I'm editing this because my statement is wrong - there obviously is a high crime rate in some black communities. Which is why African-Americans had been supportive of stepped up policing in the 80's and 90's . However, as Matt Taibbi writes here:http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-police-in-america-are-becoming-illegitimate-20141205 the 'broken windows' strategy of policing has built up resentment big time. Taibbi sites over 25 thousand citations written in 1 year for riding bikes on sidewalks - that in itself is alot of negative contact between police and citizens the vast majority of whom are not criminals. Multiply that by all the other petty offense enforcement and you have a big segment of folks whose experience with police is negative. Were the cops just doing what they'd been told to do? Yes they were.Thank you Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Guliani, and their imitators around the country.
Meanwhile, as Taibbi writes, there were more cops taking Eric Garner down than were assigned to deal with the AIG and other Wall Street white-collar criminals. Think of the damage those MF's did to the thousand of foreclosed and unemployed Americans as a result of their admitted crimes.
Combine this with the disaster called the drug wars, and an incarceration rate for non white drug offenders that is way higher than for whites, despite the fact that white have a higher drug use rate than any other population, and it's a wonder that s hasn't hit the fan long ago.
One last point is that there have been constant protests and vigils around gang violence, both here and around the country, especially in Chicago. Media coverage is very scant.
Meanwhile, as Taibbi writes, there were more cops taking Eric Garner down than were assigned to deal with the AIG and other Wall Street white-collar criminals. Think of the damage those MF's did to the thousand of foreclosed and unemployed Americans as a result of their admitted crimes.
Combine this with the disaster called the drug wars, and an incarceration rate for non white drug offenders that is way higher than for whites, despite the fact that white have a higher drug use rate than any other population, and it's a wonder that s hasn't hit the fan long ago.
One last point is that there have been constant protests and vigils around gang violence, both here and around the country, especially in Chicago. Media coverage is very scant.
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