WTF kind of training are these cops getting that they shoot people when they are trying to follow instructions and reach for their ID? Why do tazers and handcuffs and tackling come before talking? How do we begin to fix this?
Unfortunately that is precisely the training they receive. There's a "psychologist" going around teaching them to do exactly that [link] They should use deadly force if they feel threatened, and unfortunately people of color seem significantly more threatening and less innocent to our whole society. This plays out in preschoolers getting suspended for acting like children and in adults getting killed for complying with police orders. Look at how the media portray POC who have been killed by police... the "s/he was no angel" storyline.
Ugh, news.
Yesterday I got an email message for someone with my same name from her mother. I replied that she had the wrong person, and that her (highly personal) email hadn't reached her daughter as intended. This morning, the mother wrote me back that she absolutely had the correct address and I should stop this right now because she was my mother. Nope.
This morning, the mother wrote me back that she absolutely had the correct address and I should stop this right now because she was my mother.
Ahahahahaha! I can see my mom doing that, because she would totally believe that kind of response would actually be me trying to be a smartass.
Husband just got a call for a job not only in this area, but in the specific suburb we live in. I told him that if he ends up getting a job 10 minutes away, after all of this, I might snap.
Man, my reply would get Not!Sparky the cold shoulder at family gatherings for years to come.
Speaking of privilege, my non-white, non-citizen coworker said to me the other day, "Aren't you always nervous to talk to immigration?" Yeah, no.
This morning, the mother wrote me back that she absolutely had the correct address and I should stop this right now because she was my mother. Nope.
Ha! Classic mother.
Husband just got a call for a job not only in this area, but in the specific suburb we live in. I told him that if he ends up getting a job 10 minutes away, after all of this, I might snap.
But at least you wouldn't have to move?
But at least you wouldn't have to move?
But then Dana wouldn't be able to quit working for The Man.
But at least you wouldn't have to move?
I know. But it's a bit like the universe going "Ha-ha, all that stuff you were freaked out about? Never mind! Psych!"
But then Dana wouldn't be able to quit working for The Man.
But if he has benefits again, I could seriously job-search.
I told her my mother would beg to differ, and told her to please check for typos in her address line. I left off the part where she now goes to spam.
I hope the job works out, Dana. I could live with the universe's bad joke if it meant you could job-search again!
Sparky that's kind of hilarious!
Jesse, how often do you have to talk to immigration? I mean, also sad that of course you aren't as nervous but...does she mean like, at the airport? That's the only time I can think of where I'd even interact with them!
