Lets Talk Racial Profiling

[thelakelander]

http://www.youtube.com/v/VifdBFp5pnw

[Cheshire Cat]

Thanks Ennis! 

[BridgeTroll]

Agree!  Thanks Ennis.  Pretty much proves the attitudes of the past have been and are still changing.  We can hope these children keep these attitudes as they mature and pass them along...

[Steve Ducharme]

Watching my daughter grow up I've seen both sides of this.  My white daughter has a very multi-cultural group of about 6 or 7 friends (mostly girls) who have been tight since about second grade.  Sleepovers hanging out, the whole works.  It was awesome to be a part of.  Race never entered their conversations.  I had REAL hope. At least  until they reached middle school.  Now you can just feel the subtle yet very real divisions almost organically grow.  They still hang out but there is a new underlying tension that goes unspoken well beyond the "usual" pre-teen competitions for status.  I have no doubt that this is from a combination of social pressures and the proverbial "parental talks".  For my part I espouse a live and let live philosophy with just a hint of advice about being careful to not offend unintentionally.  beyond that it's all neutral.  We judge character...  period.

It sucks.  This is a fantastic group of girls that will no doubt "drift" apart to some degree from factors that have nothing to do with THEIR "inside" relationships.  It's all coming from outside pressures.  I do not know how to turn this tide.  I can only teach her how best to navigate it.  It breaks my heart.

[BridgeTroll]

Watching my daughter grow up I've seen both sides of this.  My white daughter has a very multi-cultural group of about 6 or 7 friends (mostly girls) who have been tight since about second grade.  Sleepovers hanging out, the whole works.  It was awesome to be a part of.  Race never entered their conversations.  I had REAL hope. At least  until they reached middle school.  Now you can just feel the subtle yet very real divisions almost organically grow.  They still hang out but there is a new underlying tension that goes unspoken well beyond the "usual" pre-teen competitions for status.  I have no doubt that this is from a combination of social pressures and the proverbial "parental talks".  For my part I espouse a live and let live philosophy with just a hint of advice about being careful to not offend unintentionally.  beyond that it's all neutral.  We judge character...  period.

It sucks.  This is a fantastic group of girls that will no doubt "drift" apart to some degree from factors that have nothing to do with THEIR "inside" relationships.  It's all coming from outside pressures.  I do not know how to turn this tide.  I can only teach her how best to navigate it.  It breaks my heart.

Good post Steve.  Have witnessed the same with my child.  The innocence and displayed by the children in the You Tube video is slowly displaced as they grow up and mature.  Outside influences, life experience, peer pressure, etc seem to have more influence as time marches on.  That said... this generation of children will be better equipped in the racial arena than previous generations...

[HisBuffPVB]

I profile young men primarily who come into my neighborhood who look like they do not belong. Not necessarily black, but I understand that crimes of opportunity primarily, are created by young men mostly though some young women are involved. If young people who do not live in my neighborhood come through, I do keep an eye on them. Wrongly or rightly. Are they wearing hoodies? no. Do they look different in dress than young people who live here, well, primarily their clothes are less expensive but not always. It is an attitude, kind of. But part of it is that I remember what I was like and what some of the hoods of my generation were like, so I look for that. I don't think peoples outward behavior changes too much between generations. Race is not the operative issue in this profiling as this neighborhood is diverse.