Frein, Eric Rudolph and Dylann Roof are all alive and well.
While unarmed while black human beings like Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Michael Brown, John Crawford, Rakia Boyd, Eric Garner, Akai Gurley, Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams are all dead.
Neither resisting arrest, nor fighting with police nor running away from police are punishable by death. Nor are jay-walking, shop lifting, having a bad tail light, failing to use a turn signal, not having a front license plate, selling loose cigarettes, playing with a toy gun or buying a gun in a store death sentence crimes.
While unarmed while black human beings like Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Michael Brown, John Crawford, Rakia Boyd, Eric Garner, Akai Gurley, Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams are all dead.
Neither resisting arrest, nor fighting with police nor running away from police are punishable by death. Nor are jay-walking, shop lifting, having a bad tail light, failing to use a turn signal, not having a front license plate, selling loose cigarettes, playing with a toy gun or buying a gun in a store death sentence crimes.
1
There are larger forces at hand in these communities. For decades the policies we have pursued, with support from the courts, have systematically isolated communities, like Furgeson, with the expectation that the police will maintain that isolation. The same policy, the same form of terror, was initiated against native Americans. In effect, we have large portions of our population under martial law 24/7. In support of this police state, is a prison system, designed to systematically incarcerate malcontents in these communities. The tragedy is not one candidate, from either party, recognizes or offers policies, that would address these ticking time bombs. Since LBJ and the war on poverty, our answer to urban poverty is giving local police used military hardware.
4
Enslavement of African Americans during the slave era and their crushing debasement during the Jim Crow period was born and sustained by legally sanctioned state sponsored terrorism. That sojourn makes up 90% of American black history.
"To Make Them Stand in Fear" is the title of a chapter in Kenneth M. Stampp's iconic seminal 1956 history of slavery " The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Antebellum South" which focused on the inhuman inhumane brutality of slavery. In the same vein see "The Strange Career of Jim Crow" by C. Vann Woodward from 1955. Remembered written history typically reflects the then current time perspective. The civil rights movement was nascent in 1955/56.
The lingering legacy of America's white supremacist past on the "post-racial" present can not be wished and washed away. Even in the Age of Obama, the President of the United States is not half- white by biological nature and all white by cultural nurture.
The notion of reconstruction and civil rights progress seeks moral redemption for the ruling white majority and gratitude from the oppressed black minority. Treating human beings as divinely naturally created with certain equal unalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as brothers and sisters is the absolute normal humane minimum expected from an allegedly exceptional just moral state.
"To Make Them Stand in Fear" is the title of a chapter in Kenneth M. Stampp's iconic seminal 1956 history of slavery " The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Antebellum South" which focused on the inhuman inhumane brutality of slavery. In the same vein see "The Strange Career of Jim Crow" by C. Vann Woodward from 1955. Remembered written history typically reflects the then current time perspective. The civil rights movement was nascent in 1955/56.
The lingering legacy of America's white supremacist past on the "post-racial" present can not be wished and washed away. Even in the Age of Obama, the President of the United States is not half- white by biological nature and all white by cultural nurture.
The notion of reconstruction and civil rights progress seeks moral redemption for the ruling white majority and gratitude from the oppressed black minority. Treating human beings as divinely naturally created with certain equal unalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as brothers and sisters is the absolute normal humane minimum expected from an allegedly exceptional just moral state.
4
Ask yourself... who controls the state? A conservative, or a liberal? In most cases it's liberals.
Great questions. Keep them coming.
In discussing the police/black problems with friends the other night (all white people), one of them stated that in Ferguson the Mayor and Police Chief were black. I fact checked the points. In fact, they were both white at the time of the killing of Michael Brown. Where did this come from? I think white people fool themselves. "Oh, blacks are just as corrupt as white police/mayors". Or, "blacks treat each other horribly so I can too". It was an astounding conversation on so many levels. I never knew our dear friends were so uninformed and so lacking in empathy. And our friend was just sure he knew the facts that I did not take him on until I looked it up myself the next day.
And what part of the media contributed to their opinions? I wonder and guess that it is Fox News et al. Sad.
In discussing the police/black problems with friends the other night (all white people), one of them stated that in Ferguson the Mayor and Police Chief were black. I fact checked the points. In fact, they were both white at the time of the killing of Michael Brown. Where did this come from? I think white people fool themselves. "Oh, blacks are just as corrupt as white police/mayors". Or, "blacks treat each other horribly so I can too". It was an astounding conversation on so many levels. I never knew our dear friends were so uninformed and so lacking in empathy. And our friend was just sure he knew the facts that I did not take him on until I looked it up myself the next day.
And what part of the media contributed to their opinions? I wonder and guess that it is Fox News et al. Sad.
2
Black males pulling guns and shooting at each other on crowded streets, as they did in Fergusson the other night, is a form of terror.
17
Amen!
Police violence without justification is a means of social and economic repression of blacks in America.
It might not be intentional policy. It might not be something that a majority would endorse, but the force of that repression is present nonetheless.
The city of Baltimore arrested 100,000 people, in a city of 600,000, in a single year. One year. Ferguson, Mo., issued 30,000 arrest warrants in a city of 23,000 people in one year. One year.
New York flooded the housing projects and similar areas with police officers, stopping and frisking anyone and everyone. One news story I read recent said that law school graduates taking "ride alongs" with police officers in various places were shocked to see that when the police car pulled up, people on the street got ready to be stopped and frisked, they "assumed the position".
When you have more or less constant contact with a community, incidents of violence will occur.
The roots of the problem do not lie only in racism. America's police officers are over trained in the use of violence and undertrained in restraining themselves. "I will light you up!", was what the officer screamed at Sandra Bland in Texas.
If you want to see a classic case of mishandling of a police stop that resulted in officers shooting at a van with children inside it, watch this on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJU3GhyF4e4
Every step of the way, mistakes were made. As in many other recent cases, the potential to de-escalate was ignored.
It might not be intentional policy. It might not be something that a majority would endorse, but the force of that repression is present nonetheless.
The city of Baltimore arrested 100,000 people, in a city of 600,000, in a single year. One year. Ferguson, Mo., issued 30,000 arrest warrants in a city of 23,000 people in one year. One year.
New York flooded the housing projects and similar areas with police officers, stopping and frisking anyone and everyone. One news story I read recent said that law school graduates taking "ride alongs" with police officers in various places were shocked to see that when the police car pulled up, people on the street got ready to be stopped and frisked, they "assumed the position".
When you have more or less constant contact with a community, incidents of violence will occur.
The roots of the problem do not lie only in racism. America's police officers are over trained in the use of violence and undertrained in restraining themselves. "I will light you up!", was what the officer screamed at Sandra Bland in Texas.
If you want to see a classic case of mishandling of a police stop that resulted in officers shooting at a van with children inside it, watch this on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJU3GhyF4e4
Every step of the way, mistakes were made. As in many other recent cases, the potential to de-escalate was ignored.
5
Send in the psychologists? Do they get armed as well?
Rioting and looting is a form of terror. Two wrongs do not make a right.
19
The cops and the courts in cities and counties with a large black population view themselves as protectors of the white citizens and businesses. The occupying army is supported by the judges that over punish black citizens and use summary punishment in the form of bail amounts. Poor people have to go to bondsmen and pay ten percent of the bail amount. This is in effect a fine before any court action. First the punishment then the trial. If the police carry tazers, there is a good chance an innocent man can be given a little summary while being arrested and is hand cuffed.
You claim that "state violence, as epitomized in these cases by what people view as police abuses, conversely, has produced a specific feeling of terror, one that is inescapable and unavoidable. Inescapable and unavoidable? Have you forgotten that the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson a year ago was sparked by his having physically assaulted or threatened a convenience store owner? Want to significantly decrease your chances of being abused by a rogue member of the police? Here's a tip - don't engage in unlawful behavior.
10
So what's the justification for police violence when there isn't clear unlawful behavior? For example: Tamir Rice, Christian Taylor, Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, Sam Dubose, Renisha McBride......
1
Another specious article from Mr. Blow. One thing that literally all of these so-called police abuses has in common is that the "victim" was a person who was either in the act of breaking the law or was rude, disrespectful, and non-compliant to policemen who were just trying to do their jobs. A better question to ask would be- why is this type of behavior considered acceptable by some segments of our society?
14
So, JP, it is OK for a cop to kill a rude, disrespectful and non-compliant person the police stop? Perhaps you should go back and read the reports of many of the police encounters that lead to a civilian's death. Police officers shoot in the back someone fleeing, Police officers fires dozens of bullets through the front windshield of a car, killing an unarmed man. Police shoot someone and them plant evidence that the person was armed. While it is mostly, non-whites that are being killed by White cops, the problem is that cops see everyone as bad guys whom they have the right to kill.
"rude, disrespectful, and non-compliant to policemen" does not warrant a death sentence. You and I probably don't agree with Blow's terrorism characterization, but I hope we can agree that the police shouldn't shoot people for being rude.
1
A world in which being rude to a police officer justifies being killed is barbaric.
2
Charles Blow, every time you write these trenchant critiques of policing practice and other injustices in the US, I expect a blow-by-blow (pun intended) rebuttal from your critics.
I expect their push-back partly because of what your colleague, David Brooks, wrote earlier this year. His column, "The Child in the Basement", was based on an allegorical story about "an idyllic, magical place" called Omelas whose denizens pursue a happy and magnificent life, willfully ignoring the suffering of the outcast child in the basement. Brooks quotes his source regarding the woebegone child and the merry denizens of Omelas:
“They all know it is there, all the people of Omelas...Some of them have come to see it; others are content merely to know it is there. They all know it has to be there. Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children ... depend wholly on this child’s abominable misery.”
You will probably never win many of your critics over. But you should never stop. The majesty of America is that it is blessed with voices like yours, needling it, nudging it ever forward to a more perfect place.
You occasionally BLOW our minds with the intensity of your argument. But never give up, Charles Blow.
I expect their push-back partly because of what your colleague, David Brooks, wrote earlier this year. His column, "The Child in the Basement", was based on an allegorical story about "an idyllic, magical place" called Omelas whose denizens pursue a happy and magnificent life, willfully ignoring the suffering of the outcast child in the basement. Brooks quotes his source regarding the woebegone child and the merry denizens of Omelas:
“They all know it is there, all the people of Omelas...Some of them have come to see it; others are content merely to know it is there. They all know it has to be there. Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children ... depend wholly on this child’s abominable misery.”
You will probably never win many of your critics over. But you should never stop. The majesty of America is that it is blessed with voices like yours, needling it, nudging it ever forward to a more perfect place.
You occasionally BLOW our minds with the intensity of your argument. But never give up, Charles Blow.
8
I read the comments to this article, especially the most popular, and I feel ill. It's either the police are fascists or black people are to blame. Empathy, understanding and compassion for the difficulties faced by both sides apparently causes too much cognitive dissonance. And also, unfortunately, the polarized society we now live in.
My only other observation is that it is those who already have the power who should be the first to make sacrifices and take risks. Again, unfortunately, that's not what people with power typically do, at least not unless forced to.
My only other observation is that it is those who already have the power who should be the first to make sacrifices and take risks. Again, unfortunately, that's not what people with power typically do, at least not unless forced to.
5
The police have videos (when they have body cameras) their colleagues, the union, the DA and judges to back them up. What to poor citizens have exactly?
This is the NY Times, so let's look at the demographics of the individuals who shot police officers on the NY Police Department in 2013, the most recent report available. Two percent of the assailants were white. Twenty two percent of the assailants were Hispanic. Seventy five percent of the assailants were Black. If you were a police officer, which demographic group of criminals would concern you the most? See page 26 of the linked report.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/analysis_and_planning/nypd_an...
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/analysis_and_planning/nypd_an...
27
The murder of blacks by cops does not rise to the level of "state terrorism." These murders did not result from an organized, planed and executed attempt by a state-sponsored quasi-military group, such as Hitler's Brown Shirts, to destroy blacks. It's a staggering exaggeration to suggest that a tiny number of murderous cops, out of thousands of cops nationwide, constitutes state terrorism. Furthermore, directing an inordinate amount of attention to these relatively rare murders can also be said to be a deflection, a juxtaposition meant to obscure the sad fact that over 60 percent of all black homicides involve drug dealing. And frankly, Mr Blow, Americans of all races care a whole lot less about the death of drug dealers than about a well-funded, organized bunch of religious extremists engaged in beheading people, burning them alive and drowning them in cages.
9
There is an incompetence of too many police departments when it comes to drawing and using their guns. It maybe, also, too many criminals are hired as cops. It is time to have more police patrol without guns. There should be special squads available to provide weapons back up.
how about you volunteer for that duty.
We are talking about emotion - "feelings".
Young black males "feel" terrorized by the cops. Many white people "feel" afraid of black people - particularly young black males.
A bigot is defined as a person who is intolerant toward those holding different opinions.
Draw your own conclusions.
Young black males "feel" terrorized by the cops. Many white people "feel" afraid of black people - particularly young black males.
A bigot is defined as a person who is intolerant toward those holding different opinions.
Draw your own conclusions.
2
Choking a shop owner and punching a cop in the face is hardly a difference of opinion.
Reading Mr. Blow's column, I was reminded of two incidents while my three sons and I (white, middle-classish) were living in the Germantown section of Philadelphia (predominately Black, predominately low-income). The first was when my son was assaulted and robbed at a neighborhood supermarket. He called the police and then called me and I went to him. The police asked him to wait at the supermarket while they looked for suspects; about 15 minutes later a squad car drove up with 2 young Black men inside - my son said these two boys in no way resembled the description he'd given the police, not in height, size, clothing, etc.
The other was several months later, when there was an outside fistfight several houses down on the block where we lived. After the police came many of us went onto our front porches. An officer asked me if I had seen anything. After I replied that I hadn't, the officer told me - ma'am, you shouldn't be living here - it's not safe for you. The implication was clear, that a white woman shouldn't be living in a black community.
The other was several months later, when there was an outside fistfight several houses down on the block where we lived. After the police came many of us went onto our front porches. An officer asked me if I had seen anything. After I replied that I hadn't, the officer told me - ma'am, you shouldn't be living here - it's not safe for you. The implication was clear, that a white woman shouldn't be living in a black community.
6
I swim at a predominantly black community center in my area. The neighborhood is black. Yet at that center I've been treated with more kindness and courtesy than I have in the white upper class community I live in and I'm white. The parents at the community center care about their children. Everyone knows everyone and the children. All adults in that center watch and discipline the children. They expect good manners from them. They expect good grades from them. They brag the same way white parents do when their children get into good colleges. They expect their children to obey the law. Those children are well behaved, polite, and act like children all over the world do when they are loved and cared about.
Given the history that exists between white and black Americans I'm happy that they accept me there. They don't have to. We would be well advised to understand that since we, as whites, have a history of mistreating minorities. So far no one has told me I don't belong there. They've even been kind and accepting of my handicapped brother which our white upper class community has not been. They listened when I told them he was autistic and what he did was not an attempt to annoy them; it was a ritual he had to do. They didn't try to chase him away. That's because they understand what discrimination is and we don't.
Given the history that exists between white and black Americans I'm happy that they accept me there. They don't have to. We would be well advised to understand that since we, as whites, have a history of mistreating minorities. So far no one has told me I don't belong there. They've even been kind and accepting of my handicapped brother which our white upper class community has not been. They listened when I told them he was autistic and what he did was not an attempt to annoy them; it was a ritual he had to do. They didn't try to chase him away. That's because they understand what discrimination is and we don't.
3
Blow's point is irrefutable. The emotionally overwrought and irrationally disproportionate response to Islamist terror in the U.S. is accepted without question on the right. Americans are urged to be scared and to push for boots-on-the-ground response. That's GOP patriotism.
But an emotional response to the near-constant news stream of white-cop-on-black-male violence? An over reaction by the black community who should spend more time fixing the black-on-black violence.
It seems that while white America is allowed to be terrorized, Black America doesn't get that privilege.
But an emotional response to the near-constant news stream of white-cop-on-black-male violence? An over reaction by the black community who should spend more time fixing the black-on-black violence.
It seems that while white America is allowed to be terrorized, Black America doesn't get that privilege.
4
The police are representatives of the state. When people experience violence at their hands, that I believe is state sponsored terrorism.
6
When I was a teenager, I didn't get a cell phone until I was 16, never owned a pair of $100 sneakers and the designer shirts and jeans the youth on the streets throwing rocks and looting are wearing would buy my school clothes for an entire year.
How did I manage to grow up in more poverty than these kids are living in and NEVER face a threat from police? How did I manage to end up becoming a productive member of society and an active citizen of the United States who defended White police officers in court against misconduct charges?
I listened to my parents. I read Dr. King's speeches. I went to school to learn. I took any jobs I could find to pay my way through college. When that wasn't enough I buckled down and earned scholarships in law school. I decided that my country and my family's name meant more than being a thug on the streets. I decided to pursue the American dream instead of destroying it by my own hand.
There are no excuses to BE in a situation where police officers could treat you that way. You have the power to respect law enforcement, make better choices and be a better person. I am living proof that can carry you an awful long way. In 2015, racial oppression is self-inflicted, so end the problem where it starts.
How did I manage to grow up in more poverty than these kids are living in and NEVER face a threat from police? How did I manage to end up becoming a productive member of society and an active citizen of the United States who defended White police officers in court against misconduct charges?
I listened to my parents. I read Dr. King's speeches. I went to school to learn. I took any jobs I could find to pay my way through college. When that wasn't enough I buckled down and earned scholarships in law school. I decided that my country and my family's name meant more than being a thug on the streets. I decided to pursue the American dream instead of destroying it by my own hand.
There are no excuses to BE in a situation where police officers could treat you that way. You have the power to respect law enforcement, make better choices and be a better person. I am living proof that can carry you an awful long way. In 2015, racial oppression is self-inflicted, so end the problem where it starts.
20
Yes, and when a police officer pulls you over for DWB, if you are black, don't say it doesn't annoy you. I wonder how you would feel if you were hauled into the police station for being black and having no other resemblance to the suspect but your skin color. There is no reason for the police to arrest or mistreat anyone based upon skin color or facial features alone but that's what happens. It might not have happened to you yet but you've been lucky. Unless of course you can pass as white.
I've been driving since I got a learner's permit at age 15.
I have never been pulled over for being Black.
Why would any sane person who obeys the law and respects law enforcement walk around paranoid and scared of something that has never happened? I've gotten 35 years into this without having anything but professional, cordial and respectful interaction with law enforcement, pretty sure that's a trend.
I have never been pulled over for being Black.
Why would any sane person who obeys the law and respects law enforcement walk around paranoid and scared of something that has never happened? I've gotten 35 years into this without having anything but professional, cordial and respectful interaction with law enforcement, pretty sure that's a trend.
One lesson my father taught me (he was a part-time police officer) was to respect the uniform, even if you found it difficult to respect the person wearing it. That served me well during my 3 year hitch in the Army. To many people today don't respect anyone, including police officers, teachers, politicians, or anyone in authority. And yet we hear people demanding they be respected "He disrespected me", or "they don't show me no respect", as if that was something bestowed via the Constitution, instead of earned. This isn't going well and will probably get much worse in the future.
3
Thank you. Just, thank you.
May I add one more point?
When you can't trust that calling the cops will lead to the non-violent arrest and proportional punishment of perpetrators, you are less likely to call the cops. You don't want them to come and shoot you or your kid (as has happened). You don't want them to summarily execute some other kid, either, even if he's currently a criminal. Cop-on-black violence--and staggeringly unequal treatment in our "justice" and penal systems--are the accelerants that supercharge black-on-black, community violence.
May I add one more point?
When you can't trust that calling the cops will lead to the non-violent arrest and proportional punishment of perpetrators, you are less likely to call the cops. You don't want them to come and shoot you or your kid (as has happened). You don't want them to summarily execute some other kid, either, even if he's currently a criminal. Cop-on-black violence--and staggeringly unequal treatment in our "justice" and penal systems--are the accelerants that supercharge black-on-black, community violence.
2
I have pointed the following truth out repeatedly, but Mr Blow and numerous others ignore it.
In the 1970's, in America, Many people desired longer, more "effective" prison sentences. They also wanted sentences without "time off" for good behavior.
But what most people don't recall is that a great majority of black and Latino communities were also in favor of longer sentences, no parole , no time off. It was felt , among ALL peoples, whatever their color, race or identification, that "Lock 'em up and throw away the key" was the best, simplest most effective manner to deal with the problem. All groups were positive that there were only a few, perhaps a handful of offenders among their own "group" and once those were imprisoned, (preferably forever) that the problem would disappear. No one: -not blacks, not whites , not hispanics, desired integration or education as a solution. Everyone desired more prisons, longer sentences and harsher prison conditions. Education among prisoners, as well as any art, reading or other useful ways to make time pass, were ended and such programs declared "not in the spirit of true punitive imprisonment". Prisons were built to punish and keep bad people away from good folk. They should be terrible, frightening and loathsome places where no sane person wanted to go. The more horrible and unpleasant-the more hurtful, dangerous our prisons -the better. This was an idea held by people of all colors. But It was never a white v. black issue.
In the 1970's, in America, Many people desired longer, more "effective" prison sentences. They also wanted sentences without "time off" for good behavior.
But what most people don't recall is that a great majority of black and Latino communities were also in favor of longer sentences, no parole , no time off. It was felt , among ALL peoples, whatever their color, race or identification, that "Lock 'em up and throw away the key" was the best, simplest most effective manner to deal with the problem. All groups were positive that there were only a few, perhaps a handful of offenders among their own "group" and once those were imprisoned, (preferably forever) that the problem would disappear. No one: -not blacks, not whites , not hispanics, desired integration or education as a solution. Everyone desired more prisons, longer sentences and harsher prison conditions. Education among prisoners, as well as any art, reading or other useful ways to make time pass, were ended and such programs declared "not in the spirit of true punitive imprisonment". Prisons were built to punish and keep bad people away from good folk. They should be terrible, frightening and loathsome places where no sane person wanted to go. The more horrible and unpleasant-the more hurtful, dangerous our prisons -the better. This was an idea held by people of all colors. But It was never a white v. black issue.
5
I find the behavior of police in some communities, when there is an abusive culture in the whole department, as a form of terror.
But I see gang violence too as a form of terror.
I don't know that one of these forms of terror is truly easier for families to avoid than the other.
I think Blow may overstate the difficulty of avoiding confrontations with police and understate the difficulty of avoiding violence by gangs in the neighborhood.
But I see gang violence too as a form of terror.
I don't know that one of these forms of terror is truly easier for families to avoid than the other.
I think Blow may overstate the difficulty of avoiding confrontations with police and understate the difficulty of avoiding violence by gangs in the neighborhood.
11
"The truth is that murders and other violent crimes are often crimes of intimacy and access. People tend to kill people they know. Mr. Blow, if this is the case then we'd find that all the murders that take place in Chicage, Detroit, New York and other urban areas are "crimes of intimacy and access." I don't believe that is the case here. Since all of these communities are governed by liberal progressives that may have some impact on these numbers. If not, please explain why the murder rate dropped significantly when Giuliani was Mayor of New York. Broken window policing works, and restores law and order to communities. Gangs and lawlessness are the real terror.
8
The answer to the question that Mr. Blow poses at the end of his column is obvious: it is because of deeply embedded white racism against black people.
Blow exhibits a significant intellectual failing in this piece, one common among proponents of government. He fails to make the connection that the police are a function of government. Government is, by definition, the expression of force, and thus, all government abuse is a "form of terror."
6
I guess that when a few militant activists Mau-Mau Sen. Sanders, the only candidate of either party who has devoted his campaign - and career - to policies to improve jobs, incomes, housing and education for the less advantaged Americans, it is not "terrorism." Then Black Americans do not attend his rallies and then criticize these rallies because they are predominantly "white."
The focus on gun violence, Americans killing Americans, is the tip of the iceberg; generally it is the poorer, poorly educated, poorer housed, largely unemployed Americans who are, in the main, the perpetrators. It is yet another sad example of Blacks being over-represented. If Mr. Blow is in favour of a "righteous crusade" - an interesting choice of words given the large number of Blacks who claim to be Muslims - perhaps he is really suggesting a "righteous jihad."
Get off the current bandwagon, Mr. Blow. The cry for criminal justice is the unfortunate result of the lack of economic and social justice. The focus on several examples of, to put it mildly, dubious policing, ignores the deeper and more long-term effects of the evisceration of the Voting Rights Act that has given Black Americans political power that had been denied them since their so-called "emancipation."
Inequality before the law results largely from economic and social inequality. Mr. Blow, an otherwise acute observer of the American scene, should know that.
The focus on gun violence, Americans killing Americans, is the tip of the iceberg; generally it is the poorer, poorly educated, poorer housed, largely unemployed Americans who are, in the main, the perpetrators. It is yet another sad example of Blacks being over-represented. If Mr. Blow is in favour of a "righteous crusade" - an interesting choice of words given the large number of Blacks who claim to be Muslims - perhaps he is really suggesting a "righteous jihad."
Get off the current bandwagon, Mr. Blow. The cry for criminal justice is the unfortunate result of the lack of economic and social justice. The focus on several examples of, to put it mildly, dubious policing, ignores the deeper and more long-term effects of the evisceration of the Voting Rights Act that has given Black Americans political power that had been denied them since their so-called "emancipation."
Inequality before the law results largely from economic and social inequality. Mr. Blow, an otherwise acute observer of the American scene, should know that.
2
Unfortunately, Mr. Blow, most Americans accept torture and extrajudicial execution of suspects by police, along with unlimited access to guns by all, including children, the mentally ill, criminals and terrorists, as the price of freedom.
Virtually every single issue about these police confrontations has to do with them resisting arrest. The police officer is the authority in these stops. But it seems we've raised a generation that's been told to, Resist Authority from Big Bad Government. No one is teaching their child discipline. Do what the nice police officer tells you. Now it's simply high speed chases so you can see yourself on the evening news. It's up to writers, like you, to pass the word. Do what the nice police officer tells you, we are the authority and we're also concerned about own own safety. Yet the Resisting Arrest charges are the first thrown out in the plea bargain.
3
"Resisting arrest" is whatever the cop wants it to be. As a retired Public Defender, I've seen "resisting arrest" where a driver refused to allow a search after a stop for running a stop sign (a Constitution right), refusal to do a field sobriety test (a Constitution right), and many other situations where the citizen has a legal right not to incriminate his or her self. Its not the white upper class that suffer from police abuse, its the poor and non-white because the police know that the judges, the Prosecutor and others in positions of authority will support the police and claim the victims of police brutality are lying. many police
1
Telling women and young girls that abortion is a monstrous moral issue that they need to be very guilty over, never mind telling them it is murder, is a form of terror. It is misogynist psychological terrorism ingrained into the fabric of the debate on women's rights & civil liberties.
1
The terror, as you so aptly put it, against people of color is a warning to the rest of us that with no change in tactics that same use of force can and in all likelihood will be used against any people of any shade who should decide that "enough is enough" and rise to demand an end to the legislated disparity of wealth which is the root cause of our so-called social problems.
Government at every level is following a script written by those who are in the process of taking complete control of our society. It should be clear, by actions signed into law as recently as the sweetheart deal given the Milwaukee Bucks, they presently control the overwhelming amount of wealth that is used to keep our representatives in their pockets.
We are only seeing the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Government at every level is following a script written by those who are in the process of taking complete control of our society. It should be clear, by actions signed into law as recently as the sweetheart deal given the Milwaukee Bucks, they presently control the overwhelming amount of wealth that is used to keep our representatives in their pockets.
We are only seeing the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
3
Relating the shooting of African-Americans by cops - via a conspiracy theory - to the sale of an NBA team.
Keep speaking truth to power.
Keep speaking truth to power.
Charles certainly makes a cogent argument about who is killing whom and why. We don't need white cops in black communities, and we better be careful about those black cops, too. This whole interracial shooting problem needs at least some action-attention to what Charles has said.
We can't white wash white on black shooting in this country. If we don't do something we just might find a future of retaliation Jacksonville, Fl style.
We can't white wash white on black shooting in this country. If we don't do something we just might find a future of retaliation Jacksonville, Fl style.
1
"We don't need white cops [or black] in black communities."
What makes me think my black neighbors wouldn't like it one bit if we got rid of the cops on the corner where two drug-related murders happened on the same corner twice in one month?
I am thinking particularly of my hard-working, elderly black neighbor who has had the guts on several occasions to confront the drug dealers hanging out in front of his building.
What makes me think his wife is also relieved that our neighborhood thugs have gone elsewhere -- at least until the officers are assigned to a different corner?
What makes me think my black neighbors wouldn't like it one bit if we got rid of the cops on the corner where two drug-related murders happened on the same corner twice in one month?
I am thinking particularly of my hard-working, elderly black neighbor who has had the guts on several occasions to confront the drug dealers hanging out in front of his building.
What makes me think his wife is also relieved that our neighborhood thugs have gone elsewhere -- at least until the officers are assigned to a different corner?
Ozzie7 -- is that a threat? If so, get your facts straight -- whites are in fact at greater risk than blacks of being killed by cops -- and when in comes to interracial murders, whites are twice as likely to be killed by blacks than vice versa.
Regardless of the issue and agreeing or not disagreeing, Mr. Blow is the best "writer" in the opinion pages.
"How is it that we can understand an extreme reaction by Americans as a whole to a threat of terror but demonstrate a staggering lack of that understanding when black people in America do the same?"
Because according to the established and cherished order of things, blacks are supposed to know and keep their places.
Because according to the established and cherished order of things, blacks are supposed to know and keep their places.
3
Crime is not related to race. It is a based on social order and missing prosperity. There is no white crime or black crime - just crime. The root cause is social hopelessness which hits different social layers differently. The police was invented to keep this social order intact and hits in all societies the people who can't handle this order anymore, because the only way they have left to live is crime. It is indeed a terror force eager to shine with great result in front of the people who have property and power ensuring them in the stability or that social order. Today its the black people, tomorrow it can be the white people who have nothing to loose anymore. As long as black versus white works - that is the real distraction from the problem. Too solve it people have to have the chance to earn real property, education - just to have something to loose. This is pretty fundamental in its roots.
1
"People are often able to understand and contextualize community violence and, therefore, better understand how to avoid it. A parent can say to a child: Don’t run with that crowd, or hang out on that corner or get involved with that set of activities."
When will Mr. Blow acknowledge that newspapers are far too full of the stories of innocent black children (and adults) killed by “community violence” despite their not running with the wrong crowd, hanging out on the wrong corner or getting involved in the wrong activities. How can he honestly say that these indiscriminate killings are not genuinely terrorizing?? His rationalization for tolerating “community violence” is unbelievable coming from a NY Times columnist.
When will Mr. Blow acknowledge that newspapers are far too full of the stories of innocent black children (and adults) killed by “community violence” despite their not running with the wrong crowd, hanging out on the wrong corner or getting involved in the wrong activities. How can he honestly say that these indiscriminate killings are not genuinely terrorizing?? His rationalization for tolerating “community violence” is unbelievable coming from a NY Times columnist.
9
"The reaction to police killings is to my mind not completely dissimilar to people’s reaction to other forms of terrorism. . . The black community’s response to this form of domestic terror has not been so different from America’s reaction to foreign terror. . . It produces a particular kind of terror, a feeling of nakedness and vulnerability, a fear that makes people furious at the very idea of having to be afraid.”
Well Mr. Blow, you win. When you compare the 9/11 attacks to police killings of blacks, and make comparisons to the terror of ISIS and the police, I’m done trying to appreciate or understand your side of the argument. Your column has been transformed into a black vs. white platform where blacks are innocent of everything whenever there is police involvement. The one-sidedness, generalities and bias referenced with black AND white parities is not only redundant, it’s also inaccurate.
True, SOME police officers have made horrendous decisions which have cost lives – BLACK and WHITE I might add, but to write that black communities feel the same kind of terror of those people who survived the 9/11 attacks is incredulous. I am not sure whether you really believe what you write or simply write it so the pot keeps boiling. Your comments are borderline reckless and frankly have lost their luster and allure of any kind of reasonableness. I must admit that I no longer find any enlightenment in your words.
10
I generally disagree with Mr. Blow, yet I like to read his commentary as it allows me to look at certain issues from a viewpoint that is important to understand. However, the comparason of jihadist attacks since 9/11/2001 with internal terroristic attacks is both intellectually lazy and intellectually dishonest. You can't just eliminate the jihadist attacks on 9/11 by making a study's start date 9/12! This is completely absurd when studying jihadist terrorism in the US. In addition the US has taken super extraordinary measures to stop jihadist terrorism. These types of measures have not been taken with internal terrorism so the comparison in not just apples and oranges, it is totally illogical. If the same efforts used to stop internal terrorists were used to stop jihadists I believe the number of jihadist killings in the US would be in the tens of thousands.
6
It is simply the continuing legacy of white supremacy that sees people of color in generally, and black people specifically, as the enemy and less than.
The white supremacy lens refuses to see or acknowledge black suffering and pain, because to do so would mean that America would be looking at itself.
This society was built from the beginning with racial oppression as a central part of its societal structure and it still remains as a foundation of this country.
Beginning with the genocide inflicted upon the indigenous people of the this land to the forced enslavement blacks, to state sanctioned segregation of blacks, to state sanctioned lynchings of black men, woman, and children, to state and federal mass incarceration of blacks and Latinos, and to state sanctioned killings of unarmed black children, women, and men by bullies with guns and a badges, the oppression of people of color is a major piece of the American fabric.
The white supremacy lens refuses to see or acknowledge black suffering and pain, because to do so would mean that America would be looking at itself.
This society was built from the beginning with racial oppression as a central part of its societal structure and it still remains as a foundation of this country.
Beginning with the genocide inflicted upon the indigenous people of the this land to the forced enslavement blacks, to state sanctioned segregation of blacks, to state sanctioned lynchings of black men, woman, and children, to state and federal mass incarceration of blacks and Latinos, and to state sanctioned killings of unarmed black children, women, and men by bullies with guns and a badges, the oppression of people of color is a major piece of the American fabric.
3
I don't know anyone, of any race or class, who isn't fearful of the police. That includes off-duty law enforcement personnel. When you suddenly see those lights in your rearview mirror, everyone feels that uncomfortable shot of adrenaline, because at some gut level, we're all aware that we are powerless against whatever may happen next, however law-abiding we may be.
I work with former offenders, and criminal justice agencies, and the mindsets on both sides of that equation helped form the current atmosphere. police have far too much power and authority. period. that said, police whose daily job is to deal with folks who regularly engage in criminal behaviors quickly adopt an attitude that there are only two kinds of people they encounter--criminals and yet-to-be-caught criminals. An unfortunate hazard of the job, which nonetheless can't be excused. I think when this issue is focused very narrowly as strictly about race, we create a divide and conquer dynamic that doesn't seem to solving anything.
I work with former offenders, and criminal justice agencies, and the mindsets on both sides of that equation helped form the current atmosphere. police have far too much power and authority. period. that said, police whose daily job is to deal with folks who regularly engage in criminal behaviors quickly adopt an attitude that there are only two kinds of people they encounter--criminals and yet-to-be-caught criminals. An unfortunate hazard of the job, which nonetheless can't be excused. I think when this issue is focused very narrowly as strictly about race, we create a divide and conquer dynamic that doesn't seem to solving anything.
4
There is no doubt in my mind that African-Americans are bearing the brunt of this kind of abuse/terror by police but I've seen the seeds of it for years in my own (a middle-aged white guy in a white state) dealings with state and local police. To wit: the absolute dependence on being armed as a source of power and authority (respect does not have to be earned), the complete unwillingness to be reasoned with by a fellow-adult (I've given my son that talk already), the stunning heavyhandedness (6 local patrol cars to a rowdy teenage partner where the parents were home), the quick resort to deadly force where de-escalation is more than possible (the recent killing of a suicidal woman) the militarized introduced of SWAT teams even for domestic disputes, utter rudeness, shaved heads etc etc Anyone who has experienced policing in the other advanced countries knows what I'm talking about. Most Americans seem to take this authoritarian, armed approach to "keeping the peace" as a given. Believe me there are far better and safer ways to keep communities free of crime. So the roots of this terror run very deep; it doesn't help that two thick seams of fear and paranoia also run through the culture.
6
Bravo, Mr. Blow, with not only your usual pitch-perfect emotional tone, but also a masterfully-turned parallel to drive the logic home. I've been thinking all along: community violence we will continue to do what we can about. But that state-sponsored violence should exist in this country is an outrage, an implacable threat, and something that degrades us all if we let it continue.
2
"...One could argue that America’s overwhelming response to the terror threat is precisely what has kept the number of people killed in this country as a result of terror so low. But, if so, shouldn’t black Americans, similarly, have the right to exercise tremendous resistance to reduce the number of black people killed after interactions with the police? "
No, the laws of society stipulate that everyone has the right to defend their rights and to protect themselves from harm or loss of their property and to defend those rights on behalf of others. One does not have the right to inflict pay back on those who have wronged them nor to use any means to force adversaries to comply with their wishes, because these actions lead to lawlessness and anarchy which undoes society in it's entirety. We restrain our natural inclinations for the sake of living in a civil society.
No, the laws of society stipulate that everyone has the right to defend their rights and to protect themselves from harm or loss of their property and to defend those rights on behalf of others. One does not have the right to inflict pay back on those who have wronged them nor to use any means to force adversaries to comply with their wishes, because these actions lead to lawlessness and anarchy which undoes society in it's entirety. We restrain our natural inclinations for the sake of living in a civil society.
2
Let me tell you about the terror of living in a neighborhood full of young men who behave like the Michael Brown that we observed on the convenience store video.
