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defrogI don’t want to spend much more time on the Ferguson situation. But I thought this was worth passing on, and it applies well outside of Ferguson.
One of the biggest disconnects in cases like this is the relationship between civilians and the police. I’ve seen plenty of comments from friends (in this case, all white middle-class people) defend the Ferguson police on general law-and-order principles, and don’t see why the local African-American community automatically blame the police and assume it’s a racist killing.
The answer is this: people who are white and/or reasonably affluent don’t have the same experiences or interactions with the police than people who are non-white and/or poor.
This Twitter thread from Gene Demby of NPR’s Code Switch gives a good explanation of this reality schism. I recommend reading the whole thing.
John Scalzi has covered similar ground in his essay “Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is” (which includes racial minorities, women and LGBTs), which has already been borne out by at least one scientific study.
It’s all about experience, and understanding that not all experiences are universal. To paraphrase Lemony Snicket, if the African-American community in Ferguson feels wronged and angry, it doesn’t help if yr response is telling them they shouldn’t feel that way. It's even less helpful when you explain that they shouldn't feel that way because YOU certainly don't, so why should they?
How do you think it feels,
This is dF
One of the biggest disconnects in cases like this is the relationship between civilians and the police. I’ve seen plenty of comments from friends (in this case, all white middle-class people) defend the Ferguson police on general law-and-order principles, and don’t see why the local African-American community automatically blame the police and assume it’s a racist killing.
The answer is this: people who are white and/or reasonably affluent don’t have the same experiences or interactions with the police than people who are non-white and/or poor.
This Twitter thread from Gene Demby of NPR’s Code Switch gives a good explanation of this reality schism. I recommend reading the whole thing.
John Scalzi has covered similar ground in his essay “Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is” (which includes racial minorities, women and LGBTs), which has already been borne out by at least one scientific study.
It’s all about experience, and understanding that not all experiences are universal. To paraphrase Lemony Snicket, if the African-American community in Ferguson feels wronged and angry, it doesn’t help if yr response is telling them they shouldn’t feel that way. It's even less helpful when you explain that they shouldn't feel that way because YOU certainly don't, so why should they?
How do you think it feels,
This is dF
