In Wednesday's section we discussed the racism in policing and I brought up distinguishing decisions driven by racism from being racist. Ill Doctrine video blog host Jay Smooth addresses this in a blog about racist actions:
Coincidentally, I had a situation Thursday that serves as an example of this. I was in a small fender bender accident with woman. Everyone was fine; it was simply a "parking spot-bumper situation", however, when it happened the woman jumped out of her car irrate and cursing about her car (keep in mind she was behind me). It happened on a busy public street across the street from the campus. She was so animated and loud that a group of elementary aged school kids across the street were laughing because she was causing such a scene. After a minute or two of me saying "ok, calm down" and her continuing to go off screaming, cursing, pacing, and threatening legal action (as as adding up damage to her car) I told her "you need to calm the f*ck down". At that point she got on the phone and told someone "I just got in an accident with a black man he's threatening me and I don't feel safe here with him." Just as she said that, 2 UCPD officers were driving by so I flagged them down.
I won't go into all the details, but know that her explanation to the officers were filled with comments like "he walked right past me and looked at me (before the accident)", "he threatened me", "please don't leave, I don't feel safe", "did you make sure his insurance information was real you know THEY make fake insurance cards". It got to the point where both I and one of the officers found it comical. It was if she was TRYING to be racist in order to get the cops in her corner. I then found myself stereotyping her as a defense mechanism. I suggested she looked
like "she was on something" and looked like the type that is looking for an "insurance cash out". It turned into a racist view/stereotyping confrontation.
I don't know that the woman was a racist. I'd like to think being in Berkeley that she wasn't but what she did was racist. She attempted to negatively impact me and my situation using race as a factor. In a case like this, it's hard to separate the two and in hindsight I question if
it's even necessary to do so.
It's surprising that you had this experience. It's sad that she would react this way even though she was behind you, and you didn't do any of the things she accused you of. She knows how racism is institutionalized so she acted this way in front of the police in order to get them to react negatively toward you. She played on their bias or inclination to racial profiling in order to serve her own agenda. I am glad to hear that the cops did not take her word for it, and that everything hopefully turned out well. It's just upsetting that this type of thing happens in the 21st century. There is no excuse for such behavior, and people must start to battle racism and to stop letting it thrive through ignorant actions such as these.
ReplyDelete-G.K.N.
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ReplyDeleteIn Eldorado where citizens are racially and ethnic diverse (much like Berkeley), racist situations can often occur. DC uses the mechanism of storytelling to demonstrate one such situation. The border between Oakville and Eldorado could exacerbate race related incidents. There could be a tension between the neighborhoods because of class related issues. Assumptions or stereotypes could be made about one person or another because of the race or perceived class of one another because of this tension.
ReplyDelete- A Rice
People subscribe to a laundry list of stereotypes, including but not limited to, race. Discrimination occurs across many spectrums, from age to gender to sexual orientation. This is a particular problem for young black males because they face intersectional discrimination. When considering crime or criminal activity, negative associations that the public form about males, youth, and African Americans compound to create a level of suspicion that young black males cannot escape because they face this discrimination on multiple levels.
ReplyDeleteI understand DC's distinction between decisions driven by racism, and actually being a racist, however I am more inclined to side with his conclusion; that it is not necessary to distinguish between the two. Actions driven by racism have, at their core, the same pernicious capabilities as blatant racism. To me it seems that bold face racism, for the most part, has gone underground. Racism now appears to only rear its ugly head when people "make decisions driven by racism." This transition has hidden the real problem, that people still make negative conclusions about people due to race. We can nullify the sting a bit by changing the name, but accepting and perpetuating stereotypes regarding race is still racism.
LCaro
In Eldorado, as mentioned above, there are a wide variety of residents which vary based on race as well as economic status. Eldorado, like Berkeley, given this wide diversity of residents, should be a place where there is little racial discrimination but we know that, at least as DC's story of the incident on Thursday demonstrates, this is not the case. When a diverse community cannot get along together without racial prejudices this makes me wonder is community policing could help where the police officers could create bonds between community members (and also with the police) and therefore help to reduce the negative views each group has of another. By creating these bonds it would be hoped that if an incident occurs,such as that which DC experienced, then the actions of both individuals would reflect the situation at hand and not be influenced by race or other factors.
