RACISM
For those who do not know me, let me give you a background of who I am. I believe it will be helpful for the reader. I was born and raised in New York City, the most diverse city in the world. I do not identify myself as Hispanic although, that is how others have chosen to label me. However, this is not the only adjective others have used to identify me. When I was a police officer, I was identified as a "cop." Subsequently when I became an attorney, I was and still am identified as a "Lawyer." As a youngster, when I had no choice but to be enshrined into my parent's religion, I was identified as a "Catholic.' When I campaigned to be a judge I was identified not only as Hispanic but as a man of "Color." What really matters to me is not what identification markers society or individuals have labeled me, but how I identify myself. I identify myself as tall, dark, kind, enlightened and handsome. My opinion regarding racism which is a volatile topic is exactly that, just my opinion. What is currently going on in our country resulting from the killing of a black unarmed, handcuffed individual by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota is appalling and contrary to humanity. Therefore, I have decided to write an article about racism. Maybe I am writing this article more for me and my peace of mind than for the reader but, either way I felt compelled to do so. I so believe in the kindness of the soul that it gives me comfort that we will all come out of this horrific incident better overall. As a police officer in New York City and as a "minority, I believe I can share with the reader a unique personal perspective that potentially can contribute to the country's collective healing.
To start, I believe that the current conversation regarding racism is useless. There are many factions that would prefer to divide us instead of unite us. So beware. Let me start with a few examples of personal experiences and some of my ideas about how to contribute to real changes. My parents immigrated from Cuba with my three older siblings in the mid 50's to escape the Castro/Batista revolution. They were only allowed to take a paper bag with whatever personal belongings they could fit into it. This was not a unique experience for my parents as many other Cubans were also exiled and forced to make difficult decisions. Subsequently my parents were allowed to immigrate into the United States. My parents not only immigrated to a foreign country but, they did not speak the English language which added to their difficulties. They ended up in a government subsidized housing project in a rough part of New York City. My mother stayed at home caring for the children while my father worked day and night in restaurants to support the family. Shortly thereafter myself and two of my younger siblings were born. I remember the love and gratefulness my father had in his heart for America allowing him the privledge to start a new life. I too am grateful beyond words because without America's generosity and open arms, I may not be where I am today. Or, I would not have been born. At a ripe old age of about 10, I started to work with my dad for cents to help contribute to the family. And just to be clear, this wasn't because my father requested it. It was a choice that I made. It also helped that I had a close relationship with my father and I talked him into allowing me to work with him so I could spend time with him.
Fast forward to my first real job as a New York City Police Officer. I say this not to denigrate restaurant workers because I have worked in the restaurant business for many years, I say this because I was entering employment with health insurance and a pension. The police officer training in NYC consisted of a six month police academy and a subsequent six month field training. In the field training portion, you were assigned to a precinct, usually a high crime area with an experienced officer called a field training officer, (FTO). My field training officer had 20 plus years of experience as a police officer. He was Caucasian. I mention his race although it should not matter but, in light of our current racial divide, it was a recipe for disaster. I remember one of my first calls in the community that led to an arrest of a black male and the field training officer bluntly and to my shock telling me that there was a difference between being black and being a nigger. I understand he was trying to make a distinction between being a law abiding citizen and a thug but that was an offensive and improper way of communicating that to me. This was in the early 80's. My training early on also discouraged officers from reporting other officer's wrongdoings. In other words, it was highly discouraged. If an officer got a reputation that he or she snitched on other officers, their career would be over. They would be singled out and no officer would work with them and they would not receive any assistance if they called for back up. It will be difficult and dangerous for them to continue their career and were most likely forced to resign.
It seems from what is currently going on that nothing has changed. From what I understand, in the current situation in Minneapolis, the officer who kneeled on the victim's neck which led to his death was a field training officer. By all accounts he had 19 years of service. That is when officers are in the burnt out stages of their careers. The other officers didn't intervene. How dare they? They are not going to snitch on another officer. It is easy to play the blame game and blame the "Cop" on the street. I get it. They are the most visible. But, this goes deep into the culture of policing that starts from the top and trickles down through the mid-level supervisors and ultimately at the hand of the "cop." Yes, the cop on the street is responsible for his actions but, others as aforementioned should also be held responsible. It really is hard for me to say this because I love the police and the majority of police officers that I know are willing to die to protect and to serve. They have accepted this risk for very little compensation. To me, those are true heroes. We should not paint them all as bad for the actions of a few.
