Because the added physical risk adds context to the racism. They could have demeaned him in strictly psychological ways, but in this case, they not only demeaned him socially and psychologically, but also physically. Police take responsibility for the well-being of anyone they restrain. They added a great deal of risk of injury to this encounter as part of the dehumanizing aspect. That makes this situation tangibly worse than if they’d just humiliated him.
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