I was disturbed by a new meme I saw online, posting side by side pictures of what is being promoted as racially preferential treatment of whites vs blacks in the United States. It was a picture of Charleston church shooting suspect Dylann Roof in custody side by side with a picture of the little African American girl at the pool party in Texas that was manhandled by police.
The picture of white Roof clearly shows him being handled with kid gloves. The pool party picture shows an obviously unarmed African American girl being thrown to the ground by a police officer.
Why does the comparison disturb me? I don't believe it is a fair or truthful comparison.
Let me explain why. While I have no personal police experience, I was previously married to a cop. I used to listen to his stories about what happened on the job, and I have a pretty good idea of what happens in various types of situations. My complaint about this side by side comparison stems from the fact that the two "suspects" are in two very different parts of the process.
The picture of Roof was taken when he was already in police custody. The business of his actual arrest was not portrayed--largely because such operations are done secretly in order to catch the suspect unaware. Let me tell you how Roof's arrest went down. They got a tip that he was in Shelby, North Carolina. At that point, the local police began their search and found him. They then watched Roof''s behaviors while the FBI and Charleston police were notified. Once federal authorities were on the scene, they came up with a plan to nab Roof in a location where he was likely to be alone so that no other person was injured. Then tons of police in protective gear would have surrounded and stormed his location, hopefully catching him unaware to reduce the likelihood of anyone else being injured. My point here is that the actual arrest is where the adrenaline kicks in. It is at the point of the adrenaline rush where poor judgment often comes into play. In the picture of Roof, he has already been arrested. He is already handcuffed behind his back and is wearing leg shackles. He is clearly not a threat to his escorts. My point here is, this is a transportation scenario only.
The picture of the teenage girl was of a potential arrest scenario, not a transportation scenario. There were scores of kids and just a handful of cops to disperse the crowd. Adrenaline was running high. Do I believe the cop exercised poor judgment? You bet I do!!! The girl was not a threat to him. Were the cops focusing on the black kids at the pool party? Yes, I believe they were!!! The thing is, this picture was taken at the height of the tension, not in the aftermath when things had time to calm down.
A more truthful comparison would have been to compare a picture of the ambush police executed on Roof in order to take him into custody. It may actually have depicted the situation the way it is being portrayed in the meme above. It's difficult to say, however, since the picture may not even exist. There were definitely no bystanders around able to turn on their cell phone cameras to watch the unfolding event. When police know they need to catch someone who is armed and dangerous, they make plans to avoid injury to innocent bystanders.
I am not denying that prejudice and unfair treatment exist. Prejudice does exist and it's important to stand up and speak out against it. What I am protesting is presenting evidence that raises emotion without the benefit of full and transparent disclosure. Comparing a transportation picture to an arrest/capture picture is an unfair bias.
Propaganda is a huge problem in our society today. Think of it as modern day advertising. The powers that be are trying to sell us a bill of goods to get us to think and behave in certain ways. They manipulate words and pictures in order to play on our emotions. Most of this is done with a plan to get us to identify with certain groups and align with them so we will fight against anyone who has a different point of view. When we swallow their propaganda BS without questioning it, we are a herd of sheep potentially being lured to our own slaughter.
There is a fine line between truth and propaganda. Don't allow your objectivity to be influenced by the powerful emotions created by the slightly twisted truths of propaganda. It is truth that sets us free!!!
~CSE
Why does the comparison disturb me? I don't believe it is a fair or truthful comparison.
Let me explain why. While I have no personal police experience, I was previously married to a cop. I used to listen to his stories about what happened on the job, and I have a pretty good idea of what happens in various types of situations. My complaint about this side by side comparison stems from the fact that the two "suspects" are in two very different parts of the process.
The picture of Roof was taken when he was already in police custody. The business of his actual arrest was not portrayed--largely because such operations are done secretly in order to catch the suspect unaware. Let me tell you how Roof's arrest went down. They got a tip that he was in Shelby, North Carolina. At that point, the local police began their search and found him. They then watched Roof''s behaviors while the FBI and Charleston police were notified. Once federal authorities were on the scene, they came up with a plan to nab Roof in a location where he was likely to be alone so that no other person was injured. Then tons of police in protective gear would have surrounded and stormed his location, hopefully catching him unaware to reduce the likelihood of anyone else being injured. My point here is that the actual arrest is where the adrenaline kicks in. It is at the point of the adrenaline rush where poor judgment often comes into play. In the picture of Roof, he has already been arrested. He is already handcuffed behind his back and is wearing leg shackles. He is clearly not a threat to his escorts. My point here is, this is a transportation scenario only.
The picture of the teenage girl was of a potential arrest scenario, not a transportation scenario. There were scores of kids and just a handful of cops to disperse the crowd. Adrenaline was running high. Do I believe the cop exercised poor judgment? You bet I do!!! The girl was not a threat to him. Were the cops focusing on the black kids at the pool party? Yes, I believe they were!!! The thing is, this picture was taken at the height of the tension, not in the aftermath when things had time to calm down.
A more truthful comparison would have been to compare a picture of the ambush police executed on Roof in order to take him into custody. It may actually have depicted the situation the way it is being portrayed in the meme above. It's difficult to say, however, since the picture may not even exist. There were definitely no bystanders around able to turn on their cell phone cameras to watch the unfolding event. When police know they need to catch someone who is armed and dangerous, they make plans to avoid injury to innocent bystanders.
I am not denying that prejudice and unfair treatment exist. Prejudice does exist and it's important to stand up and speak out against it. What I am protesting is presenting evidence that raises emotion without the benefit of full and transparent disclosure. Comparing a transportation picture to an arrest/capture picture is an unfair bias.
Propaganda is a huge problem in our society today. Think of it as modern day advertising. The powers that be are trying to sell us a bill of goods to get us to think and behave in certain ways. They manipulate words and pictures in order to play on our emotions. Most of this is done with a plan to get us to identify with certain groups and align with them so we will fight against anyone who has a different point of view. When we swallow their propaganda BS without questioning it, we are a herd of sheep potentially being lured to our own slaughter.
There is a fine line between truth and propaganda. Don't allow your objectivity to be influenced by the powerful emotions created by the slightly twisted truths of propaganda. It is truth that sets us free!!!
~CSE
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