A female acquaintance being snatched off the street and sexually assaulted for daring to jog at 7PM. TWO neighbors shot on separate occasions as they tend to their front yards, because they didn't have any cash in their pockets as they were gardening. A young soldier trying to escape the neighborhood gunned down by a 13 year old boy in an attempted robbery. Domestic violence at some house on the street is an almost daily occurrence. Imagine your house being burglarized twice in one month - finding your dog injured underneath an overturned bookcase. Being greeted at the bus stop on your way to work by a 9 year old asking "what the f*#! are you looking at?!?". And the unlimited supply of cheap guns.
You cannot hope to solve the problem of police abuse without considering the dysfunction in the neighborhoods they are tasked with policing. It is an impossible job - the attitudes that they develop are a consequence of the violence they deal with daily and are largely inevitable. It in large part explains the participation of black officers in abuse. We need a serious conversation about the other side of the equation if we really intend to fix the problem. It is a systematic issue and it cannot effectively be addressed by carving out a portion of the problem and analyzing that in isolation.
A female acquaintance being snatched off the street and sexually assaulted for daring to jog at 7PM. TWO neighbors shot on separate occasions as they tend to their front yards, because they didn't have any cash in their pockets as they were gardening. A young soldier trying to escape the neighborhood gunned down by a 13 year old boy in an attempted robbery. Domestic violence at some house on the street is an almost daily occurrence. Imagine your house being burglarized twice in one month - finding your dog injured underneath an overturned bookcase. Being greeted at the bus stop on your way to work by a 9 year old asking "what the f*#! are you looking at?!?". And the unlimited supply of cheap guns.
You cannot hope to solve the problem of police abuse without considering the dysfunction in the neighborhoods they are tasked with policing. It is an impossible job - the attitudes that they develop are a consequence of the violence they deal with daily and are largely inevitable. It in large part explains the participation of black officers in abuse. We need a serious conversation about the other side of the equation if we really intend to fix the problem. It is a systematic issue and it cannot effectively be addressed by carving out a portion of the problem and analyzing that in isolation.
20
I can't see how you can equate rape, gun violence and domestic violence with the actions of a man celebrating graduation by stealing cigars. Yes, he pushed the store owner and yes, it was a crime. However, he wasn't stopped because the cop thought he had committed a strong-arm robbery. He was stopped for jaywalking and ended up dead.
I don't think Charles Blow is trying to minimize the issues of violence and crime in black communities. Rather, he is pointing out that such issues are exacerbated by a police force that treats all blacks, irrespective of behavior, as a criminal element. Trust me, when you are on the receiving end of such treatment, it is a form of terror.
I don't think Charles Blow is trying to minimize the issues of violence and crime in black communities. Rather, he is pointing out that such issues are exacerbated by a police force that treats all blacks, irrespective of behavior, as a criminal element. Trust me, when you are on the receiving end of such treatment, it is a form of terror.
Black and black crime is a function of the gun lobby dumping upwards of 300 million guns into America's streets, redlining blacks and other minorities into ghettos for decades (centuries?) and sending blue collar jobs to China, Mexico and elsewhere thanks to free trade/trickle down economics. Those black and minority communities are filled with young, unemployed and anxious and stressed people with easy access to guns. Gee - what the heck do you think is going to happen?
And many whites simply say/think, "those animals are just killing themselves - so be it."
Those are not bugs of that system but features.
Conservative intellectual William Buckley once told Gore Vidal that inequality is the byproduct of "freedom" - he was correct, we are seeing that idea play out in America on a daily basis.
Are conservatives (including Dem conservatives) and the GOP prepared to roll back trickle down economics, return the tax code to sanity and stop the aggressive hollowing out of American's working and middle classes via free trade?
Because if not, then the answer to inequality is the free trade/trickle down economics mitigation plan - guns everywhere, segregated neighborhoods and schools for whites and an aggressive, racist police state for blacks and other minorities.
And many whites simply say/think, "those animals are just killing themselves - so be it."
Those are not bugs of that system but features.
Conservative intellectual William Buckley once told Gore Vidal that inequality is the byproduct of "freedom" - he was correct, we are seeing that idea play out in America on a daily basis.
Are conservatives (including Dem conservatives) and the GOP prepared to roll back trickle down economics, return the tax code to sanity and stop the aggressive hollowing out of American's working and middle classes via free trade?
Because if not, then the answer to inequality is the free trade/trickle down economics mitigation plan - guns everywhere, segregated neighborhoods and schools for whites and an aggressive, racist police state for blacks and other minorities.
2
Road Apples.
1
Another important column from Charles Blow. It's simply a fact that in many black communities and neighborhoods the police conduct themselves more like an occupying army than like a civilian law enforcement operation.
It's also simply the case that this state of siege terrorizes the citizens of those communities, most of whom are just ordinary people trying to make the best of the very bad hand they've been dealt.
We urgently need to talk about this racial reality. But the GOP has become a white reactionary party dependent on white rage, fear and alienation for its very survival. They need us not to talk: if we ever talk (and listen), they're finished as a political power.
Thus even the civilized Times overflows with streams of white outrage every time Mr. Blow sets down his thoughts. Memes and mantas, phony statistics, false histories and above all profound loathing pour in from the right in an electronic shout-down precisely intended to preclude dialogue.
Yet another opportunity is lost for American people to talk openly and honestly with other American people.
Our country is plagued by racism, inequality and lack of opportunity. There's a growing consensus that we've lost all but the form of democracy, a loss that will become permanent if the propagandists of the oligarchy succeed in keeping us pitted against each other.
Alas, they're far better at setting us at each other's throats than we are at reaching out to each other with respect, citizen to citizen.
It's also simply the case that this state of siege terrorizes the citizens of those communities, most of whom are just ordinary people trying to make the best of the very bad hand they've been dealt.
We urgently need to talk about this racial reality. But the GOP has become a white reactionary party dependent on white rage, fear and alienation for its very survival. They need us not to talk: if we ever talk (and listen), they're finished as a political power.
Thus even the civilized Times overflows with streams of white outrage every time Mr. Blow sets down his thoughts. Memes and mantas, phony statistics, false histories and above all profound loathing pour in from the right in an electronic shout-down precisely intended to preclude dialogue.
Yet another opportunity is lost for American people to talk openly and honestly with other American people.
Our country is plagued by racism, inequality and lack of opportunity. There's a growing consensus that we've lost all but the form of democracy, a loss that will become permanent if the propagandists of the oligarchy succeed in keeping us pitted against each other.
Alas, they're far better at setting us at each other's throats than we are at reaching out to each other with respect, citizen to citizen.
I can't help but wonder as I read the report by the Jewish Daily Forward's reporter's story on his visit to Iran and look at the statistics of more police killings every night in America being higher than police killings every two years in Britain of how strange America's perception of terrorism.
I lived on the South Side of Chicago for ten years and the one thing that I tell people that's different about America and Canada is that in Montreal or Toronto I could go out for the evening at the same time as the people in Chicago were locking and bolting their doors.
Roosevelt fourth freedom is freedom from fear. Until the loss of that freedom is duly addressed America's ability to lead is simply confined to giving lessons on how to fight a turf war.
The use of fear to control a population is well documented historically. Unless something is done to address the loss of the fourth freedom I am afraid for any kind of democracy surviving in America.
Boogieman politics has robbed us of too much of the energy we need to meet the challenges of the future. The insecurity of the daily lives of too many Americans comes with too many bad decisions. A better future must be about hope not fear it must be about opportunity not survival. That is why this Canadian is headed to Vermont tomorrow to buy a Bernie TeeShirt.
I lived on the South Side of Chicago for ten years and the one thing that I tell people that's different about America and Canada is that in Montreal or Toronto I could go out for the evening at the same time as the people in Chicago were locking and bolting their doors.
Roosevelt fourth freedom is freedom from fear. Until the loss of that freedom is duly addressed America's ability to lead is simply confined to giving lessons on how to fight a turf war.
The use of fear to control a population is well documented historically. Unless something is done to address the loss of the fourth freedom I am afraid for any kind of democracy surviving in America.
Boogieman politics has robbed us of too much of the energy we need to meet the challenges of the future. The insecurity of the daily lives of too many Americans comes with too many bad decisions. A better future must be about hope not fear it must be about opportunity not survival. That is why this Canadian is headed to Vermont tomorrow to buy a Bernie TeeShirt.
2
Mr. Blow discusses separate topics that really should not be compared or not compared so directly.
There is bias against blacks by some (many?) in law enforcement, this leads to incidents of bad policing. And more and more police and public administrators are doing something about it. See the response of the administration at the University of Cincinnati as an example.
Black on black violence exists. The data are imperfect, but every indication is that this is disproportionate when compared to other “group on group” violence. My window, Cincinnati, has more and more activities by community leaders (mainly black) to address this. It seems futile, but this group carries on.
Gun violence is a plague. The good news is that Moms (Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America) are involved; there is a model of change (working at the state level) that seems to be effective. We should see progress.
Comparing any of this to our response to international terrorism seems to stretch relevancy. A debate about our response to international terrorism should be held, but not in this context.
We are on the road to a “more perfect” union. Anger will prod us on, but cannot be the main driver.
There is bias against blacks by some (many?) in law enforcement, this leads to incidents of bad policing. And more and more police and public administrators are doing something about it. See the response of the administration at the University of Cincinnati as an example.
Black on black violence exists. The data are imperfect, but every indication is that this is disproportionate when compared to other “group on group” violence. My window, Cincinnati, has more and more activities by community leaders (mainly black) to address this. It seems futile, but this group carries on.
Gun violence is a plague. The good news is that Moms (Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America) are involved; there is a model of change (working at the state level) that seems to be effective. We should see progress.
Comparing any of this to our response to international terrorism seems to stretch relevancy. A debate about our response to international terrorism should be held, but not in this context.
We are on the road to a “more perfect” union. Anger will prod us on, but cannot be the main driver.
Charles, until enough of us white people "get it" progress will be slow.
If all of us could just sit in the comfort of our homes, close our eyes, and reflect on what you write about "people furious at the very idea of having to be afraid" we also would be outraged. I can't imagine having to demonstrate to a police officer, in advance, that my nightly walk in the neighborhood was just that and nothing more. It would be insultingly maddening!
Charles, keep telling it like you do. You're a treasure!
If all of us could just sit in the comfort of our homes, close our eyes, and reflect on what you write about "people furious at the very idea of having to be afraid" we also would be outraged. I can't imagine having to demonstrate to a police officer, in advance, that my nightly walk in the neighborhood was just that and nothing more. It would be insultingly maddening!
Charles, keep telling it like you do. You're a treasure!
Two fundamental issues are not addressed by mr Blow.First,the unique nature of the interaction between citizens and the police in the US relative to other developed nations.In no other such country are the police known as "Law Enforcement".The term itself sets up a hostile relationship since the police see their role as making sure no citizen strays, the "serve and protect"tag line notwithstanding.Couple this with the machismo and inherent racism of the white blue collar world from which the majority of police are recruited and we have today's sad state.Second,whether or not the black population see themselves as the victims of the equivalent of racism,it needs to play it's role in improving the current situation.The reluctance of African Americans to join the police because of concerns about hostility from fellow members is not a promising leading indicator.
I was surrounded by dogs and officers holding firearms one night in Las Vegas. They were looking for a robber of a 'mom and pop' across the highway. I cooperated with a search that freed up at least half the posse to continue their hunt. I cooperated with a 'line-up of one' in front of the business and was eliminated as a possible suspect. I consider working with police in any capacity is as patriotic as voting. Not to would have been interpreted that pushing around small business owners was okay but it's isn't. It is a crime deserving of pursuit and use of force if necessary.
1
Thank you for this column. I've also been puzzled by the knee-jerk responses about "black on black violence," as if this were some kind of trump card that negates all police violence. Of course there are more community killings than police killings since there are (orders of magnitude) many more community members than there are police--about 14 million black Americans compared to 800,000 police officers in the US.
Further, as you point out, police should (obviously) be held to a higher standard. They are our representatives, our protectors, our champions. What does it say when a large segment of our population can't trust the police to keep them safe? Another common strategy is to point out that many of those killed were "behaving badly" by resisting arrest. Is resisting or fleeing arrest now a capital crime? As a white person, I have little fear that if I fled from a police officer he would shoot me in the back.
Further, as you point out, police should (obviously) be held to a higher standard. They are our representatives, our protectors, our champions. What does it say when a large segment of our population can't trust the police to keep them safe? Another common strategy is to point out that many of those killed were "behaving badly" by resisting arrest. Is resisting or fleeing arrest now a capital crime? As a white person, I have little fear that if I fled from a police officer he would shoot me in the back.
2
More whites (14.2/100,000) die by suicide each year than do blacks (5.4/ 100,000). White on white crime? Over 30,000 people die by gunshot each year--60% of those are suicides. Who supplies the guns?
2
Most of the comments talk about police abuse. But you talked about two big problems: money spent on fighting foreign terrorism vs. little money spent on domestic violence. I guess it all comes down to the almighty dollar. Big corporations make tons of money selling weapons to the government to "fight terrorism". But who makes money removing guns from the hands of millions of Americans? Thus, Americans will have lots of guns and the violence will continue. With all the guns out there, no wonder the police are jumpy. They must assume that whoever they are dealing with will have a gun.
The big problem is that Americans only seem to be motivated by money.
The big problem is that Americans only seem to be motivated by money.
4
Brilliantly well put. Of course the police are, too often, in the business of terrifying communities, to keep them timid, afraid, and in their place. Similarly international terrorists want to keep us timid, afraid, and in our place. Some police want Blacks afraid of venturing into White neighborhoods; Al Qaeda wants Americans afraid of venturing into Arab neighborhoods. Both police and Al Qaeda, on the strength of this, have supporters who view them as heros. In both cases, in a relative way, those supporters are right. But from a higher perspective, it's an uglier picture.
2
I read your article about Police Abuse as a Form of Terror and must disagree. The southern states, under the Democrats, created and maintained “Jim Crow” segregation, which they supported by: discriminatory laws, informal pressures including threats to employment, property, and lives of African-Americans, and combination of state terror (state and local law enforcement participation in or toleration of racist crimes against African-Americans) and racist terror (Ku Klux Klan and assorted semi-official private racist organizations.
This is not comparable to the individual actions of racists or thugs wearing the uniform of law enforcement. My evidence is that such officers face formal sanction for their vile misconduct including civil and criminal penalties as well loss of employment and even retirement benefits. This is obviously not analogous to the situation in the “Jim Crow” South prior to the Civil Rights Revolution, when such actions were expected, tolerated and shielded from sanction.
The fact is that vile racist actions and thuggish behavior by the police is not acceptable to the public at large or any part of the government regardless of the level.
This is not comparable to the individual actions of racists or thugs wearing the uniform of law enforcement. My evidence is that such officers face formal sanction for their vile misconduct including civil and criminal penalties as well loss of employment and even retirement benefits. This is obviously not analogous to the situation in the “Jim Crow” South prior to the Civil Rights Revolution, when such actions were expected, tolerated and shielded from sanction.
The fact is that vile racist actions and thuggish behavior by the police is not acceptable to the public at large or any part of the government regardless of the level.
2
Of course, Mr. Blow, of course.
Why must we argue this,
The police are employed and paid and presumably directed and controlled by us, the citizens. Their actions, good and bad, are our acts.
A needless killing by a cop is one we all, collectively, have allowed. And VERY FEW can reasonably be called necessary. And when it has become so frequent, so routine, often with no consequences or punishment for the killer, we must admit that we have sanctioned such killings. It is killing by the state, by the society, by all of us.
And the cause is often the attitude of the cop--who sees the citizenry in the area as different from himself and feels that he is patrolling a hostile enemy which must be subdued.
How can we stop this? Fewer and less potent weapons in the hands of the police--don't give them the tools used in war to patrol our cities. Differently trained and educated police--veterans of our foreign wars, who learned that every sound might require instant and deadly response should not be hired to patrol our cities--that instinct is very hard to overcome when working in a new job. A change in the attitude of police that they are due respect "CPR" but the citizens, especially poor or minority citizens, are not. An often misinterpreted and thus harmful phrase "CPR" should be painted over on our police cars.
Why must we argue this,
The police are employed and paid and presumably directed and controlled by us, the citizens. Their actions, good and bad, are our acts.
A needless killing by a cop is one we all, collectively, have allowed. And VERY FEW can reasonably be called necessary. And when it has become so frequent, so routine, often with no consequences or punishment for the killer, we must admit that we have sanctioned such killings. It is killing by the state, by the society, by all of us.
And the cause is often the attitude of the cop--who sees the citizenry in the area as different from himself and feels that he is patrolling a hostile enemy which must be subdued.
How can we stop this? Fewer and less potent weapons in the hands of the police--don't give them the tools used in war to patrol our cities. Differently trained and educated police--veterans of our foreign wars, who learned that every sound might require instant and deadly response should not be hired to patrol our cities--that instinct is very hard to overcome when working in a new job. A change in the attitude of police that they are due respect "CPR" but the citizens, especially poor or minority citizens, are not. An often misinterpreted and thus harmful phrase "CPR" should be painted over on our police cars.
2
I can refute Charles M. Blow's entire body of work for 2015 with the following statement:
I am a Black attorney in Washington DC. I have never been afraid of a police officer, mistreated by a police officer or had anything but pleasant, professional encounters with law enforcement across the United States.
However, the times when I do feel fear or become vigilant and defensive are in situations where I encounter Black youth who routinely accost passengers on our commuter trains and on the streets here in Washington DC, even on the Capitol Mall.
Why is that?
I am a Black attorney in Washington DC. I have never been afraid of a police officer, mistreated by a police officer or had anything but pleasant, professional encounters with law enforcement across the United States.
However, the times when I do feel fear or become vigilant and defensive are in situations where I encounter Black youth who routinely accost passengers on our commuter trains and on the streets here in Washington DC, even on the Capitol Mall.
Why is that?
28
You mean you don't mind if white teens do the same thing to you? It's okay if they're white? I don't like it if anyone, white, black, Asian, etc., leaves me feeling like I'm going to be assaulted or robbed. Why are you focusing exclusively on blacks as the ones who make you fearful? Are there no white teens in other areas of DC that are equally threatening or do you routinely hang around in areas where there are black teens in order to prove your point?
As a black attorney you might be well known to the police and not subject to the same scorn and derision other blacks receive when dealing with the police. Rest assured that if they did not know you or of you you would be treated like a criminal no matter what you said or did.
As a black attorney you might be well known to the police and not subject to the same scorn and derision other blacks receive when dealing with the police. Rest assured that if they did not know you or of you you would be treated like a criminal no matter what you said or did.
1
I have never been accosted by White teens or any White people my age. Or older. I'm focusing exclusively on my personal experiences and observations as they relate to this Times op-ed that wrongly assigns 100% of the blame for how we got here as a nation on (White) law enforcement.
Oh and by the way, there were police officers in America before I became a lawyer.
Oh and by the way, there were police officers in America before I became a lawyer.
Blow is exaggerating the role of intention in most of these tragedies and stereotyping the problem of police abuse, too. Terrorism is a deliberate tactic to extort or to intimidate people into complying with the terrorists wishes by killing anyone whose loss will affect those who are supposed to comply. In the Jim Crow South, the African Americans were terrorized to keep them supporting the economic needs for extremely low cost labor as well as to make a lot of insecure white people with bad consciences to feel safe. In the police killings that have raise so much rage, the purposes of this terrorism is not identified, because there is none. So far, in most of these cases the police have shot people who seem not to have complied with police when suspected of committing crimes and in some the issue of self defense was the motive. The issue is whether police use of force in these cases was fully justified or misused, and what can be done about it. Framing the problem in terms of the hyperbole driven by outrage may help vent the frustrations but it does not help solve the problem of ending further unjustified uses of force with irrelevant considerations.
In many of these cases, police have overreacted to non-compliant people and in some have used deadly force without it being obvious that it was necessary. Racism is still expressed by some people and it likely is directly involve in some of these incidents but it's more likely an indirect factor in all of them.
In many of these cases, police have overreacted to non-compliant people and in some have used deadly force without it being obvious that it was necessary. Racism is still expressed by some people and it likely is directly involve in some of these incidents but it's more likely an indirect factor in all of them.
6
The unending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have produced a steady stream of veterans seeking jobs on the police force. Unfortunately, many of these veterans have been dehumanized through continuing confrontations with civilian populations that have been (understandably) hostile to them. Other veterans suffer from closed head injuries and PTSD. The alienated and traumatized veterans are joined by racists who would have been members of the KKK in earlier decades, and both groups influence others on the police force. Soon the majority of police in some jurisdictions are treating the American civilian population as the enemy, seeking Kevlar vests and armored cars for their routine patrols, and reacting with hair-trigger violence to imagined threats from unarmed Black boys. The solution is continuous psychological testing and treatment of police officers and oversight of the police forces by civilian panels that match the demographics of the community.
2
This column is truth. When large segments of the American population, due solely to their ethnicity, cannot feel safe and protected by those who are sworn to do so, that is terrorism. The overwhelming emotional and mental burden, and stifling of free movement and expression, that is pressed upon African Americans by figures of authority is a form of oppression. It becomes terrorism through the brutal physical manifestations of that oppression- the harassment, the children who are held immediately at gunpoint, the beatings, the tazings, the body slams, the choke holds, and the often impulsive rush to shootings by officers, which is sometimes nothing more than blatant murder.
Pushing the weak excuse of "black on black crime" is an unacceptable reflexive action by a nation in denial about the extent of its racism, and by Americans who do not wish to admit that they themselves may be complicit- either intentionally or not- in maintaining an unequal and at times lethal culture.
Pushing the weak excuse of "black on black crime" is an unacceptable reflexive action by a nation in denial about the extent of its racism, and by Americans who do not wish to admit that they themselves may be complicit- either intentionally or not- in maintaining an unequal and at times lethal culture.
2
Thank you very much for this column, Mr. Blow, and for delineating so clearly the difference between interpersonal criminality and state-tolerated (I won't say state-sanctioned) criminality.
The question facing us is what we can do to fight this terror. It is clearly not enough to decry it and say we should all be better human beings. It seems obvious that we must remove the incentives that police have for targeting people, blacks in particular, for minor infractions that so many of the bad apples exploit to indulge their bigotry. Something that would go at least some of the way is to make it illegal for any jurisdiction to keep any funds collected from driving fines and penalties. Instead they would all have to be turned over to the state, which would apportion them to the various jurisdictions on a transparent and democratically agreed upon basis. Municipalities that collected very large sums would stand out, and if necessary, investigated.
The question facing us is what we can do to fight this terror. It is clearly not enough to decry it and say we should all be better human beings. It seems obvious that we must remove the incentives that police have for targeting people, blacks in particular, for minor infractions that so many of the bad apples exploit to indulge their bigotry. Something that would go at least some of the way is to make it illegal for any jurisdiction to keep any funds collected from driving fines and penalties. Instead they would all have to be turned over to the state, which would apportion them to the various jurisdictions on a transparent and democratically agreed upon basis. Municipalities that collected very large sums would stand out, and if necessary, investigated.
According to FBI statistics, young black males are a fraction of the population yet commit over 50% of all murders in the country. Perhaps towards reducing all murders including police killings of civilians, and civilian killings of police, we should ask ourselves what we can do to improve that gruesome statistic.
8
This is now the second time I have seen this figure in the NYT comment section, 3% of the country is committing 50% of the murders.
Can someone please post a link so that we can all see where this figure comes from?
Can someone please post a link so that we can all see where this figure comes from?
1
No one I know, black, white, brown or purple ever calls the police for help of any kind. Most see cops for what they are, militarized mindless drones working for the real criminals who are destroying every aspect of life throughout society. Bankers, judges, prosecutors and politicians that is, they are all on the take just like the cops. What a system.
Racism is a form of terrorism. And when institutionalized, it becomes harder to see, since it is an accepted part of the societal agreement. Individuals who aren't themselves given to racism may have a hard time seeing the institutionalized form. For a hundred years after the Civil War, black people in our country suffered from terrorism. Then the Civil Rights movement occurred, and MLK and others helped lift the veil. But institutionalized racism continues, and now instead of segregation and lynching, we have incarceration in huge numbers, continued economic disparity, and a militarized police force stepping in to fill the gap left when Jim Crow laws and actions ended.
We project our fears onto terrorists elsewhere because we can hold that at a distance, use propaganda to say we "won," "mission accomplished." It diverts attention from our own situation at home. It will be/is a great work on the part of black people in this country to throw off the fear (which for 100 years helped enable the oppression...and that is the point, isn't it? Terrorize, instill fear, then blame the victim?). Throwing off the fear allows speaking up. Speaking up educates the rest of us. At some point soon, police departments in our country will have to change to meet the demand for an end to the knee-jerk violence, just as they changed in how they handled domestic violence. Keep saying it, Charles. Police abuse is terrorism, state sanctioned, a sign of a deeper terrorism that we will root out.
We project our fears onto terrorists elsewhere because we can hold that at a distance, use propaganda to say we "won," "mission accomplished." It diverts attention from our own situation at home. It will be/is a great work on the part of black people in this country to throw off the fear (which for 100 years helped enable the oppression...and that is the point, isn't it? Terrorize, instill fear, then blame the victim?). Throwing off the fear allows speaking up. Speaking up educates the rest of us. At some point soon, police departments in our country will have to change to meet the demand for an end to the knee-jerk violence, just as they changed in how they handled domestic violence. Keep saying it, Charles. Police abuse is terrorism, state sanctioned, a sign of a deeper terrorism that we will root out.
concentrating on the reaction of police to violent behavior.deflects from the troubling attitudes and crime within that community.sorry it is the way i see it.stop acting badly or act badly in private(IE cop some weed and go home and get stoned)and the police violence will drop.i know this seems boring to the likes of mr blow.but ignoring the high crime and attitudes toward civil society and then blaming the likes of police who are forced to react is playing the blame/shame game.and no one really wins in that situation.
1
Charles, if it is illogical for Americans to fear terrorism because it is not the cause of most deaths in our country, than it is just as illogical for blacks to fear police. Why write in support of emotionally charged reactions to a very minor threat? Use your talents to address the real crisis in black America. By focusing on a minor issue, you only fan the fires of racism and offer no solution for your people who are daily decimating themselves.
9
Hey, com'on. We live in a plutocracy. The police are supposed to terrorize. What's the problem?
Maybe it's just me, but I feel like if I punch a cop through his car window, try to take his gun, and bull rush him, I deserve every bit of "terrorism" I have coming to me.
8
Yup...all because a young man was jay walking.
The only people who have inflicted physical violence upon my person over my entire life have been white men. My friends are now discussing this issue over our weekly lunches and have discovered that we have had many common experiences, just until now no one was willing to talk about it. So yes, if I'm going to be afraid of anyone, it will be a white man. And I am white.
1
The majority of physical violence that I have ever been a part has always included a black person.
I'm a member of that particular subset of readers, but you keep misunderstanding the particular criticism we're making. Here it is in a nutshell.
Our wariness of black people, particularly young black males in particular parts of town is experience based. We've often been robbed, mugged, or burglarized. We have friends who've been through the same, in some cases worse - an assault, a brutal gang rape, a murder. We see and hear stories of white people being gunned down outside of bars, on a walk to a restaurant, at the bar where they work after the robbers got the money they came for. These are neighborhoods that are normally safe. And then we see that this pattern is borne out by crime statistics; it's not just that a huge majority of black people are murdered by other black people, but that in urban areas, white people are also more likely to be murdered or attacked or robbed by a black person.
And then we see the looters and rioters with the Black Lives Matter movement, who invariably commit their crimes on behalf of the "abuses" suffered by other black criminals, be it Michael Brown, Sandra Bell, Treyvon Martin, and now this young man in Ferguson who not only "presented" a weapon, but fired it too - at others and at the police.
So our conclusion is this; black people are unreasonable and unsafe, and we tend to sympathize more with the police than them. When black people start condemning excitable and violent behavior instead of justifying it, we'll change.
Our wariness of black people, particularly young black males in particular parts of town is experience based. We've often been robbed, mugged, or burglarized. We have friends who've been through the same, in some cases worse - an assault, a brutal gang rape, a murder. We see and hear stories of white people being gunned down outside of bars, on a walk to a restaurant, at the bar where they work after the robbers got the money they came for. These are neighborhoods that are normally safe. And then we see that this pattern is borne out by crime statistics; it's not just that a huge majority of black people are murdered by other black people, but that in urban areas, white people are also more likely to be murdered or attacked or robbed by a black person.
And then we see the looters and rioters with the Black Lives Matter movement, who invariably commit their crimes on behalf of the "abuses" suffered by other black criminals, be it Michael Brown, Sandra Bell, Treyvon Martin, and now this young man in Ferguson who not only "presented" a weapon, but fired it too - at others and at the police.
So our conclusion is this; black people are unreasonable and unsafe, and we tend to sympathize more with the police than them. When black people start condemning excitable and violent behavior instead of justifying it, we'll change.
9
Thank you for at least being honest. You admit that the actions of a minuscule portion of the population has made you biased against an entire group of Americans. The question is this: if you can claim that "black people are unreasonable and unsafe," then do you feel the same about whites for Columbine, Oklahoma City, the Unabomber and other terrorist acts? If not, then maybe you need to consider why.
1
I am not Black. In my neighborhood I have witnessed police harassment toward one young effeminate, Hispanic male who was simply walking. Two 30ish male officers followed him screaming that he should to 'move along' . I have seen a middle aged Black woman be followed around by a store detective. Those things are cruel & seemingly unwarranted. As a recent crime victim, I was fluffed off by the detectives & told (tho' I was hit over the head with a hammer & suffered a broken shoulder, left on the sidewalk) , many crimes happen in that area !!! They never checked surveillance! If they had the perp might have been apprehended earlier!! I understand that non whites have good reason to fear law enforcement. It seems they are not truthful & untrustworthy, lack compassion & think they are superior. I was dismissed as unimportant or that's how I felt, as a woman & a senior who was attacked !!! I know how I felt. I can't imagine being a person of color & being a crime victim or just a person of color going to the police for help !!! We clearly need an over haul, more education, partner police with another not if their background so they get to know another ethnicity!!
Mr Blow makes everyone ponder !
Mr Blow makes everyone ponder !
3
I'm white and when younger was followed in a department store and accused of shoplifting. I do not steal. Many years later, when I mentioned it to a detective friend, he said I shop like a shoplifter. I touch everything I look at. Who knew I was acting like a thief?
I felt lousy after that interaction, but I was able to see beyond my hurt pride that the store had a right to protect its merchandise from theft. Is it possible that the perspective that it's "cruel and seemingly unwarranted" could also warrant similar reflection?
I felt lousy after that interaction, but I was able to see beyond my hurt pride that the store had a right to protect its merchandise from theft. Is it possible that the perspective that it's "cruel and seemingly unwarranted" could also warrant similar reflection?
Blow is absolutely right, and I do not understand the number of comments from people who disagree. Police abuse of power IS a form of terror.
And black people are not only subject to abuse at the hands of police, but are often jailed with excessive bail for minor crimes they may or may not have committed. For them the US has become a police state of the worst kind.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
We have given far too much power to the government in the name of a *war on terror*. Since 9/11 terrorists are killing each other in the Middle East, not in the United States.
My experiences as an elderly white woman with metal implants subject to invasive pat-downs (and, on one occasion, even arrest) at airports have given me a far greater appreciation of what black people experience on a daily basis. Although my experiences pale in comparison the theirs, it does change you when you spend even 20 min. in a cell before posting bail and then spend months observing our disfunctional court system before a hostile judge grudgingly dismisses bogus charges *in view of various supreme court rulings*.
And black people are not only subject to abuse at the hands of police, but are often jailed with excessive bail for minor crimes they may or may not have committed. For them the US has become a police state of the worst kind.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
We have given far too much power to the government in the name of a *war on terror*. Since 9/11 terrorists are killing each other in the Middle East, not in the United States.
My experiences as an elderly white woman with metal implants subject to invasive pat-downs (and, on one occasion, even arrest) at airports have given me a far greater appreciation of what black people experience on a daily basis. Although my experiences pale in comparison the theirs, it does change you when you spend even 20 min. in a cell before posting bail and then spend months observing our disfunctional court system before a hostile judge grudgingly dismisses bogus charges *in view of various supreme court rulings*.
131
The small town where I grew up has a very long history of police terrorizing its black citizens. My dad can remember the local sheriff and his deputies waiting on horseback down the road from the movie theater to horsewhip people who exited from the side "Colored Only" door. That was only 3 generations and 75 years ago. That world view doesn't change in such a short period of time. Racism is not as blatant, but it's really just gone underground. The cops are still mostly white and they're better armed. People used to fear being whipped or beaten by the police. Now, they fear being beaten, tased, and shot to death, with good reason.
3
Dear Mr. Blow,
We've "been there and done that" since black people were dragged here in chains even AFTER sonorous declarations that "all men are created equal".
The "reality" always seems to boil down to two choices, one voiced by Dr. King the other by Malcom X: either the black community starts "singing" or it starts "swinging".
America had a war ending in 1865 followed by Constitutional Amendments trying to guarantee equality; failure. In 1965 America, once more, tried to legislate equality; failure. Finally, a black man is elected president hence everything is now okay; once more, failure as the rise of the GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE, the "Oath Keepers", the NRA, gun sales to white folks, etc. aptly demonstrates.
Through either willful ignorance (As in discrimination, bigotry and racism) or willful neglect ("Look how THOSE people live in their ghettoes; something should be done" preferably by someone else but don't spend TOO much money on those "dead beats"), the races are still at loggerheads.
Solutions seem hard to find but, unfortunately, firearms are EASY to find. Hence it seems Malcom X was right all along.
We've "been there and done that" since black people were dragged here in chains even AFTER sonorous declarations that "all men are created equal".
The "reality" always seems to boil down to two choices, one voiced by Dr. King the other by Malcom X: either the black community starts "singing" or it starts "swinging".
America had a war ending in 1865 followed by Constitutional Amendments trying to guarantee equality; failure. In 1965 America, once more, tried to legislate equality; failure. Finally, a black man is elected president hence everything is now okay; once more, failure as the rise of the GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE, the "Oath Keepers", the NRA, gun sales to white folks, etc. aptly demonstrates.
Through either willful ignorance (As in discrimination, bigotry and racism) or willful neglect ("Look how THOSE people live in their ghettoes; something should be done" preferably by someone else but don't spend TOO much money on those "dead beats"), the races are still at loggerheads.
Solutions seem hard to find but, unfortunately, firearms are EASY to find. Hence it seems Malcom X was right all along.
Don't come to my neighborhood with that attitude. Most of us carry and believe in self defense. You are piece of work.
In the fantasy world of Clive Lewis', "The Chronicles of Narnia," the children are magically transported to the magical kingdom of Narnia where they are called upon by the lion Asia to protect the land from evil. In the real adult world, humans are tasked with protecting the land from evil. The State is an abstract term ranging from agencies whose job it is to protect the civilian population from harm (e.g. EPA, Justice Department, FTC, Social Security, Military, HHS, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Medicaid, etc.) Within these bureacratic agencies work actual fallible human beings including police officers, teachers, etc. who don't belong in the profession if they harbor racist ideology. The US has some of the most violent & dangerous communities in the world. Just as a tourist would most likely choose to not visit certain neighborhoods in countries like Ukraine, Honduras, Iraq, Nigeria, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Albania, S. Africa, Belize, Sudan, etc. the same can be said in the US. I've visited countries where the hotel concierge warned me not to walk alone as a woman or else risk being raped & murdered in some of these countries where being a woman is to risk being a victim of terrorism.
On many travel websites, there are warnings about dangerous US cities. There have been publicized cases of innocent tourists who get lost & end up either robbed, raped or murdered in certain areas of the US. The problem is a culture of poverty.
On many travel websites, there are warnings about dangerous US cities. There have been publicized cases of innocent tourists who get lost & end up either robbed, raped or murdered in certain areas of the US. The problem is a culture of poverty.
7
I agree that it is a culture of poverty not poverty that often leads to these crimes. I grew up poor but would never think to commit such crimes.
Any time I hear about laws to impose additional punishment on people who commit crimes against police I think, that's fine, but there should also be enhanced punishment of police who commit crime, specifically while in uniform or otherwise in their capacity as a police officer.
Yes, the police face grave danger every day, but they've chosen to do this. None of the innocent people killed by police chose that.
The only way this is going to start to change is by breaking the "blue line." No idea how that will happen since police officer become such whining little brats if anyone suggests they have to be held accountable.
Yes, the police face grave danger every day, but they've chosen to do this. None of the innocent people killed by police chose that.
The only way this is going to start to change is by breaking the "blue line." No idea how that will happen since police officer become such whining little brats if anyone suggests they have to be held accountable.
3
The problem with your statement is very few people shot by police are innocent. If you want to talk about people who were innocently shot by police, the article would be short and the examples few.
Black crime will be tolerated as long as it is confined to black areas and the victims are black. A black kills a black and the community suddenly becomes blind and deaf. No one saw or heard anything. Homicide closure rates under these circumstances is very rare.
Now, if black crime was to go outside of the black enclaves and the victims are whites then the entire situation changes. First, whites will adopt vigilante tactics and methods; the white community will aid in the investigation of cases and the community will not be deaf and blind.
So long as the black community engages in the destruction of their local infrastructure and the killing of their fellow community members, nothing will happen. It is as if black lives do not matter.
Now, if black crime was to go outside of the black enclaves and the victims are whites then the entire situation changes. First, whites will adopt vigilante tactics and methods; the white community will aid in the investigation of cases and the community will not be deaf and blind.
So long as the black community engages in the destruction of their local infrastructure and the killing of their fellow community members, nothing will happen. It is as if black lives do not matter.
6
Mr. Blow trades one distraction technique for another. He uses the typical "after 9/11" distraction. Mr. Blow is attempting to couch his false argument by confusing a national security issue with police corruption issue that has been relevant long before terrorism. This does a disservice to the cause. Law enforcement corruption has threads running all the way from the street officer to the White House. Indeed, the pinnacle of law enforcement has used the power of the Oval Office and the Justice Department to illegally detain and or murder citizens and non citizens alike on stages around the world. Leadership normally starts at the top.
