Of course...

Of course...

Not all cops are racist. Most aren't even jerks. It's a tough job where split second decisions can be and often enough are the difference between life and death. For the cop and/or whoever they're dealing with at the time.

Of course...

Mistakes are made. Split second decisions are a 50/50 proposition at best. Often made with minimal information and inherently emotional, these decisions are bound to go the wrong way sometimes. It's part of the job.

Of course...

Not all people of color are criminals. The majority just happen to live in close proximity to criminals. Many happen to be impoverished.

Of course...

There is now and will likely always be mistrust between people of color and police. It's unfortunate but it's a fact.

Our jails are filled with minorities. So no matter how tolerant an officer might be, he/she is conditioned, just like the rest of us, to see minorities as criminals. Or at the very least to have a mental picture of a criminal as a minority. It isn't racism, it's stereotyping. And stereotyping is something we all do, something inherent to our human minds. We make connections between words and images as a matter of time saving. We need a generalized vision of the world in order to make sense of it. And, especially in America, criminal = non-white. And in the worst of us, non-white = criminal. And just like some of the worst of us are CEO's or doctors, some of the worst of us are cops.

Just like police have a stereotype for criminals lurking in their subconscious, minorities have a stereotype for police in their's. It strikes fear in them.  You'd be hard pressed to find a person of color who hasn't had a bad experience or at the very least witnessed a bad experience at the hands of an officer.  I can't tell you how many times I or someone I was with has been pulled out of their car, cuffed, patted down and then let go with no explanation whatsoever. You notice the passersby smugly joyful that another criminal is being taken down. You feel like a criminal. And then they're gone. Leaving you frightened and ashamed.  It's a horrible. It's degrading. It's embarrassing. It's a helpless, hopeless experience. And it's common. You learn to just go with it because you've witnessed those who ask what's going on end up in worse situations.

So we're here, with Police Officers and minorities equally afraid of each other. Equally suspicious. And then you pour gasoline on the embers.  Another officer kills another unarmed minority. 50 bullets into a man on his wedding day. 7 shots under largely unknown circumstances. 1 shot to the stomach of a 12 year old.

Mistakes...powered by stereotypes...

And this is where the fork begins. Mistakes can be justified and still be mistakes. Justice does not have to be an eye for an eye. Often an admission and remorse can be enough. But, in our world, responsibility must rest somewhere and far more often than not it ends up resting on the dead. The ones who cannot speak for themselves. History, once again, written by the victor. The apologists grasp at every straw to demonize the victim. The angry point to history to demonize police as a whole.

We all know in our hearts that they're both wrong. No unarmed person, even a suspect, deserves to die.  Not all police, probably not even this police, are evil enough to just erase someone for the hell of it.  The issue is the responsibility that comes with the power.  An officer has license to kill if necessary. When the victim is unarmed that license appears to mean carte blanche. Abused responsibility at its worst. And there is rarely a "sorry, I was scared, I reacted, I fucked up" statement of responsibility taken. Maybe there can't be legally.

But all that pain and frustration and shame comes pouring out. They remember that James Holmes (killer of 12) and Jarod Loughner (Killer of 6), armed to the teeth, were apprehended without injury. Given their day in court. They remember that Sean Bell, Tamir Rice, John Crawford III, etc, etc, etc (killers of 0 combined) were gunned down. White killers with assault rifles walked into the backs of police cars. Black innocents shot and killed before they knew what happened.

And they fill with rage.  They're helpless. They feel like the difference between the bad guys and the good guys isn't for them. They're frustrated. They spin in circles looking for a direction to turn. And we have nothing good to tell them. A lot of us are sorry for what's happened to them, for what will continue to happen to them. But what hope can we give them?

Communities of color are often told that they have to take responsibility for themselves. That, though it may only be a small number of bad apples, the basket spoils unless change is made from within. They are commonly judged by the worst among them. They are feared as a whole because the worst among them are dangerous.  And they feel the same way about police.

If you're going to judge and stereotype based upon the worst members a community, be prepared to be judged and stereotyped by the worst members of yours. It's natural...Innate.

Rebuilding the bridge will take a scary level of self awareness. It will take rational, measured responses. It will take the end of tribalism on both sides. The beginning and end of the conversation is the idea that protecting/defending your own, no matter what, is admirable. It isn't. It's false patriotism. True loyalty is understanding that those you are responsible for are flawed. Are capable of making mistakes. Are, citizen or police, criminals.

Of course...

Not all police are bad. Not all minorities are bad. We have a lot of work to do. It must be done together.