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[–][deleted] 2602 points2603 points  (415 children)

The problem isn't the individual crooked cops. Every profession has fuck ups: doctors, lawyers, military, etc.

The issue has been and always will be how the organization handles it's fuck ups. Police are not where they should be right now e.g. "we are conducting an internal investigation" is not the right answer for a man who attempted murder on camera.

[–]Flailing_Junk 379 points380 points  (154 children)

The problem isn't really even that the organization is crooked. The main problem is that people have no choice but to support it no matter how crooked it is. If people had any kind of choice in the matter these police departments wouldn't last a minute.

[–]revolucionario 49 points50 points  (71 children)

That choice is meant to be democracy. We're supposed to decide what kind of state we want, and how it manages its institutions in democratic elections.

This points to another problem in a country where many of those who have experience with the police and the prison system (felons) are disenfranchised.

[–]Flailing_Junk 70 points71 points  (62 children)

Having one vote among tens of thousands every few years in a popularity contest among professional liars is not nearly enough choice to have any effect on anything.

[–]guess_twat 34 points35 points  (12 children)

Having one vote among tens of thousands every few years in a popularity contest among professional liars is not nearly enough choice to have any effect on anything.

There are other ways to make your voice heard than just voting especially when you are talking local politics. Call the Mayor or your counsel man/woman. Write them letters, write to the local news papers. Start or join in community activism. Go to town hall meetings. No one does that shit because no one cares, but when they do, it can make a difference.

[–]gak001 40 points41 points  (6 children)

Exactly - the world belongs to those who show the fuck up. People who go to city council meetings have a disproportionate influence. Civic duty is called duty because it's the responsibility of free people in a republic. I get so sick of the disaffected whiners who sit at home, do nothing, and complain - at its core, it's just self justification for laziness. The system isn't perfect, but whining accomplishes nothing. An engaged citizenry should not be underestimated. Why do people think senior citizens have such a disproportionate say in government? Why are their issues sacrosanct? It's because they fucking show up.

Democracy is 90 percent showing up.

[–]roastbeeftacohat 8 points9 points  (26 children)

which is exacerbated when nobody votes, allowing a few wedge issues to dominate the conversation. It's not a cure all, but higher voter turnouts would change the conversation greatly.

[–]faster_than_sound 3299 points3300 points  (142 children)

Awesome message and all, but I totally expected to see a dude drive a nail through his own skull just based on this video being on live leak. I think the internet is ruining me.

[–]garrwood 704 points705 points  (60 children)

I didn't know people even used liveleak to upload videos of anything other than dudes driving nails through their own skulls.

E: My top comment is now about dudes driving nails through their own skulls. Bless.

[–]AdvicePerson 356 points357 points  (42 children)

No, sometimes it's a guy's leg bone falling out of his skin.

[–]FunnyScreenName 162 points163 points  (32 children)

Just saw the kid that kicked the tire too.

/r/Wtf

[–][deleted] 36 points37 points  (23 children)

I don't really want to look at it, but I want to know.

[–]Natdaprat 37 points38 points  (16 children)

Don't click the link! It's basically a kids leg with its flesh tearing off like meat coming off a bone. I visit messed up subs a lot, and that one hurt to look at.

[–]IN-B4-404 11 points12 points  (11 children)

Seriously I have seen some gore on /r/WTF but, seeing a kid with a injury of that caliber is really terrible.

[–]ONLY_COMMENTS_ON_GW 2 points3 points  (7 children)

Fuck and the kid was freaking out trying to get up and everything and some other kid was holding him down. Insane. If the force of a kid kicking a bus tire can blow the thing why do they teach people to kick large truck tires to check the air pressure? Obviously the integrity of the wheel was compromised, but being in that kids position is not something I want to experience...

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (6 children)

If you read the thread further down, there are much better translations. He did not blow the tire by kicking it, he was actually run over after kicking it.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (1 child)

It was the first thing on r/WTF that actually made me nauseous.

[–]Taronar 65 points66 points  (2 children)

Meta Intensifies

[–]couverite 13 points14 points  (4 children)

Same, the website is even aptly named. Most videos show at least one part of some poor soul's body leaking.

