From: Michael M. Butler (butler@comp-lib.org)
Date: Thu Aug 09 2001 - 10:26:32 MDT
> > Uh, I'm not sure I understand. However, I think there's more to the cop
> > dynamic here. From some article relating to the local PG police my
> > impression was that black police officers become cops first and black
> > second, and that displays of racism against other blacks serves to meld
> > them into the police force and make them more acceptable to fellow white
> > officers.
>
> That's the claim, allegedly supported by black officers saying "I ain't
> your brother" to black criminals trying the 'yo brother' routine.
This is 100% consistent with the "thin blue line"--it's not even about
the fellow officers being white, necessarily.
It's about "the position of 'brother' has already been filled, scumbag."
This still easily leads to abuse under color of authority.
But a cop who is seen as "not sound", to borrow a phrase beloved by the
British moneyed class, eventually finds himself waiting, in some benighted
call-turned-shitstorm, for backup that never arrives. Or the moral equivalent
of same.
There are, consequently, many cultural parallels between the guardians and
the gangs. See _Serpico_ and _Donnie Brasco_ as a double bill sometime.
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