One personal experience that informs the way in which I understand cases of police violence against people of color: as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mozambique, I went through 10 weeks of in-country training before being sent to my site where I would live and work for the next two years. Though this training period focuses largely on language skills and technical skills, there are occasional cross-cultural trainings that seek to prepare Volunteers for some of the values and customs in Mozambican culture that may differ from those in American culture. Something that often came up (informally) in these sessions was that we, as (mostly white) Americans, had to be cautious about engaging in romantic relationships with Mozambicans because they were often only interested in our money, the prestige of being with an American, or the possibility of gaining US citizenship through marriage. In fact, this warning was repeated frequently enough that it became engrained in my mind. For my first year in Mozambique, I barely spoke to a woman under the age of 30. No one ever told me Mozambican women were bad. They didnt have to. The informal chats, my own preexisting stereotypes, and discerning observation, caused me to develop a prejudice. I doubt that very many police officers receive training that explicitly instructs them to go out and shoot people of color without just cause. The thing is, the trainings dont have to have content that is explicitly racist in order to create prejudiced officers. Ride alongs with prejudiced officers, case studies that disproportionately feature people of color, the idea that some minor offenses (such as drug usage) constitute high criminal activity are all training components that can develop a prejudice in officers against people of color. The truth is that prejudiced police officers are more likely to fire their guns, and to fire them quicker, when the target is Black than when the target is white (motherjones/politics/2014/11/science-of-racism-prejudice). This is why race is relevant in ANY case involving a police officer, a person of color, and an officers discharged weapon. My experience in Mozambique helps me understand how a prejudice can grow as the result of implicit pressures and how that prejudice can adversely affect decision-making. I would be interested to hear from other people about how a personal experience has informed your reactions to and understanding of police violence involving people of color. Please share, if you feel comfortable doing so.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 07:50:16 +0000
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