Is there a race problem in America?

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YHWH_Christ

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With the recent murders of unarmed black men, like the incident in Minneapolis, is this proof that the police are unfairly targeting the black population in the United States?
 
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I think it’s probably more complex than “police are targeting black men” but there are certainly a lot of issues about police and use of force.
 
YHWH_Christ said:
With the recent murders of unarmed black men, like the incident in Minneapolis, is this proof that the police are unfairly targeting the black population in the United States?
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It certainly appears that way.

We’ve known for a long time that there is a two-tiered justice system in this country, and that minorities, particularly blacks, are harassed and arrested more frequently, convicted more certainly, and punished more severely, than the caucasian population. That’s how it has always been, and even in these more “enlightened” times, it still works that way. On the streets and in the courts, African Americans are STILL not treated fairly.

Lawmakers have taken some steps in recent decades to rectify some racial unfairness by passing anti-discrimination laws to protect racial minorities in the workplace, in the granting of credit, and in other areas. But when it comes to our justice system, we are still very much in need of correction.

So, my observation is yes, police do unfairly target the black population. Time and again it has been proven when rogue cops are caught on video heinously murdering black people, and routinely getting acquitted by the courts, both criminally and civilly, despite overwhelming evidence of their wrongdoing.

This needs to change, but I’m not sure it ever will, as long as racial prejudice persists in this country.
 
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The police and the courts are symptoms of deep, pervasive social/cultural disorders. Yes, there is a race problem in America.
 
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There are a lot of problems with race and ethnic diversity in US in general. From time to time there are also issues with individual bad cops, overall bad police departments, and poorly trained police departments.

However, it is not as simple as “police are unfairly targeting the black population in the United States”.
Whether police are acting fairly or unfairly, or whether they are “targeting” anyone, usually is a matter of subjective opinion based on the background of the person making the observation.
 
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I feel that there is and will always be a race problem in America…I also feel that the blacks hate whites…I have been around a long time on this earth and notice the difference in the race issues…it is sad…I live in the southern part of the USA…it is sad to visibly see color before the human being…we are all God’s children…
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Whether police are acting fairly or unfairly, or whether they are “targeting” anyone, usually is a matter of subjective opinion based on the background of the person making the observation.
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I think it is sometimes obvious in objective statistics.
 
Yes, but even more there is an authoritarian problem. We have many people in position of power that abuse that power.

The cop that was involved in the Minneapolis, if found guilty of the crime of murder, needs to face the rest of this life in jail. But even more than that we need to make sure that all people in positions of authority are held accountable when they abuse that authority.
 
This is a major factor in why these incidents keep happening – NO accountability for those in authority who abuse their power, which is why so many of them keep abusing it.

The firing of the four officers involved in this – the one who did it, and the three who did nothing about it – is a first step in the right direction. At least, that’s SOME accountability. But, murder is murder, and the officer who caused the man’s death needs to be punished just like any other murderer would be. No special privilege or getting off just because he’s a cop. Justice is supposed to be blind.
 
“Murder” is determined in USA by a legal process. Presumably a process will occur here. However, in USA people are innocent until proven guilty, including police officers that people might not like.
 
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Yes, but we as a civilized society have to follow the rule of law. These men should be tried in a court of law and if found guilty held accountable. We need to get rid of the loop hole laws that allow those in a position of authority to use that authority with out fear of accountability.

This cop may or may not be guilty of a crime. What I know so far is the man he arrested was in cuffs. Why did he need to pin him to the ground with his knee
 
True, but that video speaks for itself. The problem is that even when there is clear video evidence of wrongdoing, the courts seem to make excuses for the behavior that’s seen in it. It’s almost as though clear evidence doesn’t matter in these cases. A spade is a spade. The cop has his knee on the man’s neck, the man was screaming that couldn’t breathe, passersby kept warning the cop that the man was dying, and this officer chose to ignore all of that. Some observers noted he had a “smug” look on his face. To me, that shows clear disregard for this man’s civil rights and for his life – at the very least. It could be argued that it even showed intent to kill.

Murder is determined by a legal process called a trial – but it has to be a FAIR trial, or else it’s meaningless. And a fair trial means looking at the clear evidence and acknowledging what it shows right in front of one’s eyes. It doesn’t mean looking for ways to minimize it or excuse it away. And that’s what happens in so many of these trials of rogue police officers who blatantly violate civil rights – excuses get made where none are justified.

Powerful authority figures who abuse their power are consistently given a pass, and that has to change, or there won’t be any faith left in our justice system, because there won’t be any justice.
 
Every country has a race problem. America isn’t unique in that respect.

America also has a huge class problem that is never addressed to the same extent as the race problem is.
 
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The wanton killing of George Floyd by this rogue police officer is FINALLY forcing us as a society to admit that the practice of racial targeting by police not only goes on, but is widespread.

We can’t deny it any longer! It’s right in front of our faces on that video, and anyone who keeps up with events knows that this was by no means a one-off. Police have been targeting minorities, particularly blacks, for decades, but the courts have refused to hold them accountable, and racism in our country has been denied, excused or placed on the back burner and largely ignored.

There are no more excuses! And it can’t be ignored any longer.

Maybe NOW some legislation will be passed at the federal and state levels that will protect these minorities from targeted police brutality, and force the courts to punish rogue cops who engage in it.

If there’s a silver lining to this tragedy, that’s it. We HAVE to face it, and lawmakers will FINALLY have to do something about it.

Here’s hoping for a more hopeful future.
 
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Yes, I think there is a race problem in America. Having said that, sometimes there are accusations of racism where none exist. Case in point: a black woman complains that she waited a long time and was not served at a restaurant. I as a Caucasian have had the same experience. Is it really racism or just bad service?
 
NO! What happened is not justification…for the crime committed. Recently in our town there was an elderly anglo women beaten to death by an african american man…mentioned only once on the news…no riots or looting afterwards…
 
this is so far from a “casual” topic that I"ve moved it to Social Jutixce.
 
Hello poster TisBearherself. Murder is not simply an American legal construct. Just as when someone steals but gets away with it a “theft” has still taken place, when one murders but gets away with it a murder has taken place. I dont believe anyone on this board truly has trouble understanding that, but I suspect the reason we can watch an 8 minute video of a man being murdered and then on this board entertain the idea that no murder took place if the law says otherwise is because of the man’s race and that racism is so overwhelmingly prevalent in our society that good people dont even realize when they are sanctioning it.
 
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