My mom is worried about the fact that I am a black male

[Ryuichi13]

Actually, there is a case where an unarmed black man stopped by cops was in fact shot, wife in the passenger and child in the backseat. He was shot because unfortunately even if he wasn't threatening he didn't listen to "the rules", and when he reached down to get something it was perceived as a threat and the cop shot into his window. I don't have the video, I was actually kind of disgusted when a friend showed me it so I didn't bother to go look.

Another case of a black male trying to protect a young autistic male, he ended up getting shot accidentally.



I agree the majority of cases are criminals who HAPPEN to be black, but because of the fear associated with these men it causes harm to innocent people..



These guys in this thread already admitted they do not believe all cops are racist, why continue to cause a stir?
I do believe part of the reason cops are caused to look "evil" is because in black and white their job is glorified, they might go about trying to help people and catch "the bad guy", but in reality, all people you are dealing with in the end are civilians...and there's a hard line to draw in determining who is trouble and who's a good person who messed up.

Besides that, Ryichis point with the "May I help you?" is in no way to demean a harmless phrase, he's a smart guy, you can usually tell the context of a phrase by the vitriol and caution in a voice.
I work in retail myself so one of the unfortunate things I have to do, especially when co-workers suspect someone, is be aware of shady people. I don't like judging people unless I know for sure they did something wrong so it can be hard. However, I do see so many wonderful people who are black, Muslim, Hispanic, poor, gender variant etc. It far outweighs the crooks so if I see someone shady, it's not because they're black.

I am not, by any means trying to start, nor continue any type of argument.  I am simply trying to have a conversation explaining what life can be like as a person of color in the United States in 2017.

I mentioned it before, but I will reiterate.  My younger sister is a homicide cop.  She has never had to shoot anyone, but because she wants to be able to go home to her family at the end of each day, she more than likely will not hesitate if someone is stupid enough to try and pull a gun on her while at work.  I don't blame her. 

As a Paramedic, I too have gone into dangerous areas, except the only weapons we had were a metal clipboard and a metal oxygen tank.  And that's going into the heart of some of the worst neighborhoods in the city, with inhabitants that share the same skin color as I. 

Frankly, if someone pulls a gun on a cop, despite their skin color, they get no sympathy from me.  They get what they deserve.  A cop is simply doing their job...WHEN they follow the laws. 

I'm speaking about those cops that want a knotch on their belt.  "I killed someone and got a slap on the wrist"-types.  Face it, they're out there.   

Lately, it seems that many of the people of color killed by cops here in the US are unarmed.  Sad, but true.  The wikipedia page for Philando Castile is a perfect example of "someone doing everything asked by a cop who was killed anyway."  (My quotes.)

I can't afford to be racist.  My family is made up of people of many different races, from African-American, Hispanic, Native American, Caucasian and Asian, to name a few.

I don't recall experiencing racism until I began working as a EMT for my home city.  I never noticed even overt racism until it was pointed out to me.  Even now I often miss it.  I simply make sure to not do anything that can be misconstrued the wrong way.  I've done it for so long it has nearly become second nature.  I don't want to become a statistic.

But now that I am aware of the tacticts that many racists use, I make sure to be never do anything that could be considered racist at any time.

After all, at the end of the day, I just want to go home to my family too.

Ryuichi

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[Kylo]

If I'm stopped by cops I always make sure to be polite, non-threatening and co-operative. I do not enjoy being stopped by them, but they have the authority and the agency in that situation, and it doesn't help me to tick them off.

While I just happen to have been born white in a predominantly white country, I've been abroad to predominantly black countries, Arab countries, etc. where they have no reason to treat me favorably and I do exactly the same there when dealing with police or armed border guards. I've been to and lived in places where they don't especially 'like' English people too and look for all and any reason to start a fight with one. Some people have prejudices, there is some risk, but you're going to have to go out there and potentially face it. Not all cops are racist. Some are, obviously, but racist people come in all stripes. I've seen a rise in the number of people out there hashtagging "killallwhitepeople" and trying to make every white person out to be a racist, which is hardly any more admirable or correct. There are people out to inflame the situation or start a race war over every incident that occurs, whether it be a white cop shooting an unarmed black man or a group of black people kidnapping and torturing a white man for being white.

We can either embrace becoming ever more paranoid and hateful or try to diffuse the situation some with our own thoughts and actions. The situation isn't good, but the choice is: do we each want to see it get worse, or better? Well, it starts and ends with every one of us, how we think and conduct ourselves among others in everyday life

[VeronicaLynn]

Don't make the assumption that police harassment is just about race.

Being generally perceived as a long haired white guy, I'm always assumed to be some hippie that has drugs on me.

Most importantly, don't let your anger out in the event you are harassed, as hard as it might be. While cops definitely do need to work on deescalating situations, both parties can do it. Yelling or running or getting violent yourself is a really bad idea, just take what they give you, even if it means getting arrested for something you feel you don't deserve to be, and you'll have your chance to call a lawyer to sort it out.

[Julia1996]

I've read all these posts and I can't deny any of the stuff that's been written. There are bad cops just like there are bad people. Becoming a police officer doesn't erase the prejudices a person has. There are cops who are very racist. There are some who look at being a police officer as a big power trip and abuse their power. Prejudice works in different ways. One of my dad's friends is an African American who doesn't like Latinos. Is  he more suspicious of Latino males? Probably. But I can't say for sure that he pulls them over more than suspects of other races. My dad tends to be equally suspicious of everyone. If it's something minor and the person has acted respectfully he will let them off with a warning. But some cops give tickets for anything they can because they like the power trip. Cops are people. Some are total dicks and some are nice.

Traffic stops are one of the most dangerous activities for a cop. From the time he gets out of his cruiser he's vulnerable. They get really nervous approaching a car . it's easy for someone to blow them away which happens. If someone looks as if they are going for a weapon they will shoot. It's not about right or wrong. It's their training. I'm not saying all shootings are justified or right. I'm just saying it comes down to like a split second decision and police officers are trained to shoot if they feel threatened. My dad has never shot anyone as a police officer. (He has when he was in the marines and was deployed). If you get stopped keep your hands where the officer can see them and Don't argue or get nasty and things should be ok no matter what race you are.
Julia

[Ryuichi13]

Bottom line could be summed up as this:

Nice people come in all colors and professions.
Rascists/mean people come in all colors and professions.

Be respectful to everyone, and (hopefully) they will be respectful to you.

Besides, you can call the racists/mean people/etc every name under the sun once you're home!

Ryuichi

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