I've always wondered whether cars that prominently displayed those "100 stickers" that show they donate money to whatever the policeman's charity is got special treatment from cops. Why else would you put like 5 of those, one on top of the other, on the back window of your car?
I remember about 3 years ago me and three of my friends were headed to Burger King around 9:00 PM at night. We went up a street where mostly white, high school kids cruise till late at night when a group of these kids pull up in two trucks and start dropping n-bombs on me and my friends. Needless to say we were furiated by tried to ignore them until some of these kids jump out their trucks and with sticks, bats, garden tools, etc. proceed to hit my friends car so we, being out numbered drove off and parked in a semi-crowded area and these trucks follow us and park about 100 feet away and about 6-7 more vehicles pull up and a larger group jumps out with various weapons and it's still just me and my other friends. They were waiving us on but we didn't proceed and there were plenty of bystanders who saw this event. They eventually left and so did we but as soon as we left a police car rolls up right behind us. We make our left-hand turn and then about 25 feet later BAM the lights come on. We pull over and a policeman jumps out his car with his gun pulled telling all of us to put our hands up. Then 4 more city pig cars pull up as well as one sheriffs car and all occupants of these vehicles jump out with guns pointed and yelling the same thing as the first one. We had to put our hands up, walk backwards, get on our knees, get searched, and were put in the back of patrol cars. An officer kindly reminded us that we "almost got our heads blown off because of one of us didn't have our hands up right" we supposed to have them crossed and behind our heads he just had them up and behind his head. The pigs then proceeded to search my friends car and found nothing but a box cutter, which my friend uses at his job (packager). They then let us go but 5 minutes later we were pulled over again so I guess they could double check our IDs and find nothing again. Needless to say, I don't like the police around here and not just because of that one incident, there have been many involving me and some of my friends.
I think I heard that statistically they are actually ticketed more, but it's probably just an urban myth.
Lil Pun, that is horrible. It sounds like 1950 in Mississippi to me. Ugh. Was that in Houston? Pasadena perhaps? I used to be in all these basketball summer leagues, and once I was driving two friends to a game (they are both black, and I am white) in SEst Houston. When I drove through Pasadena, both of these guys got *way* down in their seats, basically hiding from the windows. I laughed at first and thought they were both just goofing around. But one friend said "shut up, (B-Bob). Think they wouldn't beat the **** out of you too with us in here?" Or something like that. I don't know what's more sad: the need to hide, or the fact that I was so clueless about it (and still 'am I guess). Another story: about the only time in my lily-white life that I've been pulled over for no reason was when I was wearing fake dreadlocks in Oregon one day. (Long story, maybe it was offensive, but whatever). The cop came up to the window, looked at me and said "oh." I asked him what the problem was, and he said it looked like one of my tail lights was broken. It was not.
I have 3 of those stickers on one car, 2 on another. I've got tickted in both of them at least once. The worst part? Getting a rolling through a stop sign ticket at 3 AM, when no one else is around, by a white cop in a small town.
B-Bob, it wasn't in the Houston area. It was in my hometown of Jonesboro, Arkansas: pop. 60,000. I don't really think it matters the location, that should've never happened and I'm sure you all agree. The reason the pigs gave us for the search was because one of the guys in the truck called and said one of us pulled out a gun. Like I said though, this is not the only incident that has caused my disliking of police officers.
Wow. I seriously have to ask... does Pasadena really have this bad of a reputation? I grew up in Pasadena, and granted, while the population was mostly white and hispanic, I don't think I've ever even heard of this kind of behavior outside of gang-related activity. And in my opinion, if you're part of a gang, you get what you ask for. I guess I'm from the nicer part of town, and yes I am white, but wow... that is just awful... Sounds like those idiots called the cops to me...
I guess you never heard that joke: Why did Houston police stop wearing ties? So the [latinos*] in Pasadena would not have anything to grab onto when the cop was trying to drown the confession out of them in the bayou. *Insert "not-so-racist according to some posters" slur for hispanics here.
Racism is one of the primary reasons why I prefer living in Canada. Not that it's unheard of here, but it's not even close to what I saw ehen I lived in the States. Not even in the same stratosphere. Not trying to advertise or recruit, just voicing my experience. People, especially minorities who have been to Canada will probably tell you the same thing. Even here, though, the cops would rate out as above the Canadian norm when it comes to racism. I have never understood racism. I wasn't even aware it existed till I was almost in my teens. It was just never an issue fior me growing up. God, just thinking about the idiocy behind it, and the fact that it's certain to be passed on, in general, from generation to generation makes me ill.
Darkhorse, that was about 20 years ago, and I was surprised then. I didn't intend to defame Pasadena by relating that story, but it's a true story. Macbeth, what % African Canadian and hispanic population does Canada boast actually? The stereotype is that you don't have racism so much because everyone's white (I know that's not true). But speaking of racism in Canada, how about the issue with Quebec and the French-speaking folks. If it's not racism, it's definitely ethnic tension. Lil-pun, I agree it doesn't matter where it happened. Sorry I had to ask.
