"If anyone gives that more meaning than it deserves they have probably lived a life of privilege. Unarmed can not be assumed to mean not dangerous"
No, I don't fault this at all. I've studied martial arts for many years, and one thing I learned very quickly is that the vast majority of people have no appreciation for the realities of viol…
"If anyone gives that more meaning than it deserves they have probably lived a life of privilege. Unarmed can not be assumed to mean not dangerous"
No, I don't fault this at all. I've studied martial arts for many years, and one thing I learned very quickly is that the vast majority of people have no appreciation for the realities of violent, fight/flight situations, never mind a life or death one. Unless you've experienced how physical stress affects your mind and body first hand, you can't begin to understand what it's like. And most people haven't.
I've had many conversations with people who forget that when all is said and done, police officers are human and afraid, and under immense pressure which they're barely trained to handle. Add a suspect who is non-compliant to the mix, and the chances that something will go wrong exponentially.
That's one of the main reasons I regularly point out how inaccurate the portrayal of police shootings of black people is. If we continue to convince black people that they're in mortal danger during every police interaction (rather than the truth which is the they have a better chance of being struck by lightning than killed by a police officer if they're unarmed), we *increase* the danger that harm will come to them, because we add their fear to an already potentially volatile situation.
"If anyone gives that more meaning than it deserves they have probably lived a life of privilege. Unarmed can not be assumed to mean not dangerous"
No, I don't fault this at all. I've studied martial arts for many years, and one thing I learned very quickly is that the vast majority of people have no appreciation for the realities of violent, fight/flight situations, never mind a life or death one. Unless you've experienced how physical stress affects your mind and body first hand, you can't begin to understand what it's like. And most people haven't.
I've had many conversations with people who forget that when all is said and done, police officers are human and afraid, and under immense pressure which they're barely trained to handle. Add a suspect who is non-compliant to the mix, and the chances that something will go wrong exponentially.
That's one of the main reasons I regularly point out how inaccurate the portrayal of police shootings of black people is. If we continue to convince black people that they're in mortal danger during every police interaction (rather than the truth which is the they have a better chance of being struck by lightning than killed by a police officer if they're unarmed), we *increase* the danger that harm will come to them, because we add their fear to an already potentially volatile situation.