You seem to be suggesting that minorities should accept life as 2nd class citizens. If you choose to live your life that way, that's your right - but it doesn't mean anyone else should. On a side note, what urgent problem was this cop trying to prevent? And is there a logical reason to suspect a woman kissing a man on the street is a prostitute?
It is a fine balance between not dismissing your rights, but also just being courteous. Asking for ID isn't as intrusive as searching your car. I thought you had to identify but if isn't I probably still would.
Good call. I'm surprised no one else had thought to mention it. Back in the 1960's (this is for you, texxx) I got pulled over frequently because I had long hair. Prejudice comes in all shapes and sizes. Because of the color of your skin, the shape of your eyes, even how you cut or don't cut your hair (at least back then). I don't blame the chick for being pissed off. Having said that, whenever a cop would pull me over, the first thing out of my mouth was a polite, "May I help you, officer?" If he asked for my ID, I'd say, "Of course!" Let me get it for you." That's if I got the chance to say any of that, of course. One time, a cop busted my tail light with his flashlight so he'd have something to write me up for. I smiled the entire time. After him and his partner left, however, what I was yelling from inside my car was definitely rated MA.
I dislike cops and abused authority as much as the next person, but if I'm pressured, I'm going to show my I.D. to avoid a &&#$ storm. However, some people are LOOKING for a $&$& storm, so I understand that. "Pick your battles" is an extremely wise cliche.
The police's primary responsibility is not break the law of the land by being racist while performing his duty as a public servant.
Why should we be subject to that type of behavior without recourse? Actions like this girl's who refused to give them her ID is the reason why we have cameras on most police cars. The cameras were never for the police. It was to protect citizens from abuse.
You likely grew up in a less integrated neighborhood, town or school district than your parents because once college-educated women started getting a proportional amount of professional jobs and the FMLA kicked in, you had white couples with two professional incomes buying homes that were probably three or four times the value of homes attainable by blacks, so without even intending so subdivisions and neighborhoods are actually more aggressively and efficiently segregated than when they forced so by law. You also haven't yet had to write performance reviews, interview job candidates, rent out an apartment, walk with your kids on a downtown street after seeing an evening show on the weekend, or choose houses or apartments with considerable income yet. All of your personal insecurities and anxieties about safety, intelligence, responsibility and socioeconomic status will bubble to the surface at some point; depending your place on the color you'll either be asking all the other Promise Keepers about good schools or if a place is "ghetto," or refusing to answer basic biographical questions from differently-colored authority figures.
Sure - I probably would too. But I don't think it's bad if someone chooses not to. At one point, people probably said having to hit a few rows further back in the bus wasn't that intrusive either. Or just using that other water fountain over there was no big deal. Why should people be expected to be treated like 2nd class citizens *at all*, and then criticized when they choose not to accept it?
What I read said there was a 911 complaint of indecent exposure and the officer fallowed up on the complaint. She was not singled out because she was black. What I read said made it sound like the officer asked both for their IDs. He showed his and she refused.
Blacks are not the only people asked for their IDs by police; nor is the distinction codified into law and repeatedly mandated like bus segregation, for the love of God. Does a black cop asking a white person for ID create enough extra miles for a class upgrade?
I'm in the pro don't show ID camp. There was no reason for the cops to ask for an ID in this case. For her to get her ID, have them run it, etc... that's a waste of her time. Time translates into money. These cops are jabronis.
What's the problem? You hear "white girl", "white dude", "white boy" etc being uttered all the time with no consequences.
100% true. I agree with you, there shouldn't be consequences. But the people that use those terms sound tacky. You use it, you own it.
As someone who worked night shift for years and had long hair, I have had dozens of encounters with police. I am polite, but I know my rights, often better than the police. In Louisiana, I would produce ID if I was carrying it, because it is the law. Here in Texas, you can go fly a kite, Mr. Officer, sir.
SMH. Know your rights, people. Under Texas law, you do not need to show ID if the police have lawfully detained or arrested you. They must show reasonable suspicion/probable cause. From a famous TX Criminal Procedure case, The 4th Amendment protects you from this. It's appalling how people under 50 years of age (not these posters necessarily) are so eager to appease the LEOs. There were so many clients who were educated about things like medicine, banking, and managing companies, yet they were clueless when it came to the government and their rights. The exception were Baby Boomers, primarily the left-leaning ones who used to be Hippies in the 60s.
