Here’s some advice from the editors of the Nashville Tennessean for all those whites, Asian, etc., who are rejected from admission, employment, promotion, whatever because of their race:
The issue of promotions in the Metro Police Department never seems to go away. When promotions are made based on subjective factors, critics see politics driving the process. When a system was adopted to promote based on test scores, it was designed to take guesswork out of the equation. When the department began to look past test scores to promote minority officers, defenders of the test-score system felt mistreated.
The issue has heightened in recent days. Officers with higher test scores feel the system is unfair, and they have a valid argument. But Police Chief Ronal Serpas has a broader responsibility to consider, and officers who feel passed over must recognize the need to look at the bigger picture.
Just “look at the bigger picture” (you know; the one without you in it). That’ll surely make you feel better.
If the complaint of those who were passed over because of their race is “valid,” why do the editors support the discriminatory policy?
The most important element of police work lies in whether it has a reputation of trust in the community. When people see police promotions year after year with few minorities being promoted, it puts a face on the department that does not build trust with citizens. As difficult as that might be for honest, hard-working officers who get passed by, the policy that allows for deviating from test scores instills a level of trust that can be important for the force.
So, the citizens of Nashville won’t “trust” a promotion system based on objective, neutral criteria, but they will “trust” one where some officers get pushed ahead and others get held back because of their race? Would they “trust” airline pilots or surgeons who were hired and promoted on that basis?
The Police Department is one of the few areas where the race of the officer is a valid concern, I think. There are countless incidents of officers shooting an unarmed man because they thought he had a gun, or gestured as though he did. In most cases, this happens between a white officer and black suspect. We always assume this is due to racism on the part of the officer, but possibly (probably?) it is due to a failure to understand how the other side acts.
We would probably see less of it if race were used to assign officers to certain districts, who of course would have to be compensated adequately.
Dom – As I’ve mentioned a number of times, I think it’s legitimate to take race into account in assigning undercover police officers to gangs, etc., but that’s about the only example I can think of. I don’t think it’s legitimate in general neighborhood assignments. Apparently many black police officers don’t think so either. As I noted here, black New York City police officers successfully sued the City for transferring them to Harlem in the wake of the beating of Abner Louima. They argued, and the Second Circuit agreed, that the race-based transfers violated their civil rights.
If we “look at the bigger picture”, slavery wasn’t so wrong either. It kept commodity and service prices low which fueled great economic growth for the entire society.
Why should we deride slavery for its degredation of individuals and their civil rights when we can focus on the system-wide benefits that slavery brought? Thanks Nashville Tennessean, you’ve opened my eyes!
eddy,
you’re right, basically, except for the fact that slavery destroyed a whoooooooole lot of people’s lives. and it was kinda barbaric. also, slavery provided much more economic “fuel” for the south than the north. other than that, great post!!
Chauncey — and today Affirmative Action hurts people on a similar but less drastic personal and intimate level. I’ll take my civil rights on a retail rather than wholesale level of fairness.
I’d rather you be fair to me than to rest on claims of being fair to people who merely look like me.
Eddy writes:
>>>”Chauncey — and today Affirmative Action hurts people on a similar but less drastic personal and intimate level. I’ll take my civil rights on a retail rather than wholesale level of fairness.
I’d rather you be fair to me than to rest on claims of being fair to people who merely look like me.”
Boy, you’d think you’d seen it all.
Affirmative Action is now SLAVERY, but in a “less drastic personal and intimately” hurtful form.
(sigh)
‘Fess up, Eddy…you’re a Fox News Producer, aren’t you?
You got caught up in those corporate memos about promoting white male victimhood, and you brought your work home with you, right?
I would actually buy that excuse. I heard they work people hard up there.
Now, onto Nashville. In a study entitled: Community Perception of Bias-Based Policing in Nashville, Tennessee, Prepared by Dr. Lorraine Williams Greene, Behavioral Health Services Division, Metropolitan Nashville Police Department;
Dr. Paul Speer, Vanderbilt University:
>>>”Overall, prior police encounters, education, and income did not alter participant’s perceptions of Nashville Police and policing practices. Blacks and who resided in the targeted area and those who resided throughout the county did not differ in their perceptions of Nashville Police. Blacks believed that large proportions of traffic stops are unwarranted. They believed that police are biased against those residing in low income areas, and did perceive them as completely fair in their interactions
with residents of any race or ethnicity.
Blacks and Whites differed significantly in their perceptions of Metro Police Department. Overall, Whites did not perceive the police as being biased against residents of public housing, and that persons of color should not feel too trusting of the police. Whites differed from Blacks and Others who believed that those who are not English speaking would be treated in a biased way. Whites believed that police “hassle whites as much as any other racial or ethnic group”.
>>>”Recommendations:
Results from this study show that residents’ perceptions of the Nashville Police differ significantly, and to a substantial magnitude, based on the race of respondents. This result can be viewed through numerous lenses, but from a public relations perspective, the Metro Nashville Police Department is confronting a substantial racial gulf in its public perception. The strong sampling methodology and the inclusion of control variables adds to the confidence of this conclusion – there are not compelling rival explanations to these data. Finally, it is important to note the difference between the two Black samples included in the study. One group, Blacks randomly selected from throughout Nashville, are similar to the second group, Blacks randomly selected from the area of Nashville with the highest number of traffic stops. However, Blacks sampled from the high traffic stop area have greater mistrust of the police and stronger perceptions of bias. As shown in the graph, Blacks from the targeted area have a small range of variability in their scores; that is, Black respondents from the high traffic stop area of Nashville are very consistent in their negative perceptions of police. These data point to strong differences in the way that Nashville citizens perceive the police department based on their race.”
>>>”The findings suggest that educating both officers and residents regarding citizen’s perceptions and police practices is essential. It is critical that Nashville Police Department trains officers and establishes a culture that values quality and effective community partnerships and services over the number of arrests.”
http://www.police.nashville.org/news/reports/SurveyRacialProfile.pdf
It’s nice to have some background into the situation when discussion diversity hiring and inclusion, isn’t it? “Trust” goes both ways in regards to police/community relationships.
–Cobra