zlacker

[return to "My family saw a police car hit a kid, then I learned how NYPD impunity works"]
1. pjc50+Ck[view] [source] 2020-06-23 15:42:03
>>danso+(OP)
> “I blame myself,” she kept saying. “I never let him out on Halloween. A bunch of Black boys together. I shouldn’t have let him out. But he begged me.”

Notice that while average white parents might worry about criminals before letting their kids out on the street, the black parents worry (with good reason) about the police.

(Just to spell it out: this is why so many BLM activists feel comfortable saying "abolish the police" or "defund the police", because from their point of view the police are the people most likely to assault or kill them or their children on the street, more so than random criminals)

> “Young teens or pre-teens of color were handcuffed, arrested, or held at gunpoint while participating in age-appropriate activities such as running, playing with friends, high-fiving, sitting on a stoop, or carrying a backpack.”

This is child abuse.

◧◩
2. centim+7N[view] [source] 2020-06-23 17:25:26
>>pjc50+Ck
> because from their point of view the police are the people most likely to assault or kill them or their children on the street

This is a delusion - they are at least 2 orders of magnitude more likely to be assaulted or killed by another (non-police) black person.

This is yet another scenario where a relatively minor source of risk gets vastly disproportionate coverage and almost everyone falls for it.

ETA: it’s funny that this straightforward statement of objective fact is being so poorly received.

◧◩◪
3. Jamiso+bQ[view] [source] 2020-06-23 17:37:51
>>centim+7N
Actually it is only one order of magnitude.

But the more important factor is that in most homicides the victim and the perpetrator know one another. On that basis minorities, and particularly middle-class and up members of minority groups, have good reason to be more concerned about abuse and/or murder at the hands of authorities as a more important consideration than truly random violence.

◧◩◪◨
4. centim+XN1[view] [source] 2020-06-23 22:17:54
>>Jamiso+bQ
> Actually it is only one order of magnitude.

My mistake - this does not change the nature of my argument at all. That's still a massive difference in risk.

Why do you think it makes sense to ignore the majority of homicides (which don't fit a popular political narrative)? That's like saying "Most car crashes happen near home, so on that basis people have good reason to be more concerned about plane crashes."

◧◩◪◨⬒
5. Jamiso+Sv4[view] [source] 2020-06-24 17:58:34
>>centim+XN1
You don't control when, where, and how often you interact with the police in the same way that you control where you live and who your friends and co-workers are. If you are a middle class regardless of ethnicity your odds of being a homicide victim are pretty much approaching zero.

If you are middle class and non-white your odds of being hassled by the police are quite high and probably validated by experience. The odds of such an experience escalating into violence or death may be empirically small but each and every instance of interaction with authorities is an instance of greatly increased risk and a risk that is in large part out of your control. This is something worth being concerned about and that concern has an impact on your day-to-day behaviour and well-being.

Being more concerned about police violence than random violence makes perfect sense to me. I suspect that if you dig into it that concern is also empirically more rational.

[go to top]