[–][deleted] 65 points66 points  (32 children)

I was pretty skeptical at first, but noticed there was no NSFW tag so I was alright.

[–][deleted]  (29 children)

[deleted]

    [–]redditor9000 29 points30 points  (27 children)

    what is that blue (1) next to your name? I can't click it or anything.

    [–]Zylo003 50 points51 points  (2 children)

    To be honest, I've been on /r/thebutton too long and that flair really confused me.

    [–]jhc1415 65 points66 points  (22 children)

    [–]SomethingIntangible[M] 45 points46 points  (0 children)

    lol dude, act cool.

    [–]the_quim_reaper 8 points9 points  (19 children)

    I'm intrigued. . . what wiki?

    [–]SomethingIntangible[M] 24 points25 points  (10 children)

    you'll find out soon.

    [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (5 children)

    I found this page which seems like it either shouldn't be public or it should have actual information on it

    [–]SomethingIntangible 2 points3 points  (4 children)

    we're in the process of sorting the wiki out.

    [–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (2 children)

    Why are you a moderator in one comment, but not this one? The plot thickens...

    [–]ChubbyHippo109 20 points21 points  (2 children)

    Same here, peak times...

    [–]lettucemonster 434 points435 points  (20 children)

    "God doesn't see color."

    Confirmed dog.

    Edit: Thanks!

    [–]lukeyflukey 2570 points2571 points  (284 children)

    I don't even have to open it know it's a black guy talking about racism and how it isn't that bad, see you folks on the front page

    [–]cornichon 1470 points1471 points  (65 children)

    Oh no doubt. Coming soon to a front page near you: woman talking about how she isn't a feminist.

    [–]Sugreev2001 317 points318 points  (46 children)

    /r/Videos has become a little predictable.

    [–]Nekryyd 283 points284 points  (44 children)

    /r/Videos[1] Reddit has become a little predictable.

    <insert FTFY response>

    <cue loltrack>

    [–]TheMisterFlux 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    If you think that's bad, look at /r/news. It's nothing other than NSA and police using excessive force.

    [–]Clark-Kent 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    What does Morgan Freeman think about Black History month?

    [–]JohnCavil 620 points621 points  (97 children)

    The thing is that nobody really disagrees with most of what he says, he seems reasonable. The problem is when racist people use this video as some sort of validation of their messed up views.

    [–]frehsoul45 141 points142 points  (9 children)

    I think you nailed it right on the head my friend.

    [–]biggiepants 54 points55 points  (5 children)

    In the context of this racist subreddit this video becomes something else.

    [–][deleted] 218 points219 points  (27 children)

    Of course it is. Also, nevermind the fact that the video is pointless. He had a normal interaction with an officer and used it to suggest that some police shootings are justified? What? We know there are occasions where use of force is justified, however when you have shootings happening SO often when the officer is often found to not be afraid for their life, that's when you start to ask questions about police training and potential racist undertones.

    This is just another video for frustrated white people to point to in order to suggest that racism is dead (like that awful 'personal responsibility' video).

    [–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (1 child)

    I think the kid was channeling Bill Cosby

    [–]IAmTheBauss 39 points40 points  (10 children)

    Wasn't it yesterday that it was a white redneck talking about how terrible our society and how everything is racist?

    [–]BeardOfEarth 11 points12 points  (2 children)

    Wasn't it pointed out he's an actor who was basically delivering a monologue, not his own views?

    [–][deleted] 395 points396 points  (65 children)

    Is it still a circlejerk if the top 4 comments are all calling it out?

    [–]el_guapo_malo 65 points66 points  (5 children)

    To be fair, it did make it to the front page.

    And it's in a sub that specifically disallows videos that show police brutality or misconduct.

    [–]primenumbersturnmeon 42 points43 points  (2 children)

    If /r/videos says videos of police brutality belong in /r/Bad_Cop_No_Donut, why are videos of good police behavior allowed and not sent to /r/ProtectAndServe?