This is not to say that street level officers are guilty as well. But, this is not a recent phenomena. From the Salem Witch Trials to drug rings run by big city departments, to current issue of street gangs running small town police departments in Mississippi we have plenty of examples of corruption. The terrorism is not always manifested in killings. Part of the problem is that some cultures do not know how to deal with authority, much less a corrupted authority. Belligerence, verbal threats, physical intimidation, and false accusations often place the victims in a more precarious position than more civilized behavior might. That is not to justify police corruption, merely to point out that there are better ways to handle some problems, more subtle, less polarizing and more effective ways.
This is not to say that street level officers are guilty as well. But, this is not a recent phenomena. From the Salem Witch Trials to drug rings run by big city departments, to current issue of street gangs running small town police departments in Mississippi we have plenty of examples of corruption. The terrorism is not always manifested in killings. Part of the problem is that some cultures do not know how to deal with authority, much less a corrupted authority. Belligerence, verbal threats, physical intimidation, and false accusations often place the victims in a more precarious position than more civilized behavior might. That is not to justify police corruption, merely to point out that there are better ways to handle some problems, more subtle, less polarizing and more effective ways.
1
I'll use a recent incident here in Cincinnati as an example of how ludicrous this whole situation has become. A University of Cincinnati police officer shot and killed a local black man who he said was trying to run him over after a traffic stopped. The man died. Everybody, including the Prosecutor, jumped on the "blame the cop" bandwagon. No, the fellow should not have been shot and the officer was wrong, dead wrong, but lets look at the victim.
The victim had 90 records of arrest for some minor items, but also lack of child support and driving without a license. Now he's a "paragon of "virtue" to some. In the background, do we hear the outrage about black on black crime that is the cause of the vast majorities of black homicides? No. I'm not excusing the officer that shot this fellow, but we have to do a "realty" check. All shootings are wrong except in self-defense no matter what the race of the victim.
The victim had 90 records of arrest for some minor items, but also lack of child support and driving without a license. Now he's a "paragon of "virtue" to some. In the background, do we hear the outrage about black on black crime that is the cause of the vast majorities of black homicides? No. I'm not excusing the officer that shot this fellow, but we have to do a "realty" check. All shootings are wrong except in self-defense no matter what the race of the victim.
4
No, he's a human being that had his human rights violated. The fact he's poor and therefore considered a criminal worthy of execution for being poor is also a human rights crime.
1
Spot on, Charles!!!! Some of the responses so far show that white people still don't believe that racism exists or even know what it looks like. Keep speaking the truth!
2
Yes indeed, racism does exist in America.
When my children were growing up, we lived in a mixed neighborhood. My son went to play basketball at the local playground, he was told by the black kids there that he couldn't play because he was white.
My daughter went to girlscout camp. She came back with half the stuff we sent her with. She explained that the black girls at camp did not participate in activities. Instead they used the time to go through the white girls things and take what they wanted. The counsellors would do nothing as they did not want to be accused of racism.
When I went to college in the Northeast, we would always get in line in the cafeteria for our meals. The black students would always "budge" the line. The white students would look the other way so as not to cause trouble.
Despite all of this and other examples, my family and I are very supportive of the black community and the issues that are pervasive in that life every day. Yet because I am white, I am still called a racist. That has me most disillusioned with the direction of the country under Obama.
When my children were growing up, we lived in a mixed neighborhood. My son went to play basketball at the local playground, he was told by the black kids there that he couldn't play because he was white.
My daughter went to girlscout camp. She came back with half the stuff we sent her with. She explained that the black girls at camp did not participate in activities. Instead they used the time to go through the white girls things and take what they wanted. The counsellors would do nothing as they did not want to be accused of racism.
When I went to college in the Northeast, we would always get in line in the cafeteria for our meals. The black students would always "budge" the line. The white students would look the other way so as not to cause trouble.
Despite all of this and other examples, my family and I are very supportive of the black community and the issues that are pervasive in that life every day. Yet because I am white, I am still called a racist. That has me most disillusioned with the direction of the country under Obama.
The difference ignored by Blow is that their is an undercurrent feeling among many whites that defanging the police will result in increased crime, by blacks, against them. This is based on the assumption that the occasional excessive use of force against a black man while regrettable, is inevitable in a world where we want a proactive, and not reactive police force protection us. This feeling gains traction due to the increased crime committed by blacks, statistically speaking.
Take it for what it's worth.
Take it for what it's worth.
39
It's a reasonable equation given the facts as they are now. Could this change if the police laid down their arms - all of them - and allowed the "community" to police itself?
No.
The real terror here is reading Blow. Who needs Gitmo when you can just make people read his drivel?
No.
The real terror here is reading Blow. Who needs Gitmo when you can just make people read his drivel?
1
So what DRS is saying, in their comment, is that terrorism by whites, against blacks, via the use of excessive and disproportionate police violence, is acceptable.
Because of the "undercurrent feeling among many whites that defanging the police will result in increased crime, by blacks, against them." In other words, whites like DRS fear the anger of those who are terrorised so much that they hope for more terrorism, to be "proactive" against that angry, terrorised people.
Holy cow. That was indeed clearly put, DRS. You (or those you speak of) apparently wish to ward off the backlash against injustice by instituting even more injustice. I do know anglo-americans who think like this, and all I can say is that I am deeply sorry for their massive failure of rationality, of decency, of human and American respect for the concepts of justice, of brotherhood, of progress, and even of equality.
Only a KKK-style white supremacy mindset could hold such a sense of white entitlement that they would advocate using the police to "keep down" and hold back others. Could we please get over this white-ism thing, people? Try to live in the world as it is, with justice for all, instead of white American exceptionalist fantasy-land?
Because of the "undercurrent feeling among many whites that defanging the police will result in increased crime, by blacks, against them." In other words, whites like DRS fear the anger of those who are terrorised so much that they hope for more terrorism, to be "proactive" against that angry, terrorised people.
Holy cow. That was indeed clearly put, DRS. You (or those you speak of) apparently wish to ward off the backlash against injustice by instituting even more injustice. I do know anglo-americans who think like this, and all I can say is that I am deeply sorry for their massive failure of rationality, of decency, of human and American respect for the concepts of justice, of brotherhood, of progress, and even of equality.
Only a KKK-style white supremacy mindset could hold such a sense of white entitlement that they would advocate using the police to "keep down" and hold back others. Could we please get over this white-ism thing, people? Try to live in the world as it is, with justice for all, instead of white American exceptionalist fantasy-land?
1
"Take it for what it is worth" is worth nothing beyond exposing white supremacist paranoia. Since as noted by Blow most crime is committed within your own racial group. White-on-white crime is what whites have to fear most both in reality and statistically speaking as well.
Only 5 % of those murdered in America involve black and white victims and perpetrators with the balance being fairly equal on both colored sides. But 80% of the disproportionate 40% of blacks on death row are there for killing a white person. White lives matter!
Only 5 % of those murdered in America involve black and white victims and perpetrators with the balance being fairly equal on both colored sides. But 80% of the disproportionate 40% of blacks on death row are there for killing a white person. White lives matter!
1
So, Michael Brown goes into a convenience store and steals from it, walks down the center of the road and assaults a police officer. He is shot by a police officer and Mr. Blow finds some sort of "lurking unpredictability of it." People engaged in violent, criminal behavior tend to get shot. While there are other deaths that are clearly unwarranted shootings, when Mr. Blow throws them all together he loses my confidence in his argument.
20
Blacks have been historically subjected to official terror ever since our arrival on these shores almost 400 years ago. It was quite practical; we had to be subdued, else we would rise up and slay enslavers. Then after freedom came, the necessity to terrorize became even more acute as the risk of retribution became real, and law enforcement with a cooperative justice system at times permitted lynch mobs to enter courtrooms to remove black suspects to carry them to their lynchings in the town square. Or for violations of vague vagrancy laws blacks were rounded up, and after sentencing in courts of law, were made to labor in work camps that were the equivalent of slavery. The US Constitution and state laws blessed official discrimination and mistreatment. All of this did was the case until the mid-twentieth century. The change in the law did not change the hearts of the oppressor, nor did it change the internalized self-loathing of the people whose lives had been forever scarred by generations of degradation. No amount of intellectual comprehension will assist white Americans in learning to grasp the complexity of the terror we feel, and the sense of justice that now comes from having the police abuse finally recorded and indisputably chronicled. The denials are merely that. Ignore them.
5
Before we finally made it to war and the abolitionists were making their rounds and making the civilians learned about the facts of slavery. Fredrick Douglass telling his story the slave state's and the northern state's out of resentment that their lives were now not the same there was a whole lot of beatings going on. The slaves of course got the worst, of the worst although their white counterparts did not go unpunished but never to be compared to the slaves. How dare they be slave. I wonder, maybe I know that this brutality is escalating, our civil war is not over. It is about slavery.
The focus on islamic terrorism has one purpose to scare the citizens into allowing the state more power over their lives.Any rational person should realize their risk of death through a terrorist act is almost 0.It is sad to watch a population allow their rights to willingly be taken away under such a false flag.Maybe the misconduct of the police is a result of everyday americans cowering in the corner afraid of that jihadist lurking around every corner.
3
As a species we are most comfortable when in the presence of people we know and understand. In the past various nationalities were basically segregated. The Irish were though to all be drunks, the Italians gangsters, and the Chinese.......well, you get the picture. All this has changed and these nationalities have blending into the culture. The Black culture, however, is and has (for the most part) remained unique. In many respects they have adopted an African persona (African/American) with specific names and music. When was the last time you heard anyone saying they were Irish/American or Italian/American? Is it possible our social structure isn't capable of attaining more than partial integration (enforced by laws)? Is it possible the divide between black and white is to great to overcome? Perhaps if we could discuss this it might help in defining the issue and bring some clarity. It sure would beat yelling at each other.
1
The white Europeans who emigrated here did so essentially by choice. Their associations with the dominant culture were mostly positive. Black Americans came here involuntarily. Their associations with the dominant culture were, and remain, essentially negative. Black Americans even have their own language, a Creole dialect often called Ebonics, designed to prevent English speakers from understanding them. So, it is no wonder that blacks view white cops with a lot of trepidation. It is their grim cultural and genetic inheritance.
1
In the early 90s there was a murder of some foreign tourists in Florida. They were killed by kids. Florida went crazy and every kid that had baggy pants was a killer. Juvenile laws were toughened and the juvenile detention centers grew. The media including TV and movies created the hype and kids with tattoo's were all suspect especially by seniors. In fact there was no justification for this panic. The media portrays blacks as violent criminals thus the public reacts. The fact is that the majority of the black community go to work, raise their kids and try to stay clear of the insanity. All of us are racists at some point, it is human nature. We have a need to feel superior and in this country over the last 200 years the target of our superiority need has been focused on the blacks although the German, Oriental, Italian, Irish etc have all had their turn in the barrel. Religion also has had its turn in the discrimination area.
It is interesting that if a black commits a crime it is noted that it is black man by most. When speaking of it most will refer to the criminal as a black guy. Yet when a white commits a crime there is never any mention that a white guy committed the crime. That is a simple example on how we focus on the black and how the American perception is garnered.
Racism will never desappear until we can stop identifying people by color.
It is interesting that if a black commits a crime it is noted that it is black man by most. When speaking of it most will refer to the criminal as a black guy. Yet when a white commits a crime there is never any mention that a white guy committed the crime. That is a simple example on how we focus on the black and how the American perception is garnered.
Racism will never desappear until we can stop identifying people by color.
55
The problem with stereotypes is that they have their roots in reality.
To dismiss that reality, as Mr. Blow repeatedly does, is as much a tragedy as the senseless murders that continue to poison today's inner city.
To dismiss that reality, as Mr. Blow repeatedly does, is as much a tragedy as the senseless murders that continue to poison today's inner city.
I couldn't disagree more. We also need to give examples of regular stories to break down the suspicions, fears, and images that white people hold of Black people. Not images of Aunt Jemima, but LeBron James, Ben Carson, Barrack Obama. People need benign images to counter their imaginations. Every Black teen is not a thug and means them evil; every rapper is not a socially-deprived unless, or that all Black people should be terrorized into submission by uniformed protectors to make everyone else to feel safe from unexamined fears.
We have to see race in order to be aware of how it works when we fear it.
We have to see race in order to be aware of how it works when we fear it.
Race is a construct - a made up thing. We are all human beings. We all share the same biological needs: food/water, intimacy, shelter/clothing, and security. Remove any one of these essential elements and our survival is threatened. What happens to a human being biologically when fight or flight is a ceaseless, lifelong choice? What happens when neither option can be taken?
At the heart of violence in America is our love affair with guns. The self arming of the citizenry is the reason we have militarized our police forces in a manner beyond what any other developed country experiences. Any localized attempt at gun control will be ineffective as long as weaponry is easily available at the next town, country or state over. And until we have uniform, consistent funding and staffing of schools and social institutions, the poor will be marginalized and remain threatened and threatening. Racial identity is a quick means of identifing the threat, but the enemy is poverty.
87
Well said!! It was interesting that just last night I was watching a Korean language action movie and a minor line, not a theme or of any special importance to the movie, one of the bad guys stated "how did he get his hands on a gun?". The meaning being it is not normal for someone to have a gun. I do believe our police are over militarized and need to address abusing their power over us, but I do understand their paranoia considering every person they encounter could be armed. We went to war against Muslim terrorists who have killed 33 people since 9/11 while at the same time gun deaths, from all causes, are over 320,000. Yet we do nothing other than allow more guns to be carried in more places. Madness.
1
True as far as it goes. But most of us here in Brooklyn have gotten over the immediate fear that Muslim terrorists will blow up four subway lines simultaneously during rush hour (the cops have busted up a few plots); what's harder to shake is the fear that we'll be caught in drug-gang crossfire or that a bullet will go through a window or pierce the siding of the house and kill our kids in their bedrooms.
For some of us, the nighttime din of ten or 15 men shouting and cursing at the top of their lungs for hours at a stretch and pushing one another into the street is a form of terror especially if we have to get up at 5:15 to go to work.
And now it seems that gangs of roving teens have been attacking people; law-abiding black citizens in that particular neighborhood are afraid to do their marketing.
A subset of the black population is doing a good job of dishing out some of their own terrorizing.
Which isn't to excuse bad cops. But if they're watching black people, at least here in Brooklyn, and I guess in the Bronx, they have good reason.
And I do not believe that most of our NYC police officers can be considered "terrorists."
Let the cops in rural America watch out for gun-toting crazies and white supremacists. We have our own problems.
For some of us, the nighttime din of ten or 15 men shouting and cursing at the top of their lungs for hours at a stretch and pushing one another into the street is a form of terror especially if we have to get up at 5:15 to go to work.
And now it seems that gangs of roving teens have been attacking people; law-abiding black citizens in that particular neighborhood are afraid to do their marketing.
A subset of the black population is doing a good job of dishing out some of their own terrorizing.
Which isn't to excuse bad cops. But if they're watching black people, at least here in Brooklyn, and I guess in the Bronx, they have good reason.
And I do not believe that most of our NYC police officers can be considered "terrorists."
Let the cops in rural America watch out for gun-toting crazies and white supremacists. We have our own problems.
10
"A subset of the black population is doing a good job of dishing out some of their own terrorizing."
You got it. There is the fear that "I can't be safe in my body." If some of that comes from the police, like (it seems to me) the recent incident involving the University of Cincinnati police, then shame on those involved, but it doesn't all come from the police. There are neighborhoods and environments where people feel that they can't be safe in their bodies, and I don't think Mr. Blow would want to live in a neighborhood like that.
You got it. There is the fear that "I can't be safe in my body." If some of that comes from the police, like (it seems to me) the recent incident involving the University of Cincinnati police, then shame on those involved, but it doesn't all come from the police. There are neighborhoods and environments where people feel that they can't be safe in their bodies, and I don't think Mr. Blow would want to live in a neighborhood like that.
1
There is obviously some bad cops out there but 99% of these folks are awesome. Who else are you going to call if you are in trouble. To equate bad cops to terrorism is ridiculous, though. Maybe you should become a cop for a year and then let's hear if you hold the same opinion.
10
Is robbing a store, assaulting its owner then assaulting a police officer and trying to take his gun, also forms of terror?
12
You say "State violence, as epitomized in these cases by what people view as police abuses, conversely, has produced a specific feeling of terror, one that is inescapable and unavoidable." Really? Did you conveniently forget that the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson last year was prompted by Brown's having just physically assaulted or threatened a convenience store owner? Was Brown's unlawful and violent behavior unavoidable ? Give me a break. Your desperate attempt to steer attention away from community crime is pathetic.
13
Mr. Orchard, but Michael Brown was not the only black person shot by the police!
1
Good column. As you write, "How can I be safe in America if I can’t be safe in my body? It is a confrontation with a most discomforting concept: that there is no amount of righteous behavior, no neighborhood right enough, to produce sufficient security." We remember that Professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested on his front porch. "Blame the Blacks" seems to be instinctive with the police. The comments that urge Mr. Blow to focus on "black on black" crime are missing the main point: a law-abiding citizen who happens to be black should not be subject to random stops, shouldn't have to feel constantly under suspicion, threatened by the police, whose salaries, by the way, are paid for by his or her taxes. A real effort should be made in our cities to improve police training and to initiate programs to create better relations between law officers and minority communities.
3
Forty one people shot in south Chicago last weekend, two died. All were black, most were innocent bystanders. And you claim the police are terrorists? Seriously? Perhaps if parents stopped teaching their kids to defy cops and worship gangsters and rappers and athletes things would change. By the way, this type of defiance is the main causative factor in every single one of these deaths. When police say stop, stop. When police say get on the ground, get on the ground. And stop with the chip on the shoulder. My kids have been stopped by police. None have been shot or arrested. Not because of their race, but because they don't defy the police. Right now police have been targeted repeatedly. It happened in New York, it happened in Shreveport. Police know that most police deaths occur at traffic stops and domestic calls. So maybe if people stop acting like fools for their cameras on their phones and start cooperating things get better. In the meantime, Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, New York are all bastions of liberalism with Democrats in charge. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/08/13/not_news_unarmed_wh...
12
What Mr Blow says is 100% true. People do tend to deflect the issue here by using the black on black crime as a kind of dilution of responsibility or shell game. In larger historic context it is akin to the argument over slavery that African warlords and Arabs butchered, pillaged and enslaved Africans and brought them to market just as they had done and continue to do. So how can one place the blame for slavery at the doorstep of America?
Well it may be the case that there is blame to go around. But we are where we are, and the history of this nation is that among many other questionable acts America provided a very large market for human trafficking. And those humans now live here.
It may well be true that none of use were alive when all this happened and that whole line of whitewash logic. But the fact remains blacks have been trapped as an underclass, as have many migrants since, and they deserve to benefit from a better and more inclusive America.
Lead with love, not fallacious logic.
Well it may be the case that there is blame to go around. But we are where we are, and the history of this nation is that among many other questionable acts America provided a very large market for human trafficking. And those humans now live here.
It may well be true that none of use were alive when all this happened and that whole line of whitewash logic. But the fact remains blacks have been trapped as an underclass, as have many migrants since, and they deserve to benefit from a better and more inclusive America.
Lead with love, not fallacious logic.
4
Police abuse is, in fact, the worst form of terror. You are not afraid of a few unknown enemies; you must fear the very authorities who are supposed to keep you safe. Horror of all horrors!
4
Any accurate survey of urban black communities reports that the residents live in continual fear of crime. Their fear covers the full spectrum of crimes, from petty to violent. It colors every aspect of their daily life.
By any standard, they live in terror.
By any standard, they live in terror.
16
As well, they trust no one. NO ONE, particularly cops.
"State violence, as epitomized in these cases by what people view as police abuses, conversely, has produced a specific feeling of terror, one that is inescapable and unavoidable."
The state has -- and uses -- plenty of other ways to oppress black people, both before and after the police show up.
Many of the black residents of Ferguson, for instance, have been trapped in a hopeless, downward spiral of fees, fines, and jail time for minor traffic violations and other minor offenses.
When gang bangers and violent, opportunistic criminals steal the spotlight, they're stealing it from entire communities of ordinary folks whose lives are made harder, deliberately and systematically, by their own government.
The frustration that has been boiling over lately should, perhaps, come as no surprise. But it does seem to surprise many people who haven't been crushed by systemic racism and who can't believe that it actually exists right here in the bright and shiny home of American exceptionalism.
The state has -- and uses -- plenty of other ways to oppress black people, both before and after the police show up.
Many of the black residents of Ferguson, for instance, have been trapped in a hopeless, downward spiral of fees, fines, and jail time for minor traffic violations and other minor offenses.
When gang bangers and violent, opportunistic criminals steal the spotlight, they're stealing it from entire communities of ordinary folks whose lives are made harder, deliberately and systematically, by their own government.
The frustration that has been boiling over lately should, perhaps, come as no surprise. But it does seem to surprise many people who haven't been crushed by systemic racism and who can't believe that it actually exists right here in the bright and shiny home of American exceptionalism.
5
excellent points. I myself have been SHOCKED to read in the NYTIMES that
the number of police killings in the US every year is over 600, if I remember correctly. The victims are approximately 25% black and 75% white. Comparable numbers in Europe are Zero. We are losing so many people to guns in the hands of police and others, a constant drain on our body politic.
the number of police killings in the US every year is over 600, if I remember correctly. The victims are approximately 25% black and 75% white. Comparable numbers in Europe are Zero. We are losing so many people to guns in the hands of police and others, a constant drain on our body politic.
3
You have done a good job of describing what is going on, Mr. Blow, why the strong and emotional reaction by blacks to police officer excessive force against them and by the nation as a whole to the fear of terrorism. In both cases the reaction is illogical and must be redirected to a saner response. In other words, two wrongs don't make a right. You, as an established, well educated voice who has chosen to write often about this topic should in fact be a force for change-for focusing on the right thing. Okay, we white Americans get it that emotionally blacks fear the police, that they don't trust law enforcement, etc. But so what? The facts and logic should still prevail. Same with the terrorism issue. You would probably be the first to write against illogical fear of Muslims so why do you do the opposite where black folks and cops are concerned? You are just flaming the fire!
1
" People tend to kill people they know." With these words Blow attempts to domesticate black on black crime and normalize it in answer to the common white perception that blacks victimize themselves. Whites kill whites, too, as Blow points out. It's all in the family. Unfortunately missing from Blow's analysis is any statistical comparison between blacks and whites and other ethnic groups that would show that violence in the ghetto is no worse than it is in the suburbs or anywhere else. Also missing is any mention of the incidence of gang violence and drug addiction and the disintegration of the family as negative factors in life in the ghetto. Yet Blow uses his specious claims as his lead-in to what he thinks is the real problem-- police "terror." Really? Many blacks hate the gangs and want more of a police presence in their neighborhoods, not less. They hardly feel "terrorized" by police but by the gangs and their constant warfare which has killed many innocent people while sitting on their porches or watching TV in their living rooms. This is true terror and not some anti-police nonsense concocted by Blow so he can have a story line. Demonize the police, make it harder for them to do their job, and the neighborhoods will descend into absolute chaos.
9
I think it's also true that whites walk, while blacks go to jail ,or fall victim to violence. You can make stats say anything you want.
Here you go again. Part of the reason you get many negative comments is that you twist the facts. You say black people are more likely to be killed by blacks and whites by whites. True. However, blacks are twice as likely to kill whites as the other way around and commit 50 percent of the murders in the country. The study on jihadists is humorous because it is post 9/11. Move the study back a day and you obviously get a vastly different result. The sad thing is you do have a point. Cities that use petty offenses to line their pockets fall disproportionately on the poor. The drug laws need to be changed. And their have been way too many ugly police incidents. But, you slant things in such an obvious way that your good points get lost.
15
What a clueless comment. Even if you include 9/11, domestic gun violence is still 50 times worse than jihadist terrorism. Take your ideological blinkers off for a moment and you will see the light.
Plus the article is written in a confusing and rambling manner. Let us applaud the fact that everyone has a camera in hand these days and can document atrocities as they occur - these violent acts have been going on forever in this country but now they are out in the open immediately.
Sorry, but the study was not about gun violence in the U.S. which is an enormous problem. It was comparing jihadist killings to right wing killings.
1
Fatal gun deaths by police in 2015 in US were approaching 400 as of May 30; 1 in 6 were unarmed or had a toy gun according to Washington Post May 30th.
Fatal gun deaths by police in Britain to this date is 50 since 1900.
AS long as the US is awash in millions of guns it does not seem this violent culture will change. It does seem that the police are reacting to the real possibility that any person could be carrying a gun.
Unless some form of gun control reduces that threat, the police must find other ways of disabling threatening, unruly non-criminal persons be it through non-violent communication or not fatal means.
Fatal gun deaths by police in Britain to this date is 50 since 1900.
AS long as the US is awash in millions of guns it does not seem this violent culture will change. It does seem that the police are reacting to the real possibility that any person could be carrying a gun.
Unless some form of gun control reduces that threat, the police must find other ways of disabling threatening, unruly non-criminal persons be it through non-violent communication or not fatal means.
2
So there is a reign of terror by police against black people. Really? Just what constitutes this reign of terror?
>
Is it the fact that so many backs are killed by the police every year? If you look at the statistics, then you will find substantially more whites are killed every year by police and while the number of blacks killed is in a greater percentage than the percentage of the black community's population, it is at a rate lower than that at which blacks commit violent crimes. In other words, when compared at the rate of which each race commits violent crimes, blacks are killed at a rate lower than that of whites so where is the terror?
>
Perhaps you claim for this reign of terror is due to so many police in areas where poor blacks live. Well, think about it some more. The police are directed to go where the city council wants them to go and in a great many cities these councils are heavily populated by black leaders. They send the police to where crimes are being committed.
>
If you want to stop this so called reign of terror, how about going into the poor black community and get them to understand that there is no future is committing crimes. how about getting them to understand that drugs are bad, education is good and taking care of the children you fathered is the right thing to do?
>
Please stop defending the indefensible and please stop seeing race as the motive behind every rock. You are only making yourself look foolish.
>
Is it the fact that so many backs are killed by the police every year? If you look at the statistics, then you will find substantially more whites are killed every year by police and while the number of blacks killed is in a greater percentage than the percentage of the black community's population, it is at a rate lower than that at which blacks commit violent crimes. In other words, when compared at the rate of which each race commits violent crimes, blacks are killed at a rate lower than that of whites so where is the terror?
>
Perhaps you claim for this reign of terror is due to so many police in areas where poor blacks live. Well, think about it some more. The police are directed to go where the city council wants them to go and in a great many cities these councils are heavily populated by black leaders. They send the police to where crimes are being committed.
>
If you want to stop this so called reign of terror, how about going into the poor black community and get them to understand that there is no future is committing crimes. how about getting them to understand that drugs are bad, education is good and taking care of the children you fathered is the right thing to do?
>
Please stop defending the indefensible and please stop seeing race as the motive behind every rock. You are only making yourself look foolish.
11
Your penchant for examining statistics seems to stop when the statistic of black on white crime comes up, relative to numbers, most of the violent crime against white people comes from a less than 10% of the black populace. We, all of us have a problem. We need to address the reasons why this is fact. I'm all for Police reform. I say it was murder with many of the recent Police shootings, but calling the police terrorists, which you in so many words are doing, is outrageous. I'll take a cop over a thug any day. Not all black men are thugs, far from it, but the ones who are, have defenders in high places, and that is where the difference and problems lie. You have your racism niche carved out here Mr. Blow, I get it, but there's a fine line between journalism and rabble rousing. You could always team up with Sharpton if the writing gig gets boring.
11
Blow refuses to discuss the murders of white police officers by African Americans (Memphis, Louisiana, New York, for examples); he doesn't regard the daily murders in Baltimore and Chicago committed by African Americans as a problem. He is a one-trick pony who does a disservice to all African Americans by blaming the police for the cancer that eats away at African American urban neighborhoods. His solution is to demonize the police as terrorists and in doing so sounds very much like Obama demonizing those who oppose his Iran deal. It's no wonder that African Americans continue to suffer high rates of crime and unemployment and low rates of high school graduation. Blow and Obama offer them no solutions to their problems.
10
Police violence and racial bias in our states produce terror and fear in all people, not just Black Americans, Mr. Blow. We fear going to a multi-plex movie theatre or a mall because who knows what demented man is carrying a gun and bent on massacre? Traffic stops for minor infractions followed by Police killings have kudzued all over our country, mainly in the Southern States. Police are armed with power, unpredictability and guns, and gun homicides are ubiquitous in the US. It is inconceivable that the NRA and Gun Lobbies aren't gagged and duct-taped and are still allowed free rein to disseminate their ethos among gun addicts, buyers, sellers, dealers and anyone who believes the Second Amendment to the Constitution is what our forefathers in 1789 meant about carrying and using guns -a front-loading musket in a militia - not Semi-Auto pistols in an elementary school or church or movie house. Anti-terrorism begins at home. A righteous crusade is the only way for black Americans to bring home to all Americans the truth about home-grown terror being ubiquitously fomented against them. Passive aggression has been used for centuries against power-wielding police. Black lives matter! Passive aggression doesn't work, as it didn't work in such cases as Michael Brown's, the 18 year old black man who stole cigarillos from a 7/11, terrorized the storekeeper, walked down the center of the street and, not obeying the law, was shot dead by a white police officer in Ferguson. MO.
4
Mr. Blow, I cannot agree with some of the points you make to bolster your argument. If avoiding exposure to violent crime is as easy as warning children on who they associate with ..... why aren't more parents in urban areas doing this?? The statistics don't align with this idea, so either it's not as simple as you make it sound, or there are large numbers of negligent parents out there in the communities, or perhaps even a little of both.
Your mention of ownership of guns in the home is just a strae man argument not worthy of inclusion in this discussion. I haven't looked at the numbers on this, but I'm assuming the % of accidental intra-home shootings in black homes in urban areas is an insignificant blip compared to the # of violent crime shootings.
Care to comment on the article in the NYT recently on the young mother applying for section 8 housing? She said she didn't linger on her 1st floor for fear of being struck by a stray bullet. Now that is terror.
Your mention of ownership of guns in the home is just a strae man argument not worthy of inclusion in this discussion. I haven't looked at the numbers on this, but I'm assuming the % of accidental intra-home shootings in black homes in urban areas is an insignificant blip compared to the # of violent crime shootings.
Care to comment on the article in the NYT recently on the young mother applying for section 8 housing? She said she didn't linger on her 1st floor for fear of being struck by a stray bullet. Now that is terror.
11
"Community violence is a matter of intimacy and access?" My Blow, you might not have had the chance to step inside one of these communities for a long time. In my experience as community organizer in one of the worst neighborhoods, violence and drugs-wise, in New York City, I see and hear of convenience store burglaries, shooting and maiming of innocent bystanders by drive-by gang shootings, rape of pre-pubescent girls and women by strangers, etc. all the time. Take for instance, the crime that evidently led to the encounter between Michael Brown and Darren Wilson: convenient store violence. Teens walk in with guns and knives to rob and kill, if resisted, and menace owners with their physicality and ammunitions as on a majority of occasions the owners happen to be immigrants. What "form" of violence would this fall into? And why do you go on a rhetorical overdrive when black death at the hands of police happens, and hide behind fallacies when these kinds of non-intimate community violence takes place?
19
Let me see if I get this current Blow convolution: One wrong justifies another.
Cops aren't provocative terrorists. Cops aren't shooting one another. Cops aren't dealing drugs, or joining gangs.
They aren't lyiing down on busy streets, stopping traffic, shouting "Cops Lives Matter."
Thomas Merton put it this way, "If there is to be peace in the world, there first must be peace in my own heart."
Cops aren't provocative terrorists. Cops aren't shooting one another. Cops aren't dealing drugs, or joining gangs.
They aren't lyiing down on busy streets, stopping traffic, shouting "Cops Lives Matter."
Thomas Merton put it this way, "If there is to be peace in the world, there first must be peace in my own heart."
12
Most crime in France is by French on French. Same in England. Same in Ireland. So, most crime in any community is by members of that community against members of that community... Duh!
8
Mr Blow, you are incredibly naive. Do you really think young black men can escape violence by avoiding the wrong crowd or avoiding a particular corner? Right now In Baltimore, every corner is the wrong corner and the violence is often random and unavoidable. Your assertion that white on white crime, and black on black crime are statistically similar is absurd.
13
Charles Blow's assertion that virtually all murders are intraracial rather than interracial is correct. However, the data shows that blacks are quicker on the interracial trigger finger than whites. The FBI Uniform Crime Report (Expanded Homicide Data Table 6) shows that 409 blacks murdered whites while 189 whites (including Hispanics) murdered blacks in 2013, the most recent year for which data is available. Blacks make up only 13 percent of the population but commit about 68 percent of interracial murders.
In “On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City,” Alice Goffman describes how some poor black Philadelphia families simply shut themselves inside their homes to avoid being ensnared in the crime culture. The never go outside their homes except for work, school or shopping, which they do in white neighborhoods. Not everyone hangs out on the corner.
In “On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City,” Alice Goffman describes how some poor black Philadelphia families simply shut themselves inside their homes to avoid being ensnared in the crime culture. The never go outside their homes except for work, school or shopping, which they do in white neighborhoods. Not everyone hangs out on the corner.
While I agree that police abuse, especially if it is found to be systematic, can be a form of terror, it should also be said that a systematic criminal element (no matter the race) should also qualify as a form of terror. Neighborhoods, and in particular inner-city neighborhoods, are being terrorized. Changes to systematic police abuse must occur, but failure to effectively address crime in in systematically plagued areas is simply ignoring another element of terror as well.
2
Based on Mr. Blow's analysis, because there have been no hijackings of a US airline in well over a decade, all the effort put into airport security is misguided.
11
Police brutality is ubiquitous and not to be tolerated.
They often get away with murder.
That said, black on black crime, including frequent murders of innocent bystanders, not friends, associates and family members as you suggest, is an even larger form of terrorism than that caused by police.
I invite you to go to the Chicago Tribune website every morning for one year.
Virtually evert day the lead story is the number of black on black shootings over night.
The two issues are unrelated.
They both need to be addressed.
It is a serious editorial mistake to play down black on black violence/terrorism.
Spike Lee gets it.
So should you.
They often get away with murder.
That said, black on black crime, including frequent murders of innocent bystanders, not friends, associates and family members as you suggest, is an even larger form of terrorism than that caused by police.
I invite you to go to the Chicago Tribune website every morning for one year.
Virtually evert day the lead story is the number of black on black shootings over night.
The two issues are unrelated.
They both need to be addressed.
It is a serious editorial mistake to play down black on black violence/terrorism.
Spike Lee gets it.
So should you.
7
Another wonderful and thought-provoking column, Mr. Blow. Sadly I think that one answer to the question you pose in the last paragraph could be that 9/11 was seen as an attack by an "other" on America. Likewise this violence and terror directed at black Americans in this country is widely seen as a set of issues faced by an other since whiteness is considered by many as the default for America--a kind of raceless normalcy.
While there may be a concurrent issue of different groups being divided-and-conquered by the more powerful as you observe, I think that the long history of African-Americans in this country is the larger part of this story. And as previous commenter suggested including a more forceful response to the issue of black-on-black crime, I think this can be done also by keeping the focus on the larger historical context for all of this.
It's important to keep this discussion alive and a part of the wider American news coverage and discourse. Hopefully we will avoid Baghdad-like outcomes and reach something more peaceful and better for all. Soon.
While there may be a concurrent issue of different groups being divided-and-conquered by the more powerful as you observe, I think that the long history of African-Americans in this country is the larger part of this story. And as previous commenter suggested including a more forceful response to the issue of black-on-black crime, I think this can be done also by keeping the focus on the larger historical context for all of this.
It's important to keep this discussion alive and a part of the wider American news coverage and discourse. Hopefully we will avoid Baghdad-like outcomes and reach something more peaceful and better for all. Soon.
2
Everyone needs to stop committing crimes
1
Is it terrorism? It is to us, the parents of Black children and young Black women and men. Even if our children do not wear baggie pants or caps or the wrong colors and are respectful we still have that fear that they will walk down the wrong staircase and be killed instantly and with impunity. In a society where whites dressed like bikers or survivalists or in riot gear open carry our children cannot even play with plastic guns. Even in our homes we are not secure when the police can erroneously invade our homes and shoot our young girls in the head because they woke them up and they sleepily sat up. Do we live in terror? Yes and it is spreading. If you allow violence and defend violence against one group others will fall to it. There are more and more incidents where unarmed Latinos and Whites are being killed by the police.
People ask why this is happening to Blacks, saying Blacks are just complaining and the kids being killed deserved it. Well one again 50 years later we are back to allowing this to have happened to Black people and it bleeds over to other groups. Demonstrations begun by Black in the 60's were picked up by young Whites and was criticized by White America until Kent State when White America watched unarmed middle class White children shot down by the police. We have come full circle. I guess it will take the wanton killing of a few White college students to wake America up again to it's state violence.
People ask why this is happening to Blacks, saying Blacks are just complaining and the kids being killed deserved it. Well one again 50 years later we are back to allowing this to have happened to Black people and it bleeds over to other groups. Demonstrations begun by Black in the 60's were picked up by young Whites and was criticized by White America until Kent State when White America watched unarmed middle class White children shot down by the police. We have come full circle. I guess it will take the wanton killing of a few White college students to wake America up again to it's state violence.
3
It isn't just abuse. It's an iron fist that even the most law abiding fear. Seeing police as protectors is one thing, that's appropriate. But fearing that one wrong word or move will incur their wrath is a police state. That's not the way it used to be, but it is now.