ReplyDelete-RD
I think it is important that the distinction between a racist action and a racist person is surfacing. Often times, people(including myself) tend to merge the two and deem the huge differences between them. Like the video explained, when such happens, the true subject is abandoned and the focus shifts to the character of the person said to be racist. Especially regarding the case of Trayvon Martin, many people have deviated from whether or not Zimmeran's action was racial profiling to whether or not Zimmeran and the police force are racist. Focusing on the latter and trying to implement change based on such is, for me, an unreasonable approach. Proving, first of all, that the entire police force is racist is nearly impossible - not to mention implementing policies to eliminate or eradicate stated racism. When we focus on racial profiling within the police force, on the other hand, we can more reasonably push for rules and regulations, new strategies and accountability measures to shape the outcome of racial profiling. With that being said, I should also point out that I think it is unreasonable to seek to eliminate or eradicate racial profiling. Given the mentalities of people towards certain groups, mentalities that have developed over long years, it will be nearly impossible to rid of racial profiling. Thus, reformers and law enforcement should focus on training officers on the appropriate or absolute necessary use of racial profiling. Said profiling should span across people of all races, supported by studies, statistics. etc.
ReplyDeleteI think Eldorado law enforcement needs to focus on the latter to create a safe environment for its people. Regardless of all the resources it is investing in security, the city may face crime control problems(such as illegal/in-proportional self-defense) if the people cannot trust law enforcement.
-LG
I agree with the outlook taken by the video: the “what they did” rhetoric is an effective method to have a conversation about this. It reminds me of what we read in “Cops, Teachers, Counselors” about front-line workers assessing the behavior of the person as well as trying to get an idea of who the person is… Which is what it sounds like the police officer that was listening to your story and the woman’s story was doing, since the woman’s explanations were becoming comical to him/her.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like racism would be a problem in racially and ethnically diverse areas like Eldorado. However, I have a more optimistic view – I think that racism would occur less precisely because the areas are diverse, people would be more accepting of different physical characteristics of the members of their community. When it comes down to racial profiling though, I think that there this will happen in El Dorado. Maybe there are ways to mitigate it by giving cops better training, but that is a gradual process. Are cops who engage in racial profiling racists? Sometimes.
-Yana P.
04/10/2012
It's unfortunate DC had this incident, but I believe the video enlightens us to a clear understanding of what "racist actions" are. Having young brothers who are in high school, I often hear the phrase "that's so racist" casually thrown around. I believe that this phrase can also be used as a general term in the police force. It is impossible to rid the feelings of racism, which is why it is important for all people to realize the meaning of racist actions over racist people.
ReplyDeleteIt is a possibility that Eldorado will have incidents similar to DC's due to the dramatic split population of rich and poor communities. The rich will begin to formulate stereotypes on the poor and accuse them of things they haven't done. If the Eldorado police can get a hold on how to use racial profiling correctly and not rely on stereotypes, the citizens will know they can trust them, and hopefully minimize racism.
-BH
I have mixed feeling about the view on racism presented in the video. For rhetorical purposes, its much easier to hold people accountable for racism by focusing on "what they did," but many times, the racist act committed is a product of personal feelings and interpretations, coupled with an underlying cultural perception of viewing situations in racist terms. Focusing on the act alone seems like a poor excuse to sidestep the underlying problem of "cultures of fear" salient in our every day lives. In Eldorado just like Berkeley, racist expressions and actions being the product of these "cultures of fear" will undoubtedly surface, especially because it is such a racially diverse neighborhood. Unfortunately, race is arguably the biggest problem this country has today, it has been around for centuries, and it isn't going anywhere. Whether its policing or civilian affairs, race has come to define our culture, and we need to accept that and fight it head on, not side step it by just dealing with the act instead of the person. Chances are they are both products of the same culture.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that there is a distinction to be made between what a person does and what they are, but I think that an even bigger distinction needs to be made on the basis of the use of the term "racism" or "racist." Directly addressing the distinction brought up in the video, I believe that, due to the embedded and institutionalized racism that we live with in our society, people are capable of doing things that are perceived as "racist" without necessarily being racists. We have all grown up with racial stereotypes and assumptions that govern our daily lives and determine how we will treat others. For this reason, I agree with Jay Smooth's approach for handling these sensitive situations. By doing so, you are giving the person the benefit of the doubt that they were just ignorant, and at the same time giving yourself a solid basis on which to argue if they are in fact prejudice or hold strong negative views of particular people.
ReplyDeleteAs for the second distinction, I believe that we are often to liberal with our use of the terms racism and racist. Both of these terms denote a the use of power and far too often we attribute them to people who are simply expressing their personal prejudices, no matter how evil, incorrect, or racially charged they are. One of the best definitions I have found for racism is "Racial prejudice plus power." People are very quick to call say that a person is being racist based on a comment they made or a racial slur, but too often they forget to think about the power dynamic, which gives racism it's negative effect. We are all entitled to prejudices and whether we like to admit it or not, we all have them. The problem comes in when racial prejudices are used to subjugate others.