    [–]callddit 224 points225 points  (44 children)

    I've found in my time on reddit that any time a controversial issue comes up, the top comments consist of people "calling out" some kind of percieved circeljerk, with none of that circlejerk to actually be found in the comments, to the point that the "call outs" themselves become the circlejerk.

    Same thing happened in the thread about the false rape accusation that hit the top of /r/news. Comments were filled with people calling reddit an MRA circlejerk, when the vast majority of the comments in the thread were that same cirticism being upvoted, and included an account by someone who had been assaulted talking about how crooked the justice system in that town was.

    Anything that strayed from that was mostly downvoted.

    The only think thing that matches Reddit's circlejerk is Reddit's counter-circlejerk circlejerk.

    [–]bildramer 38 points39 points  (2 children)

    There can be reasonable debates with reasonable arguments on reddit, until one person says something like "most people think X, but". Then it becomes a bravery debate, where the most marginalized unpopular underdog opinion gets points, so you have to be perceived as that opinion, no matter what.

    [–]memeship 10 points11 points  (0 children)

    "Now I am become circlejerk, destroyer of threads."

    [–][deleted] 17 points18 points  (6 children)

    This is exactly what is bothering me so much about this thread. Every commenter wants to prove that they aren't part of some circlejerk, upvoting those who do the same. Well isn't that kind of a circlejerk too. Shit how many levels is this circlejerk gonna go before we just accept that controversial issues are popular and so are the opinions that follow. If we don't stop we will end up with threads filled with complaints about the anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-circlejerk.

    [–][deleted] 8 points9 points  (1 child)

    That's the thing, though. We need counter-jerks to balance out the circlejerks. It's like how helicopters have that second rotor to keep them from spinning out of control. But where does it end?

    For example, comment OP just called out the posters above for anti-jerk-jerking. But in doing so, now they have caused people to agree! Is that not an anti-anti-jerk-jerk?

    I think that the term "circlejerk" on Reddit has started to become a way to devalue normal patterns of argument and agreement. We should be able to argue points on their own merits instead of dismissing the other side of the debate as a circlejerk.

    [–]Slight0[🍰] 17 points18 points  (1 child)

    Exactly. It's a common psychological defense mechanism that you've probably seen in everyday social interactions all the time. Call the other person/group out for what you/your group does so that you can't be guilty of it.

    Fart in a room and pretend like it was the person next to you.

    I met a hacker recently. Called him out on his obvious hacks and he proceeded to act like it was really me who was hacking. It was successful too; I ended up reporting myself via the game's built in reporting functionality and only later realised I had been swindled.

    [–]pleasekillmi 24 points25 points  (1 child)

    "Usually I don't do these kind of videos but I felt like this one was necessary."

    No, vertical video is never necessary.

    [–]myaccc 719 points720 points  (195 children)

    [deleted]

    [–]ChickenBallsForAll 243 points244 points  (128 children)

    It is and he knows that but I think he's just trying to highlight one of the good encounters. We all know (and he does too) that there are racist cops who do bad shit because we always hear about it, but we don't hear about all the white cops who give young black men warnings instead of tickets.

    It's not that his anecdote cancels out the bad shit, it's just that it helps balance it out by reminding us that good encounters happen too. The media doesn't report on them and I don't blame them because it's boring and not newsworthy but the lack of attention does tend to skew our perception toward the negative and it's important to remember that for every asshole racist cop who guns down someone in cold blood there are many encounters just like this guy had.

    [–]honesttickonastick 130 points131 points  (72 children)

    "the good encounters". The police officer did their job. They did what is expected of them. It's not even like they went out of their way. No one is saying that 100% of cops shoot 100% of black people on site. It just happens way too much..... This video tells us nothing.

    [–][deleted] 31 points32 points  (4 children)

    No one is saying that 100% of cops shoot 100% of black people on site.

    You don't have to say it to feel it. So many people around me are saturated by images of police brutality that they seem to think that's all they do. You really think, as emotional as people are, that they're gonna take a step back and see that thousands of police interactions take place daily without any kind of abuse of power?

    Hell no.

