His town has what, 3500 people stretched over maybe 25 sq miles with a population that's 98% white that's semi-rural and maybe 17% of the population at or below the poverty line? I'm sure he's dandy fellow, but I'm not really that impressed considering what he's actually popular for.
You're putting the burden on a community that didn't really have a choice in the matter. Blaming something as nebulous as "culture" ignores the history that created it and how racists try to getaway with saying they're not racist because it's not black people, but black "culture" that's bad, as if they're really making that big of a distinction beyond there being "some good ones."
Poor, especially poor black communities, have been targets of state sanctioned brutality since their inception. Is it really that much of a surprise that the police aren't really seen as people they can trust when there hasn't been a concerted effort to bridge that gap? Sure, we've made some progress, but coming from the outright penalty-free murder of black people by whites isn't exactly a high bar to meet. If you look at the history of black communities, you'll see that the pattern of harassment hasn't really changed at all. The only things that have changed are the reasons because "those people" are just "prone to more crime." That sentiment hasn't changed much either; only the terms used to describe them.
And you expect economically depressed neighborhoods to have the funding, expertise, and organization to to do the work of the city, town, and/or state? Hell, or even the feds? Maybe there'd be money to spend on improving neighborhoods and police relations if the feds weren't busy spending money on milsurp and handing them over to places that don't really need them like Brimfield, Ohio. Even non-profit community organizations have funding and expertise that come from outside of their impact areas.
You don't have to host carnivals or street fairs to build a good relationship with people. It can start small by reaching out and partnering community organizations that work with youth and having dialogue events. You can have beat cops that are familiar with the neighborhood and it's residents like the mailman/woman. Hell, you can even use your power as an institution and union to ease certain laws. There's TONS of shit that cops can do as an institution.
One thing you need to get out of your head is that poor neighborhoods are poor because of "culture" or violent music or whatever attributes you assign to them; they're poor by design. Shitty music and contempt for authority has existed since before civilization. Plato has a quote about it and teens in the 50's didn't start
ing eachother because Elvis shook his hips anymore than kids deciding to join gangs or be cop killers because of NWA.I always found it hilarious that some people, I don't include you in that group yet, always say that instead of looking to be a rapper or a baller, those kids should be looking to be doctors and businessmen instead. As if poor nutrition, under-resourced schools, under-resourced neighborhoods, and generational poverty doesn't already put a kid way behind a kid with good nutrition, great schools, and a upper middle class neighborhood with parents with degrees. Entertainment is actually one of the very few areas where they have a shot at making it out of the economic desert through legit means. In a community with a lack of opportunities, should anyone be surprised that a lot of people turn to less reputable means for survival?
Telling a community to pull themselves up through their own bootstraps by showing them what boots look like when they don't even have the materials isn't helpful or practical.
There's never going to be a perfect victim that somehow did absolutely nothing wrong ever in their lives for the cop to kill, maim, or beat them because a cop somehow feared bodily harm or mistook his gun for a taser. It isn't just about each individual incident, but how it demonstrates a pattern when it comes to black folks. It's the proverbial straw that broke the camels back.
It's also taken decades for these things to even become mainstream discussion and it's taken all of these killings to finally get something done. There's still a lot of resistance from the law enforcement community too. Glad we agree though? I can't wait until the numbers come out in a few years.
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