Meet The 17-Year-Old Who Blew The Lid Off Racial Profiling With His iPod

No really? I've seen plenty of clean cut whitebread suburban kids of all races that get into all kinds of shit. And none of them got treated or looked at as criminals. Even after they got caught. Shit, the Asian Gang members up here dress all conservative for the most part and you wouldn't know they belong to a gang unless you said or did something to disrespect them, then their saying something in their native tongue and giving swarmed. Same with the Samoans. Still does change anything on my POV.

 

Well the suburban white kids aren't poor black and latino kids. Like I said I agree that its totally fucked up and shouldn't happen but while we are trying to get the gears of change to swing our way maybe not dressing like criminals will help their situation that's all I'm saying. Its not fair and shouldn't happen but when it comes to survival you do what you need to not what you want to.

 

And even if young blacks & latinos didn't dress thuggish, they still would get profiled. Can you say driving while black? I know there are plenty of us here who have been pulled over in a nice car, dressed nicely and was not speeding or anything unlawful and got pulled over for no other reason than we were black. Sorry, but the first time in the handful of time it's happen to me was one time too many. And that's the point I'm trying to make. When do people of color stop bowing to the negative perceptions placed on us and the treatment that comes with it at times, especially in the instances when we haven't done anything wrong other than being ourselves?

 

I feel you but in this particular instance as an outside of observer the kid was acting suspicious and all that talking back didn't help. He was being an asshole. The cops were wrong in how they handled it but this kid wasn't completely innocent.
And while I abhor the whole driving while black scenario lets not pretend young black and hispanic kids don't often put themselves in unnecessary situations. It would be one thing if they were all dressing in catholic school uniforms and getting harassed but it doesn't help when you walk talk and dress like the same guys who deal drugs and commit violent crimes. I'm in the city A LOT and I have never gotten stopped and frisked and I'm not saying I won't but when I'm in Harlem or other not so great places in Manhattan, I'm not constantly looking over my shoulder like I'm ready to bolt the minute I see a police uniform. I'm just being objective. The stop in itself is warranted in this situation but what happened afterwards was on the cops I'll give you that.

 

And again, that's what I was trying to point out with how cops here handle stopping someone. Even if they are justified to stop someone and the motherfucker is mouthing off, two grown ass trained cops have to rough up a skinny mouthy kid?? If a cop is losing his cool because a kid said some shit he found disrespectful, then how the fuck does that same cop handle himself on some serious high stress crisis circumstance?

 

Well you made it sound like the kid didn't deserve to be stopped. My whole gripe with situations like this is its not completely one sided.

 

Shit with the police is never one sided, but they are suppose to be trained and professional. Two cops. One kid. Even if he had done something or was up to something, that situation was handled piss poorly.

 

there is no defence for the cops in this... he had just got stopped two blocks ago, of course hes going to look back. he didnt run.

interesting story, i get off work.. in my work get up and get an ecig from the gas station up the street in a perfect suburban predom white neighborhood. there is a sherrif in uniform, sherreif, chasier and my self make lauhs and i leave. a few days later i go in, this time is 40 degrees outside, i have on hoodie with the hood up and go in. sherrif is plain cloths now, i try to make laughs agsin but officer is not hearing anything i have to say. a fw days later i go back in and mention both situations to the cashier. his response "of course hes going to talk differently to you, you get out of fancy car with hoodie on while being big and black. officers wont respond to you like in business attire.

my point is, just because you walk like a duck, or look like a duck... you could be a rooster.

makes you want to get a bucket and turn it into a donk just so you can fit the profile. muah hahahaha

what is acting suspicious? walking with a hoodie on because its cold outside? come on!

dont give me that. ive been stopped for bullshit and just because i dress a certain way your going to profile me? i am not in any profile, im outside the box! dont think that just because someone else does something who dresses like me im in the same category. did i once in the past? sure. people do change.

never one sided! dont let them be intimidated by you, then all shinanigains happen.

 

Acting suspicious to me is walking while looking over your shoulder like the kid said. I hear you that people change but I'm looking at it from the other side. If I work in a high crime area and the people ALWAYS committing crimes are young minorities who dress a certain way its really hard to decipher who isn't doing something and who is especially if they are walking by themselves late at night looking over their shoulder. Like I said I don't think the stop was messed up just the way they handled it afterwards.

 

And that's why I made the point about cops who patrol neighborhoods on a regular basis. You're telling me it was two different cops that stopped him within a two block radius? I know New York neighborhood blocks maybe bigger than here in the Seattle/Tacoma area in Washington, but like I said competent cops that patrol a neighborhood even on an irregular basis get a feel for who's who & what's what in a neighborhood, especially in a bad neighborhood. All fine and good to be weary of everyone for safety, but treating everyone like criminals even when everyone may not be, that right there is how & why the very atmosphere of mistrust towards the police exist.

 

Ra, you're making damn good points in this thread.

Unfortunately, there are going to be black people who internalize the negative perceptions and become aquiescent. They basically "know their place" and shout down any call for reform.

This stuff is about grown ass men wanting to be bullies and "dominate" others. Minorities, especially black and hispanic minorities, are vulnerable groups, and therefore good targets for bullies to get their jollies. (Particularly the youth.)

Congrats to this kid for getting that recording. The new digital technology is a good way to fight back against this kind of thing. In russia, cops are often crooked and will frame you and shake you down at traffic stops, so some people have taken to keeping cameras in their car and recording their driving. Digital recording can be powerful, even in job situations.

I will say this, however: When you're confronted with armed men, whether cops or crooks (or crooked cops), it's better to keep the situation calm rather than getting loud. Fighting back is important, but not at the scene, if you can avoid it.

all in all, no one should have to put up with being stopped and groped by armed men for just walking down the street, minding their own business. Period.

 

Oh damn. Someone has gotten into my brain. :shock:


I'm going to assume that you're someone who was born during or a little after the Civil Rights Movement like I was, since you seem to see certain things in regards to black people and how they handle certain things in society.

 

just because they believe in GOD and not in evoluntion doesnt make them a stupid mofo. maybe insular to other issues of theology and the merging of science ect....but just because someone believes differently does need insults UNLESS they say something extreme illogical and mean spirited..u sound like a liberhater

 

TDK is talking about body language....grant it the cops were out of line about what they said and did for the most part but if i was a cop and saw a dude act (not how he looked) then I would question him. also people will act a little tight when a cop is around anywzAy

 

It doesn't even have to be a cop. If you're walking in a neighborhood, especially a neighborhood that has a bad rep or even one that you don't live in, are you saying you're not going to turn and look if you hear someone behind you following whether they themselves are on foot or in a car? Not looking will get you fucked up or worse if it happens to be somebody or bodies with bad intentions in that circumstance.

 

Riiight! theory has no real world application unless it debunks religion. :smt030

 

More like his response didn't even make a lick of sense. And secondly, I never stated that his belief in a god makes him stupid, as there are people who identify themselves in a religion, yet recognize that all things understood could be explained empirically through scientific evidence. Sir Francis Collins would be a prime example of that and he was part of that dialogue and, though an ardent believer in the supernatural, he accurately describes Dr. Carson's illogical position as insane as it's an ongoing process.

Which reinforces that you have little to no understanding on the definition of the scientific use of theory. Maybe you ought to know the difference between theory in a generally used sense, and a scientific theory, THEN come back with an anti-intellectual response.

 

Let me get some more of that Kool Aid :smt030 While I am drinking it, feel free to show me where we discussed a theory that lacked scientific basis.

 

I sometimes wonder if you're drinking fluids from a bloodied tampon.

 

Thats what I thought, funny joke though