I think this is an important distinction to keep in mind when trying to find a solution to the policing situation in Eldorado.
Khalidah Shaheed-Muhammad
I think DC told a very candid story from an objective point of view. I especially like the fact that the woman’s racial identity was left out of the story. This is an interesting contrast to the woman’s focus on DC’s identity as an African American male. It is possible that her strong reactions were the result of the media’s bias towards black men. She might have seen him as a potentially violent criminal and a genuine threat to her safety. However, she was the first one to get out of her car, and called a friend to complain instead of the police. It appears that she used racism as an excuse for her anger and an attempt to minimize her responsibility in the accident. In addition, I was a little disturbed by the fact that her racist remarks and irrational behavior did not lead to any negative consequences. If the roles were reversed and DC got out of his car and started yelling at the woman, there’s a large possibility that he would be arrested and taken into custody. Finally, it was shocking to see this event happen in a diverse and highly-educated community like Berkeley. This is something I would expect to see in a metropolitan area with a large influx of new residents such as Eldorado or Emerald City.
ReplyDelete-Siqiao
This was a very interesting first-person narrative dealing with perceived racism. As professor Musheno mentioned in class, and a point that DC touches on as well, is that what can appear as police or citizen conduct to certain individuals, can appear as racism to others. Obviously, the women appeared to be racist, but as we discussed in class, she probably doesn't identify herself as a racist. Much of racism is split-second decisions about how we perceive people based off preconceived notions of certain people. While these people may not identify as racists, it does not help the problem of minorities being unproportionally targeted.
ReplyDeleteThis story could indirectly tie into the El Dorado scenario. While no obvert instances of racism are mentioned, there is definitely room for high probabilities of future racism. El Dorado is a city that is bcoming quickly gentrified. more whites are moving into the once dominantly Hispanic community. A new generation of police are starting to take hold of the police dept. and will most likely be prominently white and serving white interest. These police going in with preconceived notions of Hispanics are more likely to unfairly target this now minority group. They will most likely be subject to more frisks, tickets, arrests, etc. Although we cannot see this happening in El Dorado, it is safe to infer something along these lines will happen in the near future due tot he changing dynamics of demographics. As the Brunson article mentioned, even if there is a police dept. with increased amounts of varying ethnicities, these disparities are likely to persist, leading one to believe this "racism" problem is in fact an institutional problem and not a personal one.
TJMAX
This seems like a pretty unfortunate situation where a simple fender bender turned into a racial issue. On that topic it seems like everything nowadays is being turned into a racial issue. I read one article where a school was being sued for sending out a flyer telling students to wear animal print clothes on a certain day to celebrate black history month. While this may not have been the best choice of attire to recommend wearing clearly it was not meant to be racist and put down African Americans. Anyways, it seems like the women was trying to justify her loud actions and her reason for freaking out being due to the fact she was dealing with a black man. It is really quite disgusting to see especially in Berkeley so close to the University which takes so much pride in being diverse and progressive. It seems like once the cops came she assumed that they would take her side and buy her story of being threatened since you are black however she really just made herself look ignorant. If she was being threatened it should matter what race or ethnicity someone is, a threat is a threat. It is to bad to see her trying to gain credibility of her claim by including race. In El Dorado we see a similar diverse population where instances like this may occur and it is important that the police be educated at the Berkeley PD are and not jump to conclusions.
ReplyDeleteErik Kriessmann
There is definitely a distinction between what people do and what they are. It is correct I believe that you may make a comment which is racist, and due to personal ignorance may not be fully aware of what it is that you are implying by making that comment. The comment may have been made absent mindedly and may not illustrate how it is you really feel about the race that you have insulted. However this play of innocence or be it ignorance, maybe a useful cover up! I have often heard people say that the first thing a racist says is, “I am not racist my best friends black or my cousin, granddaughter etc etc.” This got me thinking, is there possibly a distinction between ones personal views on a race based on a one on one relationship with a particular person and how they generally feel about the group as a whole. The women in this situation may work every day with African-American women but this may only change her view of these particular women but regardless she still maintains prejudice views of African-American males. I strongly believe that if the women in my fictional account can have a good relationship with African-Americans in the work place then progress has been made and she is likely to become more accepting of the racial group as a whole. But it is questionable that because she does this and may not show any outward malice that she is herself is not racist, as pointed out in the video it is difficult to prove what someone’s inherent feelings are so often it is left undisputed but this does not mean that the person is not a racist.