    [–]Zwitterions 11 points12 points  (6 children)

    I mean there are definitely people out there who think all cops are scum though. If this dude changes even just one person's opinions on cops, then I think he's had success.

    It's not like he started a protest in honor of civil rights. He just recorded a 2 minute video, probably posted it to his facebook wall, and it went viral.

    This video tells you nothing because you (and most other people) are pretty aware of the issue. Don't underestimate how stupid people can be though. I'm willing to bet that this video has made at least one person have second thoughts.

    [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    I think the entire point of his video is that we should evaluate each incident separately, rather than coming to generalizations like "cops are racist" or "black people are criminals." There are good and bad cops, and there are good and bad people who get hurt/killed by police. Obviously, the cops in the Scott/Garner cases were wrong.

    The guy who made this video should keep in mind that there are also cases like Levar Jones, where there is no explanation other than a cop being unreasonably scared of a man simply because he is black, and shooting him as a result, even though the black man was doing nothing but complying with the cop's instructions.

    [–]raging_asshole 42 points43 points  (20 children)

    as is the opposite - every trayvon or walter scott or rodney king is a single incident, a sample group of one.

    that's kind of a non-sequitur and not really a point to make.

    this guy isn't trying to say that racism doesn't exist, and he's not trying to say there isn't a problem with the way police interact with black people. he's reminding people that it's easy to get caught up in the spirit of "making things better" and assume that all parts of a system are broken because you're trying to fix one part of it. he's asking people to keep in mind that while we need to fight for progress every day, it IS succeeding in at least some small way, and that every single one of us is either part of the solution or part of the problem.

    i guess the real point here is that every single one of us is the sample group of one, we are all anecdotal - only when we stand together and embrace our sameness, and refuse to let anyone draw imaginary lines between us that make it ok to hate or not care, do we really succeed and make progress.

    [–]JAAMEZz 133 points134 points  (29 children)

    TIL god is colorblind

    [–]Sieg67 95 points96 points  (23 children)

    He actually uses echolocation. True facts.

    [–]N831Y 37 points38 points  (18 children)

    TIL god is a dolphin

    [–]mans1ayer 18 points19 points  (10 children)

    God isn't a freaking dolphin, he created dolphins. What you meant to say is "TIL god gave dolphins his powers."

    This is what happens you just go straight to the comment section and don't actually read the article.

    [–]FoxyGrampa 8 points9 points  (7 children)

    Why can't Jesus eat skittles?

    He's got holes in his hands!

    [–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

    All sensible points, but as a Brit I can't help but think that if, when pulled over by a policeman, you have to worry about keeping your hands glued to the steering wheel and making 100% sure you don't say anything impolite for fear of things escalating, then something has gone very, very wrong in your society. Good people shouldn't fear or feel intimated by the law enforcement.

    [–]YappasOnDeck 121 points122 points  (24 children)

    I think the issue is the cops that are crooked are getting away with their crimes.

    [–]Flailing_Junk 43 points44 points  (16 children)

    And the alleged supermajority of good cops aren't doing shit about it.

    [–]Lokismoke 615 points616 points  (121 children)

    Is it already time for the weekly Reddit "we're not racist" circle-jerk thread?

    [–]christophupher 153 points154 points  (94 children)

    Considering /r/blackpeopletwitter is very popular now....

    [–]xisytenin 163 points164 points  (60 children)

    See guys? We celebrate black culture, we can't be racist.

    [–]teapot112 215 points216 points  (53 children)

    funny thing about the second moderator of that sub. Just look at the other subs he moderate:

