I’m a white guy too and my experience mirrors yours wrt to acting respectfully to cops. It’s not relevant to Sandra Bland or any other POC though.
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I’m glad you mention that, because there is a perspective here that is underrepresented.
Why would you behave like Sandra did in those circumstances?
I have read articles that talked about this, but haven’t been able to track them down again, and didn’t want to speculate. There ARE reasons. It happens too often for it to be nothing.
When a cop zooms up behind a person and they diligently get out of his way only to then get pulled over, it can tend to make that person a bit annoyed. Now, add the ongoing police brutality and harassment issues with a nice dash of rampant, institutionalized racism in South Carolina — it might even make a black person a tad more annoyed. Now add to that a nice heaping of said cop who just pulled you over after he sped up on your ass and now acts like an obtuse, belligerent, needling asshole to you after you roll down your window.
Are you starting to get the picture?
I noticed how you got easily annoyed by simply having @L_Mariachi lightly challenge you. Enough that you launched a personal insult.
I have to wonder how you would’ve handled being jerked around by a needling cop if you had been in Sandra’s shoes?
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Nice analysis of the stop and everything that the officer did wrong.
http://www.texasstandard.org/shows/current/10-things-about-the-sandra-bland-traffic-stop-every-texan-should-know/
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We all read the news.
@L_Mariachi is not a cop. But, his challenge applies to your post equally. If you’re not a member of the demographic in question, we already have ample opinions from you.
I’d argue it’s likely evolutionarily smart to be afraid of people who might shoot you in the face for reasons.
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Were you asking @L_Mariachi , or does ‘you’ mean ‘any person’?
Okay, now you’re teasing. I understand wanting to avoid the dreaded, snarky [citation needed] response, but maybe you could let us help you look for them?
What was the gist of the reason the articles proposed? If your explanation comes with the disclaimer you’re researching the sources, and asking for help, then surely the idea is not so startling that you can’t expose it here.
When-ish did you read theses articles? What was the context of your encountering them?
There are some really sharp people who frequent this BBS, and many of them have stunning Google-fu skills.
But until we get the links, would you mind sharing with us the answer you hint at in the second part of your post, quoted above?
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that’s a really excellent, informative piece – thanks!
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I accept your defeat.
Like hell.
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The gist was along the lines of:
-Black community when polled doesn’t tend to trust the police
-Poorer socioeconomic groups use attitude (for lack of a better word) as a method of social standing
-this article was trying to get at why the role model for many young black men seems to be the “thug” stereotype
I did find this, though, which might be of some relevance as well (since ‘lack of impulse control’ might fit the description of what we saw):
Just can’t stop blaming the victim, can you?
Now you want to imply, let alone that Sandra Bland’s behavior is the issue here, that she may have acted the way she did because of lead exposure? GTFO
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Can’t stop playing the victim blaming card, can you?
Out of context, I can maybe see where you’re coming from, but I’ve said very clearly that nothing she did should have resulted in the mistreatment she received. Problems in the system are the cause. The officer himself is the cause.
What I am trying to get at is this: Despite the fact that people (any people, not just POC) know that the police have the power to ruin them, why do they still treat them with less than respect? Can we have that conversation without getting crucified? There are good reasons I am sure (it’s too common a problem for it to be nothing), but nobody who has walked in Sandra’s shoes seems to be posting here. I would happily STFU if that were the case.
What have the police done to earn respect?
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The answer is in the quoted post: they have the power to ruin you.
It’s not earned, but it’s merited. Agree? Disagree? How do you prefer to handle your police interactions?
Seriously? You really don’t get it?
Amazing. The answer is so painfully obvious. The answer can even be summarized by a single simple word. Frustration.
Sandra Bland was extremely frustrated because she knew the cop was deliberately fucking with her and there was nothing she could do about it. Ever. She had no choice but to tolerate his ridiculous bullshit. As he escalated the ridiculous bullshit, she got more frustrated.
How about crossing paths with a cop who tried to plant evidence that would have sent me to prison for a few years? Does that qualify me as having walked in her shoes?
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You are confusing respect with obeisance.
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Ah… I see. Fascism is alive and well I see.
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The question i want to ask is what came up on his computer when he ran her name an insurance. Was there something there that gave the cop a reason to act like he did. There is a possiblity that she had a lable, she was a known activist. Theres nothing in the video that gives reason to why it escalated as it did. The whole video is bad on the cop. First he is prowling and looking for people to pull over. Then putting her on the ground after she was in cuffs, after jerking her around by the cuffs. Then you see how the city cops wanted to rifle through her car. What has this woman done to have this invasion of privacy. Shows these cops as a whole not good. Then the lies. Then to sit in jail for 2 days… your life put on hold. Crazy. This is the one that will be a catalyst.
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