What Makes Black Men Run From the Police?

The Root ^ | Aug. 27 2015 | WILL JAWANDO

[nickcarraway]

A good, hard look at the statistics will tell you why African Americans have reason to fear an encounter with police.

It’s never much of a surprise when I hear it, but it stings all the same. Freddie Gray would be alive today if only he hadn’t inexplicably sprinted down his West Baltimore street. As would Walter Scott, the African-American man who was shot in the back in South Carolina fleeing a white police officer who then made an unsuccessful attempt to frame Scott for provoking his own destruction.

If only Sandra Bland hadn’t been so rude and had put out her cigarette when asked, no matter her constitutionally protected rights to both. If only Samuel DuBose had not tried to pull his car away from a Cincinnati university officer who then proceeded to empty a shell into his skull.

If only.

The question persists: Why do they run? Why do they run? Why don’t they just cooperate with the police? This is America, after all: a country where one is presumed innocent until proved guilty.

I know why. I am a black man, and I have been arrested. I am also a husband and father of three, a lawyer, a former White House aide and now a candidate for Congress.

The police made a mistake, as humans inevitably do. It was a little more than a decade ago, when I was in my early 20s and well on my way toward a promising career. I was in a car with some friends and fellow law-school classmates when, as a thoughtless prank—the sort that tends to hang over from adolescence—one of them shouted an obscene comment at a woman on the street. That woman turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Let me state that what he did was wrong,

[Ouderkirk]

Over the past three decades, mandatory-sentencing policies and aggressive police tactics...

At a time when crime rates are the lowest they have been in decades....

As night follows day, crime rates are lower because we police more actively.

The collateral consequences of this policy misadventure are most severe in communities of color. Half of black males in the U.S. and 44 percent of Latino males are arrested at least once by the time they are 23.

One in every 3 black males born today can expect to go to prison (pdf) at some point in their lives, compared with 1 in every 6 Latino males and 1 in every 17 white males. This means that the darker your skin, the more likely it is that your arrest will result in jail time. We recently heard about the estimated 1.5 million black men who are “missing” from society as a result of death and incarceration.

Maybe this is why...

Stop being stupid...get a good education. Make that your #1 goal in life. Be better than the other guy. Stop acting like a 'hoodrat, dress and act like the prevailing culture. Just maybe, if you tried to assimilate into the prevailing culture you would stop being harassed for being in the places where people don't want the crime and the debased culture that is the "black experience" in the US.

[Blue Devil Reaganite]

Ummmm....don’t steal sh1t?

[Uncle Miltie]

Cops be rasis!

[umgud]

In the 60’s, I had two cops beat me pretty good with a night stick and a flashlight with a few kicks thrown in for good measure. I had done nothing wrong, but I’d guess I probably wouldn’t have gotten mugged if I hadn’t been such a smart-ass. And I’m lily white.

[Uncle Miltie]

Don’t disrespect your betters.

[bigbob]

Springsteen fans, born to run

[Roman_War_Criminal]

Leave it to a dishonest leftist black to make excuses for evil criminal behavior.

These folks crave anarchy and love disorder. All you have to do is view their “hoods” to see that it’s exactly what they want. If the cops left their neighborhoods to rot (and I hope the cops do real soon), they’ll still complain about “crime” and blame them for their problems.

You can’t win with these losers.

[ncpatriot]

that’s what i think

[Brooklyn Attitude]

Once again blacks refuse to take responsibility for their stupid decisions. In the article the main excuse is the fear of getting an arrest record. Usually if you havent committed a crime you dont get arrested, but getting nervous and running from the cops can get you a felony. How stupid do you have to be to make that decision?

[EEGator]

100m - 9.13s(WR)

[Brooklyn Attitude]

“In the article the main excuse is the fear of getting an arrest record. Usually if you havent committed a crime you dont get arrested, but getting nervous and running from the cops can get you a felony. How stupid do you have to be to make that decision?”

Lets take that a step further, now you are running from the cop and he catches up with you. Now you are definitely getting arrested if can subdue you so you fight like heck. That is resisting arrest and assaulting an officer (definitely a felony). You are really panicked because you are going to jail if he takes you in so you grab for his gun. Thats the kind of thinking that gets “innocent” “unarmed” blacks get killed or in jail.

[hal ogen]

Guilt!

[fireman15]

After working 25 years on a fire department in a municipality known for crime problems... I came into contact with police, criminals and crime victims daily. The runners get away much if not most of the time. Obviously it has risks, but I am not sure that it is “stupid” to run from the police.

[Nowhere Man]

Drugs?

[Brooklyn Attitude]

“Obviously it has risks, but I am not sure that it is “stupid” to run from the police.”

What if you haven’t committed a crime?

[Jack Hydrazine]

“What if you haven’t committed a crime?”

Haven’t you heard of “Black and White Fever”?

[FreeAtlanta]

Ex-Lax?

[Brown Deer]

What Makes Black Men Run From the Police?

Guilt? What makes white men from the police? I've seen it many times on "Cops".

So, why include a color?

[dfwgator]

"And now for my next impression....Jesse Owens."