Is Broken Window Policing Racist?

[Deleted member 365]

People don't ride bikes anymore? Huh?

Come and take a drive with me every M-F on state street, university ave, and university parkway in Provo/Orem. You'll be surprised how many folks can still ride bikes even in the snow or in near 0 temperatures.

In the summer, I'll join them. And I'm a white guy who owns and car.

 

[LogGrad98]

If there is one thing I have learned from JF it is that everything we do is racist, to the core. There is no way to escape it, and no matter how hard we may try we will always be racist. It is wrong and has to change, but no one has the power to change it, so it will always stay the same, unless we express our outrage at being subconsciously racist, which does nothing to make it better, but at least acknowledges that everything we do is driven by in-born racism that we can never escape, which somehow makes it better, except it doesn't. Or maybe it's gay, I lose track.

 

[One Brow]

I live in a white neighborhood. I NEVER see bikes on the sidewalks. I never see bikes, actually. Think about it, when was the last time you saw an adult ride a bike?

NYC goes by different rules.parking and the subway can both get pretty expensive.

Maybe, just maybe, it's one of those things, you know? Black people ride bikes, white people ride in cars. Or it could all just be racism.

Maybe people drive what they can afford, and what they can afford is influenced by racism.

 

[One Brow]

Does racism occur within the application of "Broken Windows" - yeah. Does that mean get rid of it? Should we get rid of taxi cabs in NYC because sometimes cabbies drive past minorities looking for rides.

I think laws can be enforced non-selectively.

 

[One Brow]

If there is one thing I have learned from JF ...

Yawn.

Joke's getting old.

 

[Gameface]

Poor people in poor neighborhoods commit more crimes. This is true. More black people live in poor neighborhoods than white people. Also true.

So even without racism there will be more black people, per capita, than white people getting charged with crimes. But to bury your head in the sand and think that either a) the law is applied fairly and evenly or that b) it isn't bad for society if black people get scrutinized more aggressively by law enforcement well, you're wrong. Well, you're wrong unless your version of justice means that racial divides need to be maintained and that the freedom of black people is less important than the freedom of white people or that they need to be held to a higher standard to keep from being locked in a cell, or that the innocent law abiding friends and family of unjustly prosecuted black people should just keep on being innocent law abiding, tax paying, productive members of society despite the pain and loss they suffer from having their friends and family unjustly incarcerated.

You all know I'm all about freedom and individual liberty. Makes me sad how often people claiming the same focus on how much they have to pay in taxes or how their kids are being brainwashed into being homosexuals. There can be no individual liberty in the face of such overwhelming injustice. It just doesn't work. Our out of control prison system, our unjust selective enforcement of the law and the way both of those things are tied to a person's ability to earn a living is a horrible injustice. Easy to ignore if you are not affected by it, impossible to ignore if you are.

 

[Deleted member 365]

I'm from the Bill Cosby school of thought here...

I know I know, ultra conservative radical racist...

I keep hearing how minorities are picked on but are they doing the most with their opportunities? We give them handouts when it comes time education, we give them handouts for food and money, we give them job opportunities with affirmative action... But it's never enough. I have a solution:

Stop getting women pregnant in high school.
Women, stop having kids with several different men.
Kids, Allen Iverson isn't a role model. Jameis Winston trying to speak English in that interview after the game was a complete joke. That kid is in college??? Pathetic!

The black community as a whole needs to stop pointing the fingers outward and start pointing the fingers of blame where they belong... Themselves. Dig yourselves out of crime, poverty, and desperation. The opportunities are there.

 

[Gameface]

I'm from the Bill Cosby school of thought here...

I know I know, ultra conservative radical racist...

I keep hearing how minorities are picked on but are they doing the most with their opportunities? We give them handouts when it comes time education, we give them handouts for food and money, we give them job opportunities with affirmative action... But it's never enough. I have a solution:

Stop getting women pregnant in high school.
Women, stop having kids with several different men.
Kids, Allen Iverson isn't a role model. Jameis Winston trying to speak English in that interview after the game was a complete joke. That kid is in college??? Pathetic!

The black community as a whole needs to stop pointing the fingers outward and start pointing the fingers of blame where they belong... Themselves. Dig yourselves out of crime, poverty, and desperation. The opportunities are there.

We don't give handouts to people for being black, we give handouts based on income. Just saying.

 

[franklin]

Poor people in poor neighborhoods commit more crimes. This is true. More black people live in poor neighborhoods than white people. Also true.

So even without racism there will be more black people, per capita, than white people getting charged with crimes. But to bury your head in the sand and think that either a) the law is applied fairly and evenly or that b) it isn't bad for society if black people get scrutinized more aggressively by law enforcement well, you're wrong. Well, you're wrong unless your version of justice means that racial divides need to be maintained and that the freedom of black people is less important than the freedom of white people or that they need to be held to a higher standard to keep from being locked in a cell, or that the innocent law abiding friends and family of unjustly prosecuted black people should just keep on being innocent law abiding, tax paying, productive members of society despite the pain and loss they suffer from having their friends and family unjustly incarcerated.

You all know I'm all about freedom and individual liberty. Makes me sad how often people claiming the same focus on how much they have to pay in taxes or how their kids are being brainwashed into being homosexuals. There can be no individual liberty in the face of such overwhelming injustice. It just doesn't work. Our out of control prison system, our unjust selective enforcement of the law and the way both of those things are tied to a person's ability to earn a living is a horrible injustice. Easy to ignore if you are not affected by it, impossible to ignore if you are.

I think we need to look at this one from a macro perspective. "Sending in the troops" to targeted areas does more than just imprisoning minorities. Creating a sense of rule of law helps children feel safe, which helps them build constructive goals and focus on the things that should matter.

The problem isn't racial enforcement IMO, it's an unwillingness to take the next step and provide an infrastructure in which children from these areas can thrive in. But then, those who've studied this the most don't really have any answers to this issue so why should I.

 

[LogGrad98]

Yawn.

Joke's getting old.

That's what's sad...it's not a joke. It is the culmination of an entire thread on the subject.

 

[LogGrad98]

I think we need to look at this one from a macro perspective. "Sending in the troops" to targeted areas does more than just imprisoning minorities. Creating a sense of rule of law helps children feel safe, which helps them build constructive goals and focus on the things that should matter.

The problem isn't racial enforcement IMO, it's an unwillingness to take the next step and provide an infrastructure in which children from these areas can thrive in. But then, those who've studied this the most don't really have any answers to this issue so why should I.

This is actually the most frustrating part of all of this is everyone wants everyone to be mad and outraged, but there seems to be very little proposed to actually have any impact on the problems. It is almost as if the thought is that if enough people get mad about it, it would spontaneously fix itself.

 

[franklin]

This is actually the most frustrating part of all of this is everyone wants everyone to be mad and outraged, but there seems to be very little proposed to actually have any impact on the problems. It is almost as if the thought is that if enough people get mad about it, it would spontaneously fix itself.

We can formulate policy for these situations just fine when it's not on our soil. It's frustrating that we refuse to study and implement community building at home where it's necessary and would be a positive investment.