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The way to understand American policing is very simple, "Race". In general this is true of many other things about America that may not make sense to Europeans

by Edmond 7y ago

The way to understand American policing is very simple, "Race". In general this is true of many other things about America that may not make sense to Europeans. All other explanations are extraneous at best and more likely, disingenuous. The current system of law enforcement almost from its inception was setup to protect whites from various "threats". Through out the history of the country these "threats" have taken various forms, be it native Americans during early settlement of the country, slaves, Urban crime or more currently immigrants. When you understand this core purpose of American law enforcement, it will start to make sense :)

moate 7y ago
I would have accepted "Class", but race on its own is too simple. Race is an aspect of class (or assumed to be) but the real fact is that policing and law enforcement in the US seems to have a huge issue with it's "Two Tract" system: Rich (often) White kid and Poor <race of your choice> kid are not going to get the same treatment by the police, courts, or media when they drunkenly drive their car into a Walmart. Remember, the people in power are white, but that does not mean that white people are the people in power.
- Edmond 7y ago
  Class is definitely a part of it but it is unfortunately obscured by Race. If it were merely a class divide you would expect poor whites to align themselves with other groups that are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement but that doesn't happen. In fact poor whites are treated quite poorly (no pun intended) by lawless law enforcement in their communities. Ever seen an episode of cops in a trailer park(greatly satirized by the show Reno 911:))? It is disgusting how the cops sometimes behave...even so, have you ever seen a rally of poor whites to protest poor law enforcement treatment? There is an implied bargain that law enforcement exists to protect [whites] against "threats" from "others" and with that most whites avert their gaze when it comes to law enforcement abuse. There is a lot more that could be written on this topic, HN is probably not the best forum for that:)

by Edmond 7y ago

moate 7y ago

I would have accepted "Class", but race on its own is too simple. Race is an aspect of class (or assumed to be) but the real fact is that policing and law enforcement in the US seems to have a huge issue with it's "Two Tract" system: Rich (often) White kid and Poor <race of your choice> kid are not going to get the same treatment by the police, courts, or media when they drunkenly drive their car into a Walmart. Remember, the people in power are white, but that does not mean that white people are the people in power.

Edmond 7y ago
Class is definitely a part of it but it is unfortunately obscured by Race. If it were merely a class divide you would expect poor whites to align themselves with other groups that are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement but that doesn't happen. In fact poor whites are treated quite poorly (no pun intended) by lawless law enforcement in their communities. Ever seen an episode of cops in a trailer park(greatly satirized by the show Reno 911:))? It is disgusting how the cops sometimes behave...even so, have you ever seen a rally of poor whites to protest poor law enforcement treatment? There is an implied bargain that law enforcement exists to protect [whites] against "threats" from "others" and with that most whites avert their gaze when it comes to law enforcement abuse. There is a lot more that could be written on this topic, HN is probably not the best forum for that:)