Ferguson, MO

[DrPhil]

Correct. The policies and practices of NPHC GLOs are overwhelmingly not based on the opinions of nonmembers.

[KAPPAcino]

I'm still sticking with my original comment on this entire conversation. Brown and Gardner put themselves in those situations. The way I look at the "Black lives matter" thing is I don't understand why it's not looked at from a broader perspective. It looks to me that people (black people) protest when it's a white hand on the trigger killing someone black, but nothing is done, or no protests are organized when it's black on black crime. I'll bet if those cops were black, people wouldn't be protesting. People are "sometimey" as hell.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by KAPPAcino

It looks to me that people (black people) protest when it's a white hand on the trigger killing someone black, but nothing is done, or no protests are organized when it's black on black crime. I'll bet if those cops were black, people wouldn't be protesting. People are "sometimey" as hell.

That isn't true. There is a lot of research and in some cities and states there are panels, community organizations, letters to politicians, programs sponsored by law enforcement, and protests. These do not receive as much attention because society and the world are more interested in social outcomes generated by majority-minority relations.

Violence is primarily intraracial for all racial and ethnic groups. That isn't unique to Blacks. What is unique to Blacks is disproportionate (based on small % of total population) violence and disproportionate representation in the criminal justice system. There are people doing something to address the correlates of disproportionate involvement and representation.

There has been research over the years that has found, with access to a comparison sample of officers across race, Black officers and white officers have the same interactions with suspects. That includes the use of force, etc. When Black police officers obtain Blacks, the officers are often accused of being sellouts and are sometimes challenged to override their law enforcement training. That is why some Black officers have grappled with living in alternate worlds and even, when not surrounded by nonBlack officers, will say off the record things to Black suspects such as "I understand your frustration but work with me here so we can make this as quick as possible". I wager that it is even more difficult to be a Black officer (who is unwilling to go "off the record") because it is frustrating and angering to deal with people who disrespect your profession, your training, and your Blackness.

People would protest if the officer is Black because that is another example of the misuse of power on the part of officers. With white officers it is about power in terms of law enforcement and (what many interpret as) power in terms of race and ethnicity. This is more taxing because law enforcement policies are more easily changed when they don't have to tackle the iron clad of racism and ethnocentrism (among other isms).