Totally agree that white people should be looking to have conversations with black friends, family, and neighbors. I respectfully disagree that anyone's opinion doesn't matter. Respectful conversation and honesty about the problems in our society are always a good thing. A one sided conversation is unlikely to bring about any real change. Black and Brown voices should be amplified to ensure their voices are heard and everyone should be listening. Plenty of white public figures have been criticized recently for NOT publicly declaring their support, commentary, or condolences for George Floyd (James Dolan is one that I read about today). Can't have it both ways. Either white people can or can't express their opinion. Plus, this is Jazzfanz. How long would this thread actually be if white people shouldn't express their thoughts?
I had a great conversation with a black friend that lives in my neighborhood (we also attend church together). I was lucky to run into him in our neighborhood park, as we haven't seen each other in months. We live in Phoenix and there have been some significant riots occurring. He expressed his anger at the riots and looting occurring at the Scottsdale mall (reportedly over a million dollars in damages). He also had to talk to his sons (3) about the death of George Floyd, and the inherent racism in our policing and justice system. He's both former military and law enforcement, so I think he has a unique perspective. The conversation was great, and we have grown closer as friends from it. It also prompted me to have a talk with my young kids about racism in America.
I do personally wish more of the conversation centered around actual solutions. How do we minimize, to the extent possible, unnecessary deaths at the hands of law enforcement? How do we make sure police officers are not racist? Is that even possible? I've previously recommended mandatory body cameras at all times. Video records should be made publicly available whenever a significant event occurs (death, injury, firearm discharge). In fact, I think video should be made available to anyone who requests it that has had an interaction with law enforcement. How do we minimize the number of people incarcerated in this country, specifically black Americans?
I also wish there was more quality conversation on how to help bring more black people out of poverty. Conversations driven by reason, and not emotion. Despite an astounding number of attempts by the government, not much has changed in this regard in the last 60 years. How can we create a future with more black business owners, lawyers, engineers, doctors, etc?
My fear is that this conversation will slowly fade away, and people will go back to their normal lives and not change anything. Let's hope some actual change comes from this, and that it leads us to a better place.
Really good post. Agreed on the body cams. So I’d say:
*Better pay (bigger increases in some areas more than others) to attract more candidates—somewhere in the 5-12% range
*4 year college degree with a minimum gpa requirement
*More challenging para-military like academies like those State Troopers (at least here in NJ) endure
*Better background checks, including all social media and former girlfriends or boyfriends, which I think would be quite telling
*Annual (maybe even bi-annual) physical, academic, and psychological testing
*Mandatory community service within their jurisdiction side by side with community members—this could go a LONG way and is crucial imo in bridging a gap. If a cop works 150 days a year (ballpark), I’d say 5-10 of those should be community service days. This is a must.
*Small bonuses for no complaints by citizens, that can increase each year, if zero complaints continues—Sort of like some car insurance companies do if one has no claims
*Mandatory body cams on all officers—if an officer “never turned it on,” an automatic loss of pay for a certain time period OR simply have it set up in a way that an officer doesn’t even have to turn it on. It’s simply on 24/7. This would mean departments might have to drastically upgrade servers or pay more to an outside service for more space. IDK.
*Truly independent teams to investigate any complaints against officers
We live in an imperfect world. We always will. There will always be racist cops. I think this would go a long way though in weeding some out, minimize negative action by those with latent racist feelings, hold cops more accountable, and create an actual relationship between cops and the community.
Everything costs money. If this country wants to truly advance as a nation, we need to spend money. Whether that comes from corporations being taxed more (some) or not is a whole nother issue.
