I want to speak less about Mayor Bloomberg and more about the program he misused and the people it impacted.
People often refer to #stopandfrisk as if it were simply a misguided police tactic. I believe they envision it as an unpleasant but brief encounter with the police.
People often refer to #stopandfrisk as if it were simply a misguided police tactic. I believe they envision it as an unpleasant but brief encounter with the police.
Even the name “stop and frisk” sounds like it could be a children’s game like hide and seek. I want to dispel that.
I grew up in Brooklyn, NY. I was never stopped and frisked in my neighborhood but I’ve seen it done.
I grew up in Brooklyn, NY. I was never stopped and frisked in my neighborhood but I’ve seen it done.
The times that I witnessed it, multiple police cars would pull up, grab as many Black men as they could, and slam them against the wall. They would shout “shut the fuck up,” “get against the wall,” and other expletives. They would not ask questions.
They would search your pockets, push you around, and demean you the entire time. When they finished, they would threaten to be back and that they better not see you when they came back. This was said to actual residents of the neighborhood.
Imagine the affect that has on you in your own neighborhood knowing you can be stopped at any time for any reason by people empowered to use violence against you without repercussions. Imagine the terror and resentment that builds.
The interesting thing is I never witnessed them make an arrest because they never actually found anything. I believe that was because it wasn’t about finding anything. They knew these weren’t criminals. I would later discover that my anecdotal experiences would bear out in data.
Of the people stopped and frisked in NYC, 90 percent of them had nothing illegal on them and had committed no crime. Yet, the cops would come back and do this repeatedly.
A mayor, regardless of whether he was a billionaire, would never be viewed as a viable candidate for higher office if his legacy was setting a police force on young, innocent, White men to perform unconstitutional searches. But America forgives the abuse of Black children.
If you’re voting for Bloomberg because you think he’s the alternative to a tyrant, really consider what tyranny is. Because there are Black people in New York who have surely tasted it
