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They steer clear of walking down the street while black? Maybe it works different in Wilmington than in Brooklyn or the Bronx, but being teenaged and black is
by jbooth 13y ago
They steer clear of walking down the street while black? Maybe it works different in Wilmington than in Brooklyn or the Bronx, but being teenaged and black is plenty to get hassled by police in NYC.
Just one minor detail you hear from people, young black boys/men have it drilled into them by their parents never to go walking around without ID on them, because it will make things more difficult for them if the police stop them. People's lives are full of details like that. Is that the kind of thing you're advocating other people go through so you feel safer?
- rayiner 13y agoOf course I'm not advocating for the full breadth and generality of the NYC's policies. And I'm not advocating treating people differently solely because they're black. But the example in the article? Someone painting graffiti? I think that person deserves greater police scrutiny in Wilmington or New York than in Greenwich, CT, whether they're black or white. And I don't think the fact that they're more likely to be black, just by the demographics of the place, in the former case is a reason, by itself, not to provide that greater scrutiny. One of the things that's missing in these neighborhoods is any sort of authority structure to keep a check on this sort of behavior. To a certain extent, the police have to fill that void to keep things under control.