I have watched a lot of videos from Peter Santenello [1] on YouTube. He takes a somewhat deep dive into a lot of communities that the traditional media typically fails to highlight or fails to do it properly. He has quite a few videos where he speaks with people in the "hood" or the "projects" in various places across America.
In many of these videos he asks some of the people in these communities what they think about police. The response is often something along the lines of there being a "F the police" mentality, but at the same time they respect the good ones and still need their presence. So even the people living in the communities that are apparently most impacted by the police still are able to say positive things about them. Especially when they talk to any of the "elders" of these communities, they always preach the importance of the police in keeping their communities safe.
So it begs the question, why do so many white people on the left constantly speak for these black communities? These communities never seem to actually say they want less policing in them. Yet it's something you hear all the time from the traditional media and from activist groups.
Personally I am getting pretty sick of the white saviour complexes it seems like a lot of activist people have. They don't live in these communities and maybe have talked to a couple people, but that is enough for them to speak on behalf of a whole community. It's enough for them to go out in protest and riots on their "behalf". And the sad thing is that when black people in these communities speak out about this, they are usually attacked by the activist's and berated. I've seen seem people yelling racist slurs at black people at protests who oppose what is being protested. It's insane.
The virtue signalling is insanely present these days and is super unproductive and harmful.
> These communities never seem to actually say they want less policing in them.
They do! They've been saying it a long time, but no one paid them any attention until George Floyd's life was slowly and casually extinguished by a police officer on camera. Go ask any black male from New York in their 20s or 30s what they think about "Stop and frisk" and the sense of being violated by over policing.
Before you accuse me of having a "white saviour" complex, I'm black. Speaking of "saviour", I'm curious to know if you have experienced american policing, outside of youtube? No snark at all, this is a legitimate question.
I'm not sure 'stop and frisk' == 'policing in general'.
Sure, the actual situation matters. People will probably choose no cops over racist cops. I am not cynical enough yet to think that is the only choice available though.
OP is talking about policing in general, and I've seen other news reports(not youtube, but that doesn't make it gospel) that align with what he's saying. I'm not trying to say your opinion or experiences are wrong, but I think there is more nuance to this discussion and absolutist positions aren't very useful or accurate.
> Go ask any black male from New York in their 20s or 30s what they think about "Stop and frisk" and the sense of being violated by over policing.
I mean I just linked to a YouTube channel specifically interviewing and talking to different people from these areas you mentioned and as I already stated this is not how they feel.
It's a little weird to tell someone to ignore their lived experience and instead watch a YouTube video to learn about their own life.
I don't know Santanello, his videos, or his positions, but I don't think he'd be able to get a full picture no matter how he tried. Yes, I am sure there are black people in rough neighborhoods who do appreciate some of what the police does. But I am sure there are also many who don't. And if you ask those same folks in Santanello's videos if they're ok with stop-and-frisk, I would not expect to hear "yes".
Can you please stop replying for the parent commenters on all my comments? I'm more interested in what they have to say here rather than someone clearly biased coming in to share their opinion against me everywhere.
I mean you responded to my comment that specifically focused on the contents of a YouTube channel. It's not too surprising that I am suggesting you go watch the content my post was speaking about.
You are disagreeing with my post without even having reviewed the content my post was citing and speaking about.
The anecdotal content you cited is irrelevant because your falsifiable statement (that I quoted) is false - unless you feel like only the black people interviewed on that channel matter.
Additional facts, independent to the alleged opinions of the interviewees: NYPD's Stop and frisk was ruled unconstitutional[1] as it violated the 4th amendment.In 1999 9 out of 10 people who were stopped were completely innocent. 84% of those stopped were black or latino[1] (yet they were only 50% of the population on New York then). Both percentages slid down a little over the years, but in each subsequent year, the majority of stopped people were innocent, and black & latinos were consistently over-represented (against relative populations size).
I really have never said I agree with something like stop and frisk so I am a bit unclear where you are going with this? I have been talking about perceptions of police in these communities not their opinions on one old police program that no longer exists.
In many of these videos he asks some of the people in these communities what they think about police. The response is often something along the lines of there being a "F the police" mentality, but at the same time they respect the good ones and still need their presence. So even the people living in the communities that are apparently most impacted by the police still are able to say positive things about them. Especially when they talk to any of the "elders" of these communities, they always preach the importance of the police in keeping their communities safe.
So it begs the question, why do so many white people on the left constantly speak for these black communities? These communities never seem to actually say they want less policing in them. Yet it's something you hear all the time from the traditional media and from activist groups.
Personally I am getting pretty sick of the white saviour complexes it seems like a lot of activist people have. They don't live in these communities and maybe have talked to a couple people, but that is enough for them to speak on behalf of a whole community. It's enough for them to go out in protest and riots on their "behalf". And the sad thing is that when black people in these communities speak out about this, they are usually attacked by the activist's and berated. I've seen seem people yelling racist slurs at black people at protests who oppose what is being protested. It's insane.
The virtue signalling is insanely present these days and is super unproductive and harmful.
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/c/PeterSantenello/videos