Modern policing in the united states stems directly from slave patrols. Period. Slave patrols=catch runaway slaves, regulate movements of slaves, enforce slave codes guard against revolts and catch runaway slaves. The polarity of opinions around the indictment decision reinforces what many already know. One of the HUGEST most PROBLEMATIC flaws with American education is that we do not educate on the TRUE history of our country. True meaning inclusive. This is MUCH bigger than individual cops. It has to do with our countries inability to recognize and address our past. The schism in perspectives is about much more than individual experiences with officers/racism/prejudice today etc. That means that many who do not have ancestral ties or a vested interest in learning about the history of marginalized racial groups are interpreting and basing opinions on a completely separate set of facts. Its very hard to have an opinion on a chapter book if you only read chapters 6-7. Especially if you choose to skip the parts that are boring or unpleasant to read. But honestly, its not even that were reading different chapters- were quite literally reading different books. There is some degree of personal responsibility but we must also acknowledge there are flaws in systems that have been around far longer than any of us. The responsibility is to change. Anyway, for those interested an interesting article on the origin of policing in the US. I tried to find one that seemed neutral and NOT in response to current events. The growth in population also created an increase in social disorder and unrest. The sources of social tension varied across different regions of Colonial America; however, the intro- duction of new racial and ethnic groups was identified as a common source of discord.27 Racial and ethnic conflict was a problem across Colonial America, including both the northern and southern regions of the country.28 Since the watch groups could no longer cope with this change in the social climate, more formal- ized means of policing began to take shape. Most of the historical literature describing the early develop- ment of policing in Colonial America focuses specifically on the northern regions of the country while neglecting events that took place in the southern region—specifically, the creation of slave patrols in the South. Source: sagepub/upm-data/50819_ch_1.pdf
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 05:19:05 +0000