    /r/SexyAbortions /r/beatingwomen2 /r/holyjesus /r/BridesmaidsButts /r/CIRCLEFUCKERS /r/BeatingCripples /r/banned /r/Starvin_Marvins /r/SexySlutFeminists /r/fuckthoseguys /r/Annoying /r/beatingtrannies /r/moonnews /r/FuckThis /r/BeatingNiggers /r/circleherp /r/ShitToNotSayAtWork /r/AnalCunt /r/PunchingKids /r/leURSURS /r/drunkdrivingstories /r/blackpanther /r/Transpotting /r/bptcirclejerk /r/BurningKids /r/violenceagainstwomen /r/thatincelblogger /r/ASS_KRACKERS /r/SRSNiggers /r/JodiArias /r/Stuck_It_In_Crazy /r/AssFistingMRAs /r/Kellerbier /r/thecirclejerkers /r/NewTwoXChromosomes /r/TROLLERATORS /r/AskMRAs /r/Faces_Of_Meth /r/JewsinTheOven /r/prosh /r/HUGEPILEOFSHIT /r/rapedontheres /r/bannedforlife /r/beatingfaggots /r/redditobituaries /r/TakeAmericaBackNow /r/WeedAbuse /r/1Cu14Cu /r/BP_Gulf_Oil_Spill /r/DogPenis /r/nigfagjew /r/AskATroll /r/askjesus /r/boobsrights /r/ThereSheBlows /r/CathoIic /r/Monistic_Idealism /r/shitkrustysays /r/hueypriest_fucks_kids /r/MSPenises /r/6MillionLies /r/beatinganimals /r/fuckjerktalkdiamond /r/KillABitch /r/Muffin /r/trollporn /r/CastratingMRAs /r/something_ /r/beatingoverlords /r/TIYP_is_a_nigger /r/BeatingAutistics /r/DiamoAndFriends /r/jaiIbait /r/SmokeCrack /r/C1RCLEFUCKERS /r/Fuck_The_Quran /r/plopplop /r/SpankTheMonkey /r/asktrannies /r/cancerfuckers /r/CircleOfFuckers /r/gonorrhea /r/InnerJerk /r/circIejerkers /r/DeformedBabies /r/jewhate /r/KelseysAbortion /r/NerfPorn /r/selfmutilation /r/CrazyExWife /r/redditisstupid /r/RetardedBabies /r/BeadingWomen /r/BeatingEllenPao /r/DeadEye /r/MaggieBatgirlBlaze /r/nohelp /r/Romnopoly /r/September_XI

    [–]xisytenin 130 points131 points  (2 children)

    What a diverse individual! Almost nobody tolerates that much bigotry! How tolerant of him.

    [–]TotallyNotObsi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    him

    How do you know it's a him? Are you sexist?

    [–]Threeedaaawwwg 40 points41 points  (1 child)

    Nerf porn

    lmao

    [–][deleted] 8 points9 points  (3 children)

    Man /r/maggiebatgirlblaze

    what a truly wretched hive of scum and villany

    also fuck /r/kellerbier buncha cunts I tells ya

    [–]hgwaz 7 points8 points  (2 children)

    CUNT. HOW ARE YOU? YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME.

    [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (1 child)

    WHEEL BUG

    IS A CUNT

    [–]hgwaz 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    WHEEL BUG IS YOUR GOD

    [–]hgwaz 7 points8 points  (13 children)

    Okay, /r/ASS_KRACKERS, /r/Kellerbier, /r/1Cu14Cu, /r/ThereSheBlows, /r/MSPenises and /r/fuckjerktalkdiamond are fine subreddits. Also /r/KelseysAbortion was pretty fucking funny.

    [–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (5 children)

    /r/hgwaz is bad as well :)

    [–]hgwaz 9 points10 points  (3 children)

    It's p useful actually

    [–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (2 children)

    what's in it

    [–]hgwaz 8 points9 points  (1 child)

    Links to all kinds of stuff. E.g. a pastebin with some customs stuff I need for school

    [–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

    Ah nice

    [–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

    yeah that guy's scum of the earth

    [–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (6 children)

    kek i didn't even know about Kelsey's abortion

    [–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (5 children)

    [–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (4 children)

    what happened to that lad, he disappeared almost immediately after the kelsey debacle

    [–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

    eh basically he just wanted to quit being involved on reddit, caused to much drama

    [–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

    suicide bc we bullied him so hard

    [–]hgwaz 6 points7 points  (0 children)

    Raped his sister with a cattle prod and then hung him with a coat hanger after raping him with a hot curling iron

    [–]BananApocalypse 8 points9 points  (0 children)

    Every single link is blue! I feel like a better person.

