Dejected 55
Visionary
- May 7, 2025
- 2,479
Let me preface by saying not all police are bad or corrupt. I believe the systems and government for which they work are definitely corrupt, and that corruption taints the good officers who work within the system over time, even as I recognize the good cops can sometimes be powerless to clean up within their squads due to the corruption at the top that tends to want to sweep stuff under the rug. I have known and interacted with good people who are police. I have not known or interacted with any ICE agents. I am willing to extend my general "not all cops" sentiment to everyone until proven otherwise... so the rest of my commentary here is specifically for the bad ICE agents and cops out there, and doesn't mean to impugn any good ones.
Okay, so for much of my life there has been discussion of police brutality and sometimes murder of minorities. The victims are often black, but sometimes are other minorities. These stories do not often make the news, and even when they do they tend to be underplayed by many people who just assume they "must be guilty of something." Far too many people tend to have the opinion that unless and until a thing happens to them, it must be only happening to those who deserve it. Sad, but true.
Anyway, it was easy to frame these scenarios as prejudice racist cops out of control who were being protected from their crimes. I completely get how it appeared this way, especially given this country's history of slavery and how you constantly hear about how black parents have to raise their kids, especially the sons, differently to be especially compliant involving encounters with police.
But here's the thing... while I'm certain there are some racist cops who do it out of prejudice... *I* have always maintained that was just a smokescreen. In truth, I think it has always been a power play and bad cops who thought they were better than you because of their position. Period. The fact that it tended to play out more often with minorities as victims is more a reflection of greater society than racist cops. Why do I say that?
Because... if an out of control cop used excessive force on a white person in the past and it made the news that shit was almost unanimously condemned. But when the victim was a minority? People would divide up, along racial lines, and white folk would tend to band together and decide the minority must have "done something" to earn being mistreated by the cops. Do you get what I'm saying? IF you were a cop on a power trip and wanted to put your thumb on people to show who was boss... you knew you had a MUCH better chance of getting away with it if you abused a minority than a white person. Society showed you that daily with how they reacted to minorities making complaints vs whites.
Something is subtly changing in society now... prejudice by race still exists of course... but we are now clearly seeing cases of white people being murdered in front of people by ICE agents and there is a scramble by many to defend how those people "deserved" to die. This was unthinkable even 10 years ago that a white person could be the victim of such a crime and there not be a public outcry. That was usually reserved for when police trampled over minorities.
What's happening now is the divide is happening less often across racial boundaries and more often across political or religious ones... So the cops who always wanted to power trip are finding they can now abuse anyone with the same impunity that used to only be reserved for when they attacked minorities. Basically, the bad cops are now getting to do what they always wanted to do anyway because society has changed slightly to support them attacking anyone who is "different" regardless of race, as long as that difference is in line with the current group-think.
So... Republicans are okay with police killing Democrats... Democrats are okay with police killing Republicans. Both sides are okay with protestors being killed depending on what they are protesting... and the outrage is trending mostly along political lines and less across racial ones.
This is neither better nor worse... just different.
Meanwhile, at least one crazy thing is starting to emerge too. Used to be when a black man with a gun was killed everyone said "he didn't need a gun anyway" even if he legally owned said gun. Second Amendment rights people got eerily quiet when these types of things happened because it confused their brains of how they have to support guns for everyone even when there were certain people they didn't want to have a gun!
But... I heard today that the NRA had spoken up about the recent killing of the ICU nurse who was carrying a legal weapon. Many on the right were saying about him like they used to only say about black people that "he had a gun so he was dangerous, why have a gun at a protest if you aren't there to hurt people"... you know, they used to like to say that a "good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun" which would mean good guys with guns would have to take guns to protests... you know, like that dude years back who took his gun across state lines to go to a protest and shoot protestors? He was lauded by a hero for doing that shit by the right... meanwhile, this ICU nurse was starting to be raked over the coals by 2nd amendment folks saying "why does he need a gun if he is peaceful" and shit that contradicts every other usual thing they say about second amendment rights... nevermind that he didn't draw his gun or use his gun or that his gun was taken from him BEFORE he was shot nearly a dozen times to death.
But... the NRA actually spoke up and said "what the fuck are you talking about?" to the people condemning the guy over having a lawful gun per his constitutional rights. NRA actually said, hey wait this is the kind of guy we defend... he was the literal good guy with a gun only he was shot by a bad guy with a gun without justification under the guise of police action.
