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The attribution of criminal activity to a particular race is not the issue that I was addressing, I view that as a red herring in the discussion of the perception of LEO’s by people as being power hungry and abusive by default, and not to be trusted.

Saying that doesn’t mean they are unrelated, because it is pretty obvious they are related in two ways:

First, people of all races who consume liberal media programming are subject to a distorted view of what is happening, and it is going to be a very negative view because that is what sells. I am not being in any way a pessimist in saying this, I feel strongly that it is simply a realistic view. The media doesn’t make any money by beginning their evening with “A police officer today helped a carload of black teenagers change their tire...” but they sure as heck will increase their viewership and revenue by saying “The next segment has graphic footage, and viewers should exercise discretion...”

Second, blacks often live in areas where crime and violence is rampant. Like police who may become hardened, cynical, or even racist because they are immersed in the worst human kind has to offer, a higher percentage of blacks see a much higher concentration of bad things with their own eyes, happening to people who look like them.

But those are not the points I was trying to make. The specific point I was trying to communicate was the perception that police are inherently bad, which I disagree with. One might be able to say that Nazis are inherently bad, or that Klansmen are inherently bad, etc. If your core beliefs are that blacks are inherently inferior or that jews should be exterminated, you can safely be categorized as inherently bad.

But to say all priests are bad because there are some who molest altar boys, that all soldiers are bad because some GI went berserk and shot some innocent civilians, or that all police officers are bad because one of them beat an undeserving person with a nightstick...it is just wrong.

It is just as wrong as saying all people who are black are bad and [INSERT UNDESIRABLE TRAITS HERE] because a hugely disproportionate number of violent crimes are committed by young, black males. That fact is undeniably, and unequivocally true. But it is ALSO true that it doesn’t justify painting every black person with that same brush.

Point is, the core values of many policemen are just the same as yours (probably) and mine. Are there bad ones? Absolutely. But there are bad [INSERT EVERY IMAGINABLE CLASSIFICATION OF PERSON HERE] because...sometimes, there are just bad people.

In defense of police, I tend to be a bit more sympathetic to their state of mind, because I think being a policeman is inherently unhealthy from a psychological point of view. Day after day, they see the worst that humans are capable, and are immersed in the lying, deceit, rage, violence, stupidity, hatred, and unpleasantness of the human condition. Not like most of us, who can ignore it because we only see it on the television or YouTube. They are living in it and can’t wave it away.

Given the way things are, I fully understand how many of them, even good ones, may descend into an “us versus them” mentality. Given the abuse and vitriol visited upon them by supposedly respectable and influential people, it isn’t hard to imagine.