MSU Sociologist Reflects On Latest Police Shooting Of Unarmed Black Man
“Many of these people who are angry… have been socialized to believe they are right at all costs.”
Last night protests erupted in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the fatal police shooting of a black man.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, video emerged this week of an unarmed man with his arms raised in the air being gunned down by police alongside his broken down vehicle.
Meanwhile in Detroit, a police officer was shot by a young man, and that officer later died of his injuries. The officer from Detroit could have shot and killed the man who killed him, but he didn’t. He did everything right, it seems, yet still paid the ultimate price. And the same can be said of the man killed by officers in Tulsa.
With every protest, and every shooting, it becomes increasingly clear that there is an element of fear and danger on both sides.
How can those dangers be eliminated and fears diminished?
Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson talks to Michigan State University Professor of Sociology Carl Taylor.
Taylor says many people on both sides of the issue — police and the black community — are becoming entrenched in their beliefs rather than seeking understanding.
“I think we’ve reached a point that frightens me,” says Taylor. “Many of these people who are angry… have been socialized to believe they are right at all costs.”
To hear more of the conversation with Dr. Taylor, click on the audio player above.
