There’s a plethora of topics researchers could’ve dedicated fundings to besides what CNN reported Monday afternoon (June 5). Apparently, we needed studies to tell us the minimal fact that “police speak less respectfully to black drivers.” Really? The proof is in the pudding, on the bowl, on the spoon—everywhere, for as long as we can remember.
Throughout history, law enforcement has treated black and brown communities with less respect: Mike Brown, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Terence Crutcher, Sean Bell, Rodney King, John Crawford, Korryn Gaines, Rekia Boyd, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Sandra Bland—need I say more? So, one could see how offensively comical a post on Twitter, with the caption, “Researchers analyzed 183 hours of body cam footage; Study suggests police speak less respectfully to black drivers,” could be to the melanated community at large.
Researchers analyzed 183 hours of body cam footage; Study suggests police speak less respectfully to black drivers https://t.co/W2ftensWV9 pic.twitter.com/T6Rp5Q03ur
— CNN (@CNN) June 5, 2017
CNN correspondent, Tom Foreman, opens the video by listing the reasons why he doesn’t have to worry about the police, while saving the utmost obvious one for last: “… because I’m white.”
Foreman continues to make a slew of other evident notions like the fact that the black and white communities see “the police in a fundamentally different way,” or regurgitates known heinous statistics such as the fact that blacks make up 12 percent of the general population, but accounted for nearly 30 percent of arrests in 2013. We’ve heard it all and we live it all, everyday.
But to twist the knife even further, the correspondent says “it’s very hard to say” who’s right between two prevalent opposing groups in police and race relation conversations: those who say that police brutality incidents are proof for bigotry or those who claim that the victims disobeying the police eliminates any proof of bigotry.
With such a delicate incident lacking severe levels of woke, of course, the Black Twitter Caucus speaks:
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 what else y’all got?!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/1CJdG8w8k6
— Questlove Gomez (@questlove) June 5, 2017
another study “proving” what we already knew to be true. https://t.co/m8qhYUTg8s
— deray mckesson (@deray) June 5, 2017
— Boo Radley (@BooRadleyHere) June 6, 2017
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) June 6, 2017
.@CNN pic.twitter.com/Vw4DZgXVFo
— Brandon Gates (@TheBGates) June 6, 2017
Me waiting for the All Lives Matter ppl to find a way to discredit data. Ya know, since us telling you it’s been this way wasn’t enough pic.twitter.com/1u6qGr8G9H
— Holly M. Wood (@_iCharley) June 5, 2017
Wow. Insightful. pic.twitter.com/3TgKnxAzow
— #AsahdHive (@ditavonbre) June 5, 2017
RT Researchers analyzed 183 hours of body cam footage; Study suggests police speak less respectfully to black drivers pic.twitter.com/9USLhI6pka
— 🌬s•b (@H3YLiGHTSKiN) June 5, 2017
Would’ve never known pic.twitter.com/Q2TYofNh2c
— tico (@Wallaahi) June 5, 2017
— CITC (@halfincheel) June 6, 2017
And what would Twitter discussions of race be without the narcoleptic group who are “color blind” and believe that there’s always a cause that warrants a biased-filled action.
And how do black drivers speak to police? If you treat them with respect, they treat you with respect, very simple, but some don’t get it.
— Scotch Brian (@brianhowell1) June 6, 2017
“Study shows” that black drivers speak less respectfully to police.
— Cinnamon 305 (@Cinnamon305) June 6, 2017
Did the researchers analyze how the black drivers speak to the police officers?
— Kevin Douthit (@jkevind63) June 6, 2017
Could that be because black drivers are more disrespectable to police officers?
— Jim Dunn (@jimdunnjr76) June 6, 2017
Despite how ridiculous this “newfound evidence” may seem to some, silently, black and brown communities can only hope that this outrageous waste of funding brings us a step further to resolving the systemic issues that continue to prevail.