I have read a lot about race as a biological or, (more accurately,
for humans) as a pseudoscientific idea. There are no human races. There is only
one living species of humans, Homo
sapiens. We don’t speak of red roses and yellow roses as races of
roses. We speak of them as
varieties. There are many varieties of
humans. Some differ in skin color, some differ in hair texture, some differ in the
shape of eyes, some differ in size, and when it comes to what we cannot see,
like blood groups, HLA types, and “genetic markers” in our DNA, we get even
more numerous varieties of humanity. The
varieties measured by skin color are different from the varieties measured by
blood group or by DNA markers. In
general darker skin color correlates with equatorial distribution. In general lighter skin correlates with
northern latitudes. We know that humans
had an out of Africa origin about 50,000 to 100,000 years ago and spread across
the world. When a baby is adopted by an American couple from Africa, from Rumania,
from Colombia, or New Guinea, that child will speak English, share American cultural
values of the state in which she or he is raised, and reflect the values and
culture of the nurturing parents. What
we call race in popular usage is really our perception of cultural or ethnic
differences.
I am skeptical that we have innate fear of other races or cultures. Young children tend to play together without
regard to racial difference unless their culture makes them biased. That
happens a lot. It leads to a fear of
those who are seen as a cultural threat. The police officer who killed an
unarmed black youth (firing 12 times) saw him as a threat, a menacing hulk,
although both were 6 feet 4 inches tall. The police officer saw himself as
cowering and frightened by this perceived threat. Even if this were true, it
tells us that there was something missing in his police training. If our police
officers are to shoot first out of fear, civilians would be at risk. Every black
youth would have to wonder: Do I respond to a police officer by lowering my
head? Do I say Yes sir at the end of
each sentence? If I lift up my arms in a
surrender pose, will he see this initial movement as a threatening movement? Will I hear him accurately? Did he say don’ t move or did he say move out
of the way? If I respond will he think I
am defiant? Those questions are not as likely
to run through the head of a white youth confronted by a white police officer.
I suggest the following. Use stun guns more frequently than
bullet guns when dealing with unarmed suspects.
There are fewer deaths from jolts of electricity to subdue a suspect.
Train police officers to deal with their panic and fears. They could try role playing and imagine how
they would respond if they were black and confronted by white police. Hire more black police. Use more black police to patrol black
neighborhoods (they would help reduce the crime rate in such
neighborhoods). Stress community
building in which police help youth with projects that better their
neighborhoods. Provide schools in black
neighborhoods that at least have the same standards and quality as most white
public schools. Provide opportunities for employment: clearing abandoned
property and constructing pocket parks, community centers, and play grounds.
Change use of drugs and minor drug dealing to misdemeanors and eliminate
mandatory sentencing. Provide more lighting in public streets.
Racism is difficult to eliminate. Changes that improve
education, safety, employment opportunities, and fair treatment are easier to
change because they are specific and not theoretical. Remember, too, that those incidents involving
the shooting of unarmed black youths happen once or more each year and ask
yourself, when was the last time you read about a white officer shooting an
unarmed white youth?
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