Discussion: Chicago Teen Writes Letter Wishing For 'Safety,' Obama Responds

So because they had some ‘intelligence’ that some ‘black street gangs’ (FYI my coworker wasn’t black, his family was of middle-eastern descent) were moving cocaine along I-40, it’s OK to stop every minority in a white mini van?

What about my friend who was afraid to make a legal trip between two cities on an interstate highway? Is he supposed to live in fear just because some other people that may or may not have a skin color similar to his own have committed a crime? Do you seriously not see a problem with that?

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http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/odds.htm
That link give the odds for lightning.

But typical of what I could find on homicides by police is this:

So we cannot accurately compare the two.
And Al Sharpton’s hair has nothing to do with anything.

If you wish to make a statement like comparing getting struck by lightning to getting shot by police it would be helpful to offer links.

Why would he be afraid? They just stopped him. They didn’t beat him up did they?

The highest estimates by investigative reporters (who have an interest in creating as much excitement as possible) are about 1,000 homicides by police each year. This includes people who rob banks and pull guns on officers.

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Dear Malik:
In a city like Chicago or any city for that matter “feeling safe” is relative. For you and others of color it is even more difficult than for most. Some suggestions that I have learned or been taught in the course of my life.
The first thing you have to accept and acknowledge is that you are a large, Black, male. If you let it, this alone will handicap you all your life no matter how successful you are in any endeavor. As a minority you will have to be twice as good and 3Xs faster than any of your co workers just to stay even with them. Only when you have accepted these facts can you start to work around them.
Learn the difference and how to be Assertive as opposed to being Aggressive. The stereotype for minority males especially Black ones is that we are loud, aggressive and profane. By being soft spoken, polite, courteous but assertive you have turned this stereotype to your advantage. You have not acted as expected and so they are off balance, the advantage goes to you.
Being polite, respectful and courteous costs you nothing. It does not mean you are a wuss, an ass kisser or a pussy just to use the terms hurled at me. It is a position of strength since only a man confident in who and what he is acts this way.
In my interactions with police and other authorities this has kept me out of trouble even when (just to be perfectly honest) I should have been. Hopefully like my son you will be smarter than me in this regard.
Good luck and God bless.

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Just yesterday three NY cops harassed a young kid dancing behind them in a dare posed by Ellen DeGeneres. They could have laughed along, or praised him or just ignored him, but instead they said

“What’s wrong with you, bro?” one of the cops could be heard saying in the video.

“What are you dancing in the street for?” another asked.

“Are you a fucking asshole?” another cop could be heard saying.

If the cops had been having a bad day, they could have busted him on some bullshit charge. That’s what inner kids grow up knowing.

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I feel bad for the kid. His letter to Santa is full of red flags.

If your child is 5’ 10", in 7th grade, and still believes in Santa Claus – not only is he not receiving proper parenting, his peers have yet to set him straight. He sounds like a sincere young man, and he deserves better from life.

Well then that would indicate that fewer people are stuck by lightening than are killed by police base on the link I provided earlier. You said earlier that there was parity between the two when the data shows around 320 (plus or minus) are hit by a bolt and 1000 are killed by police (by your data). That would be a three fold difference. If we consider those killed by lightning or by police the disparity is even higher.

He is like the 12-year-old in Ohio that the cops shot dead. They initially reported that the kid was 20-something over the radio. When I was in 7th grade, I was 5 feet tall. Malik is 5’ 10". I ended up being 5’ 10", but not until I was in college.

Of course he looks like a 12 YO. Not sure what Boner’s talking about. Early celebration I’d say as his rant is logical BUT doesn’t address the real injustice issue at hand. The answer is to address the injustice even while Malik must obviously be taught to comply with the laws. Cops must abide by them as well though, the hypocrisy is BS & it’s sad children like Malik must grow up with such hypocrisy & evil in the world from many of our own top officials paid to protect Malik. This is sicker than sick. Oh, yeah, Happy New Year Malik such as it is.

