Joe Orr Road Rod wrote:
long time guy wrote:
Joe Orr Road Rod wrote:
And that kid was a Dr. Who scarf wearing indoor boy who obviously posed no threat to the over-aggressive off-duty cop.
I don't think the average middle class white guy understands that a black dude has every right to feel like he might be killed as soon as he sees flashing blue lights come up behind him.
The relationship between African Americans and the police is an adversarial one to put it mildly. Some of it is historically based and a lot of it is based on societal customs and norms.
The interesting part for me relates to the level of contempt that seemingly law abiding citizens have for the police. It's not just the career criminal types. I have never understood where the origins of that exists.
For me, it's the way cops act. I can only go by my own experiences. I've had my car tossed for no good reason, been thrown up against a wall, accused of shit I didn't do, etc., etc. I can only imagine the hassles they give a young black man.
I am a black man and I grew up a half a block away from a police station. I can remember being harassed because a guy with a warrant in Itasca had a name that was similar to mine. It occurred while I was in my early 20's. I was stopped at least 5 times because of this.
During this same period and for the same reason I was once removed from a hotel room in Matteson. They ran my plates while it was in the parking lot and later came to the room thinking I was the guy. They removed me from the room and took to the station to process me. I provided an I.D. for them and they stated the I.D. was fake and hauled my ass in. It's a good thing i'd already did what I had to do or I really would have been shitty.
I also have been arrested for driving while black. Happened while I was in Lombard. Police tailed me for twelve blocks as they ran my plates. I wasn't speeding or anything so there was no reason to follow me. Now I had bogus sticker info and such so there was a reason to haul my as in. I knew that the only reason that they followed in the first place was because I was black. They did the same thing that they did with Bland. They saw a black guy drive past and they decided that they were going to fuck with me. My ex girls father was in the car at the time and I told him that as they followed that I was about to go to jail. I had no problem with going to jail because my sticker was bogus. My only problem with them was that they only followed because I was black. There was no reason for them to pull out of the lot and follow me for 12 blocks.
I didnt become belligerent either. I knew that it would have exacerbated the situation. I took my weight and kept it moving. Police have a job to do and I try and understand that.
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The Hawk wrote:
This is going to reach a head pretty soon.