Eddie Simmons Jr., president of the Ethical Society of Police, says, “The police department is worse than the fire department. Simmons says that racism is rampant within the police department. ‘We got white boys who can’t stand blacks,’ he said.”
“White boys!” Some white cop should call the ACLU!
Racism is a two-way street. Had the president of the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association made a comment about black cops that contained the terminology “black boys,” the St. Louis black community would have taken to the streets in protest. Was Simmons’ comment racist?
City government is a hotbed of nepotism, favoritism, influence and scratch-my-back political business. Those with power, influence, fortune and connections, both “white boys” and “black boys,” run the government. Yes, that includes the police department. This arcane and often dysfunctional form of government could be changed, but those with the power to make those changes (both white and black) don’t want to do so.
Those who seek a better form of government and choose to “work the system” to that end will ultimately be neutralized or consumed by the system they desire to change. So, those within “the system” who publicly carp about “the system” when it doesn’t work to their favor are disingenuous in their criticism.
Michael K. Broughton
Green Park, MO