In fact, I remember having a really interesting conversation with a friend about this stuff a few years ago. We were talking about the statistic that black people are shot by police at twice the rate white people are. And yet some black people are so afraid of police in a traffic stop, they freak out if they haven't adequately prepared for it, and white people are so unafraid that they're shocked it's perceived as anything other than paperwork by the officer and nothing about it seems even potentially dangerous. I said - the difference between those two views isn't 2x. Black people don't think cops are twice as dangerous as white people... more like infinity x. And I said, either cops are way more dangerous than I was raised to believe, or way less dangerous than you were raised to believe, or both.
Well - I think it's both. I think if you are afraid of police in every encounter, a good reality check is to look up the absolute number of people killed by police anually and figure out how dangerous that really makes them compared to, I don't know, lawnmowers or something. And on the flip side, I think if you think police are really safe, a good reality check is to look at some of the training they do, some of the threats they face, understand how very fast a peaceful situation can turn violent and how easy it is to look like a threat, and understand that you have to be thoughtful and deliberate about everything you do around a cop, particularly in the situations that are most dangerous to them.
He gave me two tickets - one for speeding and one for no insurance. I paid the speeding ticket by phone when I got home and faxed them my insurance card and they dropped the other one.
I can't walk around with a chip on my shoulder expecting the worse out of people when I live in a county where when I show up to my sons school for the first time they immediately know who my stepson is even though we look nothing alike.
But I still tell my son if he's stopped put both hands on the top of the steering wheel, make no sudden movements and always tell the policeman what he is about to do - if he is reaching to grab his wallet, etc. if it's night, turn the inside lights on in the car before he stops and if he is wearing a hoodie because it's cold, take it off.
You got me LOLing with that one.
Cat = Calista Flockhart playing Cat Grant. Cat: All four of you standing there doing nothing. You look like the attractive yet non-threatening, racially diverse cast of a CW show. Who are you?
Unfortunately in America, what makes you seem threatening is based on the color of your skin.
I am an African American living in a predominantly White county in the south that was made famous 30 years ago nationally for being anti-minority.
While, the county has changed somewhat because of an influx of younger people to the burbs, I still worry when my son starts driving because he is a big tall dude even though he would never hurt a fly, has lived in the burbs all of his life, and his friendship circle is like the cast of a WB show.