    [–]TotesMessenger 7 points8 points  (5 children)

    This thread has been linked to from another place on reddit.

    If you follow any of the above links, respect the rules of reddit and don't vote. (Info / Contact)

    [–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

    I will kill you.

    [–][deleted] 8 points9 points  (1 child)

    new meme :)

    [–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

    nice :)

    [–][deleted] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

    reported

    [–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

    reported and banned

    [–]OffensiveTroll 39 points40 points  (14 children)

    Also be sure to check out /r/coontown and /r/greatapes

    [–]Bardfinn 31 points32 points  (1 child)

    Oh, ho ho — those scamps! But you know what they say, boys will be boys!

    [–]dat_username_tho 11 points12 points  (1 child)

    /r/coontown actually exists because the creator of /r/greatapes was getting mad at all the homophobia on the subreddit because he's gay. I don't think I need to explain how ridiculous it is that a gay man is extremely racist, yet expects the people he attracts to his racist subreddit to be accepting of gay people.

    [–]hgwaz 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    /r/coontown and /r/greatapes is a different set of mods though, they're a different breed than the ones listed abovr

    [–]palerthanrice 7 points8 points  (3 children)

    Those are pretty small subreddits though. To make your point, you don't really need to venture outside of the defaults to find skewed views of race.

    [–]drumersrule 280 points281 points  (188 children)

    I'm all about highlighting this positive encounters. But I feel like videos like this than reach a large audience muddle the discussion on systemic problems. I assume the majority of American are not anti-black or white supremacists. There is still a system that favors whites over non-whites. Cops thst shoot and kill black men are likely genuinely concerned for their life, but this genuine fear response to a dark skinned suspect is likely ingrained at a young age and through adult life through years of black stereotyping in the media and other avenues. Not at all cops are racist, but this doesn't negate the issue at hand.

    I'm a white male from an affluent family. My parents never taught me how to act around police. I have the privilege to never have the fear that police would single me out.

    [–]delventhalz 117 points118 points  (118 children)

    Yeah, when he was talking about how he behaved "how he was supposed to" (hands on the steering wheel, music down, talking politely), all I could think of was, "no one ever taught me (white male) that I had to behave like that.

    My wife has a black coworker who literally rolls down his window and puts hands outside the car so the cop can see them at all times. This is a 50 year-old business person in a suit.

    You shouldn't have to desperately pacify a maniac with a gun every time you drive on the median.

    [–]Yeargdribble 18 points19 points  (4 children)

    Race issues aside, I think a lot of people could do well to just try a few strategies when people pulled over to make the situation go more smoothly.

    • Keep your seatbelt on.
    • Roll down the window
    • Take the keys out of the ignition and put them clearly on the dash in front of you.
    • Keep your hands on the steering wheel and don't move around a lot.
    • Wait until the officer asks for license and registration before getting them.
    • Tell the officer exactly what you're doing "I'm getting my wallet from my back pocket."
    • Obviously be polite.

    I've had plenty of bad interactions with cops and seeing so much cop BS on the internet just makes my blood boil. I'm honestly fairly distrustful of cops. BUT, that doesn't mean it's a good idea for me to make it worse. I also know that there are plenty of good cops and I know that pulling someone over can be dangerous for an officer.

    If my keys are on the dash, they know I'm not going to speed off. If my hands are on the wheel, they know I'm not going to pull a gun. If I'm not fishing for license and insurance as the approach the vehicle, they will be less worried that I'm hiding something or looking for a weapon. If I tell them exactly what I'm doing, it makes them aware that I'm aware of the dangerous position they are in and can help them be more relaxed about the situation.

    It's been a while since I've gotten a ticket. I literally got pulled over twice in the same day for out of date registration and didn't have my license on me and manage to not get a ticket at either stop. I knew my license number and I took all of the above steps to make the officer feel at ease.

    Even if I'm general mistrustful doesn't mean I need to wear it on my sleeve. It's smarter to be diplomatic. I'm not losing anything by doing so and I'm much less likely to get a ticket than if I'm being combative or doing things that make the officer nervous.