Here are some simple changes that I believe can he helpful for all involved. Have field training officers that have a maximum of 5 years of experience, this way you can assure that they are not at a burnt out stage and teaching rookies bad habits or how to cut corners. The intimidation factor is reduced with a younger field training officer. Also, have departments hire civilians that can be part of the field training programs to assist in the training of not just the rookies but all police officers. There can be one civilian unarmed officer patrolling on every shift. This civilian officer will not handle any call or respond to any in progress dangerous situations or anycrime scenes. Their function would be to respond as a mitigation or tension breaker to calls where the public is directly involved or tensions are high like domestic violence, disorderly conduct and traffic infractions. Their involvement would only be as an observer or mediator for the purpose of deescalating the situation. I can only see this as being a win-win for all parties involved. I have many more ideas that if a police department would contact me I would share them. To me it would be my way to contribute to making policing better and minority communities stronger.
Unfortunately racism will always exist. I believe that individuals who say we will eliminate racism completely are contributing to the problem. It is akin to attempting to eliminate all stupidity in the world. Good luck! You will never change how someone chooses to be but you can change how you react. If you react with kindness and love, maybe, just maybe that person who had a broken racist heart will see that he is the problem not the person that looks different than he does. On a more personal experience, my wife recently had to take our daughter to the local children's hospital for an injury and after she was checked in waited several hours to be seen. She finally asked what the hold up and was told that they were waiting for an interpreter. They assumed that because our surname is Perez that she needed an interpreter. How is that possible you may ask especially since my wife is Caucasian and she nor my daughter speak Spanish? They don't even have an accent other than maybe a New York accent.
I also remember growing up being called many despicable names like spic, wetback, shark, greasy, etc. What I have learned through the years is that I can never change a person or their opinion of me. But what I can do is control how I react and in doing so make a difference and turn the experience into a positive encounter. We also need to understand that government can never abolish racism. In fact, I believe that they create it directly or indirectly. Recently, I saw a bunch of politicians in Washington wearing kente cloth stoles and others draped in African regalia in support of antiracism legislation. If they really care about minority communities instead of giving them handouts they should tell them that they can accomplish whatever it is they want to accomplish without government interference. There is power in self governance. We are given the power to succeed in whatever it is we want to accomplish. But I believe some individuals in power do not want you to believe that because it will render them powerless. There will come a time in our evolution where we will become enlightened. That is when the truth will set you free and society will heal and advance. You will then understand that you are invincible and that you are the captain of your ship guided by the god within. I leave you with a quote on point;
"I am that by which I know I am."
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Just a thought
To start, I believe that the current conversation regarding racism is useless. There are many factions that would prefer to divide us instead of unite us. So beware. Let me start with a few examples of personal experiences and some of my ideas about how to contribute to real changes. My parents immigrated from Cuba with my three older siblings in the mid 50's to escape the Castro/Batista revolution. They were only allowed to take a paper bag with whatever personal belongings they could fit into it. This was not a unique experience for my parents as many other Cubans were also exiled and forced to make difficult decisions. Subsequently my parents were allowed to immigrate into the United States. My parents not only immigrated to a foreign country but, they did not speak the English language which added to their difficulties. They ended up in a government subsidized housing project in a rough part of New York City. My mother stayed at home caring for the children while my father worked day and night in restaurants to support the family. Shortly thereafter myself and two of my younger siblings were born. I remember the love and gratefulness my father had in his heart for America allowing him the privledge to start a new life. I too am grateful beyond words because without America's generosity and open arms, I may not be where I am today. Or, I would not have been born. At a ripe old age of about 10, I started to work with my dad for cents to help contribute to the family. And just to be clear, this wasn't because my father requested it. It was a choice that I made. It also helped that I had a close relationship with my father and I talked him into allowing me to work with him so I could spend time with him.