2
When a police abuse occurs,it needs to be addressed by the justice system.
When a violent criminal such as Michael Brown attacks a police officer and is used as a symbol of injustice by protesters and activists,the argument is lost.
When a violent criminal such as Michael Brown attacks a police officer and is used as a symbol of injustice by protesters and activists,the argument is lost.
11
America has evolved.
Legalized slavery of black people
Emancipation of black people while southern states continued to in effect, enslaved them with a corrupt judicial/criminal system
Open in-your-face Jim Crow laws to keep black people in a second class
More subtle institutional segregation to keep black people from full opportunity to live an American dream
Abusive policing to arrest, imprison, terrorize black communities
What's next?
Legalized slavery of black people
Emancipation of black people while southern states continued to in effect, enslaved them with a corrupt judicial/criminal system
Open in-your-face Jim Crow laws to keep black people in a second class
More subtle institutional segregation to keep black people from full opportunity to live an American dream
Abusive policing to arrest, imprison, terrorize black communities
What's next?
2
In the absence of any real sense about what to do about the problem, we just repeat what we believe the problem to be, which is the use of an excess of force by police in dealing with blacks. We get that part. The part we do not understand, and maybe never will, is what to do about it. It is hard to believe that the police would use force, if they did not feel themselves to be in danger, else wise the explanation becomes that their use of force is of the sporting kind, which it may well be. After all, the underlying suggestion is that white cops shoot black people because of their color, that black lives don't matter. At a glance, it is obviously a case of two wrongs not making a right, since in none of these cases does either side appear to be innocent. There is simply no doubt that some communities are seen as more dangerous than others. Why is that? Hmmm! I do not know of any community where whites are killing each other in greater or even similar numbers than what we see in certain black communities. I am no expert, but this is what the news is reporting So, the question really should be, How do we deal with communities that are perceived as more dangerous or violent? Rather than the answer being, more or greater force, it should be something else, and what should that be? Tasers? I doubt not. Not very effective, when someone pulls a gun. Unless effective means can be defined and practiced that deals with that potential situation, it is all just talk and no action.
1
Let's be honest here. 95% of police officers who carry a gun will never fire that gun except during training. Of the remaining 5% the vast majority of instances where a gun was used were fully justified. (If someone shoots at police, I think it's reasonable for the police to shoot back.)
Also, in every one of the recent cases, it's almost always the first time the officer has used his gun, so it's not like some police officers are going around shooting black people.
So as Mr. Blow notes, in the relatively rare instance where police violence is unjustified, let's punish the officer and protest the action. But let's not claim this is an endemic problem.
Also, in every one of the recent cases, it's almost always the first time the officer has used his gun, so it's not like some police officers are going around shooting black people.
So as Mr. Blow notes, in the relatively rare instance where police violence is unjustified, let's punish the officer and protest the action. But let's not claim this is an endemic problem.
6
The U.S. jails more people than any other country in the world, and about 5,000 die in those jails every year and about 1,000 are killed by police before their reach jail.
Houston, we have a problem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rate
Houston, we have a problem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rate
Community and State violence helped me conceptualize and find contrast in two headline issues confronting our society: Black on Black crime/murder verses police use of deadly force as a first option in confronting Black suspects; that usually, studies find, are targeted "driving while black, stop and frisking, which frequently has led to the shootings and other methods of death to unarmed black men across the country. Thanks for pointing that out.
Police abuses are not limited to black people, although proportionately they are abused by police at a higher rate.
Blow's columns focus on matters impacting black people, so I wouldn't expect him to consider the broader view of the problem.
However we've seen police being used against all sorts of people. NYC is under investigation for its police targeting and infiltrating religious minority groups without probable cause. The city also has paid large settlements for the unlawful detention of peaceful protesters.
White males also represent by far the largest group shot dead by police every year. Here's a recent case of a young white man, unarmed, who was shot dead by an officer during a drug bust.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/06/an-unarmed-...
Didn't know about it? Well his death doesn't fit the convention narrative these days. See he was not black, so his life doesn't matter at least according to the press.
Blow's columns focus on matters impacting black people, so I wouldn't expect him to consider the broader view of the problem.
However we've seen police being used against all sorts of people. NYC is under investigation for its police targeting and infiltrating religious minority groups without probable cause. The city also has paid large settlements for the unlawful detention of peaceful protesters.
White males also represent by far the largest group shot dead by police every year. Here's a recent case of a young white man, unarmed, who was shot dead by an officer during a drug bust.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/06/an-unarmed-...
Didn't know about it? Well his death doesn't fit the convention narrative these days. See he was not black, so his life doesn't matter at least according to the press.
8
Of course - whites make up ~75% of the population, and so by default, they are going to by the top statistic on most measures of anything in the United States.
There is a difference between state violence and community violence but the level of violence within mostly poor black communities is significant and must be part of the conversation on the proper response by the state.
From the Atlantic: 'The numbers are staggering. From 1980 to 2013, 262,000 black males were killed in America. By contrast, roughly 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam...The killers of these men were, in the vast majority of cases, other African American men.'
Honestly what is the state and society supposed to do with that?
We have poured trillions of dollars into anti-poverty programs, affirmative action and other preferencial hiring programs and some of it has worked but there is a intractible part of the population that is seemingly unreachable. Continued talk of 'root causes' seems to be the real deflection.
Are we just supposed to ignore it and hope it doesn't effect the greater society? Keep pouring more money in at the expense of what else? And how is being afraid of that level of violence irrational?
And what happens when the state backs off? Community violence increases.
Until these communities take control of themselves, there is no progress. Community violence must be part of the conversation if we want real change and not just posturing or political opportunism.
From the Atlantic: 'The numbers are staggering. From 1980 to 2013, 262,000 black males were killed in America. By contrast, roughly 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam...The killers of these men were, in the vast majority of cases, other African American men.'
Honestly what is the state and society supposed to do with that?
We have poured trillions of dollars into anti-poverty programs, affirmative action and other preferencial hiring programs and some of it has worked but there is a intractible part of the population that is seemingly unreachable. Continued talk of 'root causes' seems to be the real deflection.
Are we just supposed to ignore it and hope it doesn't effect the greater society? Keep pouring more money in at the expense of what else? And how is being afraid of that level of violence irrational?
And what happens when the state backs off? Community violence increases.
Until these communities take control of themselves, there is no progress. Community violence must be part of the conversation if we want real change and not just posturing or political opportunism.
2
• This to me has always felt like a deflection, a juxtaposition meant to use one problem to drown out another.
It's the American Way, offering excuses rather than solutions.
“Humans see what they want to see.” ~ RICK RIORDAN (b. 1964) American author.
It's the American Way, offering excuses rather than solutions.
“Humans see what they want to see.” ~ RICK RIORDAN (b. 1964) American author.
The murder rate will never be zero, it is part of the human condition, Mr. Blow describes this. Most murder victim know their killer, it is mundane everyday killing. Where Mr. Blows drops the ball is he extends this definition of murder to the astronomically high level of murder and violence to the community of young blacks males, explains it away as nothing extraordinary "Community Violence". Mr. Blows sets out to surgically separate the high violence and murder rates of young black males to the police interaction with members of this group. This is a foolish exercise and it lesson his overall argument.
There is without a doubt a direct level of increased police activity and force applied because of the level of violence in the community of young black males. This increased level of policing leads to increased cop on black youth violence because the police assume violence is likely. To continue Mr. Blows link to terrorist, a beat cop in Aleppo, Syria is going to assume he is interacting with ISSI when he stops a guy on the street and act according.
There is without a doubt a direct level of increased police activity and force applied because of the level of violence in the community of young black males. This increased level of policing leads to increased cop on black youth violence because the police assume violence is likely. To continue Mr. Blows link to terrorist, a beat cop in Aleppo, Syria is going to assume he is interacting with ISSI when he stops a guy on the street and act according.
8
I simply refuse to believe we can't develop a new approach to policing that protects the public and law enforcement.
We're stuck on a archaic paradigm of force and power, fear and intimidation, subservience and suspicion. We've such a divide between police and citizens that they become competing forces rather than assimilated as a community.
Law enforcement has an important and necessary role but I'd like to see it as an ally. A trusted and assimilated element providing a valuable and welcome service in our communities, where only the bad guys have something to fear and everyday citizens, particulary minorities, can confidently and without apprehension go about their lives unimpeded and freely.
When the average citizen, upon seeing a cop on the corner or in the rearview mirror, tightens up and becomes nervous as a matter of reflex, you can be certain that it's well past time to put our intellect and brainpower to work in developing a new model of policing for the 21st Century and beyond.
Disruption seems to be all the rage. Let's have at it as it pertains to policing in the modern world. Time for a New Deal.
We're stuck on a archaic paradigm of force and power, fear and intimidation, subservience and suspicion. We've such a divide between police and citizens that they become competing forces rather than assimilated as a community.
Law enforcement has an important and necessary role but I'd like to see it as an ally. A trusted and assimilated element providing a valuable and welcome service in our communities, where only the bad guys have something to fear and everyday citizens, particulary minorities, can confidently and without apprehension go about their lives unimpeded and freely.
When the average citizen, upon seeing a cop on the corner or in the rearview mirror, tightens up and becomes nervous as a matter of reflex, you can be certain that it's well past time to put our intellect and brainpower to work in developing a new model of policing for the 21st Century and beyond.
Disruption seems to be all the rage. Let's have at it as it pertains to policing in the modern world. Time for a New Deal.
2
"How is it that we can understand an extreme reaction by Americans as a whole to a threat of terror but demonstrate a staggering lack of that understanding when black people in America do the same?"
The difference is that the BLM movement accuses other Americans of crimes and motivations that most of us feel we are not guilty of. Yes, there have been recent examples of cops outright murdering unarmed black men (Scott). But those are extreme outliers. And the outliers don't prove the case against all cops or all white people just as the murderous behavior of a handful of young black men does not prove the case against all young black men.
You want it both ways - you want white, cop outliers to be accepted as proof of a systemic problem but you reject applying the same logic to young, black men outliers.
With the exception of Scott and maybe a one or two others, every video I have seen shows the "victim" making really bad decisions that played a major part in the tragedy. So if you want to be a black man and be safe from police terrorism there are some simple rules you could follow: don't have your hand on a gun (even if it is a toy) and don't try to take the officers', follow directions even when you think they are unfair, at a traffic stop don't put the car in drive and attempt to drive away. In general, don't make the cop feel like his/her safety is threatened. That really doesn't seem that hard or oppressive.
The difference is that the BLM movement accuses other Americans of crimes and motivations that most of us feel we are not guilty of. Yes, there have been recent examples of cops outright murdering unarmed black men (Scott). But those are extreme outliers. And the outliers don't prove the case against all cops or all white people just as the murderous behavior of a handful of young black men does not prove the case against all young black men.
You want it both ways - you want white, cop outliers to be accepted as proof of a systemic problem but you reject applying the same logic to young, black men outliers.
With the exception of Scott and maybe a one or two others, every video I have seen shows the "victim" making really bad decisions that played a major part in the tragedy. So if you want to be a black man and be safe from police terrorism there are some simple rules you could follow: don't have your hand on a gun (even if it is a toy) and don't try to take the officers', follow directions even when you think they are unfair, at a traffic stop don't put the car in drive and attempt to drive away. In general, don't make the cop feel like his/her safety is threatened. That really doesn't seem that hard or oppressive.
8
Charles Blow is on better ground when he focuses on militarized police rather than a general, and largely mythical white racism. But he ignores a key element in the situation: the people of poor communities who refuse to turn their cameras on local criminals as well as the police. That supine reaction to crime by communities that have either been cowed by local criminals, or are in league with them, leave the police with few options but to go in blind into violent situations. Not surprisingly, they go in as well armed as possible.
That's not good; it's often counterproductive. But the antidote has to come from the community. If they want police to act judiciously, then they have to point out the criminals. They can't cower in their homes and expect all to be well.
That's not good; it's often counterproductive. But the antidote has to come from the community. If they want police to act judiciously, then they have to point out the criminals. They can't cower in their homes and expect all to be well.
46
Mythical? How about of mythic proportion?
You ignore the tremendous amount of local work people do in their communities.
You ignore common sense: if someone is committing a crime and you film them, what are they going to do? Smile? I think not. It's odd to put the filming of cops on par with the filming of criminals. I thought they were "different"?
If you think cops come when called, you're insane. If you think that being seen talking to the police isn't a severe risk, you need to learn more.
You ignore common sense: if someone is committing a crime and you film them, what are they going to do? Smile? I think not. It's odd to put the filming of cops on par with the filming of criminals. I thought they were "different"?
If you think cops come when called, you're insane. If you think that being seen talking to the police isn't a severe risk, you need to learn more.
Yet again, Blow refuses to address the real issue in the black community of black on black murders. This police verses black issue is statistically non-existent ( 24 unarmed killings by police this year, most if not all justified) and it really infuriates me to see this type of article which just ignores the real issue. I am really not sure what Blow's motivation for this is, other than trying to create a furor in the black community to motivate voting. It is despicable because while he politics , black lives are lost en masse each week and Blow does nothing to help.
8
James, did you fail to read Mr. Blow's article, or to comprehend it? He addressed the issue of black on black murders head on and explained why it is a red herring.
All of America's firearms policy says that this is the wild west where the only law is the gun in your own hand. No wonder this country is so sick.
3
Far more Americans are crushed to death by televisions and domestic furniture each year than are killed by Islamic terrorists. We should therefore get over our irrational fear of ISIS and instead focus on the far more pressing real threat to our national security represented by improperly installed large screen televisions. See, Mr. Blow, if you try hard enough it is quite easy to find any old statistic, apply it completely out of context, and make a nice misleading comparison in an effort to justify whatever absurd political point you want to try to make.
9
We do not see the encounter situation where I live. It's Orange County. Still, I wonder why police departments do not use black police officers to patrol black neighborhoods. A troubled black youth who lives with serious racial issues in his soul will respond differently if the officer is black.--or so I am guessing.
I have to think that if Michael Brown had encountered a black police officer, he would very likely be alive today.
Am I wrong about this?
I have to think that if Michael Brown had encountered a black police officer, he would very likely be alive today.
Am I wrong about this?
Huge leap on your assumption so yes, you are wrong.
It was three black police officers that took Mr. Gray for "rough ride" in Baltimore.
You are wrong.
Terror? Here in Baltimore the level of "terror" felt law abiding citizens, both black and white, due to the police is nothing compared to the level due to young, black men. Children are gunned down here as collateral damage in the drug war. Promising young black men are gunned down in cases of mistaken identity. Law-abiding citizens in decent and even nicer areas of the city are afraid of walking outside by themselves after dark because of young black men, not because of the police. Young black men beat down lone white men walking down the street here for sport. Mr. Blow's racial hucksterism is only fueling the problem and he has blood on his hands, as does Baltimore's State's attorney Marilyn Mosby
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-mosby-role-20150812-...
P.S. Why no mention from the NYT about Freddie Gray's history of "crash for cash" scams involving the police?
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-gray-rec...
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-mosby-role-20150812-...
P.S. Why no mention from the NYT about Freddie Gray's history of "crash for cash" scams involving the police?
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-gray-rec...
10
I live and work in Washington DC, about 38 miles from Baltimore.
Marilyn J. Mosby has barely been on the job 6 months, has never tried a murder case or been a lead on a trial, yet she marches in, overcharges Baltimore cops with no oversight or guidance from the DOJ, and makes a bad situation worse.
When I worked for the DC Attorney General's Office, we saw hundreds of "crash for cash" "slip and fall in public places" "get hit by public vehicle" cases. Many of these cases attempted to invoke race as a smokescreen in lieu of actual evidence of gov't wrongdoing.
The most tragic aspect of what's happening in Baltimore is that we will never know the facts, because Baltimore's Black officials are determined to stop another Ferguson exoneration, even if it means putting their thumbs on the scales of justice.
Marilyn J. Mosby has barely been on the job 6 months, has never tried a murder case or been a lead on a trial, yet she marches in, overcharges Baltimore cops with no oversight or guidance from the DOJ, and makes a bad situation worse.
When I worked for the DC Attorney General's Office, we saw hundreds of "crash for cash" "slip and fall in public places" "get hit by public vehicle" cases. Many of these cases attempted to invoke race as a smokescreen in lieu of actual evidence of gov't wrongdoing.
The most tragic aspect of what's happening in Baltimore is that we will never know the facts, because Baltimore's Black officials are determined to stop another Ferguson exoneration, even if it means putting their thumbs on the scales of justice.
Police forces have always been charged with keeping the lower orders in their places. Before such forces became standard, army or yeomanry (well-ordered militia) were turned loose as needed. Cf. Peterloo, England, 1819. There a large crowd of peaceful protesters were charged by mounted forces in the name of the Crown. Later, the UK established police forces of different kinds. (Robert Peel’s forces were called Bobbies in England; Peelers, in Ireland). The Dublin Metropolitan Police was a semi-military force. There, in 1913, a mounted detachment charged and sabred striking workers.
Forms and appearances may change but the substance remains the same. There is a common delusion that at some point America was perfect, and “they” have wrecked it. America was and is a work in progress. To pretend it is or was perfect is to deny the need to work on it.
Police are hired guns and have rarely been friends of the poor. When it comes to crime, grand or petty, Brendan Behan’s description comes to mind: the terrorist is the one with the small bomb. The criminal is the one who steals the cigarellos not the one who steals jobs from workers.
Forms and appearances may change but the substance remains the same. There is a common delusion that at some point America was perfect, and “they” have wrecked it. America was and is a work in progress. To pretend it is or was perfect is to deny the need to work on it.
Police are hired guns and have rarely been friends of the poor. When it comes to crime, grand or petty, Brendan Behan’s description comes to mind: the terrorist is the one with the small bomb. The criminal is the one who steals the cigarellos not the one who steals jobs from workers.
2
Can't say any better than the headline "Police Abuse Is a Form of Terror"
1
Science has found that the frontal cortex of the male brain is not fully developed until they are about 25 years old. This is the decision part of our brains. Our prisons are full of young men and most murders are committed by young men. Society has to find a way to guide our youth through their vulnerable years. Also, maybe police officers carrying deadly weapons should be at least in their mid twenties too. Nature has pulled a trick on humans with this late brain development obstacle but we should find ways to compensate.
Charles, I understand your fear, as we have watched killing after suspicious killing and I wonder "what" if anything has infiltrated our police forces. But, having been in the depths of fear, twice in my life, be careful --- for fear alone can kill a person. I learned to fear God (which "God is love") which I am convinced is the key. When police learn to love and those that fear them learn to love, well, it will be better, because if you don't, you will be paying a fine to the Good Lord, and that won't be good.
"Black people are more likely to be killed by other black people. But white people are also more likely to be killed by other white people. The truth is that murders and other violent crimes are often crimes of intimacy and access. People tend to kill people they know."
Perhaps a small point, and not meant as a deflection, but black people kill black people at a rate approx. 5x greater than white people kill white people. It's not at all an even comparison, and the roots of that disparity - whether it derives from centuries of racism or other social and cultural issues, or a combination - desperately needs to be addressed for the safety of communities, and for better police-community relations. That excessive violence too often feeds the "them against us" mentality that cops bring to the streets.
The reason you hear this stat all the time is not a deflection. It's an uncomfortable fact that sits at the very heart of aggressive policing, particularly in minority communities. Cops know they have a far greater chance of running into violence in some communities than others, and it affects the way they behave, rightly or wrongly. There's lots that can be done to address it, but to deflect it, as YOU do, means we will never quite get to a peaceful solution with optimal police-community relations.
Perhaps a small point, and not meant as a deflection, but black people kill black people at a rate approx. 5x greater than white people kill white people. It's not at all an even comparison, and the roots of that disparity - whether it derives from centuries of racism or other social and cultural issues, or a combination - desperately needs to be addressed for the safety of communities, and for better police-community relations. That excessive violence too often feeds the "them against us" mentality that cops bring to the streets.
The reason you hear this stat all the time is not a deflection. It's an uncomfortable fact that sits at the very heart of aggressive policing, particularly in minority communities. Cops know they have a far greater chance of running into violence in some communities than others, and it affects the way they behave, rightly or wrongly. There's lots that can be done to address it, but to deflect it, as YOU do, means we will never quite get to a peaceful solution with optimal police-community relations.
12
When hope for a better future dies, so does everyone around the afflicted.
1
"The difference in people’s reactions to these different kinds of killings isn’t about an exaltation — or exploitation — of some deaths above others for political purposes"
Sorry, it clearly is just that. Consider that when blacks kill blacks, what we often hear most loudly from blacks is how the police failed to prevent it. The obviously ingrained habit of blaming The Man for everything is alive and well, as evidenced in this article, which is mainly an attempt to find a socially acceptable way to carry on the same habit.
"there is no amount of righteous behavior, no neighborhood right enough, to produce sufficient security."
This is clearly false too: Every single incident we've seen has been the consequence of unambiguous MISbehavior during an interaction with the police. If even you don't see this, it is strong evidence of something seriously wrong with the whole mental framework within which blacks blithely teach each other their dysfunction. Also consider how impervious to correction this is, when those like yourself labor night and day to place the blame elsewhere.
Sorry, it clearly is just that. Consider that when blacks kill blacks, what we often hear most loudly from blacks is how the police failed to prevent it. The obviously ingrained habit of blaming The Man for everything is alive and well, as evidenced in this article, which is mainly an attempt to find a socially acceptable way to carry on the same habit.
"there is no amount of righteous behavior, no neighborhood right enough, to produce sufficient security."
This is clearly false too: Every single incident we've seen has been the consequence of unambiguous MISbehavior during an interaction with the police. If even you don't see this, it is strong evidence of something seriously wrong with the whole mental framework within which blacks blithely teach each other their dysfunction. Also consider how impervious to correction this is, when those like yourself labor night and day to place the blame elsewhere.
9
Some people like to bait the cops. It's a blood sport akin to bull fighting. ... pretty edgy for sure.
Cops respond with terror. It's the most effective and economical means of dealing with an unruly mass of people.
I went to Catholic grade school in the 1940's and 50's; I remember it well, terror, that is.
Cops respond with terror. It's the most effective and economical means of dealing with an unruly mass of people.
I went to Catholic grade school in the 1940's and 50's; I remember it well, terror, that is.
2
"The black community’s response to this form of domestic terror has not been so different from America’s reaction to foreign terror."
Charles, I'm glad you you've addressed your critics who seem angry that your columns generally deal with race and, and lately police brutality and shootings. I've read numerous posters who seem angry you fixate on that, versus black on black crime.
But, while one is a given--poor neighborhoods often beget a culture of criminality due to gangs, robberies, lack of cultural role models--the recent spate of police shootings is relatively new. Every nine days--yes, every NINE days--there seems to occur a shooting identified as improper, uncalled for, and amazingly arbitrary. Always the same: a police stop of a black man or woman for a good or bad reason that "escalates"--oh, that amazing word so fraught with "shared responsibility" for the violence. And somebody lies dead.
So of course I understand the new shadow of fear you describe in ordinary African Americans who get in their cars to go watch a game, hang with their friends, attend a funeral, play in a park, walk in the street. And suddenly, the arm of the law swoops down with deadly consequences.
I can understand how fear of the state seems more visceral than fear of the community. The latter you can possibly avoid since behavior norms are predictable. But state violence in the form of a cop, well trained or a newbie, who shows up at your car door is totally unpredictable these days
Charles, I'm glad you you've addressed your critics who seem angry that your columns generally deal with race and, and lately police brutality and shootings. I've read numerous posters who seem angry you fixate on that, versus black on black crime.
But, while one is a given--poor neighborhoods often beget a culture of criminality due to gangs, robberies, lack of cultural role models--the recent spate of police shootings is relatively new. Every nine days--yes, every NINE days--there seems to occur a shooting identified as improper, uncalled for, and amazingly arbitrary. Always the same: a police stop of a black man or woman for a good or bad reason that "escalates"--oh, that amazing word so fraught with "shared responsibility" for the violence. And somebody lies dead.
So of course I understand the new shadow of fear you describe in ordinary African Americans who get in their cars to go watch a game, hang with their friends, attend a funeral, play in a park, walk in the street. And suddenly, the arm of the law swoops down with deadly consequences.
I can understand how fear of the state seems more visceral than fear of the community. The latter you can possibly avoid since behavior norms are predictable. But state violence in the form of a cop, well trained or a newbie, who shows up at your car door is totally unpredictable these days
7
What's saddest about this is that Operation Iraqi Freedom as well as our war in Afganistan have cost our nation some 6,000 lives and some 20,000 wounded. In Iraq, 170,000 Iraqis have been killed. All in the name of defending Americans against terror.
Yet the terror foisted upon our own citizens is far worse. The vast majority of the terror is caused, at bottom, by the War on Drugs and the presumption that black and brown people are using all the drugs and dealing them to all citizens. It's the premise used by police to acquire military weapons and federal grant dollars, ensuring all those veterans with no jobs have a place to go where they can continue fighting black and brown people. It's the premise used to set up revenue schemes like the ones in Ferguson.
And of course we see the carnage. Its in the millions of marginaized and ruined lives, and clipping along at about 700,000 new cases annually, 80% of which involve the same people. Black on black crime is a red herring intended to disguise the system created that encourages it. Everyone is incentivized to oppress when there's a $50 billion industry to fight over.
And yet, those drug warriors continue to insist that the status quo is better than seizing the entire market away from the criminals with ink, and placing it in the hands of vetted citizens. Want to take cops away from oppressive action? Legalize pot and remove the pretext used by so many racists to commit murder and all manner of black and brown oppression.
Yet the terror foisted upon our own citizens is far worse. The vast majority of the terror is caused, at bottom, by the War on Drugs and the presumption that black and brown people are using all the drugs and dealing them to all citizens. It's the premise used by police to acquire military weapons and federal grant dollars, ensuring all those veterans with no jobs have a place to go where they can continue fighting black and brown people. It's the premise used to set up revenue schemes like the ones in Ferguson.
And of course we see the carnage. Its in the millions of marginaized and ruined lives, and clipping along at about 700,000 new cases annually, 80% of which involve the same people. Black on black crime is a red herring intended to disguise the system created that encourages it. Everyone is incentivized to oppress when there's a $50 billion industry to fight over.
And yet, those drug warriors continue to insist that the status quo is better than seizing the entire market away from the criminals with ink, and placing it in the hands of vetted citizens. Want to take cops away from oppressive action? Legalize pot and remove the pretext used by so many racists to commit murder and all manner of black and brown oppression.
3
"People are often able to understand and contextualize community violence and, therefore, better understand how to avoid it. A parent can say to a child: Don’t run with that crowd, or hang out on that corner or get involved with that set of activities."
Guess what Charles, the same goes for police killings. Avoid crime, avoid interactions with the police. How many arrests did Garner have, how many arrests did Gray have, how many times was DuBose cited for driving without a license, arrested for drugs? And ask the innocent kids who have been gunned down in the crossfire here in Baltimore this year if your strategy holds up? Or the promising young healthcare worker gunned down at the bus stop in a case of mistaken identity.
Guess what Charles, the same goes for police killings. Avoid crime, avoid interactions with the police. How many arrests did Garner have, how many arrests did Gray have, how many times was DuBose cited for driving without a license, arrested for drugs? And ask the innocent kids who have been gunned down in the crossfire here in Baltimore this year if your strategy holds up? Or the promising young healthcare worker gunned down at the bus stop in a case of mistaken identity.
12
Too many extremely vocal people believe that their right to own a gun is enshrined in the second amendment. They don't read the part about a well regulated militia. All they see are the words "right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed". This makes all gun killings of minorities by whites okay. It makes passing concealed carry laws okay. It means that arming teachers sounds reasonable. It also means that police officers who are not well trained or suited to be police officers, have and use their guns to kill when not necessary. The best officers view their guns as a last resort.
Since 9/11/2001 Americans have neglected the country's infrastructure, done an inefficient job on airport security, wasted time and money on going after people who were not threats while missing the real threats, refused to enforce gun control laws, and elected senators and representatives who prefer to strangle the government rather than let it work. If we are unhappy with the results we can change them by turning out to vote for different people. We can vote for those who will work and play with each other. We can ignore what big money wants. But we have to vote. We don't need people itching for a fight with another country or terrorist group. We have plenty to fight here: poverty, ill health, poor education, homelessness, hopelessness. Cliche though it is, we need to be strong internally to meet what the rest of the world throws at us.
Since 9/11/2001 Americans have neglected the country's infrastructure, done an inefficient job on airport security, wasted time and money on going after people who were not threats while missing the real threats, refused to enforce gun control laws, and elected senators and representatives who prefer to strangle the government rather than let it work. If we are unhappy with the results we can change them by turning out to vote for different people. We can vote for those who will work and play with each other. We can ignore what big money wants. But we have to vote. We don't need people itching for a fight with another country or terrorist group. We have plenty to fight here: poverty, ill health, poor education, homelessness, hopelessness. Cliche though it is, we need to be strong internally to meet what the rest of the world throws at us.
10
Courts have backed the Right to arm and defend time after time. It's not a whim of a fe people. It is a Right.
Mr. Blow hit on an excellent point about terror inflicted by police in African American communities. When folks talk about the murders in those communities, the big difference is that gangs are not paid by tax payers to serve and protect us, they are criminals.
Go back and look at the violence inflicted on peaceful protesters by police, as they walked across the Edmund Pettus bridge in Ala. in 1965. This violence was not unusual at that time and not unusual for today.
Go back and look at the violence inflicted on peaceful protesters by police, as they walked across the Edmund Pettus bridge in Ala. in 1965. This violence was not unusual at that time and not unusual for today.
38
One half century ago, please find new material.
Regarding those who mention that black-on-black violence kills many, many more young black men than does questionable police shootings, a multiple of at least 70 times and probably close to 100 times, Mr. blow writes:
"This to me has always felt like a deflection, a juxtaposition meant to use one problem to drown out another."
Actually, I think he has it reversed, the infrequent yet highly publicized police shootings are used to drown out the far more common and, let's face it, accepted by liberal opinion makers like Mr. Blow, black-on-black violence.
"This to me has always felt like a deflection, a juxtaposition meant to use one problem to drown out another."
Actually, I think he has it reversed, the infrequent yet highly publicized police shootings are used to drown out the far more common and, let's face it, accepted by liberal opinion makers like Mr. Blow, black-on-black violence.
80
There is a black on black culture of violence depicting the low value they place on life. Rap lyrics are their conscience.
Blow's dissection of this is clear. Yours is further deflection. Gun violence in marginalized communities is a segment of gun violence in the U.S. as a whole. Police violence in marginalized communities is a major part of police violence as a whole. And police get to get away with their violence because of individuals like you who would rather blame the victim. Black people pay taxes, and should get as much value for their dollars as white people do. But they don't.
1
No. Police shootings are not used to "drown out" anything. They are unacceptable on any level when they occur without justification. So, too, are shootings by wives of husbands, fathers of sons, neighbors of neighbors, but we can't stop those random acts of violence that spring from an irrational source within all of us.
The right wing message is: why are you so concerned about police shooting a few people when blacks kill thousands of blacks?
The decent, human message in a just, safe and stable society is: any unjustified killing of a human being by another is unacceptable. Killings by authority figures who abuse their powers are ten times worse, because they instill constant fear and create the conditions for a police state in which freedom evaporates like the morning fog.
The right wing message is: why are you so concerned about police shooting a few people when blacks kill thousands of blacks?
The decent, human message in a just, safe and stable society is: any unjustified killing of a human being by another is unacceptable. Killings by authority figures who abuse their powers are ten times worse, because they instill constant fear and create the conditions for a police state in which freedom evaporates like the morning fog.
1
It seems to me that Ta-Nehisi Coates connects the two forms of violence as part of the same thing in Between the World and Me. In particular he seems pretty pessimistic about the idea that community violence can be easily avoided. Would be curious as to your thoughts on that.
5
The major flaw to the premise of your argument in comparing "police abuse as a form of terror" to young black men being killed by other young black men is "intention".
If you believe police are "intentionally " hunting down young black men, that is your right to think in those terms, but most people probably would not agree. Yet it does appear when a young black male is killed by another, usually the killing was "intentional" , perhaps not directly but when the victim of a shooting was just an innocent by stander, the shooter had the intention to kill someone....
If you believe police are "intentionally " hunting down young black men, that is your right to think in those terms, but most people probably would not agree. Yet it does appear when a young black male is killed by another, usually the killing was "intentional" , perhaps not directly but when the victim of a shooting was just an innocent by stander, the shooter had the intention to kill someone....
43
Intention matters not a wit. It's the results that matter. What good does apologizing after the fact when someone is gunned down? And if you think racism is not a factor, you haven't lived in a black neighjborhood.
I have worked with police to improve community relations. Have you even tried to see cops as people too? Your rhetoric only teaches the young to confront legitimate authority.
My approach demonstrated effectiveness in less than a year. What are you accomplishing by resorting to the term, "terrorism"?
My approach demonstrated effectiveness in less than a year. What are you accomplishing by resorting to the term, "terrorism"?
54
Fredda,
Mr Blow is not talking about police, he is talking about police abuse." Here in Canada police are educated, well paid and live secure middle class lives. I remember living in Chicago where the police were working class and lived in working class neighbourhoods and their children attended working class schools. Economic segregation is still segregation and creates an us and them mentality.
America has made a choice and in New York police and firemen live on Statten Island not in Park Slope. Here in Canada police and firemen live next door and join us at PTA meetings and run for parliament. How many police officers were at your last community Seder?
Mr Blow is not talking about police, he is talking about police abuse." Here in Canada police are educated, well paid and live secure middle class lives. I remember living in Chicago where the police were working class and lived in working class neighbourhoods and their children attended working class schools. Economic segregation is still segregation and creates an us and them mentality.
America has made a choice and in New York police and firemen live on Statten Island not in Park Slope. Here in Canada police and firemen live next door and join us at PTA meetings and run for parliament. How many police officers were at your last community Seder?
I lived in Brooklyn as well in a black neighborhood. I worked with community organizations and went to police seminars. It didn't change things much. When you are arrested in front of your own home, like I was, for asking an officer politely to identify himself, and then spent 3 years trying to extricate myself from false charges while the DA colluded with the cops, you would understand. And I am white. Nothing changed for me. The system is badly broken.
Gangs are a form of terror.
81
In present times there are more black Americans not threatened, hurt, or killed during interactions with police than are. And there are more black Americans who never have altercations with police than do. Identifying why and the factors that make the difference between those two groups could provide important guidelines that would add more people of color to the column who never have conflict with police. If one person can accomplish that anyone with raised awareness and necessary knowledge and information also can And it seems to me that focusing on improvement in behavior by not only police but also the other side of the coin is the only way to change unacceptable dynamics and move positively forward.
24
Mr. Blow,
It is pure unbridled terror, orchestrated throughout the nation, and quietly encouraged by those who have the power to stop it.
It is nurtured, in an almost second natured way, and continued, in spite of worldwide media coverage, and the sole reason it is successful, is because these United States were built on the back of an innate philosophy, wherein the wealthy were entitled to own other human beings, slavery.
Since those days, while outwardly America professes to be a nation of tolerance, and liberty, the opposite is the reality across the board.
Fear is now routinely engendered, mostly among our minority brothers and sisters; it is a tool used to subjugate, to increase and continue a master / servant culture, and to increase and continue the historic inequality that is visible to even the most obtuse.
Try talking about this reality, and watch the uncomfortable reaction, one almost becomes a pariah, avoided lest those in executive leadership roles take note and retaliate.
I spoke with a Pakistani acquaintance, to learn how law enforcement operates in Pakistan; he is terrified of what we've become, and indicates he fears American law enforcement, and feels safer on the streets of any Pakistani city, insofar as the police are concerned.
We talk a great story here in the land of the "Free and the Brave", but regrettably, it's a fairytale.
It is pure unbridled terror, orchestrated throughout the nation, and quietly encouraged by those who have the power to stop it.
It is nurtured, in an almost second natured way, and continued, in spite of worldwide media coverage, and the sole reason it is successful, is because these United States were built on the back of an innate philosophy, wherein the wealthy were entitled to own other human beings, slavery.
Since those days, while outwardly America professes to be a nation of tolerance, and liberty, the opposite is the reality across the board.
Fear is now routinely engendered, mostly among our minority brothers and sisters; it is a tool used to subjugate, to increase and continue a master / servant culture, and to increase and continue the historic inequality that is visible to even the most obtuse.
Try talking about this reality, and watch the uncomfortable reaction, one almost becomes a pariah, avoided lest those in executive leadership roles take note and retaliate.
I spoke with a Pakistani acquaintance, to learn how law enforcement operates in Pakistan; he is terrified of what we've become, and indicates he fears American law enforcement, and feels safer on the streets of any Pakistani city, insofar as the police are concerned.
We talk a great story here in the land of the "Free and the Brave", but regrettably, it's a fairytale.
28
Well, I know a lot of Pakistanis as well, from working overseas, and their country is a mess with random bombings and killings. Each one of them would move to Canada or the United States in a heartbeat, if they could.
Your fantasy theory is obviously a personal cultural value. I recommend that you work hard, go back to school if necessary and attempt to be an example of correctness and appropriateness for others.
Mr Blow is right that police violence, ranging from casual bullying to the use of deadly force, applied to people without meaningful provocation is not only morally wrong, it undermines our faith in our way of life.
There is no excuse for the behavior of bad cops and they must be exposed, held accountable and punished.
While bad cops are a threat to all Americans, black Americans are targeted more frequently than white Americans by the police.
Therein lies the thorniest aspect of the problem, given the reality of crime, especially violent crime, committed in this country. Mr Blow is somewhat disingenuous in his claim that whites kill whites just like blacks kill blacks. A rudimentary understanding of statistics clearly shows that black men commit violent crime at rates that are a multiple of other races, both intra and inter racial crime.
