Jeff Stahler for August 16, 2014
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Diane Lee Premium Member
Granted, there must be some genuinely good people who are cops. However, all those I know are racist jerks. My brother in law was a bully in high school, and the police force afforded him an excellent opportunity to continue that hobby as a career choice. The people I have met who he works with often begin as normal people but soon buy into to the “us against them” mentality. African Americans perpetuate the situation when they treat the cops as the enemy, giving even those cops who would prefer to treat them equally difficulty in doing so.Historically, the Black community obviously has no reason to expect fair treatment from any cop, but they need to not just expect it, but demand it. Community members helping store owners to clean up their looted stores is a great start. Dignified, peaceful demonstrations are occurring regularly and getting insufficient news coverage. These things will command respect that the cops would have to honor, or they look like the bad on TV- the court of public opinion. In that case, the community wins and the cops look like the bad guys.Throwing rocks, shouting obscenities and looting as part of those demonstrations perpetuates the problem, because it makes the people who are doing such things look like dangerous animals. Granted, those people involved in the dignified demonstration have no more control over these people than I do watching from my living room three counties away, but the TV audience sees a community, not individuals. Other Americans may not be thrilled with the cops, and no one can legitimately argue that they, as a group, treat any minority group fairly, but if it’s a choice between siding with cops who are jerks but aren’t going to harm those people watching the TV, and a bunch of dangerous animals, the cops are going to win. And, the court of public opinion is the most important force in the world.