Oh but don't you know that's not how it works? If you are a white man with right leaning views you are born rascist. It is in your DNA.
A Mitt Romney and Condoleeza Rice ticket?
- Thread starter Beantown
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Oh but don't you know that's not how it works? If you are a white man with right leaning views you are born rascist. It is in your DNA.
My apologies for disturbing your expectations with the reality. I find it amusing that recognizing how police treat traffic stops differently, based on skin color, means the person doing the recognizing is racist not the police who treat people differently. It's a curious worldview.
Thus begins my hiatus.
Yes, and as laws are not always applied (I had hoped to make much more of a point about the selective enforcement of laws than I did) it doesn't always matter if you follow them. However, once in the system you will be held to the law in a way that normal law-abiding society would find difficult to uphold.
My other point is that this person will likely go from a productive man supporting his family and not hurting anyone (other than himself as far as smoking pot hurts him) to someone the state will now track and monitor. He may lose his current job and may have trouble finding new employment. A problem has been created where there wasn't one. The community he lives in will have one more example of why the police are not on their side, how the opportunities are not for them, how the law is there to control them and not to protect them.
Ugh, this is too much...
I think the war on drugs is completely worthless, and I really don't give a damn if people want to smoke pot. I would if I could. But to make excuses like the above quote is really scary/disgusting. The bottom line is that the guy broke the law. We're not talking about J-Walking, or some other weird "we can't charge you with a big crime, so we'll find one of the obscure ones to hit you with", this is a law that everyone living in the USA knows. Are you really ready to blame officers for arresting this guy? He broke the law, plain and simple. HE put the strain on his family. HE dropped out of his program. HE decided that getting high was more important than his future. Why does this guy get any different treatment than any other law breaker?
Boo ****ing Hoo, you can't get a real job now because you've got a drug bust on your record? Stupid ***, you shouldn't have smoked pot. Do what thousands of others in your situation have done, go get a job where they don't test/care, work your *** off, and rebuild your life. Or you can sit around and blame everyone/everything on The Man.
I think you're taking this wrong.
First, the officer in my little story did nothing wrong.
Second, I would argue that the young man did nothing wrong other than run a stop sign and not maintain his car.
Third, the outcome is bad for all of us. We didn't need it to go there.
Fourth, as a grown white man I've never been asked to exit my vehicle. I've never been patted down for a traffic stop. My vehicle hasn't been searched. This is something that doesn't have to follow racial lines, it probably has a lot more to do with location and the percieved social status of the driver, white or black.
I'd like to add, if you're ever stopped do not allow the officer to search your pockets or your vehicle. I don't care if you're as clean as a whisle. They have no right to seach you or your property. If you're a poor black man in a bad neighborhood this goes triple for you. If you are carrying drugs and you ALLOW the police to search you or your car you're an idiot. Let them get a warrant, the charges don't get worse just because you made them do it by the book.
My biggest point, and one I didn't really make (I got side tracked) was that these events could ahve happened in a different place to a different person and the outcome would be different. Why? becasue our laws are social control mechanisms and not individual protections. If a cop thinks you're pure of heart he can let it slide. If he doesn't like the smirk on your face he can nail you to the wall. basically any person good or bad could be slapped silly with legal infractions if a police officer tried hard enough. To me that's the problem. Not the cop on the street. Not the person who broke the law. The fact that the laws are not so important that a violation must be prosecuted. What I mean is, if a crime has a victim then that victim deserves to have the perp answer for their crime. Where is the victim in my story? I'd say society is the victim. Not blacks, not whites, not cops.
I got pulled over for having a tail light out. I was asked to step out of the car, and then given a field sobriety test. I hadn't been drinking, but failed the FST. (according to them) They also searched my car while giving me a breathalizer. After I passed, the cop took the plastic cover off the machine and tossed it into the gutter (I wanted to write him a littering ticket, that *** face) and I went on my merry way. You've all seen me, I'm pasty, fat, and balding -- and it happened to me. Not to mention the DAY I spent in jail recently because my registration was over. Was I pissed that I had to go to jail over it? Damn right I was, but I NEVER blamed anyone but myself for being stupid. I missed a day of work, had to pay a huge fine, had to strip search, and got to watch some dude piss all over himself while talking to God. To top it off, a guy threw himself off of something in his cell and killed himself while I was there -- so I got to enjoy the ambiance of a jail Lock Down. All over a simple expired registration.
I got what I deserved because I broke the law. I'm white. I'm an *******, and I approve of this message.
I got what I deserved because I broke the law. I'm white. I'm an *******, and I approve of this message.
I'm sorry that you live in Taylorsville.
But seriously, do you think the cops were out helping society? I've said several times I don't think the problem is racism, but certain neighborhoods get a different type of law enforcement than others. I've been pulled over 3 times for registration. Never once had to step out of my car. I was allowed to go on my merry way with expired registration. (This is where I think my name might help sometimes)
Oh, and why did they search your car? Did you let them? Or were they allowed because they were going to tow it?
If you let them I say shame on you. That encourages them to try to search all vehicles just in case they get lucky. That's just not right imo.
If it helps, I wanted to be a public defender when I was growing up. My views are firmly on the rights of the accused side of things.
If you let them I say shame on you. That encourages them to try to search all vehicles just in case they get lucky. That's just not right imo.
If it helps, I wanted to be a public defender when I was growing up. My views are firmly on the rights of the accused side of things.
Jaywalking is some abusrd law that nobody knows about? Interesting.
And the whole "well the law may be stupid but it's the law" rationale is far more scary/disgusting than someone breaking a law that is stupid.
When they bust people for J-walking at 9:30 at night in a quiet residential neighborhood than yeah it is. I had a good laugh at my brother that night though.