Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Dancing while black! Or Palestenian...


I'm going to use this video to attempt to say a few semi-intelligent things about the Middle East.

See it after the jump.



OK, so here's what I think about the whole #ICan'tBreath thing and how it relates to policing in the US in general.

As an added bonus, I wrote the piece so that you can exchange the words "cop in NY" for "solder in the IDF" and "black guy" for "Arab" and it will all stay true,

(1) Every cop in NY isn't a racist jerk, but some are. The ones who are racist jerks will break the law, behave badly and do terrible things to non-whites. My belief is that only a handful of cops in NY can be accurately described as racist jerks.

(2) When you frighten or threaten a cop in NY, even the non racist ones will error on the side of caution.

(3) For any number of reasons a cop in NY is more likely to be frightened or to feel threatened when he is encountering a black guy. Unless you're a robot you know what I mean. A black guy and a white guy can be behaving in identical ways and the black guy will  make you feel nervous, and the white guy won't. Some will argue this is a racist attitude; others will say black guys have brought it on themselves by behaving violently but that's not really relevant. The point is a cop in NY will be quicker to go on alert when a black guy is around, and he will be quicker to decide that the black guy's behavior is threatening. (PS: Various studies have proved this empirically.)

(4) As a result, even non-racist cops in NY are more likely to engage in unjustified violence against black guys.  They see a phone and mistake it for a gun. They see a guy in the "wrong" neighborhood, and decide his intentions are bad.  They "know" that black guys are more prone to violence so in an encounter they'll (logically, from their own point of view) pre-empt the violence they "know" is coming with violence of their own. Stuff like that. This is why too many black guys have been shot in their own driveways. The cops just read the situation wrong, because the snap judgment they made based on skin color led to the wrong interpretation of the scene (Now again, I'm not calling this behavior "racist" You have to make snap judgments on the street, and delays can be life threatening. I get that. But when you're making these snap decisions with built-in assumptions that are not accurate, tragedies follow.)

(5) When African Americans complain about white privilege, they are largely referring to how white people are seen differently by people in positions of authority.  "White privilege" is why white people have an easier time getting a cab. Its why doctors are less likely to call child services when a white person leaves the hospital with a kid against medical advice. And its why blacks are more likely to be the victims of unjustified violence at the hands of the police.  Aside for the miscreants who called for dead cops, the Garner and Furgeson protesters aren't asking for the police to be reigned in. They are asking for the cops to shed themselves of the built-in assumptions that have caused too many tragedies.

Now, for the slow of thinking let me explain how this relates to the situation in Israel.

(1) Every soldier in the IDF isn't a racist jerk, but some are. The ones who are racist jerks will break the law, behave badly and do terrible things to Arabs.  My belief is that only a handful of soldiers in the IDF can be accurately described as racist jerks.

(2) When you frighten or threaten a soldier in the IDF, even the non racist ones will error on the side of caution, that is they will put their own lives first.

(3) For any number of reasons a soldier in the IDF  is more likely to be frightened or to feel threatened when he is encountering an Arab. Unless you're a robot you know what I mean. An Arab and a Jew can be behaving in identical ways (say, waving signs and protesting, or throwing rocks which Haredim have been know to do) and the Arab will  make you feel nervous, and the Jewish guy won't. Some will argue this is a racist attitude; others will say Arabs have brought it on themselves by behaving violently but that's not really relevant. The point is a soldier in the IDF will be quicker to go on alert when an Arab is around, and he will be quicker to decide that the Arab's behavior is threatening. (PS: Various studies have proved this empirically.)

(4) As a result, even non-racist soldiers in the IDF  are more likely to engage in unjustified violence against Arabs.

(5) When people link the Furgeson and Garner protests with Israel, this is usually the reason why. Aside from a handful of anti-Semitic miscreants, the people doing the linking see the problem as identical: blacks and Arabs are suffering from too much unjustified violence at tehhands of the state, because the police and the IDF are operating with built in assumptions that are not entirely accurate.

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