Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» Here's an idea. Maybe the only way to "clean up" rotten racist cops is to only hire AFRICAN AMERICANS to be cops?
I would imagine that others have the same idea but isn't that idea just as racist in nature as what we are already experiencing in this country? No more such fuel needs to be added to an already hot fire.
Did you see the two cops push the 75 year old man down and he hit his head and was bleeding and not one of the cops marching stopped to help him? One appeared to try to go over to see but he was pulled back by another cop and they just kept marching by! I was shocked Shuhak. The bleeding man is in the hospital in serious but stable condition last I heard yesterday. There is a lot more indifferent cruel cold SOB cops out there than I thought. The situation is beyond unendurable. The marchings cops were all white as far as I know. So was the old man. Thank you for your reply and Happy Saturday! :)
It is said (known by psychologists) that behavior is "over determined" (has multiple causes).
If that is true, then racism may or may not be the dominant factor in the reasons for what we saw happen in George Floyd's treatment by the police.
Perhaps the dominant factor is the potential in EVERY human being to cathect his or her "pig parent"; and therefore since anyone who is confronted by someone with complete---even if only momentary authority to decide by either physical action or by the existential reality of the moment a possibly horrific outcome for the subject of that authority---perhaps part of the solution is to teach some coping mechanisms that tend to deescalate such situations and not further provoke those obviously in charge of horrific outcomes.
After all, if 2 or more physically grown-up human beings are involved in a heated confrontation, the moment when any of them stops acting like an adult, the probability of things not ending well rises immediately.
I stumbled on TA (Transactional Analysis) in the early 1980's and after reading a few books, I found that the the model it provides for analyzing human interactions can be quite useful at times. Essentially, in this answer, it refers to the fact that---as examples---a police officer and a protester, or a parent who is an otherwise "good parent" can slip into their "pig parent" state. In the first case, someone can get unnecessarily hurt or killed; in the second case, the parent becomes an abuser.
The Pig Parent, was later renamed as the Critical Parent and refers to the Parent in the Child (P1) ego state---The Critical Parent is seen as the internalization of oppressive messages that perpetuate alienation. (Internet)
The Pig Parent (Claude Steiner) Psihologija, Transakcijska analiza
The Pig Parent is a reality in everyone’s life.
However, the extent to which this reality is perceived and understood by people varies greatly. The Pig Parent can be, in one person’s consciousness, simply a dark, evil, looming influence, settling over the mind like a suffocating blanket which turns everything dismal without warning. Or, to another, the Pig Parent is a nagging, insistent voice. To some, the Pig Parent appears as a rational sounding, sedate and moderate, occasional statement which undercuts every important effort in a person’s life. The Pig can operate in the form of nightmares and daydreams, physical pains or white-hot flashes of fear.
No matter what particular form the Pig Parent takes, it is essential to its survival and effectiveness that it not be challenged by the victim of its abuse. That is to say, the Pig Parent continues to operate because the person is willing to countenance it and to accept it as a valid part of the world. Thus the recognition that it is an arbitrary set of messages that has been internalized is crucial. As long as it is listened to, believed and followed, the Pig Parent has power.
I have heard of TA Tom but had no idea what it was. Now I do and boy oh boy does it ever explain the inexplicable. Thank you for taking time to share this with us. I don't know if you happened to see the 75 year old white man that two cops pushed over. He fell and hit his head and started cleeding immediately. I believe he was knocked out cold. The tons of marching cops just walked by him. One of them tried to go over to see what happened and perhaps help him but he was yanked back into the march by one of the other cops and so they marched, Dozens and dozens and dozens of them kept marching. The man had approached the cops or what reason I don't know. Maybe to protest. But he was no threat to them at all. So one cop pushed him with a hand and another cop used a baton and the man fell. How many indifferent cops are there out there I wonder? That he white and old and no threat was shocking to me. So PIG PARENT lurks within all of us and at any moment can assert itself? I know donjohnchump is only where he is because "the people" allow it. Why I cannot fathom. But are we all potentially just like him, worst case? That's very heavy. Why is black associated with bad and white associated with good? Bad guys in movies wore BLACK HATS. Angels are depicted as white. It is referred as "the black arts"...are there no "white arts"? I guess I shall have to ask. Lots of stuff here to digest. Hope you and your family are well and stay that way. Happy Saturday! :)
I heard about the 75 year old on the news---terrible of course, but frankly not a wise move on his part.
