General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Black man righteously shames white cop who pulls him over [View all]Hortensis
(58,785 posts)And yes, Ruth did put herself in danger by challenging a bad cop with a serious attitude problem. Hispanics know just as well as other minorities the dangers of that. She may not have been beaten on the street, but her family and church might have spent days tracking her down in that giant jail system, while she was shuttled around from jail to jail, abused and mistreated., and railroaded into court on phony charges. It was common 15 years ago and probably still is, which is why I was anxious to get up there and show him this brown-skinned woman wasn't alone. But she had no idea I was there and stood up to him all by herself, brave and resolute.
And carried away as this man in the car was by the opportunity to pump up the drama for the camera, he nevertheless appeared to believe he was taking a stand for his own rights, which is why I compared him to people who did it right. And, by the way, put themselves in genuinely very grave danger. Things are still unacceptably bad now, but nothing like then, there.