Quote:
Originally Posted by miami_fan
I don't think officers are dicks universally to people. Using Ben's example, it was obvious to him that the officer was not being a dick to the other drivers in front of him. Now maybe there are reasons other than race for the change in approach but I don't think it is unreasonable for him to believe that race played a large role in that situation. On the other hand, I would not expect the drivers of the vans in front of him to believe that race would not have played a role in the officer's decision based on their interaction with said officer. But to me, the important part of that story was all the prep work he did prior to his interaction with the officer. To do all that prep work to avoid being considered a risk is bad enough. To do it and still be treated as potential high risk candidate is worse.
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I'm certain race played a role in it. That's part of an officer's assessment. They look for things out of the ordinary. They play statistics. I don't think that's racism. It's unfair to Ben. He shouldn't have to go through all that to show he isn't a risk. Like I said, cops shouldn't assume the worst at every stop.
But I do understand some of it. If we were TSA agents for instance, we would all look at the 25-year old Muslim differently than the 80-year old woman in a wheelchair. I don't think that makes us racist.
I also disagree on the cops being dicks to all people. I think if Mike Brown was a 300-pound white guy who grabbed an officer's gun and charged at him, he would be dead too. This idea that a white guy can do whatever he wants to police and they just allow it is comical.