In Connection With The Article Below

So now hopefully you've read the article below and unfortunately many of you reading it are thinking I'm cowering the the black community, not true. Let me explain.

A few years ago my Son and several of his friends rented a motor home to take to Florida for vacation. After a week of having a blast they were heading back to Maryland, all of them in shorts and tee-shirts because when they left Florida and attempted to drive straight through they were pulled over by the State Police in Virginia.

Once pulled over for a tag light that for some reason was fully lit up when they were ALL asked to exit the vehicle and now stand outside while several officers and eventually a K9 could search the vehicle because they were absolutely sure that these white kids HAD to have drugs inside.

On this freezing cold evening the young men asked if they could get jackets or anything to keep warm, the police refused. Of course the dog alerted, hence the police completely tearing apart the entire interior of this rented RV. Ultimately they found NOTHING. 

PROFILING isn't just on blacks. It's on RENTAL vehicles, (just ask Sheriff Mike Lewis) and it's on ALL young men these days. The job of a Police Officer is not an easy or safe one but all too often I've spoken in depth with Officers, veteran and brand new and they talk about the training they get in the Academy, only to get on the job and each department truly throws away that training and customizes these new cops to how each department wants them to behave. 

When it comes to Interstate 95, well, Mike Lewis trains those cops and special task forces and in my humble opinion PROFILING. Now he and others can deny that but that is how they nail all the drug runners traveling from Florida to New York. In my Son's case, they were flat out wrong and let me add, you never heard this story in the mainstream media, nor will you ever. It happens probably every day or very close to it. And more importantly to men of color!

There needs to be a change in attitudes specifically with Police. There's a reason PROFILING was outlawed. When a cop pulls you over, gets your ID and pulls you up on their computer they know EVERYTHING from your past and address you accordingly. Funny, we don't know the cops past. How many complaints they've had against them. Oh, that would be us profiling them, hmmmmm! We have to hire a lawyer and get their records.  And doesn't the vast majority of this have to do with the money trail?  Tickets, lawyers, court cost, seized property, probation fees, drug tests, interlock systems, etc.?  Do we go after rapes with this kind of vengeance? Nope, no real monetary reward there, is there? 

Nevertheless, these are very difficult times but don't think for a second it doesn't go both ways. We as a country need to figure out who as a specific leader can retrain these Officers on a national level and demand that each department that hires them run their departments according to a national guideline. If you think that's happening you'd be sadly mistaken. 

Finally, there's a damn good reason why we're watching on television YOUNG WHITE men and women supporting these protests and yes even rioting. Open your ears to the life they are living in right here and now and only then will any of us understand their frustrations.