A request for rational thought in emotional times.

Much has been publicized about the way police officers differentially treat particular ethnic or other easily identifiable groups.  It is almost invariably implied that the differential treatment observed arises solely from the racial or religious (or other) biases of the police.  If group A is treated differently than group B, it is implied specifically that this is because of the attitudes of the police, not real differences between the groups.

This implication ignores the possibility that group A may behave differently than group B.  What if there is a higher rate of crime in group A than there is in group B?  Other factors may also make the groups actually different in their public or private behavior.  The police may of course be biased, and that can be a terrible thing.  The police may also be responding to legitimate and measurable differences between groups. 

In fact, of course, the factors of bias and behavioral differences may play into each other, each making the other factor more embedded and extreme.  We should also consider the important functions of “prejudice”, meaning, of course, to pre-judge a situation on a basis of incomplete data, as in to judge an individual solely on the basis of some group to which he belongs.  Nature seems to have intended prejudice as an emergency default judgment in a rapidly unfolding situation in which the data are not yet clear.  For instance, when a homeless stranger knocks on my door wanting to spend the night, my prejudices kick in instantly, based on the generalities I have in my head about homeless people.  Fair?  Of course not.  Pro-survival? Maybe so!  Certainly my first response is skeptical/distrustful, at least until I have thought through several scenarios.

Back to my original topic.  Police in particular frequently respond to a ongoing violent situation with little or no time to step back and rationally assess it.  Such situations invite, even demand, pre-judgment.  It is easy to observe that in video recordings of confrontations between police and groups of people that both sides display prejudice and over-generalization in their attitudes and behaviors, and this tends to intensify the irrational violence already beginning in the situation. In such situations, immediate distrust is not an irrational response, but it should not be the only factor.

Many questions need to be asked that are not being asked.  Instead we are encouraged to “take sides” without ourselves knowing all the facts.  Our responses are becoming more and more extreme and emotionally-driven.  Nobody asks if group A (or B) is actually more violent than the other, or asks if there are more crimes committed by group A than group B.  The society in which we live needs to look harder at how specific groups are treated.  If there is more violence or crime in group A than B, why is that?  We need to look at the systemic illness, not just the symptoms.  We need to address the illness itself, our systemic rationalization for the unfair treatment of various groups. 

Out of systemic unfairness comes rage against the system.  Systems don’t like to change.  We don’t like to change. Perhaps it takes rage to get us to pay attention, but rageful decisions are invariably exaggerated and extreme.  We need to think, not just feel, and think clearly and publicly about what we need to do differently.  Talk is cheap.  Change is hard, painful and anxiety-producing.  For change to last, it has to be studied and carefully planned. Immediate emergent responses are not a basis for real, stable solutions. We need to slow down and make our changes work.

More to follow.