BLACK TEENAGERS HAVE NO PLACE TO LIVE IN US

[Radicalman]

If a male black teenager lives in a gated community and leaves it for a few minutes, a wannabe cop civilian, not a real police officer,can profile him and kill him. If he lives in a major urban city he may be forced to join a gang or, when he does not, he may be mistaken for a gang member and killed. Where is a Black male teenager supposed to live?

For more on this concept you can go to Http://www.fortheleft.blogspot.com

[treestar]

1. He has the right to live anywhere

it is the wannabe cop and the gang members who are in the wrong.

[Igel]

2. There are lots around here.

And where I work (many miles between those two places).

Suburbs, sort of. Not an urban center. Although there's a bit of gang activity, it's mostly home-grown. The teens set up the structures and the parents don't stop it, are helpless to stop it, or like to say they're helpless to stop it. That, of course, works in urban areas, too. Not much of a pull towards gangs, fortunately, and the gangs from the urban center south of here don't recruit much. There's a large fairly destitute Latino population separating us from them.

Gated communities are also fine. There are gated communities that are mostly non-white. The one that TM was visiting was around 20% black.

But you really need to keep separate "profiling" and "matches the description." Profiling is pure stereotype, when there is no crime and description of a suspect. "Matches the description" is when, well, there's a description and a person matches it. The description may be so vague as to be useless: "Male." It may be very precise. Or it may just give sex, age, and race.

Descriptions can be unfair but understandable. Was told about one kid at a school who was hauled down to the principal's office. He sat there, he was yelled at, his parents were called, and the suspension paperwork was in progress. Let's say his name was Pete.Walker. One of the secretaries wandered through and said, "Hi, Pete."