# What exactly do cops have to fear from black males? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 9, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819 "2014-10-09T02:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/1 "2014-10-09T02:28:51Z")
Recent media stories make it look as like when cops roll up on a black male they are extra twitchy and unholster their guns and take the safety off. Just WTF do they think is going to happen? They act like they have rolled up and become informed the suspect has mutant powers or something. I mean is there any empirical evidence that a traffic stop or suspect interaction with an African american(hate that term) male is more likely to turn violent or bad? I’m not getting it, I mean I get racism I just don’t understand the fear and paranoia. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/2 "2014-10-09T02:40:48Z")
It’s a hard question - basically what you’re asking is what causes racism, which eventually leads back to what causes hatred of the “other.” In this case, the “other” is someone with a darker skin pigment than yourself, but it applies to anything - race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc, etc. It starts with stereotypes. Black people are like _this,_ whites are like _that_; Jews are like _this,_ while Christians are _that._ You stick big labels over massive groups of people, and that dehumanizes them. They all start to seem the same; not literally speaking, but the actions of one person from whatever group represents the actions of them all. After a while, people from the group you favor are easier to sympathize with, easier to see as genuine people with feelings and emotions. You give them the benefit of the doubt, cut them slack you don’t cut for the “other.” In this case, it’s especially pronounced because black males, for whatever stupid, ancient reason, are stereotyped as violent and unstable. This might be being too kind to the cops in question, but I don’t think most of their thought processes are “hey, that guy’s black, he’s probably a criminal.” It’s an unconscious bias, a little alarm in the back of their heads that make them go for their guns. Conscious or not, it’s still inexcusable. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/3 "2014-10-09T02:43:03Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I’m not getting it, I mean I get racism I just don’t understand the fear and paranoia. Racism creates fear and paranoia. My dad tolerates animals (cats, dogs, etc.) but he is not 100% comfortable around them because, you see, they are _animals_. And animals aren’t like people. Animals are liable to be calm one minute but then sinking their teeth in your neck the next minute. Animals are unpredictable, mindless, impulsive, and can easily hurt you. When cats approach my father, he gets tense and nervous. When they touch him he freaks out. Any fast movement on their part and he reacts fearfully. Intellectually, he knows cats are harmless because he’s surrounded by mom’s and they pay him no mind. But the reptillian part of his brain can’t relax around them because it’s programmed to see them as threats. Cops react to black men the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/4 "2014-10-09T02:55:11Z")
It’s not just cops. Our society strongly associates black men with violent crime, and unfortunately the police and legal systems play into that: black people are more likely than white people to be arrested for crimes even if blacks and whites commit them at similar rates, and they get sentenced more often and more harshly. There’s evidence that judgment against black people begins far earlier than that, too, as they are more likely to be suspended from school, too. Crazy as it sounds, it’s a phenomenon people have started calling the preschool to prison pipeline. ([You can read details and cites for several of those points here.](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/08/broken_windows_policing_deaths_racism_in_chokeholds_arrests_and_convictions.html) [And here.](http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/08/racial_bias_in_criminal_justice_whites_don_t_want_to_reform_laws_that_harm.html)) And it goes without saying that cops often have to deal with criminals and find themselves in dangerous or potentially dangerous situations. So the answer is that it doesn’t have a lot to do with police. It doesn’t mean every cop or even most cops are racist and it doesn’t mean all of these things are intentional. In fact part of the problem is that a lot of these biases can’t be conscious. It’s about society in general, and while individual incidents might not mean much, it’s easy to see that there’s a pattern to these kinds of things. So when there are systemic problems with policing, in the broader scheme that reflects the society the police are a part of. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/5 "2014-10-09T14:53:18Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I mean is there any empirical evidence that a traffic stop or suspect interaction with an African american(hate that term) male is more likely to turn violent or bad? Since when has empirical evidence had any effect on peoples’ behavior at all, for either good or bad? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/6 "2014-10-09T15:20:07Z")
Instances when cops interact with black people and nothing happens tend not to make the news. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/7 "2014-10-09T15:22:42Z")
[This?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGQ-ISsDm8M)😃 ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/8 "2014-10-09T22:56:36Z")