That said, abhorrent police behavior cannot be tolerated in our country.
You just cannot view the videos of the police shootings of Tamir Rice or Walter Scott without revulsion. You just cannot view the videos of the NYC cop who verbally abused and threatened the Uber cab driver earlier this year without revulsion. Badges do not confer upon cops the right to abuse citizens. It must be stopped.
When journalists such as Mr Blow stop conflating the incidents of the Michael Browns with the tragedies of Tamir Rice, we will have a much more productive conversation on this matter.
There is no excuse for the behavior of bad cops and they must be exposed, held accountable and punished.
While bad cops are a threat to all Americans, black Americans are targeted more frequently than white Americans by the police.
Therein lies the thorniest aspect of the problem, given the reality of crime, especially violent crime, committed in this country. Mr Blow is somewhat disingenuous in his claim that whites kill whites just like blacks kill blacks. A rudimentary understanding of statistics clearly shows that black men commit violent crime at rates that are a multiple of other races, both intra and inter racial crime.
That said, abhorrent police behavior cannot be tolerated in our country.
You just cannot view the videos of the police shootings of Tamir Rice or Walter Scott without revulsion. You just cannot view the videos of the NYC cop who verbally abused and threatened the Uber cab driver earlier this year without revulsion. Badges do not confer upon cops the right to abuse citizens. It must be stopped.
When journalists such as Mr Blow stop conflating the incidents of the Michael Browns with the tragedies of Tamir Rice, we will have a much more productive conversation on this matter.
24
It's terrifying, but not terrorism. The terrorist seeks to disrupt society. It's the intention of these police to control, dominate, and enforce unquestioning obedience without regard to the virtue of power. That's totalitarianism, and that's how the current police mindset relates to the state's abuse of surveillance, and the erosion of civil liberties for everybody and particularly prisoners, whether in upstate New York or Guantánamo.
I hate to use the other N-word, but as historical and present victims of oppression black Americans are scapegoats in the way that Jews were in 1930s Germany. If you doubt it, look at the Oath Keepers in the streets of Ferguson. Large threatening white men wearing pseudo-military gear and carrying semi-automatic weapons to "keep order"—this is apparently OK, while black people protesting injustice is not. It's OK to threaten to start shooting into a crowd, not OK to throw a rock through a window in angry protest.
I hate to use the other N-word, but as historical and present victims of oppression black Americans are scapegoats in the way that Jews were in 1930s Germany. If you doubt it, look at the Oath Keepers in the streets of Ferguson. Large threatening white men wearing pseudo-military gear and carrying semi-automatic weapons to "keep order"—this is apparently OK, while black people protesting injustice is not. It's OK to threaten to start shooting into a crowd, not OK to throw a rock through a window in angry protest.
20
I have yet to see black rounded up en masse, loaded into boxcars and shipped to camps to be gassed. You trivialize the Holocaust.
I can't speak for others, but my point has never been to justify excessive violence by the police, which I've repeatedly condemned. Rather, I've tried to point out that it makes no sense to focus on the latter problem to the exclusion of the former, much worse one.
Your write that "Statistically, the sentiment is correct: Black people are more likely to be killed by other black people. But white people are also more likely to be killed by other white people." But that's misleading, because it ignores the much higher levels of violence in the black community -- particularly among young inner city men.
You also ignore the fact that much of the pressure on and misbehavior by the police is a consequence of criminality in poor black communities. Most of the police killings have followed on atrocious behavior -- resisting arrest, running away, attacking the police officer, and in one case a woman who was so obnoxious and uncooperative that most of us would have strangled her with our bare hands.
This is not to justify the behavior of the police -- as professionals, they are held to a higher standard than civilians and should be held accountable for overreaction. But it is to say that the door swings both ways and that I see a lot of complaints about the very few police shootings and far fewer about the carnage that occurs outside my own door as young men shoot and stab one another in the street, or the high rates of crime that focus police attention on these communities.
Your write that "Statistically, the sentiment is correct: Black people are more likely to be killed by other black people. But white people are also more likely to be killed by other white people." But that's misleading, because it ignores the much higher levels of violence in the black community -- particularly among young inner city men.
You also ignore the fact that much of the pressure on and misbehavior by the police is a consequence of criminality in poor black communities. Most of the police killings have followed on atrocious behavior -- resisting arrest, running away, attacking the police officer, and in one case a woman who was so obnoxious and uncooperative that most of us would have strangled her with our bare hands.
This is not to justify the behavior of the police -- as professionals, they are held to a higher standard than civilians and should be held accountable for overreaction. But it is to say that the door swings both ways and that I see a lot of complaints about the very few police shootings and far fewer about the carnage that occurs outside my own door as young men shoot and stab one another in the street, or the high rates of crime that focus police attention on these communities.
51
"I can't speak for others, but my point has never been to justify excessive violence by the police, which I've repeatedly condemned. Rather, I've tried to point out that it makes no sense to focus on the latter problem to the exclusion of the former, much worse one."
Amen, amen I say to you. Seriously, Josh, I think we need to address the "much worse one." But, haven't we attempted to do this?
Amen, amen I say to you. Seriously, Josh, I think we need to address the "much worse one." But, haven't we attempted to do this?
Police are NOT held to a higher standard, that is the crux of the problem. They have the power of life and death and can turn your law-abiding life upside down on a whim. People want the police to be held accountable as any ordinary citizen would be. For you to say this shows how little you have been following events.
Thug and gang violence is terror, and the police confront this every day at their peril.
79
So that means police killing innocent black people is ok? Terrorism to defeat terrorism? I'm not sure what the point of your statement is otherwise?
I think many white Americans trust the police to be "better" than the population at large and to use their power wisely always. That trust has apparently been misplaced, judging from the evidence. Police apparently are flawed human beings just like everybody else, and as such, should not be given so much power as to be able to terrorize some of the people they are entrusted to protect, it seems to me. That the police terrorize black Americans is an important issue. The larger fact that we have given the police the wherewithal to terrorize is the context. White people could view the problems with how police deal with black Americans as indicative of the risk we all share. We should all see it in the interests of all of us that we change and improve how police deal with black Americans. As we do that, we should also pay more attention to continuing to change and improve how majority white Americans in America deal with minority black Americans in America -- that the policing problem has manifested in how police deal with black Americans did not come out of, and is not sustained out of, nowhere, it seems to me.
10
The "evidence" is overwhelmingly in favor of the police. The few cases in which they have violated that trust, while highly significant because of their deadly results, is small compared to the number of daily interactions the police have with civilians.
No citizen should live in fear of police; however, criminals should most definitely have some fear. From some recent high profile cases, it appears that residents of those communities have little regard for the police, openly defying their instructions. In Mr. Garner's case, he literally swatted them away with his hand. (This did not justify the takedown maneuver or the way he was treated when down, both of which violated protocols.) Mr. Brown swatted away the owner in whose store he had just helped himself without paying. Then Mr. Brown and his friend disregarded the police instructions to move to the side.
While you are understandably concerned with police aggression because of your family, and I sympathize with you as a mother, I am also concerned that we have reached a point where the police are routinely disregarded. This is a very dangerous situation for everyone because (a) the police seem ill-equipped to deal with civilians who openly defy them and (b) a lack of respect for authority, especially police, encourages lawlessness.
That people would use these recent cases to justify even more disregard for police is not a positive outcome, in my opinion.
No citizen should live in fear of police; however, criminals should most definitely have some fear. From some recent high profile cases, it appears that residents of those communities have little regard for the police, openly defying their instructions. In Mr. Garner's case, he literally swatted them away with his hand. (This did not justify the takedown maneuver or the way he was treated when down, both of which violated protocols.) Mr. Brown swatted away the owner in whose store he had just helped himself without paying. Then Mr. Brown and his friend disregarded the police instructions to move to the side.
While you are understandably concerned with police aggression because of your family, and I sympathize with you as a mother, I am also concerned that we have reached a point where the police are routinely disregarded. This is a very dangerous situation for everyone because (a) the police seem ill-equipped to deal with civilians who openly defy them and (b) a lack of respect for authority, especially police, encourages lawlessness.
That people would use these recent cases to justify even more disregard for police is not a positive outcome, in my opinion.
39
No, statistically the police as a whole are far above the people they have to protect us from.
2
Why do more civilized countries kill so many fewer of their citizens each year and are so much happier for it? America's problem is it is awash with violence, and the catch-22 is the violent people reflect their violent authorities, and visa-versa. Hollywood then capitilizes on dead American bodies in their cartoon-like propagandic movies about "good guys" and "bad guys". Our society creates these cartoon characters.
A free and fair society is not a violent police state where people are constanly talking about criminality of the citizens and weekly shootings of citizens by the public or the police.
Reality check- Forget Russia and China, the American people are the most criminalized society on the planet, and one of the most violent. The system therefore needs repair, needs to change. Peace.
A free and fair society is not a violent police state where people are constanly talking about criminality of the citizens and weekly shootings of citizens by the public or the police.
Reality check- Forget Russia and China, the American people are the most criminalized society on the planet, and one of the most violent. The system therefore needs repair, needs to change. Peace.
I am white. My feelings about black people were put to the test many years ago when I gave a black girl a ride to a bar. I insisted on escorting her in in spite of her saying it was not necessary.
This, it turned out, was a mistake as I was followed out of the bar by a tall black man. I thought he had something to say but he remained silent. Instead he began punching me. I ran. He followed for a short time.
This was my first and only experience with racism directed against me but it changed me. It transformed me from a do good philosophy to a realist about the world we live in.
Mr. Blow, If you really want to find a path to coexistence between the two races then it may be necessary to discourage interracial couples. Yes thai is unthinkable but it might work where nothing in the past ever has.
The alternative is more of the same, more blacks in jail, more blacks shot, more blacks living in poverty. Sir, many people, blacks as well as whites, are driven by deep seated feelings that may not be what we want of them but they are there.
The question becomes do we have the courage to face them.
This, it turned out, was a mistake as I was followed out of the bar by a tall black man. I thought he had something to say but he remained silent. Instead he began punching me. I ran. He followed for a short time.
This was my first and only experience with racism directed against me but it changed me. It transformed me from a do good philosophy to a realist about the world we live in.
Mr. Blow, If you really want to find a path to coexistence between the two races then it may be necessary to discourage interracial couples. Yes thai is unthinkable but it might work where nothing in the past ever has.
The alternative is more of the same, more blacks in jail, more blacks shot, more blacks living in poverty. Sir, many people, blacks as well as whites, are driven by deep seated feelings that may not be what we want of them but they are there.
The question becomes do we have the courage to face them.
20
Racism? Maybe he thought you were a John or a pervert?
What in the world does state terrorism have to do with interracial relationships?
One bad incident (that frankly you probably made up just as a cover to being racist) and all black people are bad?
And just why did you insist on "escorting" the girl into the bar? Clearly that's where she was going, did you think she needed protection? From the black people in the bar? You probably said something offensive to the person who allegedly hit you.
And just why did you insist on "escorting" the girl into the bar? Clearly that's where she was going, did you think she needed protection? From the black people in the bar? You probably said something offensive to the person who allegedly hit you.
If you've been following #Ferguson recently, you would have noted that the OathKeepers (white civilians armed with assault weapons, handguns, and vests) were allowed to wander freely, whereas one black child was gunned down in a hail of bullets for displaying one 9mm handgun.
The presumption was that it was OK for whites to display guns, but not blacks. Whites, of course, were vindicated when a video of the kid was released showing him 'brandishing' a handgun. As for the OathKeepers, it was pointed out that it is 'legal' for them to 'brandish' arms if they have a white issued permit, which they presumably did. But I didn't see the cops checking permits of either the OathKeepers or of the child they gunned down.
The presumption was that it was OK for whites to display guns, but not blacks. Whites, of course, were vindicated when a video of the kid was released showing him 'brandishing' a handgun. As for the OathKeepers, it was pointed out that it is 'legal' for them to 'brandish' arms if they have a white issued permit, which they presumably did. But I didn't see the cops checking permits of either the OathKeepers or of the child they gunned down.
23
The New Black Panthers marched legally and heavily armed in Waller, Texas to protest Sandra Bland's treatment there. There were no incidents. The NBP occasionally marches heavily and legally armed in front of the prison in Huntsville, Texas that houses death row to protest the death penalty.
For Pete's sake. He wasn't "displaying" a gun, he was threatening people with it. And I thought the OathKeepers were there to protect the properties of the business owners. Funny how the young girl who stood in front of the police to protect them hasn't had much media attention.
You need a lesson in legal definitions.
The police are the enforcement arm of the Benevolent State. They do as they are told/trained. They are not abusing their authority, on the contrary, they are simply exercising their authority.
If you are a Communitarian, the authority the police exercise is the authority you invested in them. You have abdicated your protection to the Benevolent State.
This is not a bug in the system, it is simply "the system."
If you are a Communitarian, the authority the police exercise is the authority you invested in them. You have abdicated your protection to the Benevolent State.
This is not a bug in the system, it is simply "the system."
10
Absolute rubbish! The police in every country are an arm of authority not of community.
@ Des Johnson, it sound like you are ignorant of the differences between Communitarianism and community. Communitarians believe that the individual is subordinate to the Benevolent State.
1
The incident I posted about in my comment below about the DC police handcuffing a woman to a mailbox in the middle of the night - I don't have the link but you can search The Washington Post, December 19, 1993, article "D.C. Police Handcuff Motorist to Mailbox" by Serge F. Kovaleski.
3
Mr. Blow commits the classic act of over inflating ones greviance into an erroneous position that weakens the argument. Have some police used excessive force and even discriminatory behavior? Yes. But the vast majority of police are well acting. To cry 'terror' and especially in relation to the Michael brown incident only reinforces the perception that blacks don't take accountability and blame everything on themselves. I wish perspective would be included. It is sadly not done very often and contributes to an exacerbation of racism as a perceived root cause of a largely fictitious problem. Any American can rise above poverty to succeed, or they can scream discrimination and even now terror, as Mr Blow suggests. He does a deep disservice to all those, white or black or gay or female of poor or....who arrived against odds and inhibitors to succeed. We have many issues to address certainly and I support always seeking to improve fairness and opportunity. But Mr Blow is walking the wrong road to try and do so.
40
You don't get it. All that is being asked of our justice system is that the police are held ACCOUNTABLE for their actions. When the criminal is caught they do not have the blanket phrase "I felt my life was in danger". Case closed.
The same accountability you are demanding for the criminals is the same accountability these protests are demanding. Punish the criminals AND punish the criminal police too.
The same accountability you are demanding for the criminals is the same accountability these protests are demanding. Punish the criminals AND punish the criminal police too.
These neighborhoods are already being terrorized by criminals. All that nakedness and fear is already experienced when residents simply walk down their blocks, which many cannot do without fear of being shot.
When a mother implores the mayor to do something so that her child can make it home safely from school -- as women repeatedly did to former NYC Mayor Giuliani -- it's safe to say that she's already living with terror.
Mr. Blow keeps trying to isolate police behavior in the discussion. While it is absolutely true that there is a distinct problem when those whose responsibility it is to protect became a danger to citizens' safety, it is also true that these "police states" weren't formed in a vacuum.
One problem with Mr. Blow's argument is that a different argument can also be made -- that is, that an overwhelming response from police might also be keeping residents safer from those other terrorists, the criminals. For example, stop-and-risk was a program created to protect residents, not to harass them.
When a mother implores the mayor to do something so that her child can make it home safely from school -- as women repeatedly did to former NYC Mayor Giuliani -- it's safe to say that she's already living with terror.
Mr. Blow keeps trying to isolate police behavior in the discussion. While it is absolutely true that there is a distinct problem when those whose responsibility it is to protect became a danger to citizens' safety, it is also true that these "police states" weren't formed in a vacuum.
One problem with Mr. Blow's argument is that a different argument can also be made -- that is, that an overwhelming response from police might also be keeping residents safer from those other terrorists, the criminals. For example, stop-and-risk was a program created to protect residents, not to harass them.
57
Yes, all intrusions into our zones of privacy may be explained by "We're trying to protect you!" or "It's for your own good!" It doesn't make it any less of an intrusion or violation of our rights. Even a program legitimately created to protect people can be used to harass them instead. A stop-and-(I assume you meant) frisk program is the sort of "protection" rife with oppportunity to harass people by profiling, bigotry, and abuse of power.
The statistics don't bear out that S/F protected residents. The facts are googleable. It subjected more people to the system through arrests NOT CONVICTIONS. It provided $$$ in the form of fines. The purpose of a system is what it does.
The unspoken truth is that the black community is a victim of a culture of crime, not victims of unfair policing. The incidents of questionable police shootings are far fewer by a hundredfold than the numbers of murders committed among the community. Blaming an allegedly racist police force - now largely made up of African-Americans within the communities - is a red herring. The real evil is the tolerance within the community for theft, rape, violence, and murder. Unless and until a sea change occurs to change that culture, the only protection the community has are the police. All anyone has to do is look at what happened in Baltimore to see the effects of punishing the only protectors the community has: murders have skyrocketed and everyone's lives are affected.
The "terror" described in this Opinion isn't from the long-suffering and dedicated police force. It's from a damaged culture and the failure of distinguished professional writers to face it.
The "terror" described in this Opinion isn't from the long-suffering and dedicated police force. It's from a damaged culture and the failure of distinguished professional writers to face it.
55
I am sorry, but did you really read the article? Practically the whole column was dedicated to people wrongly using the argument that black-on-black crime happens more often than police brutality and that therefor the black community would somehow have no legitimate complaints -- which, to be perfectly clear, they obviously do.
"furious at the very idea of having to be afraid"
That's it.
I've posted this before: Years ago I was arrested w/o cause in DC. I'm female, small, white, I was in my 40s. At the station - I didn't know why I was arrested - I was handcuffed and beaten up while every officer there watched - like I was a zoo animal. Later, I got a 'rough ride' around town in the back of a van. I was terrified I'd find and crack my skull. The police in that district did similar things to 2 of my friends . Additionally, a woman arrested a few blocks away from my home. Two officers made her sit on the ground and handcuffed her to the leg of a mailbox, in the middle of the night, in the middle of winter, and walked away. A Washington Post reporter heard her screaming for help and took her picture, which ran in the Post the next day. This was December 1993 - the photographer was Brian Mooar. You can look it up. It was like the D.C. police were a crime family, terrorizing folks with impunity.
It changed my world. I'm not safe anywhere. I can't ever go to the police for help. I don't feel like a citizen of this country anymore. I've had trouble sleeping for 20 years. I feel like I exist outside of society - I don't have the sense of freedom or safety other people seem to have.
It's disgusting, enraging and enervating. I did nothing wrong!
Is this how black people feel? Furious, terrified, disgusted? All the time? "I did nothing wrong!" Is this how they feel? Millions of them?
That's it.
I've posted this before: Years ago I was arrested w/o cause in DC. I'm female, small, white, I was in my 40s. At the station - I didn't know why I was arrested - I was handcuffed and beaten up while every officer there watched - like I was a zoo animal. Later, I got a 'rough ride' around town in the back of a van. I was terrified I'd find and crack my skull. The police in that district did similar things to 2 of my friends . Additionally, a woman arrested a few blocks away from my home. Two officers made her sit on the ground and handcuffed her to the leg of a mailbox, in the middle of the night, in the middle of winter, and walked away. A Washington Post reporter heard her screaming for help and took her picture, which ran in the Post the next day. This was December 1993 - the photographer was Brian Mooar. You can look it up. It was like the D.C. police were a crime family, terrorizing folks with impunity.
It changed my world. I'm not safe anywhere. I can't ever go to the police for help. I don't feel like a citizen of this country anymore. I've had trouble sleeping for 20 years. I feel like I exist outside of society - I don't have the sense of freedom or safety other people seem to have.
It's disgusting, enraging and enervating. I did nothing wrong!
Is this how black people feel? Furious, terrified, disgusted? All the time? "I did nothing wrong!" Is this how they feel? Millions of them?
353
what was the context of the arrest?
I have a question, were you really arrested without cause? And what did the police tell you?
1
Yes, millions. Add women, Latin Americans, First Nation people, gay people, immigrants, there would be quite a coalition if only we could get over our "differences". America still belongs to the well-to-do white male. The police are scary. You never know what you're going to get when you need one. Some are great. Others are terrifying. The ones who terrify seem to have control over the good ones though.
2
It is far worst then terror, it is legalized terror with impunity and killing. Because the real cowards with their gun and a badge authority , trigger happy are scared for their lives, while all decked up is militarized fashion to to be a real menace to society in the freaking name of so called law enforcement.
8
No you're wrong
1
Some writers and leaders are trying to address the issues like violence in the black community (e.g., Ben Carson), disastrous mindsets of victimization, separationism and anti-education (John McWhorter). But writers like Mr. Blow, politicians like Mayor de Blasio, the president and first lady and of course activists like Al Sharpton buy into and encourage victimization and separatism (I would not say any of them are anti-education or approve of violence). But the Black Lives Matter rhetoric is based on urban myths, is itself racist and leads to more violence. Even an act of blatant race based fascism at a Bernie Sanders' rally is being ignored or explained away by a compliant or cowed media as free expression. Worse are the craven politicians afraid of being booed, branded racist and losing the nomination. Yes, many drug laws are unfair. I agree NYC's Stop and Frisk was unfair and ineffective and too many people like Eric Garner have been brutally killed, often as a result of bad training and policies (not though Michael Brown). Police reform should be ongoing and cameras prevalent. But, the police have in the large acted with heroism and incredible restraint. Wiser voices will rarely even be heard because of the media's bias and preference for angry rhetoric and reverse racism. Trump is doing so well because many people are sick of it and willing to overlook his faults. I don't question Mr. Blow's sincerity, but he hurts those he seeks to help.
38
In most societies around the world the police are regular people like you and me, not hero's by default. In England, they are usually unarmed, and rarely kill anyone. What is it about our failed society and people then that we are in need of gun-toting heros to protect us from our fellow citizens? This sounds like the wild west is alive and well does it not? When then, is America going to become a civilized nation and move into the 21st century?
I don't think it is color of skin or ethnicity or race that people feel uncomfortable with. I think it's behavior and attitude. And that can be any color. I don't think you can explain that away with poverty. Many of us grew up poor. We had minimum wage jobs. We struggled. Life was not always fair. When we as whites who live in an integrated neighborhood had white neighbors who were druggies, played loud music that shook our house, and beat their dogs, we asked their landlord to rent to someone else. That was hardly racial. We shared the same skin color. Down the street, our black neighbors are good friends. Every black family in our neighborhood are decent people because there is really no difference between a middle class white and a middle class black. And there are many good poor people of all races. But would I like to live in Ferguson? Quite frankly, no. I don't like the attitude, the disrespect, and many other thing about the people there. Do I see them as lesser people? No, not at all. I would not care to live among white racists either. Content of character is what matters, white or black. And I like diversity. Please don't stick me in a gated community with only people of my own color and ethnicity.
123
I think most people would agree with what you've said. It's reasonable, logical, and your emphasis is on a shared value system. However, I think it's a false peace, in that, your acceptance of your others is based on an extension of YOUR value system and that is not a true acceptance of solidarity in our difference.
It's class oppression.
It's class oppression.
But it IS skin color that people feel uncomfortable with. Our unconscious notices skin color in about 1/5 of a second and sends unsolicited messages to our conscious selves about what another person's skin color means. Attitude and behavior do impact how we react to others, but not until skin color, followed by gender, then age and other physical attributes, have registered in our unconscious. We are influenced to respond to difference by a complex array of messages beginning at a very young age. It is only through recognition of that fact followed by increased self-awareness and mindfulness that we can mitigate the impact of unconscious bias.
what about the behavior and attitudes of the police? Seems you are only seeing one side here
1
There's no need to soften the headline by calling it a "form of terrorism." It falls comfortably within the bounds of the definition of terrorism. It is terrorism, and the same could be said of the "War on Drugs."
6
The police in Baltimore have reduced their "terrorism" of the Black community.
How's that working out?
How's that working out?
54
The only way to get the attention of White Americans is to recast all of the police shootings by swapping the racial component. What if all these shooting had been unarmed White people being shot by Black police officers? What if Black officers made it a practice to target White people for Stop-and-Frisk searches, random drug/alcohol checks, credential checks, et cetera.
Flip the racial component of the story and the news would not be focusing on the victims being the problem. Americans, particularly white Americans, would be outraged. And perhaps when white America realized their outrage they might, just might, understand the Black outrage.
Flip the racial component of the story and the news would not be focusing on the victims being the problem. Americans, particularly white Americans, would be outraged. And perhaps when white America realized their outrage they might, just might, understand the Black outrage.
5
You're incorrect because the same things happen to our white kids.
A black police officer shot and killed a young white unarmed male in Utah. How much press was that given?
1
Obviously police abuse is not too big an issue because people keep committing crimes which bring them to the attention of the police.
12
There are some deliberately abusive police. But there are also police who shoot because they are in terror of young black men. The fraction of police who are killed, who are killed by black men, is greater than the fraction of police killings that involve black men being killed. From the late 1970's to the early 1990's, America had an epidemic of murder, including black-on-white murder, and America lived in terror of young black men. And it was not an ignorant terror. It was a well-informed terror. Only white people in places like lily-white Vermont could be ignorant enough not to understand it. Studies show that white people with little fear of black people are those who live in places with few black people.
30
Amanda,
You are part of this problem! Please look deep inside yourself and put yourself in others shoes, look at history and open your heart. Become part of the solution. God bless you and all who think like you.
You are part of this problem! Please look deep inside yourself and put yourself in others shoes, look at history and open your heart. Become part of the solution. God bless you and all who think like you.
Race-based hatred is so deeply engrained in American "culture" that how could anyone even feign surprise at the now-endless series of reports of white-cop-on-black-victim homicide? Our wonderful media outlets like Fox do their utmost to exacerbate irrational hatreds on racial bases by giving legs to the birther myth, for an example. The inescapable changes that our election for two terms of a president of color represents cannot be sidestepped, however. At some point the nation will have to unite over something, as yet to be determined, and put aside these ugly contrivances that exist to serve the purpose of the ruling plutocracy: to keep the disadvantaged of all descriptions divided, snarling with hostility and always at each others' throats instead of focusing their anger on the real enemy of their advancement.
3
If Charles Blow or the press in general was serious about looking at police injustice they would start looking for incidents where people other than African Americans are suffering at the hands of the police and prosecutors. The stories are out there but they are not being covered. Nor are the stories about fear in impoverished neighborhoods that are not black. So those impoverished folks who are victims of injustice are ignored, and along with them any chance of a broad consensus on policing and justice. The reality is there - go ahead, get angry and argue with a cop, ignore their orders, you will quickly see that they don't care what color you are, they are likely to hurt you for exercising your right to free speech.
14
I was stopped in a suburban area for failure to signal a turn. As the policeman was walking towards my car, I felt fear, and I was happy to leave the situation with only a sixty dollar ticket.
It could have been so much worse.
It could have been so much worse.
4
Oh, my!
People like this never believe police violence can happen to them.
If I was a criminal I would reform my behavior and stay away from this police abuse.
I think leading an upright life will pretty much rule out the police abusing you. Be home early, help the kids with the homework and leave the streets alone.
I think leading an upright life will pretty much rule out the police abusing you. Be home early, help the kids with the homework and leave the streets alone.
9
Yes - but would you consider not signalling your lane change to be a criminal act? Does it make you less upright if you drive with a broken tail-light? There are instance where the police "terrorism" that Mr.Blow describes finds people who aren't really criminals.
Once again I find myself wondering why Mr. Blow is so selective in his presentation of facts. Why does he not mention the fact that:
1. Many more whites than blacks are killed in confrontations with police. If one did not know better one would conclude from Blow's articles that the issue of excessive force was exclusive to the black community.
2. While it is true that most murders are interracial, the black homocide rate is exceedingly higher than any another population in the country. In the case of excessive force, proportionality is stressed. But when it comes to black on black crime it is ignored. Is that honest?
3. Terrorism from abroad has the potential to render enormous destruction to the homeland. That of course does not obviate the fact that we have a huge problem with gun violence in this country. It's just preposterous to compare such to fomenting threats that could result in the instantaneous death of huge numbers of people and the potential collapse of our nation.
Racism is real. We have an underclass in this country that needs help. We also have subcultures with entrenched mind sets that are impervious to any assistance that might be rendered. The issues are complex. The facts and statistics are embarrassingly inconvenient for the police, the community, the political class, and the economic elite. When will someone step forward with an honest assessment of what plagues us...one that inevitably makes us all look bad.
1. Many more whites than blacks are killed in confrontations with police. If one did not know better one would conclude from Blow's articles that the issue of excessive force was exclusive to the black community.
2. While it is true that most murders are interracial, the black homocide rate is exceedingly higher than any another population in the country. In the case of excessive force, proportionality is stressed. But when it comes to black on black crime it is ignored. Is that honest?
3. Terrorism from abroad has the potential to render enormous destruction to the homeland. That of course does not obviate the fact that we have a huge problem with gun violence in this country. It's just preposterous to compare such to fomenting threats that could result in the instantaneous death of huge numbers of people and the potential collapse of our nation.
Racism is real. We have an underclass in this country that needs help. We also have subcultures with entrenched mind sets that are impervious to any assistance that might be rendered. The issues are complex. The facts and statistics are embarrassingly inconvenient for the police, the community, the political class, and the economic elite. When will someone step forward with an honest assessment of what plagues us...one that inevitably makes us all look bad.
20
One of the issues as I see it is there aren't enough black parents doing the following:
"People are often able to understand and contextualize community violence and, therefore, better understand how to avoid it. A parent can say to a child: Don’t run with that crowd, or hang out on that corner or get involved with that set of activities."
Get more black parents (both would be better) doing this and I think we would find things improving.
"People are often able to understand and contextualize community violence and, therefore, better understand how to avoid it. A parent can say to a child: Don’t run with that crowd, or hang out on that corner or get involved with that set of activities."
Get more black parents (both would be better) doing this and I think we would find things improving.
11
Once segregation had ended and being a public member of the Ku Klux Klan was no longer socially acceptable, this is precisely how the white power structure in this country decided to ensure that they stayed on top, aided and abetted by the GOP. It was a deliberate decision. For this country to accommodate this is beyond shameful. It explains the undying hatred of a large part of our population for Barack Obama--they haven't been able to terrorize him into submission. It is also why I am NOT proud to be an American at all.
2
This week LA Times has been featuring coverage from Watts riots 50 yrs ago.
The same lines were trotted out then as now, "It's the lack of black family structure", "THEY (blacks) have no respect for the law and must be shown who will prevail".
LAT had not one black reporter in 1965! When MLK came and spoke, after being berated by our horrible Mayor Yorty and sadistic Police Chief Parker, he was considered part of the problem.
Later when Tom Bradley was running for mayor (while black), the police & fire depts threatened to quit if he was elected! He was, they didn't, and he did not usher in the era of "black nationalism and open season on whites".
Us vs them--nothing new 50yrs later nationally.
We whites know the system's rigged. We've been mad at how it's rigged against us and ignored lately how it's completely overboard against blacks, with bad schools,redlining, programs that don't work or aren't funded, promises never kept ( RFK gunned down), voter suppression .
We're a white supremacist society awash in guns.
Police feel justified in up-armoring, then assume all are armed and shoot first, if you're black. Expendable. Ever so. Blame the unarmed victim.
Deja vu.
There are PDs who need to study other countries' ways of deescalation w/o shooting. To not escalate an already agitated person.
People are agitated.
PDs better take heed before the next Watts, which will be orders of magnitude worse.
We need to start over & stop the denial.
The same lines were trotted out then as now, "It's the lack of black family structure", "THEY (blacks) have no respect for the law and must be shown who will prevail".
LAT had not one black reporter in 1965! When MLK came and spoke, after being berated by our horrible Mayor Yorty and sadistic Police Chief Parker, he was considered part of the problem.
Later when Tom Bradley was running for mayor (while black), the police & fire depts threatened to quit if he was elected! He was, they didn't, and he did not usher in the era of "black nationalism and open season on whites".
Us vs them--nothing new 50yrs later nationally.
We whites know the system's rigged. We've been mad at how it's rigged against us and ignored lately how it's completely overboard against blacks, with bad schools,redlining, programs that don't work or aren't funded, promises never kept ( RFK gunned down), voter suppression .
We're a white supremacist society awash in guns.
Police feel justified in up-armoring, then assume all are armed and shoot first, if you're black. Expendable. Ever so. Blame the unarmed victim.
Deja vu.
There are PDs who need to study other countries' ways of deescalation w/o shooting. To not escalate an already agitated person.
People are agitated.
PDs better take heed before the next Watts, which will be orders of magnitude worse.
We need to start over & stop the denial.
4
Blacks murdered by avowed white bigots, per year: About 10. Blacks murdered by other blacks, per year: Over 5,000.
23
Terrorism is a car bomb in a crowded market in Baghdad, killing and maiming dozens of innocents. Or it can be Christians lined up on a beach in Egypt and executed on film. What happened in all these cases is tragic, but they are not innocents.
11
The Ferguson movement is based upon a false premise that Michael Brown had his hands up and was the victim. To the contrary, Michael Brown was the aggressor against Officer Darren Wilson by assaulting him and attempting to grab Wilson's gun while seated in the police cruiser. The facts say so. Brown was the 300 pound monster who minutes earlier assaulted a store clerk in a strong armed robbery. The facts so prove as shown by the store in camera. This was then Michael Brown; he had no regard for the well being and safety of others. He brought upon his own killing. Officer Wilson acted in self defense. The Ferguson movement will never have merit or be successful until there is a recognition that Michael Brown was not the victim. This is why one year later Ferguson is still the same: looting and shooting! Nothing has changed.
51
Yes, there is "state violence". A percentage of police officers have tarnished their profession, but it is perhaps more pervasive than we think. I personally know of a 75 year old woman who was rear ended in her car by another driver. While the damage was minor , she was offended by the young policeman's attitude which she felt assigned blame to her. She reported him to his superior. Shortly thereafter, she was threatened with loss of her driving license for being 'senile'. She feels victimized . This is another example of abuse of power and vindictiveness. Another glaring example of state violence is the unevenly applied death penalty.
9
What a hypocritical initial argument. The frequency of black on black murder rate is many-fold that of white on white murder and inextricably linked to gang culture and the illegal drug economy, both debilitating problems that severely damage African American communities. to call it is a diversion is a vivid example of the denial that permeates the views now embraced by those who would speak for the black community.
20
Then Mr. Blow,would you also call a parent's disciplining a child, a "FOT" (Form of Terror)?Really now?
10
Yes, let's just bypass the fact that more blacks are killed by blacks than they are killed by white police officers. Yes, black on black violence is not the major problem we should be focusing on. Yes, whites are the major problem.
20
Charles Blow confronts his fellow Americans with questions we cannot avoid: Are we Americans rational? Are we Americans sane?
Challenged by the evidence the only rational, sane response: Stop!
We need to stop throwing away our finite resources making things worse for ourselves and others overseas.
We need to stop neglecting ourselves at home.
We need to rationally and sanely identify what is really hurting us.
Challenged by the evidence the only rational, sane response: Stop!
We need to stop throwing away our finite resources making things worse for ourselves and others overseas.
We need to stop neglecting ourselves at home.
We need to rationally and sanely identify what is really hurting us.
1
Well said. State violence may not solely prey on the poor and marginalized the way that community violence almost always does. Hence it draws more attention. If these episodes of police violence, rare in absolute terms, were constrained to the inner city gangs which are the leading source of inner city violence, I don't think anyone would give it the same attention.
"And people with the means and inclination can decide to move away from high-poverty, high-crime neighborhoods."
That might help a black person escape community violence but could also make them more likely to become a victim of state violence. A black man walking the street or driving a car in a white neighborhood is very likely to attract police attention or, in the case of the young black man in Florida, vigilante terrorism. God help him if he's wearing a hoodie.
That might help a black person escape community violence but could also make them more likely to become a victim of state violence. A black man walking the street or driving a car in a white neighborhood is very likely to attract police attention or, in the case of the young black man in Florida, vigilante terrorism. God help him if he's wearing a hoodie.
5
Have you seen the starting pay for cops?
I doubt many cops are really worried about losing their lousy paying jobs. Ratchet up the pay and ratchet up the screening process. If we shell out and hire more professional officers the results will be better.
You get what you pay for and we sure as hell ain't paying much.
I doubt many cops are really worried about losing their lousy paying jobs. Ratchet up the pay and ratchet up the screening process. If we shell out and hire more professional officers the results will be better.
You get what you pay for and we sure as hell ain't paying much.
6
For Mr. Blow to cavalierly suggest that those living in high crime neighborhoods can just move, while he lives safely in a safe upper-class home, is extraordinarily callous. If they could move, they certainly would. They are the ones facing real terror, inescapable terror. And it is their lives that do not matter to the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
17
Beautifully analyzed, Charles. And to extend what you say, it seems arguable, then, that black people in America have been terrorized for their entire time on this continent. First as slaves and then as human beings treated as descendants of slaves, terrorized by the state itself or mobs and agents of the state.
2
The difference in people’s reactions to these different kinds of killings isn’t about an exaltation — or exploitation — of some deaths above others for political purposes, but rather a collective outrage that the people charged with protecting your life could become a threat to it.
-----------------------
If this were true,
then movement would be just as concerned with "white" people being killed/treated wrongly by the police.
By making this a "black only" movement, (with whites permitted voice if only they follow the BlackVictim narrative), then you are focusing more on the race of the victim than on the circumstances that left them dead (ie/ a the child carrying the "toy" gun that had the orange tip rubbed off; the young lady in need of help who succumbed to her depressions when caged; by all the boys walking the streets at all hours, not at home being watched over, whose bodies are not missed nor claimed at the morgue for hours... or who lay in the sun in the street.
