Stop & Frisk – The Systemic Opression Of People of Color and The Economically Disadvantaged

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MARK BONIFACIO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Just days before Bloomberg went off on a rather racist and privileged rant that stop and frisk disproportionately stops whites, ProjectBronx had posted a video asking Bronxites about the controversial practice. Most agreed that it is an unfair practice.

Now the Daily News breaks down Bloomberg’s new math and shows how wrong his statement was. The story is vastly different than the mayor’s distorted reality.

The system is flawed.

Anyone who’s walked the streets of Manhattan, particularly downtown, has at one point or another walked through a cloud of marijuana from folks freely walking by and smoking it but nary a cop can be found in sight let alone a stop made.

In places like the Bronx, however, in predominantly black and latino neighborhoods, young men are stopped for simply standing in front of their building or walking about their business. The cops use the excuse that they look suspicious or match the description of someone who just committed a crime yet 90% of these stops yield nothing but embarrassment and harassment of law abiding citizens.

Can we justify the way the program is carried out based on the results over the past decade? Can we agree that there is a problem here? How do you feel about stop and frisk?

Don’t forget to watch ProjectBronx asking our residents on the issue!

Ed García Conde

Ed García Conde is a life-long Bronxite who spends his time documenting the people, places, and things that make the borough a special place in the hopes of dispelling the negative stereotypes associated with The Bronx. His writings are often cited by mainstream media and is often consulted for his expertise on the borough's rich history.