Well said as usual and agreed. Boner is a bonehead.

There seems to be no problem handling large “white” males and grown "white’ women armed to the teeth so they need to try harder with young “black” males, especially when they’re unarmed or brandishing a toy gun compared to “whites” brandishing REAL guns and real ammo. Hello.

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Well, maybe for the same reasons grown arse trained professional people called cops are always terrified of their own darn shadows & murder people because they’re effing cowards. That’s why.

lol. Nice to be off in your own little made up world. If it was any type of numbers game, whites would clearly be stopped more but the white justice system does NOT want to police on the backs of other fellow whites comprising the majority. Racism has everything to do with it, you’re clearly a deluded bigot.
There are always excuses to keep other people down and pretend it isn’t so. The colonists did it better than you, they used the Holy Book (Bible) to rationalize subjugating other people. This attempt to justify hate, abuse, discrimination is nothing new. Shame on you.
No, GENIUS (eyeroll), blacks get stopped more because the white system has decided to do their jobs on one slice of the population, and not bother the majority which they allow to get away with the bulk of the crime.
Hint: An example is let’s say your police dept decide you’re only going to police Chinatown and turn a blind eye to crime in white & “black,” & Latino neighborhoods, well don’t be shocked that almost all CRIMINALS you arrest are Asian and NOT “white” or brown people. Duh. The areas you target determine what ethnic group you arrest so then you use your own skewed results to prove Asians are committing all the crimes. That’s pure evil, then willful bigot supremacists like you try to legitimize the flawed data your own DISCRIMINATORY/RACIST policing practices created. You & your ilk are sick & a shame on humanity. You arrest whom you target. If you target Asians, you’ll arrest mostly Asians. If you target “blacks” you’ll arrest mostly “blacks.” For ex, those Asians you’re targeting for arrest are NOT magically going to turn into “white” people to appear on the FBI stats website so bigots can prove mainly “Asians” they target are committing all the crimes. DUH…
Shame on you & your bigoted attempt at racist demagoguery!!
PS This is not a police state as much as you wish it was, so cops can’t just start racially profiling people to demand ID for no reason, if NO crime has been committed just because they want to profile as many brown people as possible. Pathetic.

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IMO this person will not see a problem with this type of immoral behavior by authority, even though it violates the Constitution.

That statement & the callousness with which it was said such a lack of concern for the welfare of other Americans it sounds like a comment a sociopath would make. Just as sociopaths excused assault of others (I.e. slavery) for centuries so will sociopaths again attempt to excuse discrimination of dark skinned people as being acceptable racial profiling because it’s a numbers game???
It’s funny how these clowns always have an excuse why it’s A-OK to abuse, mistreat people because of their skin color being different than their own. Yet, these sociopaths are themselves human beings who deserve good things for themselves. Says who? Them on their word alone.
Americans have constitutional rights given to them by the Constitution, these need to stop being violated by police. We do NOT live in a police state yet & we can’t agree to have people profiled on skin color or any other arbitrary characteristic. That’s discrimination & injustice & we must not put up with it.

So again NONE of the responsibility goes on the trained professionals, who should know better, professionals we pay to protect us all? Really? Last I looked ordinary citizens weren’t paid professionals but they should expect protection from the police not the other way around so STFU on the clueless demagoguery.

No, the big difference is the professionals we pay to protect us all can choose to do their jobs, be fair, stop profiling people, quit the racist BS & do their effing jobs. In fact, it shouldn’t be up to choice, we as American citizens & employers of the police need to demand they begin doing their jobs like the professionals we’ve hired and stop brutalizing our fellow men to bolster their egos at our expense & continue the practice of creating a brown second class citizenry under the guise of high “brown” people crime which skewed/flawed/misleading data their own racist policies create. laughable.

More tone-deaf than John Boehner.

You make Mr Comments seem open minded.

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Pure insight for a world gone mad.

They not only harassed him, they committed assault against him.