If this movement is truly against police brutality and crimes/misdemeanors against American citizens, then stop listening to the rich liberal white media and ... open it up! Gather allies! (Like the organized and effective gay rights movement did.) You need help, black people, if you are going to push back against the militarization and stereotyping of the police against our weakest and poorest citizens. Right now, in some pockets of the USA, that is black people. But aim at the source, not the color.
-----------------------
If this were true,
then movement would be just as concerned with "white" people being killed/treated wrongly by the police.
By making this a "black only" movement, (with whites permitted voice if only they follow the BlackVictim narrative), then you are focusing more on the race of the victim than on the circumstances that left them dead (ie/ a the child carrying the "toy" gun that had the orange tip rubbed off; the young lady in need of help who succumbed to her depressions when caged; by all the boys walking the streets at all hours, not at home being watched over, whose bodies are not missed nor claimed at the morgue for hours... or who lay in the sun in the street.
If this movement is truly against police brutality and crimes/misdemeanors against American citizens, then stop listening to the rich liberal white media and ... open it up! Gather allies! (Like the organized and effective gay rights movement did.) You need help, black people, if you are going to push back against the militarization and stereotyping of the police against our weakest and poorest citizens. Right now, in some pockets of the USA, that is black people. But aim at the source, not the color.
7
Being 'black - centric' as opposed to people centric is part of the problem of African American life in America. It is time to stop complaining about the past and start taking personal responsibility so that future generations of African Americans can simply be successful Americans as so many other minority groups have done.
24
And if you don't, we'll have the police shoot you.
Given your ridiculously naïve and hackneyed response, we can only pray that you are not a "doctor" of any social science discipline teaching in a classroom.
Abuse by police is an important issue that should be addressed.
However, statistics indicate that most people have far more to fear from crime than from police.
http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5111
Indicates there were over six million violent crimes reported in 2013
and there were over 14000 known homicides in 2011.
Why do we obsess over terrorism (other than 9/11) rather than the astoundingly high murder rate here in the US? It is indeed irrational -- mostly on the part of the political elite.
There are 2 sides to Mr. Blow's point -- yes, when the community police are abusive then it creates an atmosphere of state oppression. When crime is high, then there is also an oppressive atmosphere of fear and frustration, and it hurts the community. Crime can be considered terrorism as well, and far more likely.
“Why aren’t you, America, focusing on the real problem: Americans killing other Americans?” -- because what should we be doing differently than what we do now?
The liberal mantra is that it is up to the state to protect us in a timely and effective manner, rather than have us arm and protect ourselves through vigilantism. I would tend to agree.
What would be a solution to reduce unwarranted violence by the police as well as improve their effectiveness? The undesired approach is to reduce unwarranted violence by reducing the effectiveness of the police.
However, statistics indicate that most people have far more to fear from crime than from police.
http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5111
Indicates there were over six million violent crimes reported in 2013
and there were over 14000 known homicides in 2011.
Why do we obsess over terrorism (other than 9/11) rather than the astoundingly high murder rate here in the US? It is indeed irrational -- mostly on the part of the political elite.
There are 2 sides to Mr. Blow's point -- yes, when the community police are abusive then it creates an atmosphere of state oppression. When crime is high, then there is also an oppressive atmosphere of fear and frustration, and it hurts the community. Crime can be considered terrorism as well, and far more likely.
“Why aren’t you, America, focusing on the real problem: Americans killing other Americans?” -- because what should we be doing differently than what we do now?
The liberal mantra is that it is up to the state to protect us in a timely and effective manner, rather than have us arm and protect ourselves through vigilantism. I would tend to agree.
What would be a solution to reduce unwarranted violence by the police as well as improve their effectiveness? The undesired approach is to reduce unwarranted violence by reducing the effectiveness of the police.
4
comparing the cops to ISIS is ridiculous and meant to get people to read this column, pure and simple.
23
Have you read or seen the pictures of lynchings here on American soil? They were not rare, nor did they happen eons ago. They were held in the town square with the pillars of the community in attendance, smiling for the cameras as they stood beneath the hanged, burned and skinned-alive bodies of the black men and women (who if were pregnant, had their wombs slit open and their fetuses hanging from their bodies). The photos were sold on paper thick enough to be pasted to post cards and sent to relatives around the country. Lynchings did not happen when slavery was legal; blacks were too valuable a commodity. You see, in some ways, we make ISIS look like wimps. Read your history.
@riley-- do you even understand the main point, its not about what happened during Jim Crow, its comparing the cops TODAY and ISIS, cops dont lynch and cut fetuses from bodies, get it?
Yes, Charles. Let’s admit it --that terror mini dictatorship can exist within the constitutional democracy of the US. What else was Jim Crow? What was plantation slavery but Soviet type terror, the black peasants under their owners’ power of life/death, and execution legal if caught escaping? What else was the Fugitive Slave Act and the Dred Scott decision? Today, it is our mass prison gulag.
Today, justice varies per location and Governor’s whims. Our states rights ideology means states decide life/death matters —stop and frisk, sentencing, the death penalty. Plus for ex felons, voting and crucial rights affecting their lives after prison.
We live with the Bill of Rights mythology.
Cspan Book TV has a video on the book “Kafka's Law: The Trial and American Criminal Justice”. Says “US criminal justice system is beginning to resemble the fictional account of the justice system depicted in Franz Kafka’s famous novel The Trial. “
Re a man's arbitrary arrest in a dictatorship where he is caught in a web of unknown forces.
A review says “Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy acknowledged the parallels between Franz Kafka’s and our criminal justice system....that “The Trial is actually closer to reality than fantasy as far as the client’s perception of the system. It’s supposed to be a fantastic allegory but it’s reality”
We need examples from nations with less police abuse, fewer in prison & guns for all is not a major lobbying influence on lawmakers.
Today, justice varies per location and Governor’s whims. Our states rights ideology means states decide life/death matters —stop and frisk, sentencing, the death penalty. Plus for ex felons, voting and crucial rights affecting their lives after prison.
We live with the Bill of Rights mythology.
Cspan Book TV has a video on the book “Kafka's Law: The Trial and American Criminal Justice”. Says “US criminal justice system is beginning to resemble the fictional account of the justice system depicted in Franz Kafka’s famous novel The Trial. “
Re a man's arbitrary arrest in a dictatorship where he is caught in a web of unknown forces.
A review says “Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy acknowledged the parallels between Franz Kafka’s and our criminal justice system....that “The Trial is actually closer to reality than fantasy as far as the client’s perception of the system. It’s supposed to be a fantastic allegory but it’s reality”
We need examples from nations with less police abuse, fewer in prison & guns for all is not a major lobbying influence on lawmakers.
5
I'll keep things simple so the censors at the NY Times allow my comment through.
This might be asking a lot of a journalist, but what does crime data suggest? How do those figures compare to cherry-picked episodes of outrage at police violence?
If you had any familiarity with such data, you would see that community violence far, far outweighs state violence. Yes, even in neighborhoods where police corruption is especially prevalent. Probably more so, given the amount of violent crime committed by its own wayward young men.
It has never been polite to discuss the social terror that black violence has caused on the American landscape—it still isn't, given the way we dance around why people with the "means and inclination" leave these neighborhoods.
How many blacks were shot by other blacks in Chicago last weekend? More than 20? Baltimore just had its worst month for homicides (45) since 1972.
And yet we're forced to listen to outright fables built up around law enforcement, who supposedly have nothing better to do than shoot "unarmed" men who are mythologized as the passive "black victim."
It turns out that a lot of these young black "victims" take the Michael Brown approach and engage in violent crime, enjoy assaulting police, rioting, etc.
You'll never be able to win hearts and minds by ignoring the obscene level of random violence in black communities. James Q. Wilson poignantly said it underlies the black-white divide in America more than anything else.
This might be asking a lot of a journalist, but what does crime data suggest? How do those figures compare to cherry-picked episodes of outrage at police violence?
If you had any familiarity with such data, you would see that community violence far, far outweighs state violence. Yes, even in neighborhoods where police corruption is especially prevalent. Probably more so, given the amount of violent crime committed by its own wayward young men.
It has never been polite to discuss the social terror that black violence has caused on the American landscape—it still isn't, given the way we dance around why people with the "means and inclination" leave these neighborhoods.
How many blacks were shot by other blacks in Chicago last weekend? More than 20? Baltimore just had its worst month for homicides (45) since 1972.
And yet we're forced to listen to outright fables built up around law enforcement, who supposedly have nothing better to do than shoot "unarmed" men who are mythologized as the passive "black victim."
It turns out that a lot of these young black "victims" take the Michael Brown approach and engage in violent crime, enjoy assaulting police, rioting, etc.
You'll never be able to win hearts and minds by ignoring the obscene level of random violence in black communities. James Q. Wilson poignantly said it underlies the black-white divide in America more than anything else.
20
Of course community violence exceeds police violence. But we taxpayers are not paying the community to protect others. That is the job of the police--not to shoot first and ask questions later.
Brandon - when the police seem like an outside occupying force, whether in Northern Ireland twenty years ago, or Ferguson today, the divide is always palpable. It is instructive to consider how quickly 'the hundred year war' in Ireland melted away with a treaty, and investment. We like to invest billions on police and the right goes rabid about teachers' unions and 'waste' whenever spending on better education is discussed, especially to the benefit of minority neighborhoods.
Whenever improving education for minority students and providing a path out into the world is raised, the right wing racists scoff and sneeringly talk about 'black culture' being 'anti-education.' That's why they self-define as white supremacists and racists. At a hard-core 7-14% of our society, white racists are a real problem for the rest of us white-people. We don't like you. We don't appreciate your poisonous effect on our society. We tend to shy away from confronting you when personally encountered, because its stressful to confront people. But, know that you're disliked, even despised by most of us. James Q. Wilson is 6'2" and well-muscled, yet he talks about the flabby Michael Brown as if he was much larger and far stronger. He's allowed with calling him a 'black monster' -in the minds of white racists, and that's the issue that people who are white racists refuse to confront honestly and why they have no credibility in our eyes. Brown was unarmed. Wilson was in a car, armed.
Whenever improving education for minority students and providing a path out into the world is raised, the right wing racists scoff and sneeringly talk about 'black culture' being 'anti-education.' That's why they self-define as white supremacists and racists. At a hard-core 7-14% of our society, white racists are a real problem for the rest of us white-people. We don't like you. We don't appreciate your poisonous effect on our society. We tend to shy away from confronting you when personally encountered, because its stressful to confront people. But, know that you're disliked, even despised by most of us. James Q. Wilson is 6'2" and well-muscled, yet he talks about the flabby Michael Brown as if he was much larger and far stronger. He's allowed with calling him a 'black monster' -in the minds of white racists, and that's the issue that people who are white racists refuse to confront honestly and why they have no credibility in our eyes. Brown was unarmed. Wilson was in a car, armed.
I've never been terrorized by a black person in America. I have been by gun toting whites by just being in their unexpected presence while out in public.
America holds 25% of the worlds jailed, wIth less tha 5% of the world's population. The American people are the most criminalized in the world, more criminalized than the Chinese, more than the Russians. Certainly more than the western Europeans. How's this happen in a free society?
Why is it that Cliven Bundy can confront the authorities with an armed white posse when said authorities come to his property to make him follow the law, but a 19 year old unarmed black kid is shot dead for being intoxicated and acting up in public? Most mass shootings in our country like the recent church massacre where 9 Christians were killed are perpetrated by armed white men.
If we were a civilized country we would be, as one white Australian poster said in a NYT article the other week, outraged when an unarmed citizen was killed while in the custody of the state.
Systemic white supremcy is part of the American story but not all of the story, we need to ask ourselves why American citizen's lives are so cheap that we are happy to see hundreds of unarmed citizens killed every year while in state custody and why we accept tens of thousands killed every year while in public custody.
The fact is we never outgrew the wild west gun toting pathology, and Hollywood to this day stokes this myth of instant justice with their propaganda?
America holds 25% of the worlds jailed, wIth less tha 5% of the world's population. The American people are the most criminalized in the world, more criminalized than the Chinese, more than the Russians. Certainly more than the western Europeans. How's this happen in a free society?
Why is it that Cliven Bundy can confront the authorities with an armed white posse when said authorities come to his property to make him follow the law, but a 19 year old unarmed black kid is shot dead for being intoxicated and acting up in public? Most mass shootings in our country like the recent church massacre where 9 Christians were killed are perpetrated by armed white men.
If we were a civilized country we would be, as one white Australian poster said in a NYT article the other week, outraged when an unarmed citizen was killed while in the custody of the state.
Systemic white supremcy is part of the American story but not all of the story, we need to ask ourselves why American citizen's lives are so cheap that we are happy to see hundreds of unarmed citizens killed every year while in state custody and why we accept tens of thousands killed every year while in public custody.
The fact is we never outgrew the wild west gun toting pathology, and Hollywood to this day stokes this myth of instant justice with their propaganda?
I believe you will find that many white women of my generation "get" your point. When I was younger, there was no discussion of rape or other forms of domestic violence. it happened but was never discussed. It was a source of shame. It was also a form of terrorism, a threat in the background att all times, a threat that kept us from moving freely in society. a system that deflected blame to those victimized. I have several distinct memories of being in fear in public, afraid to ask for help.
What we cannot discuss or are told not to discuss is what we must always discuss, explore, understand, speak out about.
This is a reign of terror against black people. The assumption that every black male is a threat, that every black woman is "angry," that no woman has a right to her anger -- these attitudes always seem to me to be a projection, coming from those who darn straight know how they would feel in the same situation.
White America - and its police - fear retribution.
What we cannot discuss or are told not to discuss is what we must always discuss, explore, understand, speak out about.
This is a reign of terror against black people. The assumption that every black male is a threat, that every black woman is "angry," that no woman has a right to her anger -- these attitudes always seem to me to be a projection, coming from those who darn straight know how they would feel in the same situation.
White America - and its police - fear retribution.
8
It's interesting you discuss the rape scenario because that is the very thing that can be avoided when a weaker woman has equal strength given by having a gun. Anyone who has had a court order placed against a man knows it's just a piece of paper and many a woman has been raped, beaten and killed because a bigger stronger man ignored a piece of paper and they had no recourse. Who are you going to call when someone is following you in a menacing way?
Reading many of the similar reactive white racist male rants in response to Mr. Blow's column, it is clear that it must be difficult to be an African American and not feel tired and angry when hearing the same cant over and over again about 'BonB violence' - and other falsely equivalent points when the abuse of police power is discussed.
It is like Michael Moore's conclusion in his movie about guns and Columbine, it is not that we have so many guns as mu ch as who we are and what we are like when over armed. According to Mr Moore Canada has as many guns per population, yet does not have as violent a population. Another example is Vermont. Vermont has few gun laws but still has little gun violence compared to other states. It is because the attitude of Vermonters is very different than those of say, for example Texans. Why aren't we, America, focusing on the real problem American killing Americans. Combine this attitude with the militarized police and the self image police would get from movies and culture means to many who are prone to abuse authority seek to become police. The US macho culture of Rambo and John Wayne is the problem. We see it in elected prosecutors who see obtaining convictions as being their job, not finding the truth. It is police who demand grovelling. Why do not we ask the real problem; what is wrong with American men?
11
I do agree that much of the beligerent attitude and violent behavior we see was learned at the movies.
Very Real and important article! I am also concerned about the right to protest. It feels like Americans have every right to hold parades and come together to celebrate identity but decreasing power to come together and protest to defend their community.The image of seeing black civil rights activists in handcuffs in Ferguson while white militia men armed to the teeth are permitted to walk freely around is beyond disturbing. What does this say about what the state considers a real threat?
6
Thank you, Mr. Blow, for yet another eloquent, passionate commentary on a deep societal problem that so many of our fellow citizens cannot see or refuse to see. Police abuse is absolutely a form of terror; it is absolutely a deflection, or worse, for some to ignore this reality by claiming to care about black-on-black violence. I don't think they really do; it is simply a nasty, if politically useful rejoinder to avoid confronting an uncomfortable truth.
Of course, many of these readers most assuredly cannot comprehend what it is like to live with this kind of fear, a much more likely outcome for African-Americans than other, far more sensational terrorism is for whites. Sure, the latter can get annoyed with police when stopped for speeding or some small infraction, but they won't hesitate to contact their local branch... especially if they feel threatened, however illusionary that threat is, from some "other" people.
I'm not optimistic that even this excellent contribution, which clearly explains the difference between community and state violence, will do much to bridge the at times enormous divide. White people are basically immune from state violence and have been since before the dawn of the Republic. What they do, indirectly and otherwise, is sanction it. It doesn't surprise that they are willing to accept some or even a lot of police abuse for safety... so long as they're not the ones to face the abuse. And they're not.
Of course, many of these readers most assuredly cannot comprehend what it is like to live with this kind of fear, a much more likely outcome for African-Americans than other, far more sensational terrorism is for whites. Sure, the latter can get annoyed with police when stopped for speeding or some small infraction, but they won't hesitate to contact their local branch... especially if they feel threatened, however illusionary that threat is, from some "other" people.
I'm not optimistic that even this excellent contribution, which clearly explains the difference between community and state violence, will do much to bridge the at times enormous divide. White people are basically immune from state violence and have been since before the dawn of the Republic. What they do, indirectly and otherwise, is sanction it. It doesn't surprise that they are willing to accept some or even a lot of police abuse for safety... so long as they're not the ones to face the abuse. And they're not.
4
To answer your closing question, it is because the idea of police terror creates such cognitive dissonance in most Americans that they will do anything to deflect it. No matter how much evidence that current training encourages confrontation or that police forces are attracting and accepting personalities who should never be anywhere near a gun and badge, people will do absolutely anything to deny it. The truth is just too unbearable. A large part of that is due to racism, but not only.
3
If the police are agents of violence, taxation, and oppression then how can they possibly begin to actually do their job, and fight crime? If the real problem is black-on-black crime, then how can the police address this problem while terrorizing the public? If a police officer pulled you over and performed a body-cavity search in public because he smelled marijuana and couldn't find anything after searching the car (this happened recently in Harris County, TX), would you then go to the police to report a crime you witnessed? Would you even go if you were the victim?
Police have a long way to go. Stop taxing the poor with creative crimes, like failure to mow the lawn. Stop treating minority districts as occupied territory. Stop worrying about forcing the public to respect you, and start earning it.
Police have a long way to go. Stop taxing the poor with creative crimes, like failure to mow the lawn. Stop treating minority districts as occupied territory. Stop worrying about forcing the public to respect you, and start earning it.
3
If that it's the case you have in mind, it was a highway patrol officer who happened to be a woman that did the cavity search. She was summarily fired and sued in civil court. It happened about three years ago.
If you had people in your neighborhood that didn't keep up their properties, you might feel differently.
Another fine column by Mr. Blow. Unjustified police violence evokes such horror in part because it strikes at the very foundation of our democratic system. In theory, the state is supposed to protect all groups against foreign terrorists and domestic predators, both of whom threaten our security and our freedom. In practice, however, the police too often target entire segments of our society (racial minorities and the poor) as a threat rather than including them in the community needing protection.
This insidious tendency to isolate some groups of citizens as the 'other,' deserving of harassment but not protection, erodes the principle of equal treatment under the law that enables our system to function. Any state that oppresses its own people destroys the basis for a peaceful stability. But a democratic government guilty of such actions commits a greater folly, because the people are the government.
When I see the American flag, the pride I feel stems from the belief that it symbolizes equal justice for everyone. When I observe police officers (or any other government officials) abusing citizens, acting the master rather than the servant of these individuals, I react with both fear and disgust. These public employees make a mockery of the principles our flag is supposed to represent, and they threaten the survival of the government founded on those principles. There is a reason the Nazi flag inspires horror in most people.
This insidious tendency to isolate some groups of citizens as the 'other,' deserving of harassment but not protection, erodes the principle of equal treatment under the law that enables our system to function. Any state that oppresses its own people destroys the basis for a peaceful stability. But a democratic government guilty of such actions commits a greater folly, because the people are the government.
When I see the American flag, the pride I feel stems from the belief that it symbolizes equal justice for everyone. When I observe police officers (or any other government officials) abusing citizens, acting the master rather than the servant of these individuals, I react with both fear and disgust. These public employees make a mockery of the principles our flag is supposed to represent, and they threaten the survival of the government founded on those principles. There is a reason the Nazi flag inspires horror in most people.
2
Yes, Great article Charles. It seems that a "uniform" cult has grown in the USA and spreading to other places, like in Canada. Wear a uniform, and you are somehow above others and in the case of police, have a licence to kill. As another article headline notes, police abuse is another form of terrorism - and it is sanctioned by the state as it is rare that the police officer is ever charged with murder and most often does not even seem to be subject to discipline other than "lie low for a bit". Even here in Canada, police are being outfitted with Military gear. For decades police cars were painted white and lighter colours, with "Community Service" or some such decal on the vehicle. Now they are going back to Black and White with the cars looking like mini-tanks. The soft approach, which accompanied dramatically falling crime rates , now replace with the hard, tough look and the personnel inside, decked out like some storm trooper with all their weapons and gadgets bedecking their costumes.
It is long past time to take a serious look at policing in our countries and especially the training and qualification of the offices who are hired to "defend" and "protect" us citizens, white and black alike - not terrorize and kill us.
It is long past time to take a serious look at policing in our countries and especially the training and qualification of the offices who are hired to "defend" and "protect" us citizens, white and black alike - not terrorize and kill us.
3
Stop already.
Abuse is abuse; that is why it has been called "abuse", not "terror" for the past 1000 years.
Since 9/11 "terror" has become the new politically correct buzzword. Everything offensive or difficult or unpleasant or distressing is now called "terror". It isn't.
We are NOT being "terrorized". Enough.
You want terror? Go take a look at the people dealing with ISIS! You want terror? Try the Janjiwee or the Shabab or Assad or ...
But not the corner cop. Not the way you mean. Some are corrupt , some are abusive (also too many) but very very few "terrorize".
Being a victim has become a full fledged industry of late. Stop.
Abuse is abuse; that is why it has been called "abuse", not "terror" for the past 1000 years.
Since 9/11 "terror" has become the new politically correct buzzword. Everything offensive or difficult or unpleasant or distressing is now called "terror". It isn't.
We are NOT being "terrorized". Enough.
You want terror? Go take a look at the people dealing with ISIS! You want terror? Try the Janjiwee or the Shabab or Assad or ...
But not the corner cop. Not the way you mean. Some are corrupt , some are abusive (also too many) but very very few "terrorize".
Being a victim has become a full fledged industry of late. Stop.
19
Mr. Blow,
I believe WRT Black American being killed, and we (kind off) ignore it, there is and expectation by the white community as a whole to see the black community as a whole finalize their integration into the American (white) society. E.g., stop the massive black-on-black killing. Stop complaining e.g., Al Sharpton as a black leader is regressing the black community to improve its own position.
I believe WRT Black American being killed, and we (kind off) ignore it, there is and expectation by the white community as a whole to see the black community as a whole finalize their integration into the American (white) society. E.g., stop the massive black-on-black killing. Stop complaining e.g., Al Sharpton as a black leader is regressing the black community to improve its own position.
3
thanks mr. blow. i think any people marginalized and discriminated against as a group will have trouble. they will suffer disproportionate rates of poverty, and all manner of social ills. outward signs, like skin color, make people an easy target for cruelty. blacks in america are targeted by the police. they are vulnerable. the situation is a national disgrace.
3
A huge industry is built around policing the poor and downtrodden. It's easy and provides a great excuse for not fixing the problems endemic to poverty.
"How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm?" Simple: Police them into oblivion
"How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm?" Simple: Police them into oblivion
5
Really wish some would drop the old argument of how can you talk about police killing black men when black on black crime is worse? The logic of that has always escaped me. So we are to give police a pass to kill black people because black people are killing them too. What is really being said is if blacks kill blacks wantonly how you can beef about cops killing blacks. Would it be like someone making the argument that if white men were targeted it would be no big deal because millions of whites killed millions of whites in the two world wars? The killing of a lion in Africa drew more sympathy than the killing of black people by their protectors .Every time police are mentioned someone points out that all police are not bad. Maybe someone need to start to tell police all black people are not bad either. The instinct of shoot first and ask questions later worked great in the movies but not in the streets of America. In truth our police are only an extension of us. If not for the advent of cell phone cameras it would still be business as usual. For some officers to completely ignore the recent scrutiny of policing in America to continue their cowboy ways in minority communities only tells me they should have chosen another line of work. They should know that the old get out of jail card for free has been worn out by over use.
8
This piece is a deflection. You want to talk statistics Mr. Blow?
Statistically 50% of murders in this country are committed by black people.
Most of the victims are black people.
The police are overwhelmingly not the ones committing them.
We spend 95% of our time talking about 5% of the problem and wonder why the situation doesn't improve.
It is a dishonest conversation.
Insisting that we focus on the greater problem of crime in the black community is not a deflection.
It's a necessary prerequisite to stopping the police from killing so many black people.
Statistically 50% of murders in this country are committed by black people.
Most of the victims are black people.
The police are overwhelmingly not the ones committing them.
We spend 95% of our time talking about 5% of the problem and wonder why the situation doesn't improve.
It is a dishonest conversation.
Insisting that we focus on the greater problem of crime in the black community is not a deflection.
It's a necessary prerequisite to stopping the police from killing so many black people.
36
Melvin: Some political systems incubate crime. US capitalism is such a system, especially when combined with deep, long-standing racism. A conversation that avoids this obvious problem is dishonest.
1
Melvin - this is a joke, right? Please re-read the first four paragraphs. People tend to kill people they know. Further, the very nature of the killings by the police is different. The police are given a position of power and control for a good reason. The problem is when they apply that power in a biased, unwarranted manner against one particular group. The issue is not quantitative but qualitative. We really can deal with more than one problem at a time and numbers impacted is only one measure of the importance of the issue.
For blacks it seems that every encounter with the police, no matter how trivial, might result in abuse or even death at the hands of the very person we have given great power to for our protection. As a white senior, I have little fear that the "broken tail light" or "smell of marijuana" is going to be used as a pretext for search, confiscation of my property, arrest, or even summary execution. This does happen disproportionately to blacks. You don't see this abuse as a matter for concern?
For blacks it seems that every encounter with the police, no matter how trivial, might result in abuse or even death at the hands of the very person we have given great power to for our protection. As a white senior, I have little fear that the "broken tail light" or "smell of marijuana" is going to be used as a pretext for search, confiscation of my property, arrest, or even summary execution. This does happen disproportionately to blacks. You don't see this abuse as a matter for concern?
Mr. Blow,
Perhaps I have misinterpreted your thoughts as well
those of your respondents.Many of the ideas expressed are correct ( not all).What is really significant is that throughout all of these comments there is hardly any mention of what is one significant etiology of this situation,that is the absence of family life.Being a "single mom" with several "baby daddys" is creating a segment of society of individuals who are left in a precarious position which renders them more likely to suffer at the hands of police who at times may lack judgement, be frightened,are racist,or whose behavior may be appropriate. Having children requires a responsibility to raise them in a manner which will assist them in avoiding interacting with police. Of course this not the only solution but it would help.
Perhaps I have misinterpreted your thoughts as well
those of your respondents.Many of the ideas expressed are correct ( not all).What is really significant is that throughout all of these comments there is hardly any mention of what is one significant etiology of this situation,that is the absence of family life.Being a "single mom" with several "baby daddys" is creating a segment of society of individuals who are left in a precarious position which renders them more likely to suffer at the hands of police who at times may lack judgement, be frightened,are racist,or whose behavior may be appropriate. Having children requires a responsibility to raise them in a manner which will assist them in avoiding interacting with police. Of course this not the only solution but it would help.
1
One wonders how it could have taken this long for America to wake up and finally recognize the extent and severity of racism and injustice in our nation. What an appalling and jolting "coincidence" that police departments, prosecutors, juries, and judges in all corners of our nation (North/South, East/West, Conservative/Progressive, Urban/Rural, etc.) have conspired to routinely violate the civil rights and constitutional protections of blacks and minorities for decades (with impunity). Not only is it happening, but it is pervasive on a scale that leaves one in actual shock and awe.
Americans (black and white) must have always really known it was there, and yet we were all lulled into a false sense of "things are gradually getting better" when they actually weren't. Even many black leaders and white progressives somehow convinced themselves that programs such as "stop and frisk" were helping black communities by keeping a watchful eye out for the "bad guys" and that civil rights was a reasonable tradeoff.
I mean, I suppose one can argue that things have gotten "incrementally" better with time, but most forward thinking Americans are also coming to realize that increments don't begin to address the socioeconomic and legal inequities imposed on blacks and minorities by institutions of government and industry.
That bargain now appears astonishingly naive and insufficient. Human beings are suffering in massive numbers and leaving our heads in the sand is no longer an option.
Americans (black and white) must have always really known it was there, and yet we were all lulled into a false sense of "things are gradually getting better" when they actually weren't. Even many black leaders and white progressives somehow convinced themselves that programs such as "stop and frisk" were helping black communities by keeping a watchful eye out for the "bad guys" and that civil rights was a reasonable tradeoff.
I mean, I suppose one can argue that things have gotten "incrementally" better with time, but most forward thinking Americans are also coming to realize that increments don't begin to address the socioeconomic and legal inequities imposed on blacks and minorities by institutions of government and industry.
That bargain now appears astonishingly naive and insufficient. Human beings are suffering in massive numbers and leaving our heads in the sand is no longer an option.
4
I'd edit the title to "Police abuse is terror". No doubt. An unbroken chain of terror from the shores of Africa to the Strange Fruit of the South -- and beyond -- to young men gunned down, strung up, burned down, beaten down, by known-by-all-in-their-communities, but never named in courtrooms terrorists-by-night, upstanding citizens by day. I count as paltry progress that very, very recently a very few have been named, not hidden in broad daylight by colluding peers at all levels of power.
Excellent column, thank you. Great to see the red herring "what about black on black crime" deftly deflected.
Excellent column, thank you. Great to see the red herring "what about black on black crime" deftly deflected.
112
No - his response to the 'what about black on black crime' wasn't a deft deflection at all. There are two issues here, and he responded to only one. The first is that most crime is in fact intra-racial - blacks tend to prey on other blacks, and whites tend to prey on other whites. Blow is quite right about that. But the real issue here, and what people are meaning to express when they complain about the lack of focus on of black on black crime, is not that blacks tend to prey on other blacks when they commit crimes, but that the crime rate is so much higher in (poor) black communities. There is a lot more crime in a poor black community than in a white (or Asian) community, so there will be a lot more black victims than there are white or Asian victims, even if the ratio of black on black to white on white crime is about the same. And he just ignored that.
Is it terror? Of course, it is terrifying. Are police shootings of black people, often unarmed, often just kids, intended to cause terror? Is this a series of unrelated tragedies... or a pre-planned tactic to keep people scared into being complacent?
And, how could we tell the difference?
And, how could we tell the difference?
Touchy subject. Police abuse of our black citizens is salt in the wounds of centuries of oppression in an America that today claims a certain enlightenment, if by no means full incandescence. Yet that said, I disagree: police abuse is not a form of terror as we know it but a manifestation of something more complicated, unfair and dangerous.
We know "terror" to be a willful expression of violence with the intent to kill, usually for reasons of religious intolerance and in support of folkways connected to that intolerance. Police abuse isn't that.
Police abuse is a natural characteristic of a society that won't make the investments necessary to remove barriers to the mainstreaming of poor blacks in our society. We just won't do the things necessary to provide the tools that blacks need to rise organically from our urban ghettos, join the middle classes in large numbers and dramatically moderate the urban violence that poverty breeds. The primary thing we won't do is redirect our priorities to assuring effective, high quality education in urban concentrations of poor -- the necessary sacrifices would be great. Police are implicitly urged to maintain order by whatever means available, and given their resources the means they choose are targeting and oppression. Police have done this in every society since we all came out of the trees.
But let's not mistake one thing for another. When we do, we distance ourselves from real solutions by misunderstanding the real problems.
We know "terror" to be a willful expression of violence with the intent to kill, usually for reasons of religious intolerance and in support of folkways connected to that intolerance. Police abuse isn't that.
Police abuse is a natural characteristic of a society that won't make the investments necessary to remove barriers to the mainstreaming of poor blacks in our society. We just won't do the things necessary to provide the tools that blacks need to rise organically from our urban ghettos, join the middle classes in large numbers and dramatically moderate the urban violence that poverty breeds. The primary thing we won't do is redirect our priorities to assuring effective, high quality education in urban concentrations of poor -- the necessary sacrifices would be great. Police are implicitly urged to maintain order by whatever means available, and given their resources the means they choose are targeting and oppression. Police have done this in every society since we all came out of the trees.
But let's not mistake one thing for another. When we do, we distance ourselves from real solutions by misunderstanding the real problems.
74
Absolutely. We could have prevented the growth of the northern underclass with sufficient investment in education. I remember during the 50s in NYC, white middle class people who were opposed to spending additional money (taxes!) on the schools in poor black neighborhoods - and these the very people who had been lifted up by the outstanding NYC public schools in the previous generation.
You are focusing on the wrong part of the "intent vs. effect" equation. Mr. Blow is detailing the reality and the pain behind the fact that police abuse has the same effect as terror, (and look how whites are allowed to react to fear of terror), whereas you are insisting that the intent of police abuse is not terror. In most cases that's probably true, but not in all cases, and not the point of his piece anyways.
"We just won't do the things necessary to provide the tools that blacks need to rise organically from our urban ghettos..."
Richard, you say this as if there's some obvious set of solutions simply being ignored. You're one of my favorite posters & I'm genuinely curious as to what you think can, but isn't, being done.
Richard, you say this as if there's some obvious set of solutions simply being ignored. You're one of my favorite posters & I'm genuinely curious as to what you think can, but isn't, being done.
Reading Charles Blow is like reading James Baldwin and Natasha Hani Coates. What has changed in this country since its inception? Blacks and policing, state power, have been linked since our founding. Until we acknowledge this fact, apologize for it, and work to remedy it, this stain will be a cancer on our collective soul.
5
Charles, you are posing a question the answer to which would require possibly years of serious study. Here is an hypothesis, nothing more.
The imbalance that Fareed Zakaria correctly describes arises in part because a relatively new form of racism has taken root in America - and elsewhere. This is racism focused on people practicing a religion not previously well known in America, Islam.
The best known form of racism in America is white against black racism where the target is identified by skin color - in a microsecond for the congenital racist. A subset of the police, also identified by skin color=white, seems to be programmed for that behavior.
In the newest form of racism in America, the target is identified not by skin color but by religion. Republican political figures - in particular - white skinned, professed Christians, and gun carrying find that target to be a gift "from heaven".
Instead of having to deal with the real problem, Americans - all colors - killing other Americans they can divert attention to the "other" in the form of muslims.
This white on white racism (see footnotes) has made it easy to do nothing about the "real problem".
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
1) According to the US Census Bureau,Middle Eastern muslims belong to a "white race"
2) I use racism as defined by Prof. Erik Bleich in "Freedom to be Racist"
The imbalance that Fareed Zakaria correctly describes arises in part because a relatively new form of racism has taken root in America - and elsewhere. This is racism focused on people practicing a religion not previously well known in America, Islam.
The best known form of racism in America is white against black racism where the target is identified by skin color - in a microsecond for the congenital racist. A subset of the police, also identified by skin color=white, seems to be programmed for that behavior.
In the newest form of racism in America, the target is identified not by skin color but by religion. Republican political figures - in particular - white skinned, professed Christians, and gun carrying find that target to be a gift "from heaven".
Instead of having to deal with the real problem, Americans - all colors - killing other Americans they can divert attention to the "other" in the form of muslims.
This white on white racism (see footnotes) has made it easy to do nothing about the "real problem".
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
1) According to the US Census Bureau,Middle Eastern muslims belong to a "white race"
2) I use racism as defined by Prof. Erik Bleich in "Freedom to be Racist"
1
Every system has two parts: acts and ideas. In effective systems, the two benefit each other; and have a positive effect on society, prosperity and safety. The cases of violence by police which have come to the public eye fall far short of public benefit.
Desperate, loud attempts frame this police violence as a wall that police maintain not to be overrun, turning society over to barbarians. It is a idea of war within our civil society--an exaggeration magnified by stereotypes and blame and faults that say violence is the only path of protection, the safety of police coming first.
But too many cases before the public involve persons who were unarmed. Too many cases don't involve the simple retreat for the safety of both officers and subjects. Too many cases show peer officers lying about details that never occurred, with investigating officers admitting their bias to absolve officers without accountability--as interviewees in Cleveland told the Justice Department.
A well-known list (he or she reached for/lowered a hand/made a face/stepped forward) provides absolution. But count the shots. Watch Oath Keepers in open carry, officers dancing on the hood of cars; shots fired in some cases in the hundreds; victims unarmed. The state has sanctioned murder with victims dead and dishonored as the price of safety. It only spreads the presence of greater fear and makes all of us less safe.
Desperate, loud attempts frame this police violence as a wall that police maintain not to be overrun, turning society over to barbarians. It is a idea of war within our civil society--an exaggeration magnified by stereotypes and blame and faults that say violence is the only path of protection, the safety of police coming first.
But too many cases before the public involve persons who were unarmed. Too many cases don't involve the simple retreat for the safety of both officers and subjects. Too many cases show peer officers lying about details that never occurred, with investigating officers admitting their bias to absolve officers without accountability--as interviewees in Cleveland told the Justice Department.
A well-known list (he or she reached for/lowered a hand/made a face/stepped forward) provides absolution. But count the shots. Watch Oath Keepers in open carry, officers dancing on the hood of cars; shots fired in some cases in the hundreds; victims unarmed. The state has sanctioned murder with victims dead and dishonored as the price of safety. It only spreads the presence of greater fear and makes all of us less safe.
