While we don't know exactly why that particular black police officer in Milwaukee shot Smith, who police say was armed and refused to drop his gun, we have enough data and research to know that the officer's skin color would not have inoculated him against the much-discussed implicit bias most often attributed to white officers. The truth is that nearly half of black people also harbor some level of implicit bias against fellow black people.Of course they do. Who knows better how dangerous young black men can be than their black neighbors, who are also their most frequent victims?
Bailey goes on at considerable length about "implicit bias" and the need to eradicate it among police of all races. I remain unconvinced eradication is possible. Implicit bias seems another way of saying we are more vigilant around individuals who appear dangerous to us, and to society.
Let me make an analogy. While a cocker spaniel might bite you and a pit bull might lick your hands, I'll bet you're more wary with the latter than the former, and for good reason.
Knowing Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, and German Shepherds are more ferocious is not bias, it is prudence. Assuming Golden Retrievers and Labs are more lovers than fighters is also widely understood to reflect experience.
How is this sort of wisdom not applicable to human beings? Yes, we are not animals, but I promise you I steer clear of any group of idle young men, especially if they've been drinking, regardless of their race.
Police spend their lives cleaning up the human messes in a society that seeks order and peacefulness. Their daily contact with the least socialized among us causes them to notice who are the frequent trouble-makers.
Such individuals get extra attention, attention they resent. I remember police paying extra attention to me as a teenager. I resented it, but understood it too.
Asking peace officers to ignore what they experience is like asking me to ignore a plate of warm-from-the-oven cookies, it won't work. It flies in the face of human nature.
