If the problem is the culture of the police department then the offended citizens need to change that culture by demanding that the police officer in command of the disctrict be fired. Not merely reassigned but fire.
Threaten the livelihood of these men and they will begin to change. Also, demand that all police officers in your locality be black until white police officers can be shown to be adequate to the job.
Government serves the people that has elected it. Demand that those police officers police you as you see fit. Document the police department in action with video cameras. Stop crying about it and do something.
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Spiker said: Also, demand that all police officers in your locality be black until white police officers can be shown to be adequate to the job.
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The problem here is that one third of the cops was White in the Sean Bell shooting. I definitely see what you're saying though.
It's been noted by a number of Black men that Black cops level harsher treatments than White cops. It's as if they're embarrassed by you. Therefore, cops in general need to build better relationships with Blacks and Latinos. Everytime these cowardly and/or trigger-happy cops deal with Blacks and Latinos in such inhuman fashion, it just puts another nail in the coffin of our relationship.
I'll never justify the "Stop Snitching" movement but this type of behavior by Sean Bell's shooters always serves as a factor into that movement's rationale.
Tucker Carlson call's Jeremiah Wright a "Bafoon" on Morning Joe this morning (4/28).
Wright is a buffoon...but not for the reasons Carlson (who happens to be a buffoon of the highest order) is saying.
Wright need to play the background and chill for a few months...or go relex in his 1.6 million dollar retirement house.
No matter how "well intentioned" he is...he's not helping anyone (but McCain).
How is it that these officers who, at the very least, are incompetent get to keep their jobs?
This is ridiculous...but, as a whole, we won't do anything but complain and go back to playing our playstation 3s and watching the NLF draft/NBA playoffs..or whatever other diversions from our fellow man happens to be popular with us.
I'm guilty of it too...in these types of cases I need a leader to orginize the march and/or civil disobedience...I'm to apathetic to get it started myself.
If you get it started though...I'll work hard for you. Similar to Pippen and Mike.
NYC has 10 million people and 40,000 cops. Maybe NYC should be divided into fifty back-to-back medium-size towns of 200,000 people each, with an 800 police force in each town.. That way, when something like this happens, each of those towns (including the one where it happened) can say, "That sort of thing almost never happens here."
Then we can be more objective about the threat posed by anti-black police, versus say, the threat posed by criminals.
It's 4 o'clock in the morning in the big city. Young men leaving a strip joint. Add alcohol, drugs, tiredness, trash talk, bachelor party, undercover police. Stop. Show some ID. He might have a gun. Who said what? That one over there said he had a gun. Which one? They're going to that car. Talk to them. Who said they bought some drugs? Stop. Show some ID! They're leaving. They hit one of the officers with the car! Officer down! Stop or I'll shoot!! They've hit the other car. One of them looks like he has a gun! Bam bam bam!! Have we seen this movie before???
Calm yourself dear citizens of the big city and let's look at the crime film over again in slow motion and we can then tell the referee if he made the right call just like in real life.
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Melissa,
Your writing is elegant and moving. However misguided it may be. Both you and Marc speak to healing? Marc's first response was the correct one. It is not a question of whether to fight but how to fight. Riots would only serve the rioting group if they rioted in the areas(neighborhoods/business districts) of the the attackers (oppressors).
There is no doubt in my mind that we need more love in the "Black" community we also are in need of more intellectual warriors. Individuals who can devise long term strategy for waging the war we are in. We are in a war against an ever shifting/changing enemy. We must cease looking at these incidents as individual occurences and begin to map out a strategy for return engagement. This latest incident is just one in a long standing attack. Yes justice for Sean and his family are of prime importance as is ensuring that this ceases to happen to us in perpetuity.
You don't have to love yourself. You have to police yourself.