Fast forward to my first real job as a New York City Police Officer. I say this not to denigrate restaurant workers because I have worked in the restaurant business for many years, I say this because I was entering employment with health insurance and a pension. The police officer training in NYC consisted of a six month police academy and a subsequent six month field training. In the field training portion, you were assigned to a precinct, usually a high crime area with an experienced officer called a field training officer, (FTO). My field training officer had 20 plus years of experience as a police officer. He was Caucasian. I mention his race although it should not matter but, in light of our current racial divide, it was a recipe for disaster. I remember one of my first calls in the community that led to an arrest of a black male and the field training officer bluntly and to my shock telling me that there was a difference between being black and being a nigger. I understand he was trying to make a distinction between being a law abiding citizen and a thug but that was an offensive and improper way of communicating that to me. This was in the early 80's. My training early on also discouraged officers from reporting other officer's wrongdoings. In other words, it was highly discouraged. If an officer got a reputation that he or she snitched on other officers, their career would be over. They would be singled out and no officer would work with them and they would not receive any assistance if they called for back up. It will be difficult and dangerous for them to continue their career and were most likely forced to resign.
It seems from what is currently going on that nothing has changed. From what I understand, in the current situation in Minneapolis, the officer who kneeled on the victim's neck which led to his death was a field training officer. By all accounts he had 19 years of service. That is when officers are in the burnt out stages of their careers. The other officers didn't intervene. How dare they? They are not going to snitch on another officer. It is easy to play the blame game and blame the "Cop" on the street. I get it. They are the most visible. But, this goes deep into the culture of policing that starts from the top and trickles down through the mid-level supervisors and ultimately at the hand of the "cop." Yes, the cop on the street is responsible for his actions but, others as aforementioned should also be held responsible. It really is hard for me to say this because I love the police and the majority of police officers that I know are willing to die to protect and to serve. They have accepted this risk for very little compensation. To me, those are true heroes. We should not paint them all as bad for the actions of a few.
Here are some simple changes that I believe can he helpful for all involved. Have field training officers that have a maximum of 5 years of experience, this way you can assure that they are not at a burnt out stage and teaching rookies bad habits or how to cut corners. The intimidation factor is reduced with a younger field training officer. Also, have departments hire civilians that can be part of the field training programs to assist in the training of not just the rookies but all police officers. There can be one civilian unarmed officer patrolling on every shift. This civilian officer will not handle any call or respond to any in progress dangerous situations or anycrime scenes. Their function would be to respond as a mitigation or tension breaker to calls where the public is directly involved or tensions are high like domestic violence, disorderly conduct and traffic infractions. Their involvement would only be as an observer or mediator for the purpose of deescalating the situation. I can only see this as being a win-win for all parties involved. I have many more ideas that if a police department would contact me I would share them. To me it would be my way to contribute to making policing better and minority communities stronger.
Unfortunately racism will always exist. I believe that individuals who say we will eliminate racism completely are contributing to the problem. It is akin to attempting to eliminate all stupidity in the world. Good luck! You will never change how someone chooses to be but you can change how you react. If you react with kindness and love, maybe, just maybe that person who had a broken racist heart will see that he is the problem not the person that looks different than he does. On a more personal experience, my wife recently had to take our daughter to the local children's hospital for an injury and after she was checked in waited several hours to be seen. She finally asked what the hold up and was told that they were waiting for an interpreter. They assumed that because our surname is Perez that she needed an interpreter. How is that possible you may ask especially since my wife is Caucasian and she nor my daughter speak Spanish? They don't even have an accent other than maybe a New York accent.
I also remember growing up being called many despicable names like spic, wetback, shark, greasy, etc. What I have learned through the years is that I can never change a person or their opinion of me. But what I can do is control how I react and in doing so make a difference and turn the experience into a positive encounter. We also need to understand that government can never abolish racism. In fact, I believe that they create it directly or indirectly. Recently, I saw a bunch of politicians in Washington wearing kente cloth stoles and others draped in African regalia in support of antiracism legislation. If they really care about minority communities instead of giving them handouts they should tell them that they can accomplish whatever it is they want to accomplish without government interference. There is power in self governance. We are given the power to succeed in whatever it is we want to accomplish. But I believe some individuals in power do not want you to believe that because it will render them powerless. There will come a time in our evolution where we will become enlightened. That is when the truth will set you free and society will heal and advance. You will then understand that you are invincible and that you are the captain of your ship guided by the god within. I leave you with a quote on point;
"I am that by which I know I am."
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Just a thought