3
Americans accept violence as a way of life. We are part of an endless war abroad with little to no protest. Drones kill civilians in secret. A study established 8 wedding parties have been targeted, killing approximately 300 civilians. The government's response--we regret the mistake. Or, it is just collateral damage. Most often there is never an investigation. Can you imagine if a foreign government attacked just 1 wedding party in the U.S. What would be the response?
The police are just an extension of our violence abroad and it is often said, look what we do abroad if you want to see what we are going to do at home. We militarized the police and have for decades accepted the Blue Wall of Silence and laws that protect police from any personal responsibility for killing fellow citizens, except in the most egregious situations. As with war, we lead the civilized world in police killings of civilians.
Tolerance of violence is an evil business. It requires the masses to look at the other as disposable, different, less than human. It requires constant rationalizing for those who even pay attention.
There is a mentality in this Country that is becoming more engrained--Us against Them. The Us is the power elite who perpetrate the violence--sending people to war, arming the police, and turning the other way at violence used to control Them.
We need a real conversation about our violent culture and whether that is who we want to be.
The police are just an extension of our violence abroad and it is often said, look what we do abroad if you want to see what we are going to do at home. We militarized the police and have for decades accepted the Blue Wall of Silence and laws that protect police from any personal responsibility for killing fellow citizens, except in the most egregious situations. As with war, we lead the civilized world in police killings of civilians.
Tolerance of violence is an evil business. It requires the masses to look at the other as disposable, different, less than human. It requires constant rationalizing for those who even pay attention.
There is a mentality in this Country that is becoming more engrained--Us against Them. The Us is the power elite who perpetrate the violence--sending people to war, arming the police, and turning the other way at violence used to control Them.
We need a real conversation about our violent culture and whether that is who we want to be.
34
Police abuse IS terror, not just a form of it.
21
And yet, we don’t ask “Why aren’t you, America, focusing on the real problem: Americans killing other Americans?”
Actually, many of us are asking that question, and asking why the press is not paying enough attention to the gun runners and bad apple gun dealers who turn a blind eye to straw purchasers, and to the gun show and other loopholes in background checks, to the terrorists who day to day trap expletive in their homes in many communities
Why don't we hear more, day, after day, about the good lives lost in crossfire?
Mr. Blow, please do take some time to focus on the precious life of a young woman, playing an extraordinary positive role in her community, who was killed by a stray bullet while waiting at a bus stop http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/reporter-27-shot-dead-home-meeting...
Actually, many of us are asking that question, and asking why the press is not paying enough attention to the gun runners and bad apple gun dealers who turn a blind eye to straw purchasers, and to the gun show and other loopholes in background checks, to the terrorists who day to day trap expletive in their homes in many communities
Why don't we hear more, day, after day, about the good lives lost in crossfire?
Mr. Blow, please do take some time to focus on the precious life of a young woman, playing an extraordinary positive role in her community, who was killed by a stray bullet while waiting at a bus stop http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/reporter-27-shot-dead-home-meeting...
84
Being at the mercy of the police was one of the main features of segregation, and it seems to be back (or perhaps still there) everywhere in the country. Henry Gates experienced it even though it did not end badly for him. People may be victimized by criminals but are not at their mercy in the same way. The police have special powers to put people at their mercy, and these powers are often abused in other countries. They are also often abused in this country.
46
I once locked myself out of my house and was attempting to find an unlocked window or other means of entry. Before I knew it, the police were on the sccene and i had to prove I actually lived at that residence. I am white.
"A parent can say to a child: Don’t run with that crowd, or hang out on that corner or get involved with that set of activities."
Like...
Don't use your body size to rob a store? Don't run away from the police during a legitimate traffic stop? Don't go to a park and point a realistically looking airlift gun at people is a shooting stance? Don't resist arrest when the cops coming for your 20th arrest on a street corner?
Some of these police killings are marginal. Some are mistakes. Some a gross negligence.
But every single one of them began with the person committing a crime. Robbing a store. Carrying a knife and running from the police. Brandishing a facsimile weapon in a threatening manner. Resisting arrest. Assaulting a police officer during a stop.
So black parents don't warn their children not to do those things?
Like...
Don't use your body size to rob a store? Don't run away from the police during a legitimate traffic stop? Don't go to a park and point a realistically looking airlift gun at people is a shooting stance? Don't resist arrest when the cops coming for your 20th arrest on a street corner?
Some of these police killings are marginal. Some are mistakes. Some a gross negligence.
But every single one of them began with the person committing a crime. Robbing a store. Carrying a knife and running from the police. Brandishing a facsimile weapon in a threatening manner. Resisting arrest. Assaulting a police officer during a stop.
So black parents don't warn their children not to do those things?
218
Every single one of these police killings did not begin with a crime.
326
And don't be black while doing those things. For I can assure you, if you or your white child is stopped in his BMW in Westport, he or she will be given a stern warning and be told to be more careful in the future by the local police. And if he or she talks back, no worries.
Just don't be black in America and you will be fine.
Just don't be black in America and you will be fine.
110
And Baron 95, let me ask you, how many times are white criminals caught doing exactly the same things instantaneously shot multiple times? That's the real question here...
162
Police terrorism against blacks and other minorities is no different from terror by drone that our country inflicts on people in other nations.
4
Let us not forget the police terrorism against children, resulting in mass incarceration of youth for profit. Incarceration that changes the lives of the children, and their caretakers/families forever, and not for the better,
Dear Mr. Blow, in your previous column you correctly pointed out that the problem of police brutality against blacks should not be seen as isolated but must be put into the larger historical, political and social context. Although you are equally correct to say that the phenomenon of black-on-black violence should not be used as a pretext to igonre the former problem, I disagree with the idea of completely trying to separate them. The basic problem is an excess of violence, both within the black community and in the attitude of law enforcement vis-a-vis the black community. The two phenomena interact and amplify each other in the form of a vicious cycle. Instead of looking at only one or the other, the cycle as a whole must be broken.
123
Well said.
A 'Recommend' is simply not enough here. Yours is a point I hadn't considered & I'm far better off for now having done so. Thanks
If police killing unarmed black men is a form of terror, what do we call black men killing black men at ten or one hundred times the rate? Is that ten or one hundred fold the terror?
118
It's sad that you apparently feel qualified to comment on an article when you clearly didn't read anything but the headline
2
"If police killing unarmed black men is a form of terror, what do we call black men killing black men at ten or one hundred times the rate? Is that ten or one hundred fold the terror?"
I can tell you one thing we don't call it: state-sponsored terrorism.
I can tell you one thing we don't call it: state-sponsored terrorism.
2
Rob,
Please re read the articl.
Please re read the articl.
1
Police abuse absolutely is a form of terror, and for anyone to be unable to acknowledge this is pretty appalling. Police departments all across the country have inspiring mottos like "Protect and Serve", but all too often the police seem to forget that they are supposed to protect and serve all of us, even when they are pulling us over for a traffic stop or arresting us for drunk and disorderly conduct.
That said, police have a very difficult, frequently frustrating and often unrewarding job. Those of us on the wrong end of police interactions would do well to remember this.
That said, police have a very difficult, frequently frustrating and often unrewarding job. Those of us on the wrong end of police interactions would do well to remember this.
17
A difficult job is no excuse for abuse. Many of us have difficult and dangerous jobs.
"A recent study by scholars at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale found that homicides cluster and overwhelmingly involve a tiny group of people who not only share social connections but are also already involved in the criminal justice system."
Is Mr. Blow saying that most of the 6,000 black men killed in American homicides every year... deserved it? Deserved it because they hung with the wrong crowd and kept a gun? The irony and hypocrisy is astounding.
We are constantly told by activists that the criminal records and activities of victims are apparently irrelevant when someone is shot by police, but of utmost importance when shot by anyone else. The same risk factor is at play in both cases: engaging in criminal activity makes it more likely you will be killed by someone else, and that "someone else" includes the police.
Police violence is far from random. 42% of cop killers were black, while roughly 30% of those killed by police were black. 90% of those killed by police so far this year have been armed, and fewer than two dozen of them were unarmed black men.
Anyone who doesn't believe me should check the data themselves:
Police feloniously killed - https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/leoka/2013/tables/table_44_leos_fk...
WaPo police killings database - http://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings/
Is Mr. Blow saying that most of the 6,000 black men killed in American homicides every year... deserved it? Deserved it because they hung with the wrong crowd and kept a gun? The irony and hypocrisy is astounding.
We are constantly told by activists that the criminal records and activities of victims are apparently irrelevant when someone is shot by police, but of utmost importance when shot by anyone else. The same risk factor is at play in both cases: engaging in criminal activity makes it more likely you will be killed by someone else, and that "someone else" includes the police.
Police violence is far from random. 42% of cop killers were black, while roughly 30% of those killed by police were black. 90% of those killed by police so far this year have been armed, and fewer than two dozen of them were unarmed black men.
Anyone who doesn't believe me should check the data themselves:
Police feloniously killed - https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/leoka/2013/tables/table_44_leos_fk...
WaPo police killings database - http://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings/
49
Wow.. Only two dozen unarmed black men gunned down? Two dozen unarmed people gunned down by police SO FAR this year seems acceptable to you?
I think we have to recognize that too much police behavior is beyond bullying as a matter of course. That said, you are completely right that the disproportionate rate of violent crime committed by black men cannot be separated from the fact of police conduct.
Those who continue to deny the reality of black violent crime rates and their impact on society are the intellectual equivalent of those who deny climate change and its impact on the ice caps.
Facts just don't matter to them.
Those who continue to deny the reality of black violent crime rates and their impact on society are the intellectual equivalent of those who deny climate change and its impact on the ice caps.
Facts just don't matter to them.
Thank you for being so straightforward. I strongly suspect that the same trolls who trash your comments section will be back in force on this one, but I hope that you will stay the course and not be cowed by the would-be bullies.
19
Bullies? It's called trying to look at the problem from all sides. It is the only way the problem can be solved. The comments I have read so far are appropriate.
Are you saying that anyone who disagrees with Mr. Blow and expresses their opinion is a Troll? I assume you agree with most, if not all, of Mr. Blow's writing so do you also believe that anyone who disagrees with you is also a Troll? Unless you have access to The Truth - the Platonic Forms perhaps - then your position seem untenable. It take an unbelievable level of arrogance to assume anyone who does agree with you is a "Troll" of some sort.
Why is it that those of us who disagree with this writer are "trolls" and "bullies"?
It is terror. So was Jim Crow. This wave of police violence and vigilantes is bringing back that awful time.
Imagine if you will a heavily armed group of black men walking down the streets in a white neighborhood. What would happen?
Imagine if you will a heavily armed group of black men walking down the streets in a white neighborhood. What would happen?
12
It is crucial for their continued grip on power by the economic elite, that Afro Americans, Hispanics, and the white middle and working classes are not allowed to find common cause. It is clear that from coast to coast, the cultural norm among white middle class law enforcement personnel is to prey on poor black communities. This has all the hallmarks of a foreign occupying army in the black community. If this situation is allowed to fester and continue, then the best illustration of what to expect in terms of outcomes might well be Baghdad. We are not far from car bombs and suicide bombers. The idea that three white men with automatic weapons can wander through Ferguson without interference by the police is both astonishing and infuriating. What I know is this: The black community has shown uncommon restraint, but there comes a tipping point, a breaking point. Without a cultural shift and soon, we can expect less than constructive responses from minority communities. I, for one, refuse to blame the victims.
18
Well said.
Very well said.
So many refuse to state the obvious, unwilling to face the reality of their racism, and others are fearful of retaliation if they show solidarity with the oppressed.
So many refuse to state the obvious, unwilling to face the reality of their racism, and others are fearful of retaliation if they show solidarity with the oppressed.
Mr. Blow, you convinced me long ago (if I wasn't convinced already) that police terror is a major problem in the black community. Your son's experience and his incredible response to it (a classmate of his recently told me about how he wrote movingly of why his experience needed to be seen in the light of what happens to victims who don't have means or prominent contacts) gave a personal reinforcement to your words. So please believe that this reader is in your camp.
That said, when someone kills you, you are no less dead and your family no less devastated if it is someone in your community that kills you. I'm not sure how to evaluate whether it is worse teen experience not to be able to trust your own social group or not to be able to trust the police -- they are both horrible.
Sadly, if we could eliminate all the questionable killings of blacks by police officers tomorrow, we would make a small dent in the number of violent deaths among young black men.
So shine a bright light on police terror and abuse. However, deflecting inquiries and discussion about black on black violence are undermining your message. To reach readers who aren't yet convinced of the need for police reform and strong community oversight over police action, you have to find a way to address that part of the picture.
That said, when someone kills you, you are no less dead and your family no less devastated if it is someone in your community that kills you. I'm not sure how to evaluate whether it is worse teen experience not to be able to trust your own social group or not to be able to trust the police -- they are both horrible.
Sadly, if we could eliminate all the questionable killings of blacks by police officers tomorrow, we would make a small dent in the number of violent deaths among young black men.
So shine a bright light on police terror and abuse. However, deflecting inquiries and discussion about black on black violence are undermining your message. To reach readers who aren't yet convinced of the need for police reform and strong community oversight over police action, you have to find a way to address that part of the picture.
14
And often times those blacks that are killed by other blacks, usually young black men are children or totally innocent people. I would imagine living in the inner city of Chicago, for example, is a real terror for families.
Yeah but if the police kill you, when you were alive your taxes were paying their salary.
"you have to find a way to address that part of the picture." CB and many others address this constantly. Your comment reminds me of complaints from some Blacks about Obama, that he hadn't prioritized their problems, for example. Keeping us all out of the killing fields of the Middle East is as much a Black issue as White. Saving the economy is certainly a Black issue.
Rooting the poison of racism out of the white American soul is a hard task. Education is hard in the face of Limbaugh and Fox. We all have a role in such projects, not just CB.
Rooting the poison of racism out of the white American soul is a hard task. Education is hard in the face of Limbaugh and Fox. We all have a role in such projects, not just CB.
2
I have to confess, I'm a little torn on this issue. Let's start with a video that's making the rounds of a montage of police dash cams showing cops in normal traffic stops being shot - unexpectedly and with little or no warning. I would imagine that has to play in the mind of any patrol cop. Maybe the more you're in the street the more you start thinking about your own mortality.
But, I don't think it's ONLY the police. Many municipalities use their police force to supplement their revenues. I was once pulled over and ticketed for driving 1 mile per hour over the posted speed limit (which is less than the rated calibration of both my speedometer and the radar gun he used). It's also evident that some communities target certain areas differently. That would mean that the issue is top to bottom rather than the bottom up.
I can't help thinking that maybe we aren't focusing on the right problems.
But, I don't think it's ONLY the police. Many municipalities use their police force to supplement their revenues. I was once pulled over and ticketed for driving 1 mile per hour over the posted speed limit (which is less than the rated calibration of both my speedometer and the radar gun he used). It's also evident that some communities target certain areas differently. That would mean that the issue is top to bottom rather than the bottom up.
I can't help thinking that maybe we aren't focusing on the right problems.
19
Search "Court Impact Fees on the Poor" and read many accounts of cities and counties using Police/Sheriff Departments to find any reason to write citations that lead to overly-high fines, onerous court costs, and loss of wages due to mandatory court appearances.
There are many very sad and tragic stories, and not much hope for change, as it appears cities and counties are using these oppressive fees to pad their municipal budgets.
There are many very sad and tragic stories, and not much hope for change, as it appears cities and counties are using these oppressive fees to pad their municipal budgets.
1
Just to finish your story, what was the outcome of the ticket?
What's to be torn about? Forget videos and forget how one community differs from another. Focus! Many (not all) in Black communities still bear the burdens of slavery and Jim Crow. Many Whites, even (especially) in "liberal" NYC, are blatant, gross racists. First admit the problem, then debate the remedies. Education. Leadership! But craven politicians and unchristian preachers lead in the wrong direction... How to change that? One heart and one mind at a time.
On the one hand, I agree with the premise that state action is different than private action and thus police should be held to higher standards than private citizens. It is similar to the argument that actions by the Israeli government result in greater condemnation than actions by Hamas because we hold the government of a democracy that receives US support to a higher standard than we expect from a terrorist organization. We should train and equip our police to de-escalate situations and avoid using deadly force unless absolutely necessary, even against criminals who have initiated confrontations.
On the other hand, I do not buy the argument that violence by police is worse than violence by private citizens because the victims of black-on-black violence know how to avoid it whereas police are omnipresent and thus unavoidable. I don't have statistics, but I would be shocked if the number of innocent people shot by police was anywhere close to the number of innocents shot by gangs and drug dealers. And it appears to me that the majority of recent police killings would have been avoided if the victims had not taken actions that threatened the lives of police officers. "Don't get into a physical altercation with a police officer" and "don't brandish a gun, real or fake" seem like better prescriptions to keep people safe than "if you live in a crime-ridden neighborhood, move to a safe suburb".
On the other hand, I do not buy the argument that violence by police is worse than violence by private citizens because the victims of black-on-black violence know how to avoid it whereas police are omnipresent and thus unavoidable. I don't have statistics, but I would be shocked if the number of innocent people shot by police was anywhere close to the number of innocents shot by gangs and drug dealers. And it appears to me that the majority of recent police killings would have been avoided if the victims had not taken actions that threatened the lives of police officers. "Don't get into a physical altercation with a police officer" and "don't brandish a gun, real or fake" seem like better prescriptions to keep people safe than "if you live in a crime-ridden neighborhood, move to a safe suburb".
33
Mr. Blow wrote: And yet, we don’t ask “Why aren’t you, America, focusing on the real problem: Americans killing other Americans?”
We do as that question Mr. Blow. You wrote that Fareed Zakaria, an American who is watched and admired by millions, asked that very question. The Brady Center struggles every day to answer that question and does battle with the NRA.
I do agree that state violence is extremely important. But there is no evidence, NONE, that the Police shootings fueling this media circus were driven by racism on the part of the Officers. I read recently that the Officer in the Sandra Bland case actually stopped just as many, if not more, whites as blacks. Inadequate training/hiring, not racism, is the common theme we are seeing in some of these videos.
We do as that question Mr. Blow. You wrote that Fareed Zakaria, an American who is watched and admired by millions, asked that very question. The Brady Center struggles every day to answer that question and does battle with the NRA.
I do agree that state violence is extremely important. But there is no evidence, NONE, that the Police shootings fueling this media circus were driven by racism on the part of the Officers. I read recently that the Officer in the Sandra Bland case actually stopped just as many, if not more, whites as blacks. Inadequate training/hiring, not racism, is the common theme we are seeing in some of these videos.
22
It is more than inadequate training. It is that many police officers get enraged when a black person talk back to them. In the mind of many police officers, a black person is not entitled to talk back.
1
Videos of police shooting and killing citizens is deeply disurbing. No one says the police have an easy job. Indeed, split second decisions must be made occasionally. But recent killings are inexcusable. Shooting people unless there is an absolute need to protect the officer's life or the community is wrong. Yes, such police action does heighten our uneasiness being around "the law."
4
"State violence, as epitomized in these cases by what people view as police abuses, conversely, has produced a specific feeling of terror, one that is inescapable and unavoidable."
It's akin to a form of national domestic violence, where people in power abuse their authority to take advantage of and harass people without power. And when the justice system supports that abuse through bogus attorneys, biased judges, unfair bail, disproportionate jail time, oppressive plea deals, the terror is all encompassing. Lives are turned upside down by draconian fines and fees. People are arrested for the slightest infractions. People are shot in the back, killed in cold blood. The stories spread, and the rage festers within the community. And eventually, like reactions to terrorism, war erupts, or a version of war that the power calls "riots," that the power calls "ignorant people destroying their own community." But, to the abused this is fighting back, a gut-check attempt to raise awareness, a rage unleashed to make the terror stop, the explosion that Langston Hughes wrote about.
It's akin to a form of national domestic violence, where people in power abuse their authority to take advantage of and harass people without power. And when the justice system supports that abuse through bogus attorneys, biased judges, unfair bail, disproportionate jail time, oppressive plea deals, the terror is all encompassing. Lives are turned upside down by draconian fines and fees. People are arrested for the slightest infractions. People are shot in the back, killed in cold blood. The stories spread, and the rage festers within the community. And eventually, like reactions to terrorism, war erupts, or a version of war that the power calls "riots," that the power calls "ignorant people destroying their own community." But, to the abused this is fighting back, a gut-check attempt to raise awareness, a rage unleashed to make the terror stop, the explosion that Langston Hughes wrote about.
7
It is nice to see Mr. Blow address his critics but his rebuttal is facile. Others on the left have made this argument. That inner city black on black violence is by people killing people they know isn’t the point. It probably isn’t the reality either. Many victims of violent crime don’t know the perpetrator and innocent bystanders caught between gangs with automatic weapons certainly don’t.
The problem is Blow and others making this about race in the first place when it is about poverty and policing. You can’t rebut the truth that the neglected slums of this nation’s cities are war zones overflowing with illegal guns. The question is how do we police them and make them safer without the police sometimes making fatal mistakes. When police slack off, the violence goes up and community leaders are blaming guess who for the increases in crime. And no one can deny that police are killed policing in these places. Recently two police chiefs appearing on The PBS Newshour admitted that with no social services in their cities their police force has been tasked with things they were never meant to do and are the only government presence in these neighborhoods.
We need to convince Americans to put an enormous amount of resources into our cities to create opportunities and make them safer. Calling white Americans racists is counter-productive and hardens resistance to any action. People who refuse to see their own biases shouldn’t be calling out others on theirs.
The problem is Blow and others making this about race in the first place when it is about poverty and policing. You can’t rebut the truth that the neglected slums of this nation’s cities are war zones overflowing with illegal guns. The question is how do we police them and make them safer without the police sometimes making fatal mistakes. When police slack off, the violence goes up and community leaders are blaming guess who for the increases in crime. And no one can deny that police are killed policing in these places. Recently two police chiefs appearing on The PBS Newshour admitted that with no social services in their cities their police force has been tasked with things they were never meant to do and are the only government presence in these neighborhoods.
We need to convince Americans to put an enormous amount of resources into our cities to create opportunities and make them safer. Calling white Americans racists is counter-productive and hardens resistance to any action. People who refuse to see their own biases shouldn’t be calling out others on theirs.
25
keep up the good work Mr. Blow! You are one of the only editorialist I still trust. America needs your convictions and passions! Thank you.
8
"How is it that we can understand an extreme reaction by Americans as a whole to a threat of terror but demonstrate a staggering lack of that understanding when black people in America do the same?"
In white America, most of us would likely not hesitate to dial 911, in case of a personal emergency. Regarding highway policing, most whites are likely far less cowered by a police stop than a black person would be, and never consider the possibility of being hauled off to jail for a minor traffic violation; yet, one only has to be pulled over, "frisked," and have one's car searched while surrounded by several cops to quickly develop a true sense of being terrorized for a seemingly gratuitous or arcane suspicion of criminal behavior. Additionally, the most recent videos are quickly creating a sense of empathy for those black victims of police abuse that quickly turn to gun violence simply because a black person runs out of a sense impending terror-- most can relate to those horrible deaths;yet, many probably feel that, if placed in a similar circumstance, they would not flee or cause a cop to pull his gun and shoot.
In white America, most of us would likely not hesitate to dial 911, in case of a personal emergency. Regarding highway policing, most whites are likely far less cowered by a police stop than a black person would be, and never consider the possibility of being hauled off to jail for a minor traffic violation; yet, one only has to be pulled over, "frisked," and have one's car searched while surrounded by several cops to quickly develop a true sense of being terrorized for a seemingly gratuitous or arcane suspicion of criminal behavior. Additionally, the most recent videos are quickly creating a sense of empathy for those black victims of police abuse that quickly turn to gun violence simply because a black person runs out of a sense impending terror-- most can relate to those horrible deaths;yet, many probably feel that, if placed in a similar circumstance, they would not flee or cause a cop to pull his gun and shoot.
10
It certainly is and it's about time Americans get their heads out of the sand when it comes to the excessive violence that terrorizes our society. This includes the 300 million guns, the violent Hollywood movies and video games, our gunslinger heritage, and our armed municipal authorities.
Killings like this 19 year old young man's are cowardly and cold blooded. Let's be honest here, the killers in these cases are almost always white and the victims disproportionately black, but hundreds of unarmed or lightly armed whites are executed annually also. We know what the white cops always say, I felt menaced, I felt threatened, I feared for my life, he reached for his belt etc. etc. it's like the authorities are taught at the same schools to repeat the same lies when they shoot an unarmed American citizen for no good reason. In the past the killers almost always walked away from these human rights violations as they are rubberstamped by DAs, State Attorneys, Grand Juries and the Supreme Court.
Where is Washington when it comes to protecting American citizens from these civil and constitutional violations? A recent Daily Kos report mentioned that some black lives matter activists are being surveiled by federal agents when they excercise their free speech rights at police brutality protests, so why aren't the municipalities that are shooting dead American citizens like this young man not being surveiled? Dubya had a DUI and Dick Cheney had two DUIs, why the double standard?
Killings like this 19 year old young man's are cowardly and cold blooded. Let's be honest here, the killers in these cases are almost always white and the victims disproportionately black, but hundreds of unarmed or lightly armed whites are executed annually also. We know what the white cops always say, I felt menaced, I felt threatened, I feared for my life, he reached for his belt etc. etc. it's like the authorities are taught at the same schools to repeat the same lies when they shoot an unarmed American citizen for no good reason. In the past the killers almost always walked away from these human rights violations as they are rubberstamped by DAs, State Attorneys, Grand Juries and the Supreme Court.
Where is Washington when it comes to protecting American citizens from these civil and constitutional violations? A recent Daily Kos report mentioned that some black lives matter activists are being surveiled by federal agents when they excercise their free speech rights at police brutality protests, so why aren't the municipalities that are shooting dead American citizens like this young man not being surveiled? Dubya had a DUI and Dick Cheney had two DUIs, why the double standard?
10
Disobeying a police officer can be punishable with verbal abuse, beating, arrest, and even death. Since when did we become such a nation? This is the type of stuff that happened in totalitarian places such as the former USSR and East Germany; or corrupt police regimes such as Guatemala, or in Argentina's dark past. We used to look down on countries that harbored violent, lawless policemen and departments. Not only do our police shoot to kill at the slightest provocation, to heck with the tasers, stun guns, and batons they have; our police now routinely seek to intimidate and provoke citizens who encounter them for any reason. Call the police about a barking dog and they knock on your door with their guns drawn. Years ago a friend and I got pulled over, the rookie cop was so nervous my friend had to reassure him that we weren't criminals and that we had no weapons. It actually worked. Wonder what the response would be today? Probably extreme belligerence. At least.
27
Keep your kids away from violence on Television, in movies, and in video games. Don't use the Television as a babysitter for your children.
The wild west Cop gunslingers believe their own cop shows. That's why they shoot so often. Look at the Tamir Rice killing. That wild cop wanted to kill with his gun.
The wild west Cop gunslingers believe their own cop shows. That's why they shoot so often. Look at the Tamir Rice killing. That wild cop wanted to kill with his gun.
1
Thanks for making this important distinction. A more important distinction is between the haves and the have nots. Racism is a means to an end. The means are only too obvious: race hatred or distrust of the Other. But the end is cheap labor - that was the point of slavery and it's still the point today. Move the conversation beyond race to class, beyond race-based affirmative action to class-based and all those race baited white workers begin to understand and relate. Some time back, the Democratic Party made a conscious decision to trade labor politics for identity politics and we have been stuck in this conversation ever since. It's past time to free the mind and the nation: if every neighborhood looks exactly alike, racial profiling becomes impossible.
Martin Luther King was in Memphis to support garbage workers. He understood. Sharpton has never understood. Take the conversation away from those who would divide us by race and move it to those who would unite us by class - a winning argument for the folks marginalized by our economy, our society, and our nation.
Martin Luther King was in Memphis to support garbage workers. He understood. Sharpton has never understood. Take the conversation away from those who would divide us by race and move it to those who would unite us by class - a winning argument for the folks marginalized by our economy, our society, and our nation.
5
What is gradually emerging is that police in America can kill you almost at will. "He took my taser." "Officer felt threatened." She refused to put out her cigarette, talking back to the officer and was thus subject to a rough and tough arrest. "He was running from the officer." He moved the car. "The officer was dragged and had no choice but to shoot the suspect."
The National Park Service Police, a particularly strange and intrusive presence all across the nation's capital of DC, had to tell their officers NOT to step in front of a moving car so as to be able to shoot at the driver. This reflects a common problem: when the "subject" doesn't immediately respond to orders or respond in the way the officer wants, the police officer can himself cause the conditions that, under the rules, allow deadly force.
We can't really stop neighbors shooting neighbors, husbands killing wives, drug dealers fighting for territory and so on. We can and we must stop police officers from escalating ordinary situations into ones that appear to require them to respond with deadly force, whether a gun or a taser (many have died from being shocked and, once used, police tend to re-shock the person until lying prone and still on the ground).
We need to trust police officers to behave properly. We don't expect drug dealers, on the other hand, to be nice.
If police believe they have a secret weapon, death at a moment's notice to anyone, they will not be restrained in other aspects of their jobs.
The National Park Service Police, a particularly strange and intrusive presence all across the nation's capital of DC, had to tell their officers NOT to step in front of a moving car so as to be able to shoot at the driver. This reflects a common problem: when the "subject" doesn't immediately respond to orders or respond in the way the officer wants, the police officer can himself cause the conditions that, under the rules, allow deadly force.
We can't really stop neighbors shooting neighbors, husbands killing wives, drug dealers fighting for territory and so on. We can and we must stop police officers from escalating ordinary situations into ones that appear to require them to respond with deadly force, whether a gun or a taser (many have died from being shocked and, once used, police tend to re-shock the person until lying prone and still on the ground).
We need to trust police officers to behave properly. We don't expect drug dealers, on the other hand, to be nice.
If police believe they have a secret weapon, death at a moment's notice to anyone, they will not be restrained in other aspects of their jobs.
9
I agree with the author that a key to understanding the reaction to Police violence against blacks is that it is state violence. One aspect of this is that a Police Officer who clearly crosses a line and does what appears to most to be a murder or other abuse on duty is never likely to be punished legally. They have been effectively exempted from justice.
So the black on black criminal is easily convicted, but the Police Officer on black crime goes unpunished regardless.
People's sense of justice is offended and there is often a race line from the dominant race.
Nearly every major urban riot in the last 50 years traces to an act of police violence. This become a separate reason to control Police violence: they can lead to riots and often have.
The authors comparison of the way black people process Police violence to terrorism is apt.
So the black on black criminal is easily convicted, but the Police Officer on black crime goes unpunished regardless.
People's sense of justice is offended and there is often a race line from the dominant race.
Nearly every major urban riot in the last 50 years traces to an act of police violence. This become a separate reason to control Police violence: they can lead to riots and often have.
The authors comparison of the way black people process Police violence to terrorism is apt.
7
Thank you, Charles, for saying exactly what needs to be said. Every such encounter with the police, the little, demeaning ones of everyday Black life, and the violent encounters in the news that then go unpunished--all of them reverberate through the Black community. That's what terror is for, the reverberation, the increasing awareness that you are not safe. That's why terror is such an effective means of control.
4
Ann, twice as many whites were killed by police officers last year. In only around 1% of the cases was the police officer indicted.
"And yet, we don’t ask “Why aren’t you, America, focusing on the real problem: Americans killing other Americans?”"
No, that question isn't asked. Because that question doesn't help to keep the elite in power, and that question doesn't lead to industries that make a few people very wealthy.
No, that question isn't asked. Because that question doesn't help to keep the elite in power, and that question doesn't lead to industries that make a few people very wealthy.
7
Is aggressive policing of African-American neighborhoods truly the fundamental cause of the dis-functionalities of so many of those neighborhoods? I mean an out of wedlock birthrate of 80%, absentee fathers of children, a high school dropout rate of 30%, high crime rates that stifle small business formation are all merely subsidiary problems? Why are other minorities; Hispanics, Asians, immigrants from Africa; not effected to the same degree? For the sake of discussion let's assume the veracity of Mr Blow's constant assertion that the U.S. is a hopelessly racist society. Isn't it then a rather foolish strategy to exhort such a society to provide the means to uplift the racially oppressed minority? Wouldn't the more effective strategy be one of assuming that outside help is simply not forthcoming and focus effort on self development, especially school performance, rather than emphasizing victim hood with the expectation that financial flows will follow? It certainly appears that a half century after passage of the various civil rights legislation and the expenditure of trillions on various wars on poverty that African-American are worse off than ever.
27
Your pieces need the NYT's missing Like or I Support This button. No real need to say either more, or less, usually. Thanks for unknotting all the different perceptual distortions that prevent us from seeing the truth as it really is.
7
The United States of America has taken a strictly policing approach to urban dislocations. It has done so because of the vast upsurge of Republican Party power and ideology since the late 1970s. But a strictly policing and incarceration approach to urban dislocations over 40 years has left tremendous social deterioration.
You see this is the stories of the people who have recently been killed by police. A woman is wrongly stopped by the police for failing to signal when changing lanes and SHE HANGS HERSELF WITH A GARBAGE BAG IN HER JAIL cell. That tells a story of a person living a terribly marginal existence.
Walter Scott was stopped for a broken tail light and he refuses to cooperate with the police because he feared he'd be jailed for failing to pay child support. That tells a story of a person living a terribly marginal existence: he can't pay child support!!
One can go on and on. Look at the background story of everyone of these police shootings and deaths by incarceration.
The real story here, that is being neglected everywhere by people concentrating on police violence, is the marginal lives of so many people, who when the police confront them, refuse to cooperate.
Whey should they cooperate with a society that marginalizes them? How can they cooperate with a society that fails them, then jails them?
Can't the darn Republicans see that more is going on here than can be dealt with by jailing and incarceration of great masses of black folk?
You see this is the stories of the people who have recently been killed by police. A woman is wrongly stopped by the police for failing to signal when changing lanes and SHE HANGS HERSELF WITH A GARBAGE BAG IN HER JAIL cell. That tells a story of a person living a terribly marginal existence.
Walter Scott was stopped for a broken tail light and he refuses to cooperate with the police because he feared he'd be jailed for failing to pay child support. That tells a story of a person living a terribly marginal existence: he can't pay child support!!
One can go on and on. Look at the background story of everyone of these police shootings and deaths by incarceration.
The real story here, that is being neglected everywhere by people concentrating on police violence, is the marginal lives of so many people, who when the police confront them, refuse to cooperate.
Whey should they cooperate with a society that marginalizes them? How can they cooperate with a society that fails them, then jails them?
Can't the darn Republicans see that more is going on here than can be dealt with by jailing and incarceration of great masses of black folk?
16
Wow, I disagree with nearly every point in this column, from start to finish. I don't see this as "state violence vs. community violence" at all. In fact, if the state weren't trying to contain the community violence, these tragic encounters would never have taken place.
You say that community violence, as opposed to state violence, can be avoided by, for example, not hanging out with the wrong crowd. But it seems to me the most basic way to avoid so-called state violence is to not engage in criminal activities that violate the laws of that state.
Perhaps someone should have told Michael Brown not to rob a convenience store and beat an employee there. But that likely would not have been sufficient. If you engage in criminal activity, you are creating and participating in a dangerous and unpredictable situation. You can't cause that dangerous situation and then express outrage over the results.
You say a certain type of reader response is a "deflection." I think it is a deflection of so many African Americans to always blame others, scrutinizing their actions and motives, rather than their own. I think the American people generally are growing very tired of that response.
You say that community violence, as opposed to state violence, can be avoided by, for example, not hanging out with the wrong crowd. But it seems to me the most basic way to avoid so-called state violence is to not engage in criminal activities that violate the laws of that state.
Perhaps someone should have told Michael Brown not to rob a convenience store and beat an employee there. But that likely would not have been sufficient. If you engage in criminal activity, you are creating and participating in a dangerous and unpredictable situation. You can't cause that dangerous situation and then express outrage over the results.
You say a certain type of reader response is a "deflection." I think it is a deflection of so many African Americans to always blame others, scrutinizing their actions and motives, rather than their own. I think the American people generally are growing very tired of that response.
133
Really?
Can't you understand what you're saying?
Can you imagine telling white people that any of the most insignificant "transgressions" will render them deserving of an instant death penalty by the police?
Would you accept such a standard for yourself?
Can't you understand what you're saying?
Can you imagine telling white people that any of the most insignificant "transgressions" will render them deserving of an instant death penalty by the police?
Would you accept such a standard for yourself?
3
Charles Blow's own son, a student at Yale, was terrorized having a gun pulled on him by police who were looking for an unarmed suspect who'd burgled unattended wallets and laptops.
1
It is sad to see people who can read this and so completely fail to understand.
4
"It is a confrontation with a most discomforting concept: that there is no amount of righteous behavior, no neighborhood right enough, to produce sufficient security."
In every single high-profile case that you have highlighted over the last year, the "victims" could have absolutely avoided their respective fates with very reasonable changes to behavior (not resisting arrest, not assaulting officers, etc). This column is pretty baseless and tries to draw a rather meaningless distinction.
In every single high-profile case that you have highlighted over the last year, the "victims" could have absolutely avoided their respective fates with very reasonable changes to behavior (not resisting arrest, not assaulting officers, etc). This column is pretty baseless and tries to draw a rather meaningless distinction.
34
The naysayers would like to pretend that a police state is not a serious issue but it is an issue for all Americans not just African Americans. Keep writing and talking about these issues, you are making a difference.
It's important to know who the real enemy is and to know the very serious function of racism, which is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work - Toni Morrison
It's important to know who the real enemy is and to know the very serious function of racism, which is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work - Toni Morrison
6
You'll have to first PROVE your so-called "police state" exists. Good luck!
Let's stop throwing around incendiary words like terrorism and thug. They get us nowhere. We need to start living in reality. If you are the average young black man living in a poor community, what you learn is "be tough, don't back down, and don't allow anyone to disrespect you." That leads to resistance and bellicose behavior no matter whether such behavior is appropriate or not -- and in most cases it's not.