It’s no secret that some black males are aficionados of “thug” culture, which is anti-police, pro-gang, and pro-gun. This doesn’t mean there aren’t other ethnic groups that also have anti-police leanings, but I can see why cops might be wary… ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/9 "2014-10-09T23:22:49Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > It’s no secret that some black males are aficionados of “thug” culture, which is anti-police, pro-gang, and pro-gun. This doesn’t mean there aren’t other ethnic groups that also have anti-police leanings, but I can see why cops might be wary… Not that I disagree that glamorization of thug life isn’t helping matters at all. But cops have been shooting up black people for way longer than thuggery has been hip. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/10 "2014-10-09T23:33:00Z")
The OP might gain insight from a series of ride-alongs with police officers during shifts in high-crime areas. Sharing stereotypes with message board posters is not likely to be as fruitful. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/11 "2014-10-10T00:10:49Z")
[Um…something like this?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGmbUXqHPk4&list=RDGGmbUXqHPk4#t=40) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/12 "2014-10-10T03:04:11Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > In this case, it’s especially pronounced because black males, for whatever stupid, ancient reason, are stereotyped as violent and unstable. This might be being too kind to the cops in question, but I don’t think most of their thought processes are “hey, that guy’s black, he’s probably a criminal.” It’s an unconscious bias, a little alarm in the back of their heads that make them go for their guns. Conscious or not, it’s still inexcusable. > [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > But the reptillian part of his brain can’t relax around them because it’s programmed to see them as threats. > > Cops react to black men the same way. FWIW, this agrees with Leonard Pitts’s perspective in his recent opinion column, [“Video provides evidence of our racial divide.”](http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article2502069.html) ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/13 "2014-10-10T15:51:32Z")
Jesse Jackson: “There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery. Then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved… After all we have been through. Just to think we can’t walk down our own streets, how humiliating” > **[Jesse Jackson - Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jesse_Jackson)** ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/14 "2014-10-10T17:20:13Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The OP might gain insight from a series of ride-alongs with police officers during shifts in high-crime areas. Would they let the average fellow do that? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/15 "2014-10-10T17:59:04Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > But the reptillian part of his brain can’t relax around them because it’s programmed to see them as threats. > > Cops react to black men the same way. You know, I like to judge the trigger happy cops as much as anyone else, but then I don’t have strong aversions to specific types of people so I didn’t understand. But in light of this comment, if we had to share our lives with spiders I’d be the grand daddy dragon of the KKK-style organization dedicated to tormenting and eliminating the little bastards. I would certainly rather kill one than deal with interacting with it, and that is in fact how I conduct myself today. Still. I can’t imagine feeling a similar revulsion for a person. Not even my ex. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/16 "2014-10-10T18:31:57Z")
I think [Cecil’s last column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3180/what-s-the-racial-breakdown-of-people-killed-by-cops) should answer that. > [@](#): > > According to a Justice Department study, 47 percent of murder victims between 1980 and 2008 were black, and 93 percent of black victims were killed by other blacks. Nobody can seriously claim those numbers were cooked. > … > Look again at the trend. In 1976, black people accounted for 52 percent of murder arrests, 47 percent of murder victims, and 52 percent of JHBLEOs. In 2012, black people accounted for 49 percent of murder arrests, 49 percent of murder victims, but just 30 percent of those killed by cops. So black men are about four times as likely to be murderers as the general population. Shouldn’t this be a valid concern to a police officer? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/17 "2014-10-10T18:45:52Z")
> [@grude](#): > > and unholster their guns and take the safety off. Nitpik: I don’t know any cop who carries their sidearm with a manual safety engaged. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/18 "2014-10-10T18:48:01Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Nitpik: I don’t know any cop who carries their sidearm with a manual safety engaged. Do they have grip safeties, like the 1914A? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/19 "2014-10-10T18:53:21Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > So black men are about four times as likely to be murderers as the general population. Shouldn’t this be a valid concern to a police officer? No, they’re about four times as likely to be _arrested_ for murder. That’s a significant difference. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819/20 "2014-10-10T19:21:46Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > No, they’re about four times as likely to be _arrested_ for murder. That’s a significant difference. White guys aren’t arrested for murder, or the “usual suspects” are Black guys? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-do-cops-have-to-fear-from-black-males/700819.md?page=2)