"We really mean it this time!"

[Wandering Monk]

The skeptic in me is breaking through.

I am afraid that all the words coming out of the mouths of politicians about addressing racial inequities and grievances of black Americans will be forgotten once all the recent turmoil has subsided and we will once again fall into our comfort zones. Republicans will ignore the issue and Democrats will pay lip service to it because they know that blacks have nowhere else to go. That is our history FOR DECADES AND MORE!

 

[Revoltingest]

If policing is improved, that would be good, & would exceed my expectations.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

If policing is improved, that would be good, & would exceed my expectations.

I think this is a good point.
The most immediately accessible and visible change that can be made is around policing (at all levels).

 

[Revoltingest]

I think this is a good point.
The most immediately accessible and visible change that can be made is around policing (at all levels).

Aye, there many ways to improve policing which would be faster
& more effective than eliminating racism. A racist cop whose
behavior is properly monitored, & who faces severe consequences
for illegal behavior is better than a non-racist one who revels in violence.

 

[Nakosis]

The skeptic in me is breaking through.

I am afraid that all the words coming out of the mouths of politicians about addressing racial inequities and grievances of black Americans will be forgotten once all the recent turmoil has subsided and we will once again fall into our comfort zones. Republicans will ignore the issue and Democrats will pay lip service to it because they know that blacks have nowhere else to go. That is our history FOR DECADES AND MORE!

I agree. Ideally, the governments will keep the people morally divided and easily manipulated by the latest news cycle. We, the people seem to keep falling for it.

 

[Polymath257]

A really good first step would be to start bringing criminal prosecutions to cops who violate their oaths to protect and serve. Having the good cops actively call out the bad cops would be a wonderful advance.

NOBODY is safe from a bad cop. They need to be fired, prosecuted, and convicted of their crimes.

We also need to address the 'us versus them' mentality of the cops, especially in minority communities. All too often, that attitude is reciprocated and bad things happen after that.

The police are supposed to be protecting and serving their communities, not fighting and killing them.

 

[Wandering Monk]

A really good first step would be to start bringing criminal prosecutions to cops who violate their oaths to protect and serve. Having the good cops actively call out the bad cops would be a wonderful advance.

NOBODY is safe from a bad cop. They need to be fired, prosecuted, and convicted of their crimes.

We also need to address the 'us versus them' mentality of the cops, especially in minority communities. All too often, that attitude is reciprocated and bad things happen after that.

The police are supposed to be protecting and serving their communities, not fighting and killing them.

However, all you need do is to take a look at those doing the violence on the streets during riots to realize that there are truly bad people that police confront every day!

 

[Polymath257]

However, all you need do is to take a look at those doing the violence on the streets during riots to realize that there are truly bad people that police confront every day!

Oh, I agree. And if the community that the cops are trying to protect actually trusted the cops, the job of dealing with the bad people would be vastly simplified.

 

[Mock Turtle]

But will anything have any effect when you have the basic problem of threat level being so much higher than in many other countries (because of widespread gun ownership), such that a greater level of response is generally expected - just in case such weapons are involved?

 

[George-ananda]

The reality is that there are no laws or official policies that need to change. Everyone is treated the same is already the law and police policies. So there are no tangible requests in these protest. The real change has to come in the hearts and minds.

My thought is that the country is doing well with racial equality but over-focusing on individual bad events is harmful to racial harmony as we are seeing today. Why not focus on the overwhelmingly more harmonious events??

I just sense racial harmony going backwards with each protest.

 

[Left Coast]

Oh, I agree. And if the community that the cops are trying to protect actually trusted the cops, the job of dealing with the bad people would be vastly simplified.

And if cops would stop attacking peaceful protestors, the job would be even simpler still.

 

[Polymath257]

But will anything have any effect when you have the basic problem of threat level being so much higher than in many other countries (because of widespread gun ownership), such that a greater level of response is generally expected - just in case such weapons are involved?

This is a problem. But it is also why bad cops can get sympathy all too often by just saying 'I thought he might have a gun'.

But let's also face it. The police forces usually know who their bad members are. They get moved around, not prosecuted.

And, as someone mentioned on another thread, the police unions have a roll in this. It is easier to protect the bad cops than it is to get rid of them.

 

[Left Coast]

The skeptic in me is breaking through.