It will be fucking weird if the NRA is the rational voice on this shit all of a sudden.
But anyway, to my original point... I don't think it was usually about racism... I think it was always about power, and the societal shift to be less prejudice about race and more prejudice about politics/religion is going to show us just that... The bad cops who are out there just want to oppress and punish and they will apply that pressure wherever society most allows them to get away with it.
Okay, so for much of my life there has been discussion of police brutality and sometimes murder of minorities. The victims are often black, but sometimes are other minorities. These stories do not often make the news, and even when they do they tend to be underplayed by many people who just assume they "must be guilty of something." Far too many people tend to have the opinion that unless and until a thing happens to them, it must be only happening to those who deserve it. Sad, but true.
Anyway, it was easy to frame these scenarios as prejudice racist cops out of control who were being protected from their crimes. I completely get how it appeared this way, especially given this country's history of slavery and how you constantly hear about how black parents have to raise their kids, especially the sons, differently to be especially compliant involving encounters with police.
But here's the thing... while I'm certain there are some racist cops who do it out of prejudice... *I* have always maintained that was just a smokescreen. In truth, I think it has always been a power play and bad cops who thought they were better than you because of their position. Period. The fact that it tended to play out more often with minorities as victims is more a reflection of greater society than racist cops. Why do I say that?
Because... if an out of control cop used excessive force on a white person in the past and it made the news that shit was almost unanimously condemned. But when the victim was a minority? People would divide up, along racial lines, and white folk would tend to band together and decide the minority must have "done something" to earn being mistreated by the cops. Do you get what I'm saying? IF you were a cop on a power trip and wanted to put your thumb on people to show who was boss... you knew you had a MUCH better chance of getting away with it if you abused a minority than a white person. Society showed you that daily with how they reacted to minorities making complaints vs whites.
Something is subtly changing in society now... prejudice by race still exists of course... but we are now clearly seeing cases of white people being murdered in front of people by ICE agents and there is a scramble by many to defend how those people "deserved" to die. This was unthinkable even 10 years ago that a white person could be the victim of such a crime and there not be a public outcry. That was usually reserved for when police trampled over minorities.
What's happening now is the divide is happening less often across racial boundaries and more often across political or religious ones... So the cops who always wanted to power trip are finding they can now abuse anyone with the same impunity that used to only be reserved for when they attacked minorities. Basically, the bad cops are now getting to do what they always wanted to do anyway because society has changed slightly to support them attacking anyone who is "different" regardless of race, as long as that difference is in line with the current group-think.
So... Republicans are okay with police killing Democrats... Democrats are okay with police killing Republicans. Both sides are okay with protestors being killed depending on what they are protesting... and the outrage is trending mostly along political lines and less across racial ones.
This is neither better nor worse... just different.
Meanwhile, at least one crazy thing is starting to emerge too. Used to be when a black man with a gun was killed everyone said "he didn't need a gun anyway" even if he legally owned said gun. Second Amendment rights people got eerily quiet when these types of things happened because it confused their brains of how they have to support guns for everyone even when there were certain people they didn't want to have a gun!
But... I heard today that the NRA had spoken up about the recent killing of the ICU nurse who was carrying a legal weapon. Many on the right were saying about him like they used to only say about black people that "he had a gun so he was dangerous, why have a gun at a protest if you aren't there to hurt people"... you know, they used to like to say that a "good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun" which would mean good guys with guns would have to take guns to protests... you know, like that dude years back who took his gun across state lines to go to a protest and shoot protestors? He was lauded by a hero for doing that shit by the right... meanwhile, this ICU nurse was starting to be raked over the coals by 2nd amendment folks saying "why does he need a gun if he is peaceful" and shit that contradicts every other usual thing they say about second amendment rights... nevermind that he didn't draw his gun or use his gun or that his gun was taken from him BEFORE he was shot nearly a dozen times to death.
But... the NRA actually spoke up and said "what the fuck are you talking about?" to the people condemning the guy over having a lawful gun per his constitutional rights. NRA actually said, hey wait this is the kind of guy we defend... he was the literal good guy with a gun only he was shot by a bad guy with a gun without justification under the guise of police action.
It will be fucking weird if the NRA is the rational voice on this shit all of a sudden.
But anyway, to my original point... I don't think it was usually about racism... I think it was always about power, and the societal shift to be less prejudice about race and more prejudice about politics/religion is going to show us just that... The bad cops who are out there just want to oppress and punish and they will apply that pressure wherever society most allows them to get away with it.
