> Maybe some black people (i.e. the black people who don't live in the neighborhoods where these shootings go down, but spend all their time writing posts about it on Medium), should try a different approach when they've done nothing wrong and are talking to an officer: be kind and respectful and helpful.
I know a couple of very kind, respectful and helpful people who have been stop-and-frisked for being black and in public. They stopped visiting a mutual friend because it happened regularly traveling in his neighborhood.
They are treated differently for no fault of their own, despite being kind, respectful and helpful. There is a reason people are angry about the difference in treatment.
To give an example: When I traveled to visit a friend, I chose to stay at cheap hotel in a not so well to do area of town. I can carry my own and never felt unsafe. Apparently, the cops stake out that hotel regularly for drug deals and prostitution. I was stopped for an hour and interrogated because "Why would a white boy from out of state be staying at a place like this? Tell me about your history with prostitution. Are you _sure_ there are no drugs in your vehicle?" I was let go after my story checked out.
I felt targeted and no longer safe, because the cops had already painted a mental image of me as someone who dealt/used drugs or was involved with prostitutes and were looking for evidence to back up their presumption. I didn't feel safe leaving at night, because what if I was stopped and arrested for something I didn't do? "Why would a white boy be out at these hours in this neighborhood if he wasn't up to no good?" Those false charges would stick with me forever and I could lose my job.
I can only begin to imagine what it must feel like to be the target of actual racism with the implied assumption of being guilty until proven innocent.
> You do a great disservice to all the (and there are so many) black people out there who got educated, got good jobs, built families, and realized that most people honestly don't care what color they are, when you say that you're treated so poorly everywhere in the country. I'm sorry but it's nonsense. We have a black president for god's sake.
> Black people who have their shit together and got out of bad neighborhoods are not getting regularly killed by police. Come on.
You'll still encounter racism as a black person in America, even in the race blind techno-optimist meritocracy that is the technology sector. [0]
[0] "What interviewing for jobs feels like when you’re a black software engineer in Silicon Valley" http://qz.com/696562/what-interviewing-for-jobs-feels-like-w...