I am afraid that all the words coming out of the mouths of politicians about addressing racial inequities and grievances of black Americans will be forgotten once all the recent turmoil has subsided and we will once again fall into our comfort zones. Republicans will ignore the issue and Democrats will pay lip service to it because they know that blacks have nowhere else to go. That is our history FOR DECADES AND MORE!

This is why the movement must keep up momentum and pressure on those running for office through November and beyond. Sustained activism will prompt sustained change.

 

[exchemist]

Oh, I agree. And if the community that the cops are trying to protect actually trusted the cops, the job of dealing with the bad people would be vastly simplified.

One thing the UK's Macpherson Report recommended was to make a much greater effort to recruit a lot more ethnic minority police. This does two things: it means cops of different groups make friends professionally, lessening the feeling of "otherness" individuals may feel towards different ethnicities and, more importantly, it makes it easier for minority communities to feel they can trust the police. I have no feel for how racially mixed the police are in the USA but this can possibly help. Another thing that can help is getting police to wear body cameras, so that all arrests are recorded. Again I don't know how widespread this is. I believe it is done in New York, following previous problems of police brutality there. It is now done in the UK.

 

[Wandering Monk]

One thing the UK's Macpherson Report recommended was to make a much greater effort to recruit a lot more ethnic minority police. This does two things: it means cops of different groups make friends professionally, lessening the feeling of "otherness" individuals may feel towards different ethnicities and, more importantly, it makes it easier for minority communities to feel they can trust the police. I have no feel for how racially mixed the police are in the USA but this can possibly help. Another thing that can help is getting police to wear body cameras, so that all arrests are recorded. Again I don't know how widespread this is. I believe it is done in New York, following previous problems of police brutality there. It is now done in the UK.

This is from 2015.

In hundreds of police departments across the country, the percentage of whites on the force is more than 30 percentage points higher than in the communities they serve, according to an analysis of a government survey of police departments. Minorities make up a quarter of police forces, according to the 2007 survey, the most recent comprehensive data available.

The Race Gap in America’s Police Departments​

 

[PureX]

Nothing changes when nothing changes.

VOTE EVERY INCUMBENT CANDIDATE OUT OF OFFICE REGARDLESS OF PARTY AFFILIATION, UNLESS AND UNTIL THEY ACT TO STOP THE LEGALIZED BRIBERY OF STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATORS (and stop stacking the courts with deliberately biased judges). Nothing can or will ever change until we stop the bribery and corruption, and make our representatives represent us, again.

THEN we can demand that they do it better.

 

[sun rise]

One thing the UK's Macpherson Report recommended was to make a much greater effort to recruit a lot more ethnic minority police. This does two things: it means cops of different groups make friends professionally, lessening the feeling of "otherness" individuals may feel towards different ethnicities and, more importantly, it makes it easier for minority communities to feel they can trust the police. I have no feel for how racially mixed the police are in the USA but this can possibly help. Another thing that can help is getting police to wear body cameras, so that all arrests are recorded. Again I don't know how widespread this is. I believe it is done in New York, following previous problems of police brutality there. It is now done in the UK.

That makes sense. And fire cops who turn off their body cameras as has happened in the current unrest.

 

[exchemist]

This is from 2015.

In hundreds of police departments across the country, the percentage of whites on the force is more than 30 percentage points higher than in the communities they serve, according to an analysis of a government survey of police departments. Minorities make up a quarter of police forces, according to the 2007 survey, the most recent comprehensive data available.

The Race Gap in America’s Police Departments​

This is really interesting and exactly the point I was trying to make. So it's known and has been worked on in some places at least. I suspect it may be the size and decentralised nature of the USA that makes the progress on this so uneven.

 

[sun rise]

The problem is rooted deep deep in human behavior. Uprooting it is much harder than changing a few policies and practices but those can be steps on the way.

And for every step forward, those who would turn the clock back fight to preserve the dark past no holds barred. And there are criminals who use any excuse to loot and murder.

So progress is slow with a lot of back-and-forth. But I've seen changes in the current unrest compared to what happened in the 1960's. Progress, however slow and halting, is being made.

I've read of quite a few cases where cops "took a knee" and marched with peaceful protesters. I've seen cops who misbehaved get fired almost immediately in a few cases.

 

[Wandering Monk]

This is really interesting and exactly the point I was trying to make. So it's known and has been worked on in some places at least. I suspect it may be the size and decentralised nature of the USA that makes the progress on this so uneven.

Of course it assumes that only white officers are a problem. What about other non-black officers?