James Ragland is one of my favorite columnists at the Dallas Morning News. This piece, "Turning a petty incident to battle cry hurts us all," is on reaction to white officer interaction with black citizens, and provides good perspective. Yes, there are lots of victims, and blacks are disproportionately the victims of unlawful police force, but too many people who don't deserve the tag, want to wrap themselves in the cloak of "victimization." This sad tendency affects people of all classes and colors.
Have a dysfunctional presumption of guilt about officers and creeping "paranoia' distorted things too much? Ragland makes some great points. Unlawful, excessive force by police is a huge and crucial problem, but we need to keep focus and fairness in mind too.
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