Ferguson, Police and Racism

It's unfair to blame the police for the racism of the entire society . . . . But we have to face the fact that incarceration of blacks is four to five times their portion of the general population, and CRIME IS FALLING, and has been for about forty years. As for risking their lives for protecting the community, the police love to say it, but it's not true, especially in heavily black areas. Loggers and truck drivers and coal miners die at considerably higher rates than do police officers, but you don't hear them whining about how they're risking their lives for us all the time. If the job is too dangerous for you, then look for a safer one. Bottom line is that I'd love to hear a police chief announce that he's sick and tired of getting into unnecessary conflicts with black people due to a racist society's determination to lock them in jail rather than educate and employ them. But that would be a "political" statement, and the police aren't permitted a political life. In short, they signed on for what they're getting the day they took the job.