I hesitate to even reply to this thread as I know it will likely cause more issues, but maybe a perspective from an actual black person may help .
I am an African American male physician for 5 years, And every time something like this issue comes up I always seem to be the "black friend" that my white colleagues run things by or wonder my thoughts on . After having this conversation multiple times in the last several years I amazed how many times my white colleagues have never heard an opinion from an actual black person not on Facebook , or other social media. And sometimes an explanation from one of the "good blacks" seems to provide some insight to otherwise closed minds.
I get it .. I really do . You guys are tired of hearing about this issue, I understand. In the last several years it seems like with all the police issues, protests, black lives matter , and all of these racial issues have just come out of nowhere. But let me tell you as annoying as it is to hear about its even more annoying to experience.
Police brutality/misconduct/mistreatment is not a new issue for black people. It has been going on for a very long time . I understand you are just really hearing about some of it , but it is real . Youll never understand it because it just doesn't happen to you . But if you want to understand why black people are so frustrated and angry here is a little story
I have been at the other end of an officers gun 3 times in my life, handcuffed several times , and almost arrested. I have never committed a crime. What is unique about this is that I am in no way some diamond in the rough , made it out of the hood miracle story . Both my parents were doctors, I have never lived in the hood, I have been upper middle class my whole life. However Even I have had issues with the police, and while most of my encounters with police they are respectful , and have gone without incident, other times I could have easily been one of the "thuggish black lives matter victims"
You will never understand how SOME police treat black people ESPECIALLY in the hood. They understand that blacks especially in the hood have little recourse to file complaints, no one will believe them any way ,they have no legal recourse, and the administration etc will always take the word of the police, and many times the person will have a criminal record Anyway. They know they can get away with a lot more. This leads to mistreatment, brutality , violation of rights, etc. I used to hate riding or driving to my black friends houses in the hood. We would frequently get pulled over, frisked, detained, and threatened. THIS is literally a daily issue for people who LIVE there.
NOW BLACK PEOPLE ARENT ALWAYS INNOCENT . I get it , we commit more than our fair share of crime. I feel sorry for police officers at times, they are for the most part good people who just want to get home to their families. . Police who patrol the hood see the worst of the worst. IT is almost impossible for a police officer to not overtime develop implicit bias . Its amazing how many police officers completely change their tone and demeanor when they realize I am a physician etc. I get it , its a tough job. Nevertheless both innocent ,and not innocent black people especially in the hood, are treated like crap for large portion of their lives.
Now we have lived with this for quite some time, we have been ignored, told its not happening, etc . Every black person I know has many stories about it happening to them or their families Many deserve it, some don't. The best way I can describe it is how the police treated people in the WIRE. They treated everyone like crap, criminals and civilians alike.
Now with the availability of cameras their is visual proof. People getting killed ,on camera, with no weapon , for either nothing or minor aggravations. Now I understand some are justified shoots or rather unclear. For example Mike brown . although his shoot was still rather questionable, the surrounding attention , protests, and false narrative "hands up don't shoot" were definitely not accurate. I wish black people had not banked a lot their outrage on that unclear shooting when there are MANY other clear , unarmed shoots , THAT ARE ON CAMERA
tamir rice, Orlando castile, to name a few.
And even when we have the abuse on camera, unarmed, we see the officer get off. We also see many times the officer cover up , or straight up lie about the circumstances of the shoot or evidence, that directly contradicts video evidence. not only that but many times we see "good "cops, back up the lie that is clearly caught on camera .
And then it keeps happening again, .. and again ... and again.
So I am sorry that the one minute nonviolent, silent protest during your football game affects you so much . But that's what protest are supposed to do MAKE YOU Uncomfortable , so you can feel the slightest bit of annoying and maybe understand and have empathy for the reason they are protesting. Because its not until whites are MILDLY inconvenience either in their pocketbook or time that they start to pay attention or care about the issues affecting black Americans. WE have seen this time and time again during the buss boycotts, sit ins, and acts of civil demonstration throughout Americas fractured history . And EVERY time the leader or participants are vilified by those who seek to either falsely portray , or ignore their grievances. Remember martin Luther king was the most hated man in America in the 60's for what he did.
Now after all that is said , what do we expect you average nonracist white person to do? The answer is nothing. you don't have to do anything. We don't expect you to march in the street , or boycott etc. What would be nice however is if you just admit that it may be an issue, and not try to belittle, disrespect, or falsely portray it. THEN maybe we can start to have a rational conversation about police misconduct without temporarily interrupting your treasured pastimes.
If you decided to read all that I appreciate it , I hope maybe you might have a slightly different perspective on things.