When I was a pretty young adult, I had stopped to watch a group of people flying their radio controlled planes. I was fascinated, and I wanted to ask a few questions about the planes.
One of them stopped and went to a table and opened his controller that was causing him some problem. I saw that as an opportunity to ask him a question, totally unmindful of the fact that he was trying to diagnose and repair a problem with that controller. He politely declined to answer, but made it quite clear that I had picked one of the worst times to ask him a general question about the planes that was at best an unwelcome distraction from his immediate issue.
So like the 75 year old man in question, I picked (with absolutely no malice) perhaps the most inauspicious time to approach a person or persons who had much more immediate issues to deal with---but fortunately I escaped with no serious consequences.
Interestingly enough, one of the comments in the books I read was that once a threat is perceived by a police officer, the normal reaction of any enforcement official is to go into his "Critical Parent" in order to be prepared to deal with the issue.
In effect, while I as an individual always have the option of "fight or flight," the policeman does not have the option of "flight."
I was fortunate as a teenager to have some very positive experiences with the local police force. Given that background, I try to make their job as easy as possible---especially when their job is "me."
Some years ago I was on my way to work. in the morning while it was still dark out. As I was driving along at 40 miles per hour (the speed limit) in the center lane, a car pulled in behind me. Subsequently, he turned on his bright headlights and sped up. I reacted as most would and immediately and without signaling my turn pulled into the empty right---which immediately gave that police officer driving the car with the bright lights probable cause to initiate a traffic stop.
As the officer was walking up to the car, I turned my dome light on, rolled down the window, and put my hands on the steering wheel at the 10 and 2 positions.
By the time he had arrived at the my window, he was already obviously disappointed by my reaction. He asked where I was going. I showed him my work badge---more disappointment. He ran my DL #---nothing of course.
Hope I didn't ruin the guy's day.
(I simply determined that I would not engage personally in any way while that officer had his own legitimate agenda. As I said above, when one of two people in what should be an Adult-Adult interaction ceases to be an adult, unnecessarily bad things can happen.
Thank you for a most illuminating and helpful sharing of your experiences. I am at fault vis a vis bad timing. It's funny if I'm involved very deeply in something and someone disturbs that focus I am not a happy camper. YET I am guilty of doing the very same thing. Not realising it at all I stumble in at the worst possible time and of course the less good rather than the more good is the result. It did not occur to me that the old guy really should not have approached the marching special force cops or whatever they were. He was, like me probably, totally involved in what was going on in his head and so he "invaded" their space. But when one officer started toward him when he was down on the ground bleeding and was pulled back very sharply by one of his comrades I was more than appalled. Also white supremacists are jumping on the bandwagon and pretending to be antifa. Now if and when antifa does bad things they should be punished. But the group calls itself antifa because they are actively ANTI FASCISM. So the intentions are honorable. What do you do when someone is impersonating you and doing terrible things? What CAN you do? When we are in the throes of anything this big it's hard to keep your eye on the prize. In this case what is the prize but getting rid of the tumbleweed president? He surrounds himself with police and military and acts with impunity while all his fans look on with pride and admiration. Now what coach? What do we do now to turn that tide? SIGH. I know you know what I'm going to say next. It helps to be very smart because then you can figure things out..weigh the odds of different actions and act accordingly. What we have here is lack of intellect. Emotion is all they have going for them and sadly it is the most evil of emotions. HATE and the concomitant fear that feeds it. How do you smarten up stupid people whose emotions have completely consumed them? I have no idea. Thank you for your helpful reply. It gives something to ponder upon. The value of timing...good or bad...can determine an outcome. I will try to remember that. Happy Sunday tom. Hope you and yours are doing fine and stay that way! :)
This post was edited by RosieG at June 8, 2020 12:21 PM MDT
Shuhak 