It's sad but true that so many people in America have no real experience outside of their culture. For a family in Houston, this manifested itself as policy harassment when their house was broken into. When I was a kid, I pretty much bought the "cops are your friends" line. And even when I was a young adult, I more or less trusted the police, even though I was dimly aware that there were bad apples out there.
But the sad truth is, the vast majority of people in general are plain 'ole afraid of people different than them. And when you put people in a position of power, that fear needs to be confronted and addressed on an institutional level. Unfortunately, with sheriffs' offices having a hard time affording bullet resistant vests, I don't foresee a jump in sensitivity training anytime soon.
Link via Clint.
Oh wow...thanks for the hat tip :)
It is indeed sad. And sadder too that there generally aren't enough people around to watch these issues and care enough for much to happen other than outrage until we go to the polls every 4 years... Hopefully somebody will do something, but in the end that person will probably be a paid lawyer. [[[ Is that the best we can hope for? Being protected by *lawyers*? ;) ]]]