When we talk about white privilege, we're talking about institutional racism

[cali]

Self-examination and checking ourselves on an ongoing basis for our biases is a good thing to do individually, but what can be done about the institutional racism that plagues us?

I do have a few ideas:

1) Police departments should have civilian boards that investigate all alleged instances of racist behavior on the part of cops; from racist postings on social media to shooting deaths.

2) We need a White House Commission on institutionalized racism.

2) Police departments need to report to the JD, all police shootings. The JD should examine each case.


Any other ideas of practical steps that could be taken?

[Cheese Sandwich]

1. Disarm the cops and bring them under directly democratic community control

1) Weekly town meetings in each neighborhood, all residents get an equal vote.

2) All hiring, firing and discipline of cops to be under the direct authority of the town meeting.

3) All cops HR files to be open public information.

4) Cops can't use real bullets anymore; only less lethal ammo like the stuff they use to break up political protests.

5) Every police department must publish a clear "Rules of Engagement" document that describes the rights and duties of both citizens and police during interactions.

The state and federal governments may play a role in helping to encourage these reforms.

[cali]

2. thanks for thinking about the OP and adding your suggestions.

[Calista241]

10. That system is so open for abuse it'd be immediately exploited I'm afraid.

Organized crime would own every cop in that department.

[RealityAdvocate]

13. Makes sense. I can't think of any scenarios a cop would need more than rubber bullets.

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. A couple...

^Incidents of police shootings and accusations of brutality should be posted publicly in the township/village/city newspaper (much like a a police blotter).

^Rework and revamp of police candidate psychological testing to chuck the bad apples before they are issued any type of weaponry from a flashlight to a gun.

^Automatic reassignment to desk upon first fatal shooting of unarmed citizen if the officer is found "not at fault."

[cali]

5. Good suggestions- particularly the one about psych testing

[Nye Bevan]

6. While I am not normally a big proponent of affirmative action,

I think there is a case to be made for this in places like Ferguson where mostly white police departments have lost the respect and trust of the black community.

[treestar]

12. Agreed. If Ferguson is black, the cops should be black, mostly

The cops should come from the place they live in.

A lot more women on the force would do a lot of good too. Somehow they never seem to be the ones in on the shootings. Until we can defeat the macho mindset in men. Situations escalate rather than get defused.

[NM_Birder]

7. I advocate for "The Purge"

to be done every year just like the movie. Id be rough the first few years, but after enough of them I think everybody would cool thier shit.

[bettyellen]

8. So, you're going to stick with snark when it comes to dis cussing racial matters.

Good to know it's all a big joke to you.
"let the animals all kill each other" is a sick RW fantasy. Sad for anyone who falls for such cruel and simplistic bullshit.

[Lars39]

9. Drug testing.

[kelliekat44]

11. Now that is spot on!!! nt

[Nye Bevan]

14. Interesting how threads like this one, which actually seek to discuss ways to help end racism,

get a handful of replies and very few recs, while the typical DU "whites are SO privileged / whites need to check their privilege" type threads tend to get a couple of hundreds of replies and many more recs.

Thanks for the thread.

[cali]

15. I find it depressing.

but you're welcome. thanks for the post.