the bizarre compulsion of black men to reach for their waistbands

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/28/the-bizarre-compulsion-of-black-men-to-reach-for-their-waistbands/
by JOHN ESKOW
If police accounts are to be believed, there is a bizarre urge among young, unarmed black men to provoke their own murder by “reaching for their waistbands” when cops are aiming service revolvers at them.

Just this week we heard Officer Darren Wilson claim that one of the reasons he killed Michael Brown was that the young man “reached for his waistband,” and–in what I guess was just an incredibly weird coincidence–we heard Cleveland police claim they killed a 12-year-old kid with a toy gun because he also “reached for his waistband.”

But this odd compulsion is not a new one.  In 2011, fully half of all the young black men shot by LA cops were cut down because–again, if police accounts are to be believed–they too were “reaching for their waistbands.”  The epidemic also spread to Houston, where multiple police accounts cite the same excuse.  Oscar Grant, the young man killed by Oakland cops on a subway platform–and the subject of the movie “Fruitvale Station”–was shot for the exact same reason.

If police accounts are to be believed, this compulsion only exists among young black men.  I have been approached by angry or frustrated cops several times in my life–twice as an angry young protestor, eager to defy them– and have never felt even the slightest urge to reach for my waistband.  Maybe white skin contains a protein that protects against this terrible compulsion?

[marym625]

2. Oscar Grant?

He was cuffed, hands behind back on his stomach. Or is that why they said they pulled him from the train?

It does seem to be epidemic, reaching for waistband

[TBF]

17. I first wrote about Oscar ages ago -

and you have to read pretty far into the wiki article to get to the "reaching for the waistband" quote but it's there. Granted he was already face down on the floor of the train but whatever ... I think it is their standard line - http://journals.democraticunderground.com/TBF/23

[marym625]

18. Thank you

I read a great deal about this when it happened and watched the movie, which seems to be pretty accurate, and either didn't notice or didn't remember that.

Thanks again

[William769]

3. Kick & recommend.

[WinkyDink]

4. Ah, yes, the latest transgression: RFWWB.

[gollygee]

5. Funny how many unarmed African American men reach for their waistbands

when there's nothing there.

K&R

[uppityperson]

6. k&r and wondering why waistbands of black men and boys are so much scarier

This has gone on far too long. I am going to take my own mixed-race son to a neurologist today, if not sooner, to have him checked for traces of this horrible Waistband-Reaching Syndrome. I’m concerned that, one day, it could get him killed…

…if police accounts are to be believed.

[Downwinder]

7. Well, I don't know about black boys. But, my Mom was always

after us to "Pull your pants up and tuck your shirt in." so that 60 years later I am still conscious of whether my shirt is tucked in.

[treestar]

8. Even when they have no gun

making it a true compulsion.

The part where they try to grab the gun from the cop then becomes even more interesting. Why'd they have to do that when they already had their own weapon in their waistband? Wilson is so dumb he did not realize he should not have added that detail. Didn't he already know there was no gun by the fact that Michael tried to get his?

[5X]

9. For one thing, there is no such thing as a service revolver any more....

they all have semi-auto glocks.

[Voice for Peace]

10. It's likely an explanation they've passed around for years and years.

Probably happened once, a long time ago, for real,
and it turned out there was a gun, and in the inquiry
they learned that the bad guy was reaching into his waistband.

"Just say he was reaching into his waistband," they whisper
in the bad police locker room, whenever a buddy shoots somebody.

[logosoco]

11. First everyone complains that they wear their pants too low,

then they get suspicious when they try to pull up their pants!

[amandabeech]

12. I'm getting old.

The appeal of the low pants/show your boxers style is beyond me.

That said, in one of the photos of the Ferguson protesters at some point along the line, there was a young man with navy boxers with a white waist band and white stars and jeans held just below the buttocks with a bright red belt. Very patriotic! I kid you not!

[DesertDiamond]

13. Reminds me of a cop on Law and Order who once sneered the line "the all-purpose two black guys with

guns."

[CatWoman]

14. Al Bundy

[spinbaby]

16. LOL!

This is one of those times I wish DU had a "like" button.

[The Wizard]

15. Stop going for my gun

stop resisting. The magic words that precede police brutality.