The Metro Cop that went nuts on a Houston cabbie: http://www.khou.com/news/local/houstonmetro/stories/khou040210_ds_CabbieAbuse.acad47b.html
According to the CIA Factbook, Canada looks like this (as of 1998): British Isles origin 28% French origin 23% Other European 15% Amerindian 2% Other, mostly Asian, African, Arab 6% Mixed background 26% Compared to the US' profile: White 77.1% Black 12.9% Asian 4.2% Amerindian and Alaska native 1.5% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.3% Other 4% (Hispanic is not considered a race in these statistics and is probably folded mostly into white).
You need to translate this from apples and oranges to apples and apples. Here, let me do it for you: Canada: White: 94% Everything else: 6% US: White 77.1% Black 12.9% Asian 4.2% Amerindian and Alaska native 1.5% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.3% Other 4%
A) I wasn't just talking about African/Hispanic origin races, but in general that stereotype ( all no = no racism) couldn't be further from the truth. Toronto is pretty renowned for it's multiculteralism. And BC has either passed or will soon pass the point where more residents were born in another country than in Canada. Toronto's racial diversity ( source, City of Toronto official web page) Toronto, with a population of 2.48 million people ( 5 million in the GTA - Greater Toronto Area ) is heralded as one of the most multicultural cities in the world and is ranked as the safest large metropolitan area in North America by Places Rated Almanac. Over 100 languages and dialects are spoken here, and over one third of Toronto residents speak a language other than English at home. 43 per cent of Toronto's population (1,051,125 people) reported themselves as being part of a visible minority, up from 37 per cent (882,330) in 1996. the top four visible minority groups in Toronto were: Chinese at 259,710 or 10.6 per cent of our population South Asian at 253,920 or 10.3 per cent Black at 204,075 or 8.3 per cent Filipino at 86,460 or 3.5 per cent 49 per cent of Toronto's population was born outside of Canada, up from 48 per cent in 1996 new immigrants to Toronto since 1991 number 516,635, representing 21 per cent of our population. fully one in five Toronto residents arrived in this country during the 1990s one in four children between 5 and 16 in the City of Toronto are new immigrants having arrived between 1991 and 2001 while the City of Toronto had 48.7 per cent of the GTA's population in 2001, we were home to: 57.8 per cent of all GTA immigrants (1,214,625) 64.4 per cent of all new immigrants that arrived in the GTA during the 1990s (516,635) 60.4 per cent of all GTA residents identified as belonging to a visible minority (1,051,125) Toronto has 79 ethnic publications Aboriginal Peoples Toronto's reported Aboriginal population is 11,370, up from the 9,895 reported in 1996. Visible Minorities: across Canada there has been a three-fold increase since 1981 in people who identify themselves as visible minorities - up from 1.1 million in 1981 to almost 4 million in 2001. "Visible minority" is defined by Statistics Canada as "persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". in 2001 three-quarters of immigrants who came to Canada during the 1990s were members of visible minority groups. Ethnic Origin Regardless of where people were born, or when they came to Canada, everyone reports on their ethnic background or heritage. Respondents are permitted to report more than one ethnic origin if appropriate and this is happening more frequently. People more likely to report multiple origins include those from European backgrounds whose ancestors have lived in Canada for several generations. In general, groups with a more recent history in Canada were more likely to report single responses. Looking only at single ethnic origins, the most prevalent backgrounds in the City of Toronto other than the British Isles are: Chinese at 242,920 - a 16 per cent increase over 1996 Italian at 138,715 - a decline of 13 per cent East Indian at 133,670 - a 25 per cent increase Filipino at 76,405 - a 31 per cent increase Portuguese at 75,800 - a 5 per cent decline B) As for the French question, I agree that there is some cultural tension within Quebec, and to a degree other areas, but it doesn't fall along the same lines as racism, although there are similarities.
How do you figure that? Consider that 26% which constitutes mixed. You are assuming that all 26% would be listed as white in the States which is counter-factual. Most 'mixed' races are not listed as white, but according to whatever the visible minority that constitutes their non-white heritgage. You also somehow included natives as white, which will come as a surprise to them. Even if you consider all Europeans/French/Brits, etc. white, which precludes the huge amount of people of visible minorities born in each of these places, it still breaks down to at most 68% white, 32% everything else. Pro-rate the correlative immigration percentage from, say, the Uk which constitutes visible minorities ( about 35%) and you are looking at way less.
You need to register for that link. Is that cop black or hispanic? Is that the point you are trying to make?
Be as circumlocutory as you want, MacBeth. I've been all over Canada, from Vancouver Island to Old Quebec....and lots of places in between. Canada is awfully whitebread compared to most of the states. Just ask Steve Francis.