ReplyDeleteSiobhan Livingston
DC’s story undoubtedly gets under my skin, and I praise DC for keeping calm and collected with dealing with such a person. Whether or not she was intentionally created a scene to get the favor of police, this woman racially profiled DC. When she got on the phone she made it evident that she did not feel safe, whether this was true on not, the fact that she mentioned that the person she got into an accident with was Black illustrated that her threats were derived from her preconceptions. Subconsciously she may have already perceived DC to be threatening from the beginning because he is Black; thus viewing everything that he may have tried to say to her as threatening. Her over dramatization of their interactions could have proved dangerous if she would have called the police or had been more convincing to the officers had been flagged down. For instance, DC’s situation reminds me of the incident last month where a Black 19 year-old college school student was shot and killed by officers who responded to an armed robbery call in Pasadena, CA. The victim called the police and lied that the suspects had a handgun, leaving the police to react lethally when encountering the suspect as he reached in his shorts, later to be found with no weapons. The victim later admitted to lying in order to speed up the response time. His over dramatization of what happened led to the death of an unarmed man. Although DC did not rob this woman or intentionally hit her car in an attempt to do so, allegations based on a perceived threat due to someone’s race can cost someone their life. Who knows what the officers reactions might have been if the woman claimed she might have saw a weapon. It is apparent in examples such as the Pasadena shooting and Trayvon shooting that, unfortunately, racism and prejudices are still very much alive in our world.
ReplyDeleteJ. Garcia
If this course had not prepared me for this story I would have said it is unbelievable to me that people could act like this. One point that I was glad to read was that the police officer was laughing with you about the obvious ridiculousness of the situation. The citizen agent narrative must have come into play because upon looking at DC, a college student, it is quite apparent that the women was racially profiling him. It makes me wonder how often occurrences like this happen, especially in this area. It is despicable to me that someone would act in such a way for whatever reason. Even if she was just trying to win favor with the officer, it is not an excuse for such behavior.
ReplyDeleteI would hope that in El Dorado police continue to take advantage of the citizen agent narrative, and use pragmatic improvisation to the fullest. In these types of situations, which unfortunately might occur often considering how diverse El Dorado's population is, it is important that front line workers continue make judgments about people guided by story lessons. Since pragmatic improvisation is very attuned to the dominate cultural values of each society, law enforcement officials will be very aware of the racial profiling occurring with citizens, and hopefully with themselves also.
The video that DC attached in his post was incredibly on point and thoughtful. I believe that this stance on combating racist actions and words is the smartest, most effective thing we can do. I was going to try to apply this tactic and mentality to the city of El Dorado, but I think it is so broad that it is applicable virtually everywhere. It works on a small scale with DC's experience with crazytown lady, and it works on a large scale when addressing racist policies such as Arizona 1070 law on immigration. It is counterproductive to attack the perpetrator with what are essentially value judgements. Confronting the actions and words that are actually the harm inducing part of an unfair, racist situation. I not only think this is effective in curbing racism in action, I think it is also effective in preventing it. I would compare it to the broken window theory of crime control, but instead, of racism control. Addressing specific actions and words solves the problem more successfully and I think the swift resolution of a racist situation demonstrates our intolerance of that sort of behavior, which in turn, discourages it. I look forward to applying this mentality to my own life.
ReplyDelete-AJD
You’re story is very interesting. My first thought was that the lady was probably new to Berkeley. I have noticed that the population in this city is very diverse and tolerant for the most part. As we all know, minor bumper accidents are very common in cities such as Berkeley and San Francisco because they are very crowded. But Eldorado contests this and sets an example that people can be racist and many racism occasions could occur in cities that are extensively diverse.
ReplyDeleteIn hopes of convincing the officers, the woman tried to make a scene and use the racism factor to her advantage. The woman was obviously not scared or threatened by you at the moment. Her motive was either to get you in trouble or make a few quick bucks. If the latter was her situation, her economic status could be assessed and hinted by the car she was driving and her house address. It was interesting that she believed she could convince the officers using stereotypes against you. It really explains what many people might think of the police departments. They know that black people are targeted by the police and if given the right reasons to do so, officers would go to great measures to investigate. I think you handled the situation very well by keeping calm. I agree with the person in the video. He makes a valid point that calling someone out is a bad idea. A racist person and a racist action are two different things. Calling someone a racist to help your situation would only make you seem as ignorant as the person you’re accusing.
D. Sidhu