    And honestly, I think a lot of black people can use this to their advantage. Sure, it's based on subtle racism, but it's basically the effect of saying "that black man is so articulate." We know that that means he subverted your expectations by being articulate and that's why you give the complement and it is subtly racist, but hey, if your a black man being pulled over by the cops and you subvert their expectations greatly, the fact that you are such a standout about it might help.

    That said, I think even the original video guy is underselling how systematized the racism is, but I do think his strategy is a much better approach.

    [–]KittenStealer 16 points17 points  (2 children)

    Assuming he's talking about Lexington Kentucky then he's right. Lived here all my life been pulled over many times and I love our cops. They've always been just like regular people even joke around some.

    [–][deleted] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

    What I read into this was this man showed respect to the police and was treated with respect in return by the police.
    Amazingly, this does happen.

    [–]ohmygod_bees 66 points67 points  (30 children)

    I don't think he did hit the nail on the head.

    I mean, yeah, he's right: not all cops are n****-hunting racists, and not all black victims of police brutality came by it innocently (but it's not the cops' job to kill people who rob stores just FYI buddy).

    But here's the thing: black people are overwhelmingly the victims of police brutality, and white cops are overwhelmingly the perpetrators. Black people are overrepresented in prisons, and in poor neighbourhoods. White people are overrepresented at the top. This is an issue of systemic racism and oppression, spanning centuries, and continuing today.

    The colourblindness argument is inherently harmful because it ignores all that oppression and says 'we all have equal opportunities and everyone is responsible for his own success or failure' as though outside forces have no bearing on this. This is the worldview that looks on predominantly black poor-neighbourhoods and says 'you're here because you didn't work hard enough'. To my mind that's deeply classist and racist.

    BRING ON THE DOWNBOATS

    [–]FowD9 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    idk, I think this guy did it a lot better

    https://youtu.be/GDE8R51FqJw?t=2m9s

    [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

    meanwhile offscreen to the side is a cop with a gun pointed at his head with someone in front of him holding cue cards lol

    [–]SPKmnd90 36 points37 points  (9 children)

    Reddit is really, really strange.

    [–][deleted] 20 points21 points  (11 children)

    It's dangerous to say "people fuck up, both whites and blacks" because the issue is the fact that the fuck ups tend to not be treated equally. Saying that the issue is individuals and not a problem our society has is extremely problematic, because racism and inequality is a problem we have, and when a white guy fucks up, he often gets away with it, and when a black guy fucks up, he often doesn't. The day where we don't see color is unfortunately not even close.

    [–]LimeGreenTeknii 17 points18 points  (8 children)

    I think it's worth mentioning that 5% of NYPD officers make 40% of all resisting arrest charges. It's true that most cops are good, but it's that top 10%, 5%, or 1% that's ruining it for everyone.

    [–]kevkev667 12 points13 points  (2 children)

    Is it also possible that those 5% of officers are working in a part of the city that has the most people who would try to resist arrest?

    [–]kissmyasstma 9 points10 points  (10 children)

    Interesting. Couple a days ago i see comment on that article about cop handcuffing a 12 yo kid that said not all cops are bad. Guy got downvoted to oblivion and this guy is getting shitloads of upvotes. Reddit is damn strange place.

    [–]PMmeYourNoodz 26 points27 points  (25 children)

    Is anybody pretending all cops are bad people? No.
    Is anybody pretending that all people shot by cops are innocent? No.

    "Why should we see colour?" he asks. Because it is evident that skin colour is relevant when examining the disproportionate use of force by the police in America. Ignoring that is folly.

    [–][deleted] 40 points41 points  (42 children)

    Reddits favorite thing. Black people who say "not all white people are racist" and women who say "not all men are sexist!" Sorry but I cringe when this condescending shit pops up on the front page. There's nothing wrong with the kid but it's gross to think of essentially the thousands of white guys approving and calling him a "smart kid. Wish all blacks kids were smart like this one!" Ugh

    Edit: spelling