On the other side, many police officers are relatively uneducated with a tendency towards aggressiveness, and an inability to defuse situations without being physical. They are trained to protect themselves above all other responsibilities.
Putting these two groups together is like mixing oil and oil, and then throwing a match in.
The only way this situation is going to change is if:
1) The quality of those hired as police officers improves, and they are trained to build rapport with the communities they serve first and foremost;
2) Poor black communities choose to take responsibility for the actions of their young men;
3) We make the educational and other investments we need to make to substantially improve opportunities in poor communities.
While I am not a Bernie Sanders supporter, he is right that this is a class issue, as much as racial a issue. But when I say class, I am not just talking economic class, I'm talking about showing some class. That goes for the cops, politicians, and protestors, as well as the communities that are suffering.
On the other side, many police officers are relatively uneducated with a tendency towards aggressiveness, and an inability to defuse situations without being physical. They are trained to protect themselves above all other responsibilities.
Putting these two groups together is like mixing oil and oil, and then throwing a match in.
The only way this situation is going to change is if:
1) The quality of those hired as police officers improves, and they are trained to build rapport with the communities they serve first and foremost;
2) Poor black communities choose to take responsibility for the actions of their young men;
3) We make the educational and other investments we need to make to substantially improve opportunities in poor communities.
While I am not a Bernie Sanders supporter, he is right that this is a class issue, as much as racial a issue. But when I say class, I am not just talking economic class, I'm talking about showing some class. That goes for the cops, politicians, and protestors, as well as the communities that are suffering.
24
After WW2, when my father became a cop, many departments by preference hired former Marines. My father's whole department was former Marines.
Not one of them behaved this way. They fought in the Pacific in some horrific battles, that gave my father nightmares for the rest of his life. He and the guys with him were committed to protecting.
They believed in Civil Rights as something they'd fought for. My father introduced the then-new 8 mm camera for use of the Intoxilyzer, to show not just the reading but what exactly had happened while the machine was used. The police loved it.
My father suffered broken ribs and broken hands dealing with some people. He lost at least one uniform every month just torn to shreds. He rode the back of one monster guy, a furniture mover, all the way down the stairs of his house, to arrest him for beating on his kids. He never shot any of them. Not one. Not even the guy who flicked open a switchblade knife behind his back.
It WAS different. That is how it should be.
Not one of them behaved this way. They fought in the Pacific in some horrific battles, that gave my father nightmares for the rest of his life. He and the guys with him were committed to protecting.
They believed in Civil Rights as something they'd fought for. My father introduced the then-new 8 mm camera for use of the Intoxilyzer, to show not just the reading but what exactly had happened while the machine was used. The police loved it.
My father suffered broken ribs and broken hands dealing with some people. He lost at least one uniform every month just torn to shreds. He rode the back of one monster guy, a furniture mover, all the way down the stairs of his house, to arrest him for beating on his kids. He never shot any of them. Not one. Not even the guy who flicked open a switchblade knife behind his back.
It WAS different. That is how it should be.
3
Thank you, JF. It seems the 'civil' part of civilization's MIA these days. On all sides of the argument.
So is standing in front of a polling station and brandishing a club but Eric Holder couldn't come up with a label.
7
I wholeheartedly agree with this opinion piece, but I take issue with its title.
Describing police abuse as "a form of terror," especially in the context of ongoing events in the Middle East, seems to imply the existence of some form or organizing group, goal or philosophy. So far as I am aware, however, there has been no indication that such is the case.
As appalling as the facts of these cases have been, they instead appear to consist of a witches brew of poor training, lack of transparency, lack of accountability on the part of police departments as well as individual officers, and a failure to monitor effectively the mental and emotional fitness of police officers to carry out their duties.
Describing police abuse as "a form of terror," especially in the context of ongoing events in the Middle East, seems to imply the existence of some form or organizing group, goal or philosophy. So far as I am aware, however, there has been no indication that such is the case.
As appalling as the facts of these cases have been, they instead appear to consist of a witches brew of poor training, lack of transparency, lack of accountability on the part of police departments as well as individual officers, and a failure to monitor effectively the mental and emotional fitness of police officers to carry out their duties.
3
There is a unified police culture. It is spread by internal media, internal training, police academies, and by the very selection process.
That culture has shifted. It is become a problem, a big problem. Us vs them, force protection, devaluing others, and thereby abandoning their original reason for being, the whole Serve and Protect idea.
Go through a black neighborhood and look. You'd be crazy to think those cops are there to Serve and Protect that neighborhood. Look in the eyes of those cops. They certainly don't think that. They are looking out at a sea of hostiles, just like in Iraq.
In fact, it is written that way in our TV dramas. You don't even have to leave your couch, just think about what you see from the other point of view, the innocents in the background of every shot.
That culture has shifted. It is become a problem, a big problem. Us vs them, force protection, devaluing others, and thereby abandoning their original reason for being, the whole Serve and Protect idea.
Go through a black neighborhood and look. You'd be crazy to think those cops are there to Serve and Protect that neighborhood. Look in the eyes of those cops. They certainly don't think that. They are looking out at a sea of hostiles, just like in Iraq.
In fact, it is written that way in our TV dramas. You don't even have to leave your couch, just think about what you see from the other point of view, the innocents in the background of every shot.
4
Perhaps black people feel terrorized by the police. I am not black; I must honestly report that I do not know how a black person feels.
I am white, and I can honestly report what I have felt and more importantly what other white people have said to me when blacks are not around.
Very simply, for every claim of disgruntlement that black people can level against white people, white people have their own feelings of disgruntlement. Many black people have said that it's time we have a conversation about race. But do you really want an honest conversation, Mr. Blow. Perhaps black people view the police as a force of terror. Many white people view black people as a force of terror, believing that assault, aggressiveness, theft and murder are more frequently committed by blacks than by whites. Black people will respond that they are economically oppressed, that they are poor, that white people hinder their efforts at self betterment. But white people believe that much of this argument is nonsense. My Mother literally starved in the Great Depression but she got the only score of one hundred, in all of New York State, for one of her history regents. Perhaps it might be curious to try to find out what little children think about race. They are too young to know what is the politically correct thing to say. Studies have shown that young people find blacks to be pushier, more aggressive, more hostile.Sorry, but space limits prevent a proper closing of this essay.
I am white, and I can honestly report what I have felt and more importantly what other white people have said to me when blacks are not around.
Very simply, for every claim of disgruntlement that black people can level against white people, white people have their own feelings of disgruntlement. Many black people have said that it's time we have a conversation about race. But do you really want an honest conversation, Mr. Blow. Perhaps black people view the police as a force of terror. Many white people view black people as a force of terror, believing that assault, aggressiveness, theft and murder are more frequently committed by blacks than by whites. Black people will respond that they are economically oppressed, that they are poor, that white people hinder their efforts at self betterment. But white people believe that much of this argument is nonsense. My Mother literally starved in the Great Depression but she got the only score of one hundred, in all of New York State, for one of her history regents. Perhaps it might be curious to try to find out what little children think about race. They are too young to know what is the politically correct thing to say. Studies have shown that young people find blacks to be pushier, more aggressive, more hostile.Sorry, but space limits prevent a proper closing of this essay.
47
"Many white people view black people as a force of terror, believing that"
"Believing that." They were told that. They believe something they've been told, and told again. "Be afraid, be very afraid."
It has been a political ploy since Nixon set the Silent Majority against the War on Crime, by which he meant to dog whistle against blacks in his Southern Strategy.
You also can feel threatened by a guy with attitude who has a rifle in the window of his pickup truck. You should. But we haven't been sold that storyline for decades.
For every black you might reasonably be afraid of, there are a hundred more people like Mr. Blow or the guy down the street from me or across the street from my mother who are fine people, JUST LIKE YOU. If not better.
"Believing that." They were told that. They believe something they've been told, and told again. "Be afraid, be very afraid."
It has been a political ploy since Nixon set the Silent Majority against the War on Crime, by which he meant to dog whistle against blacks in his Southern Strategy.
You also can feel threatened by a guy with attitude who has a rifle in the window of his pickup truck. You should. But we haven't been sold that storyline for decades.
For every black you might reasonably be afraid of, there are a hundred more people like Mr. Blow or the guy down the street from me or across the street from my mother who are fine people, JUST LIKE YOU. If not better.
6
Imagine what it was like for a poor black person starving during the depression... But please do continue taking your various privileges for granted and being angry at "black people," as if they are some monoculture.
One of the ironies, lost on folks like David, is that when a black man is seen driving a fancy car, they're even more likely to be pulled over for driving while black. But fortunately, for David, that isn't his problem and he wishes those uppity black folk would just mind their own business.
Classy.
One of the ironies, lost on folks like David, is that when a black man is seen driving a fancy car, they're even more likely to be pulled over for driving while black. But fortunately, for David, that isn't his problem and he wishes those uppity black folk would just mind their own business.
Classy.
4
So in high-crime neighborhoods police is a bigger danger than criminals?
61
It is bad enough that the police are themselves a big danger to the innocent.
5
Thank you sir, for putting into clear words a very visceral feeling I've had for quite a while. There are so many problems associated with this form of state terror, we have so much to do, I am grateful to the activists and demonstrators who are taking the lead; now if we can only direct the attention of the government to the problem, we'll make some progress.
2
One of the best essays I read about Martin Luther King (written by Hamden Rice) made the point that King's most important accomplishment was shaking off the state of psychological terror that Black Americans were living under. It wasn't that he changed laws; it was that he changed a state of terror -- first within the protesters and then within society at large.
(I often wonder how much of the aggressive "gangster" behavior among some Black young men is a collective psychological backlash against a time that suppressed and terrorized Black masculinity, so young men must over-assert their right to be masculine in order to feel free.)
In corners of the country, however, the desire to terrorize remains. And there are certainly some cops who go into that profession precisely because they get to bully.
Blow makes a great point, but his description of the overreaction after 9/11 may be less useful. The trouble is that people who are existentially scared for their existence can justify any behavior (like torture after 9/11.) And there is a case to be made that police are existentially scared of young Black men -- given how frequently police are killed in the line of duty and the fact that young Black men are disproportionately likely to fire on an officer. (They fire on officers as often as white men, which means three or four times as often relative to their population.)
As King knew, there's a better model than post-9/11 for responding to terrorism.
(I often wonder how much of the aggressive "gangster" behavior among some Black young men is a collective psychological backlash against a time that suppressed and terrorized Black masculinity, so young men must over-assert their right to be masculine in order to feel free.)
In corners of the country, however, the desire to terrorize remains. And there are certainly some cops who go into that profession precisely because they get to bully.
Blow makes a great point, but his description of the overreaction after 9/11 may be less useful. The trouble is that people who are existentially scared for their existence can justify any behavior (like torture after 9/11.) And there is a case to be made that police are existentially scared of young Black men -- given how frequently police are killed in the line of duty and the fact that young Black men are disproportionately likely to fire on an officer. (They fire on officers as often as white men, which means three or four times as often relative to their population.)
As King knew, there's a better model than post-9/11 for responding to terrorism.
6
This is hard for me to articulate, so bear with me. I came across a video the other day that strung together all the dash cam and cell phone videos of white officers shooting *unarmed* black men. When you watch it as an organic whole the message is clear: "as long as you black people keep protesting these killings we will kill more of you. This is reciprocity for an imagined wrong, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. " It is like the sexual abuser of a child who tells the victim: I will kill you if you tell, and no one will believe you. Police will deny this. They would say my thinking borders on paranoia. I know police, as mayor of my small town I rode along once or twice a month for two years. White people ask me . . . why didn't he just cooperate? Imagine yourself in that position. That monster that was under you bed all those many years ago is now in your face. You know your stop was bogus. You know that this cannot possibly end well for you . . .what do we do when we face a known danger? We run. If you are black male and you run, you will be killed. If you refuse to put out your cigarette you will be subjected to the temper tantrum of a two year old and spend several days in jail. If you play with the same gun that a white boy your age plays with: you will be killed. If this is not the definition of terrorism . . .i.e. instilling the belief that your government cannot protect you . . . then terrorism doesn't exist.
129
You can't make things up ! This is the stupidest thing I have heard so far in this debate.
1
So why people don't like their high-crime surroundings?
There they can "better understand how to avoid" community violence than police presence. And since there's "no neighborhood right enough, to produce sufficient security" from police - why would "people with the means" want "to move away from high-poverty, high-crime neighborhoods"? Strange world.
There they can "better understand how to avoid" community violence than police presence. And since there's "no neighborhood right enough, to produce sufficient security" from police - why would "people with the means" want "to move away from high-poverty, high-crime neighborhoods"? Strange world.
6
I could not agree with you more Mr. Blow. I agree that police violence is a form of terrorism on the African-American community. I would argue that our refusal to stop this terrorism will ultimately lead to having it used on many of us, regardless of race or gender. I do not say this lightly.
I believe that the "war on drugs" has become a form of genocide. A genocide against the poor and disenfranchised. Police terrorism is an extension of this genocide. African-American men and women are torn from their communities and thrown in prison for the slightest legal infraction. Communities and families are torn apart. Violence is used against these same people by an established code which devalues their existence. This devaluation is another part of genocide.
I say that ultimately we are all at risk. If we rise up, we are at risk. If we speak out to loudly, we are at risk. If we lose our jobs and end up in poverty, we are at risk. I think of the poem attributed to the German Pastor Niemöller in 1937 - "First they came for the Communists,and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist...Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me." We must all speak up.
I believe that the "war on drugs" has become a form of genocide. A genocide against the poor and disenfranchised. Police terrorism is an extension of this genocide. African-American men and women are torn from their communities and thrown in prison for the slightest legal infraction. Communities and families are torn apart. Violence is used against these same people by an established code which devalues their existence. This devaluation is another part of genocide.
I say that ultimately we are all at risk. If we rise up, we are at risk. If we speak out to loudly, we are at risk. If we lose our jobs and end up in poverty, we are at risk. I think of the poem attributed to the German Pastor Niemöller in 1937 - "First they came for the Communists,and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist...Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me." We must all speak up.
21
Until police in some areas stop acting like an occupying army this problem will remain. Doubtful hiring practices and a lack of proper training combine to yield a police force with a swagger and an us-vs-them attitude.
28
I may not be exactly on point here, but bear with me for a moment, please. The "particular subset"to which Mr. Blow refers is well-nigh predictable. The same identifiers appear in response to nearly every Charles Blow column. The usual salutation is "Blow," not "Mr," or any other courteous form of address; it's as though the person posting is being deliberately belligernt in text and tone without any attempt to disguise his/her hostility. They complain of a "liberal bias" or attempt to turn the discussion from actual (not fictional) lethal policing by citing a relatively "rare" case of an actual citizen's killing by an agent of the law. That, bad as it is, is not the point. What Mr. Blow crusades against is the repetition of these incidents which has become the source of the plague that spawned Black Lives Matter and the attendant angry response from millions of African-American citizens. This "subset" is of the opinion that if "thugs," in their parlance. will obey the laws, attend classes, seek gainful employment, be parents to their children instead of strangers, then police terrorism will vanish. Blacks mistrust the police more than the police target them. It's a simple thing for the "subset" to toss stones at others' windows while enjoying the protection of the agents of law who are only ready to take a black life at the drop of a dime.
7
"One could argue that America’s overwhelming response to the terror threat is precisely what has kept the number of people killed in this country as a result of terror so low."
Do you concur with this argument, Mr. Blow? Are you endorsing our wars in Afghanistan and Irag, our use of drones, and our massive collection of data, even on Americans? If you are endorsing all or some of these strategies, please say so. You cannot rationally argue, "Some people propose a premise which I reject, but I will use their premise to support my conclusion." We can only infer from this column that you are generally endorsing the Bush Administration War on Terror, which set most of the parameters of our "overwhelming response to the terror response."
Do you concur with this argument, Mr. Blow? Are you endorsing our wars in Afghanistan and Irag, our use of drones, and our massive collection of data, even on Americans? If you are endorsing all or some of these strategies, please say so. You cannot rationally argue, "Some people propose a premise which I reject, but I will use their premise to support my conclusion." We can only infer from this column that you are generally endorsing the Bush Administration War on Terror, which set most of the parameters of our "overwhelming response to the terror response."
5
No, as you quote, he is not.
But your premise has a big problem. We could end the threat of terrorism by others if we just killed ALL of the others. We could kill maybe 2 billion people, all the Muslims and half a billion or so other troublesome sorts, and we would be left free of any concerns for them.
While we are at it, why not kill everyone who isn't white? The world is overpopulated anyway, so we could start over with just a couple billion and lots more resources. That worked well in the economics of Europe after the Black Death.
Then again, maybe we can solve our problems with people without just freely killing them.
But your premise has a big problem. We could end the threat of terrorism by others if we just killed ALL of the others. We could kill maybe 2 billion people, all the Muslims and half a billion or so other troublesome sorts, and we would be left free of any concerns for them.
While we are at it, why not kill everyone who isn't white? The world is overpopulated anyway, so we could start over with just a couple billion and lots more resources. That worked well in the economics of Europe after the Black Death.
Then again, maybe we can solve our problems with people without just freely killing them.
4
Mr. Blow, I don't agree.
African Americans are the least responsible group of people in the country. They kill more of each other than anyone else. When the lights go out, and the police cannot see what they are doing, they loot and steal and commit crimes.
Even Jesse Jackson is afraid of black men when walking down the street at night.
The problem is not whites. It is blacks.
This is what we should say to black people: grow up and take responsibility for your actions. Police yourselves. Behave. Learn. Study. Do it yourself. Stop expecting money. Get over your past.
You can do it. The more you are put to the task of doing it, the sooner the teat of government support runs dry, the better off African Americans will be.
African Americans are the least responsible group of people in the country. They kill more of each other than anyone else. When the lights go out, and the police cannot see what they are doing, they loot and steal and commit crimes.
Even Jesse Jackson is afraid of black men when walking down the street at night.
The problem is not whites. It is blacks.
This is what we should say to black people: grow up and take responsibility for your actions. Police yourselves. Behave. Learn. Study. Do it yourself. Stop expecting money. Get over your past.
You can do it. The more you are put to the task of doing it, the sooner the teat of government support runs dry, the better off African Americans will be.
92
IF you are right, taking that for sake of argument, how did it get this way?
Did they do that all by themselves, because they are just inferior and not quite human?
Did they do that all by themselves, because they are just inferior and not quite human?
7
If we find subtler, institutional forms of racism too difficult to combat, we can always turn our attention back to the old-fashioned, unsubtle kind. Seems there's plenty of it still around, even if it prefers to hide behind pseudonyms and "recommendations" in public forums.
5
This is a web of lies. The history of this country is oppression. Pro football players earn lots money for inflicting violence. And who fills the stands, paying exorbitant fees to watch them do it? Overwhelmingly, white people. But if violence takes place outside the arena, the knee-jerk reaction is to call them thugs, the new code word for young, strong black males who go astray. But this isn't new. Black communities that succeed have historically been terrorized, like in Tulsa or Rosedale. Black people have been used as guinea pigs for devastating diseases, denied equal farming benefits, denied equal housing and job opportunities, denied voting rights, denied civil rights, lynched—and all this after having been enslaved for hundreds of years. What government support are you talking about? Most of these atrocities were perpetrated by government and/or supported by law.
3
This argument is becoming rather tired, Mr. Blow.
At the risk of re-stating the obvious, let's list the facts behind Mr. Brown's death since it was the catalyst behind the "Black Lives Matter" movement:
--He stole cigars from a convenience store.
--He assaulted the store owner when confronted about the cigars.
--He punched the window of a police car.
--He punched the police officer.
--He threatened the police officer's life.
--He tried to wrest the police officer's gun.
The Justice Department under Eric Holder's watch exonerated the police officer--twice.
Yes, Mr. Blow, I see the social injustices manifest in the Normandy School District. I'm well aware of the concessions President Johnson made with Congress when he signed the Voting and Civil Rights Acts and then sanctioned federal monies local law enforcement. I agree with Michelle Alexander when she illustrates the systemic complexities behind the modern racial caste system based upon unfair drug laws.
Law enforcement officers, however, do not have time to weigh the abstract notions of institutional racism against the actual threats they face while protecting law-abiding citizens.
Therefore, I ask you, sir, why not direct your attention toward the social injustices that precede the involvement of law enforcement? The dust surrounding Ferguson is slowly clearing. And when people realize that this was a justified shooting, they will feel a sense of betrayal at all the clamoring that ensued as a result.
At the risk of re-stating the obvious, let's list the facts behind Mr. Brown's death since it was the catalyst behind the "Black Lives Matter" movement:
--He stole cigars from a convenience store.
--He assaulted the store owner when confronted about the cigars.
--He punched the window of a police car.
--He punched the police officer.
--He threatened the police officer's life.
--He tried to wrest the police officer's gun.
The Justice Department under Eric Holder's watch exonerated the police officer--twice.
Yes, Mr. Blow, I see the social injustices manifest in the Normandy School District. I'm well aware of the concessions President Johnson made with Congress when he signed the Voting and Civil Rights Acts and then sanctioned federal monies local law enforcement. I agree with Michelle Alexander when she illustrates the systemic complexities behind the modern racial caste system based upon unfair drug laws.
Law enforcement officers, however, do not have time to weigh the abstract notions of institutional racism against the actual threats they face while protecting law-abiding citizens.
Therefore, I ask you, sir, why not direct your attention toward the social injustices that precede the involvement of law enforcement? The dust surrounding Ferguson is slowly clearing. And when people realize that this was a justified shooting, they will feel a sense of betrayal at all the clamoring that ensued as a result.
152
Any opinion on the other, manifestly unjustified shootings recently?
10
Jennifer--read the Grand Jury testimony of Officer Wilson. Understand, people under investigation never testify at Grand Jury proceedings, unless they are the police. The police know the State Attorney will not cross-examine them and will allow them to present a narrative justifying the killing. That is exactly what happened with Wilson. Read the testimony, and if you know anything about legal proceedings, you will recognize it was a farce as the State Attorney did not ask a single question that even looks like cross-examination. Nor did the DOJ cross-examine Wilson under oath.
Wait for the civil deposition when Wilson has to actually explain what happened. Moment by moment. The "coherent" story he concocted for the Grand Jury is not going to look so logical.
But even a larger point is your tolerance, along with many Americans, for killing unarmed people who do bad things. Shouldn't police be trained to subdue an unarmed man or woman who is out of control? How can a police officer's life be threatened when the unarmed person is 10 feet away and wounded? If a man on the street takes a swing at me should I just kill him in response?
Self-defense is using a proportional response to a threat. It does not mean filling a suspect with 8 rounds because a wounded unarmed man is walking toward you.
We need better training on how to subdue unarmed people without killing them.
Wait for the civil deposition when Wilson has to actually explain what happened. Moment by moment. The "coherent" story he concocted for the Grand Jury is not going to look so logical.
But even a larger point is your tolerance, along with many Americans, for killing unarmed people who do bad things. Shouldn't police be trained to subdue an unarmed man or woman who is out of control? How can a police officer's life be threatened when the unarmed person is 10 feet away and wounded? If a man on the street takes a swing at me should I just kill him in response?
Self-defense is using a proportional response to a threat. It does not mean filling a suspect with 8 rounds because a wounded unarmed man is walking toward you.
We need better training on how to subdue unarmed people without killing them.
14
@ Jennifer
Police officers are not judge, jury and executioner.
What ever Michael Brown did, his punishment should have been decided in a court of law, not on the street by a single police officer.
Police officers are not judge, jury and executioner.
What ever Michael Brown did, his punishment should have been decided in a court of law, not on the street by a single police officer.
8
I don't think white people think of black people as Americans, and maybe that's a gross oversimplification or statement, but I can't see how it is otherwise that there is still this sense of "other" with regard to black people in this country--or people of color. Oh, maybe not in a "my black friend, John", kind of thing, He's not one of those other black people, but I think maybe in a larger sense. Otherwise I don't understand why so many (predominantly white) people can look at the disenfranchisement of so many black people and see it as their fault rather than the way the system has been designed against them.
8
"It produces a particular kind of terror, a feeling of nakedness and vulnerability, a fear that makes people furious at the very idea of having to be afraid."
I don't mean or wish to in any way detract or distract from what Mr. Blow is so rightly saying here. But I have to say, when I read those words, the feelings describe were intimately familiar to me--and to any other woman, of any color, thanks to the ever-present danger of rape.
I don't mean or wish to in any way detract or distract from what Mr. Blow is so rightly saying here. But I have to say, when I read those words, the feelings describe were intimately familiar to me--and to any other woman, of any color, thanks to the ever-present danger of rape.
11
Blacks killing other blacks, in even greater numbers than the police inflict, is an even more extreme form of terror.
26
So never mind the police?
Your argument is for doing something about poverty, racism, and the hopelessness of those communities. It does not excuse the police.
Your argument is for doing something about poverty, racism, and the hopelessness of those communities. It does not excuse the police.
3
So...it's okay when black people are just killing black people? That's just folks being folks?
When a kid walking to school is shot down by the random bullet from a gang - that's just "aw shucks. Bad luck"?
But when a cop, who's out there trying to stop this stuff, winds up roughing somebody up, frisking them, or in extreme circumstances...killing somebody...it's STATE VIOLENCE. A form of TERRORISM?
9.11 was terrorism. The pain, the sorrow, the sacrifice, the horror. I thought the New York Times was "all the news that is fit to print."
When a kid walking to school is shot down by the random bullet from a gang - that's just "aw shucks. Bad luck"?
But when a cop, who's out there trying to stop this stuff, winds up roughing somebody up, frisking them, or in extreme circumstances...killing somebody...it's STATE VIOLENCE. A form of TERRORISM?
9.11 was terrorism. The pain, the sorrow, the sacrifice, the horror. I thought the New York Times was "all the news that is fit to print."
100
No, it is not okay that anyone shoots a child.
But the police are not just "roughing up" a few people. They are shooting children too.
When the supposed protectors are themselves a threat, that is a very specific problem which deserves very specific attention.
And yes, the other problems are there and need fixing too. That gets into poverty, hopelessness, and the causes of crime as a choice a culture without options.
But the police are not just "roughing up" a few people. They are shooting children too.
When the supposed protectors are themselves a threat, that is a very specific problem which deserves very specific attention.
And yes, the other problems are there and need fixing too. That gets into poverty, hopelessness, and the causes of crime as a choice a culture without options.
12
No longer. If you notice - it is no longer a part of the masthead.
Bravo, Mr. Blow! You have hit the center of the target again. And bravo, Mark Thomason for your remarks in support of Mr. Blow. America is sick and needs emergency treatment.
55
And it should begin in the neighborhoods where blacks murder blacks every day.
3
Poverty is a form of terrorism, too.
29
Police abuse today is much like an army of occupation, not different in emotions on both sides from what we did in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We called the other side terrorists, even as we shot innocents in the street. Here we call them other names. We shoot them on the slightest pretexts all the same.
Certainly an army of occupation oppresses, and creates the emotions of being constantly oppressed. That includes a form of emotional abuse much like deliberate political terror to bully a population.
We need to see that occupation is a political use of terror. It isn't only "terrorists" who terrorize a population to control it. It is both our foreign and domestic policy.
Apologies to Pogo: We have found the terrorist state, and it is us.
We called the other side terrorists, even as we shot innocents in the street. Here we call them other names. We shoot them on the slightest pretexts all the same.
Certainly an army of occupation oppresses, and creates the emotions of being constantly oppressed. That includes a form of emotional abuse much like deliberate political terror to bully a population.
We need to see that occupation is a political use of terror. It isn't only "terrorists" who terrorize a population to control it. It is both our foreign and domestic policy.
Apologies to Pogo: We have found the terrorist state, and it is us.
172
Bravo, Mark.
Your entire comment did not use the word "black" nor carve us up as white people (the problem = supremacists, even the poor ones have special privileges, allegedly, for which they should pay) and black people (Perpetual Victims, no matter how high they rise or how artificially they are favored).
Mark's comment focuses on the problem, and doesn't take the easy way out and divide us up. EVERYONE has a stake in seeing safer communities, more honest policing and reporting, and less trigger-happy and arrest-happy officers patrolling our streets.
War is Over! Let's find other career paths for black men, and white men too, so that they don't seek "secure" government work, like being police officers seemingly above the law.
Stimulate the economy, open up work opportunities, and elect politicians who understand that a lot of these social problems are abated when money in the economy is flowing freely into all hands. Where are these Democratic politicians, have they all been subsumed by identity politics of us-vs.-them?
Your entire comment did not use the word "black" nor carve us up as white people (the problem = supremacists, even the poor ones have special privileges, allegedly, for which they should pay) and black people (Perpetual Victims, no matter how high they rise or how artificially they are favored).
Mark's comment focuses on the problem, and doesn't take the easy way out and divide us up. EVERYONE has a stake in seeing safer communities, more honest policing and reporting, and less trigger-happy and arrest-happy officers patrolling our streets.
War is Over! Let's find other career paths for black men, and white men too, so that they don't seek "secure" government work, like being police officers seemingly above the law.
Stimulate the economy, open up work opportunities, and elect politicians who understand that a lot of these social problems are abated when money in the economy is flowing freely into all hands. Where are these Democratic politicians, have they all been subsumed by identity politics of us-vs.-them?
4
Midway -- Thanks.
The things I see to be the same include us vs them thinking, force protection as the priority, very low value on protection of anyone else, and any excuse will do.
To change, we must address exactly those things. That gets to the heart of what is being said by Black Lives Matter.
The response that all lives matter is both true, and misses the point that police especially devalue black lives. That spreads. I've seen it spreading. But it spreads from where it is worst. We must cut it off at its source.
We must do something about the Blue army of occupation in Black neighborhoods, and we must do that for the sake of all of us, not just blacks.
I don't mean to disagree with Black Lives Matter. Just as some whites and especially many Jews saw the Civil Rights Movement as both a black thing AND their thing, this is too.
The things I see to be the same include us vs them thinking, force protection as the priority, very low value on protection of anyone else, and any excuse will do.
To change, we must address exactly those things. That gets to the heart of what is being said by Black Lives Matter.
The response that all lives matter is both true, and misses the point that police especially devalue black lives. That spreads. I've seen it spreading. But it spreads from where it is worst. We must cut it off at its source.
We must do something about the Blue army of occupation in Black neighborhoods, and we must do that for the sake of all of us, not just blacks.
I don't mean to disagree with Black Lives Matter. Just as some whites and especially many Jews saw the Civil Rights Movement as both a black thing AND their thing, this is too.
4
Excellent, Midway.
Thanks for this, Charles. State sponsored terrorism has no countervailing force, causing a lot of bad things to happen. Racist and ignorant young men become drawn to the opportunity to intimidate the other, killing innocents in the process.
Nowadays, our police have military equipment, including body armor and artillery, a nice fit for the vast corporate wealth acting behind the scenes. The purpose is to intimidate, and remind civilians of all races that wealthy and predatory economic sectors are prepared to enforce their will on the rest of us whenever they feel like it.
The root cause of this is the American brand of fascism, a term people have been instructed to avoid. It's OK to call Obama the Antichrist and Pelosi a witch, but do not dare to adhere to specific historical definitions: fascism includes using force to intimidate, focusing on those who are different or on economic margins, and financed by the rich.. It's blacks who are demonized here, but it's Shiites in the Middle East, Jews in Nazi Germany, and Protestant infidels in the 17th century.
The game is the same, a peculiar form of human dysfunction, grounded in a species immaturity- we've only been around in our present form for a few hundred thousand years- combined with nearly infinite technological power over nature.
I don't know how we overcome this. Thanks to you, Charles, for moving us in the right direction- even as many of us are consumed by hopelessness over our future.
Nowadays, our police have military equipment, including body armor and artillery, a nice fit for the vast corporate wealth acting behind the scenes. The purpose is to intimidate, and remind civilians of all races that wealthy and predatory economic sectors are prepared to enforce their will on the rest of us whenever they feel like it.
The root cause of this is the American brand of fascism, a term people have been instructed to avoid. It's OK to call Obama the Antichrist and Pelosi a witch, but do not dare to adhere to specific historical definitions: fascism includes using force to intimidate, focusing on those who are different or on economic margins, and financed by the rich.. It's blacks who are demonized here, but it's Shiites in the Middle East, Jews in Nazi Germany, and Protestant infidels in the 17th century.
The game is the same, a peculiar form of human dysfunction, grounded in a species immaturity- we've only been around in our present form for a few hundred thousand years- combined with nearly infinite technological power over nature.
I don't know how we overcome this. Thanks to you, Charles, for moving us in the right direction- even as many of us are consumed by hopelessness over our future.
262
Mike..... thank you, we need more articles with this context. Charles started it by using the word terror. Relate what's going on today in USA --with its Bill of Rights-- to state abuse in other eras and countries. Dictatorships allways have rationalizations to make it seem justified.
Of course, there are countervailing forces in the US to police and state abuse, but they have a hard time changing things. There are many blocks to progress. Street protests have to go on, because our politics has gone too far rightward to right our wrongs through the political process.
Moderates cooperated through the decades to make our mass incarceration the largest in the world, as % of population. The police abuse is in part an outgrowth of the right wing attitudes toward the powerless, as it creates more and more underclass.
That is related to big money in our politics, which set the stage--allowing the millions of jobs to be sent away, the costs of h/c and education to soar, inequality to increase unchecked.
The next step was the expansion of prisons. Mass imprisonment has always been a solution to underclasses, when democratic solutions are not working.
Of course, there are countervailing forces in the US to police and state abuse, but they have a hard time changing things. There are many blocks to progress. Street protests have to go on, because our politics has gone too far rightward to right our wrongs through the political process.
Moderates cooperated through the decades to make our mass incarceration the largest in the world, as % of population. The police abuse is in part an outgrowth of the right wing attitudes toward the powerless, as it creates more and more underclass.
That is related to big money in our politics, which set the stage--allowing the millions of jobs to be sent away, the costs of h/c and education to soar, inequality to increase unchecked.
The next step was the expansion of prisons. Mass imprisonment has always been a solution to underclasses, when democratic solutions are not working.
8
Mike -- There is a phrase, "the states monopoly on the use of force." It has been studied and discussed since at least the English thinkers from the 17th Century, society like Thomas Hobbes, "Leviathan."
Always the need for that state monopoly comes with state obligations. John Locke expanded on that in his discussion of the Social Compact, also in the 17th Century.
None of this is new thinking. It is known, accepted, fundamental. That is what we are making such a mess of, the things well settled.
Always the need for that state monopoly comes with state obligations. John Locke expanded on that in his discussion of the Social Compact, also in the 17th Century.
None of this is new thinking. It is known, accepted, fundamental. That is what we are making such a mess of, the things well settled.
3
Mike and Meredith, you guys have a really paranoid world view. Fascism is a dictator-led authoritarian state. So is Obama the dictator? A scary thought indeed. And doesnt terrorism require a motive to terrorize? There is a difference between terrorism and using overwhelming force to enforce the law. And to think there is a vast corporate conspiracy...well, in my experience hiding that vast a conspiracy requires a level of interest and competence that is simply absent in both the corporate and government sectors. All your posts reflect are hyperbole, reductio ad absurdum arguments, and radical delusions. Please seek help.
5
Police abuse is terror and, historically, police have been both abusive and corrupt. The corruption and abuse in Ferguson was underscored when bands of heavily armed vigilantes were permitted to roam free. The apparently rise of vigilante organizations and, in this instance, police indifference is troubling on many levels but most singularly on the collapse of official public safety organizations. The Chattanooga shooting brought out armed vigilantes. The Bundy confrontation brought out armed vigilantes. These groups seem to be immune from confrontation and arrest by law enforcement while the armed are cut down with alarming regularity.
177
Should read the "unarmed are cut down with alarming regularity."
39
Do you really believe that black Americans could parade around with all the guns white men get to ride with? Think a black man with a gun wouldn't be shot that much faster than one who is unarmed? Geez, think you miss the point here. A young man with a toy in the toy section of Walmart is killed for being... black and appearing to be armed. Any indictments? Make the kid white and what do you think would happen to him in the toy section of Walmart?
14
The historic experience with corrupt and abusive cops was limited to specific communities, and they didn't kill unarmed people wildly as we are seeing. The abused nightsticks and interrogation, but they didn't shoot them down.
Now it is spreading, and it is worse. The police culture is changing, and all for the bad. THAT is what must be reversed. And yes, it must not go back to past abuses instead.
Now it is spreading, and it is worse. The police culture is changing, and all for the bad. THAT is what must be reversed. And yes, it must not go back to past abuses instead.
6
Police abuse absolutely is a form of terror. The good news is that MSM organs like the NT Times now allow these word to be said. A year ago my comments to this effect were deleted.
317
And a year ago the murder rate in NYC was lower than it is now. And don't believe the statistics that say that other crime is down- that is only because the police were instructed not to arrest "minor" offenses, meaning the crimes still occur but they don't show up in the statistics!
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/nypd-stop-arrests-low-leve...
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/nypd-stop-arrests-low-leve...
8
surgres -- So it doesn't matter when the police themselves murder unarmed kids?
The police problem makes it much more difficult to deal with the other problems, as they rampage around being a part of the problem instead of a trusted part of a solution.
The police problem makes it much more difficult to deal with the other problems, as they rampage around being a part of the problem instead of a trusted part of a solution.
11
"When the people lead, the leaders will follow." (credit: bumper sticker)
2
The vast majority of African Americans are law abiding tax payers who deserve full constitutional rights. That includes the right to be presumed innocent. Instead, even when they’re victims of crimes, they have to weigh the possibility that calling the police might make things worse instead of better. The police want cooperation from all segments of the population but they don’t seem to realize that they’re discouraging that cooperation by their own actions.