AB2506 means well and is one of the good guys here but he doesn’t have direct experience.
Toot, you're exactly right. There are a lot of "good guys" on here, who mean well, but have no idea about the reality of the situation. I doubt that some of them have ever seen a "Negro in the wild".
I've been to South Africa and seen blacks of all sorts, in the country and in the big city. I think some of them might be wild.
I also worked 29+ years in various forms of law enforcement, from Provincial Park Ranger to Fish and Wildlife Officer to what you would call a "Codes Officer". Where I was a "Codes Officer", I worked in a city that grew to 1.3 million people. We have our own "ghettos" of various races and economic levels. I've seen all races behave very badly and actually probably more whites, but that is because we are still predominantly white (for now).
I was unarmed, eventually we were issued handcuffs and batons, with extreme conditions placed on their use. We did get body armor, but I developed a back problem that caused me not to wear it much.I was in places where most would not willingly go. Places where some fought not to upchuck at the stench and conditions people and often their animals lived.
I have to laugh, I went first through the door unarmed, no armor with a stack of armored, armed policemen behind me. That was 20 plus years ago. Now I would tell them to go pound sand. It is a whole lot more unsafe out there now. I learned to think, treat people of all races as I would want to be treated and most of all, listen carefully and talk skillfully. Too many of the younger officers don't listen to people. Often tense situations are easily diffused by allowing the citizen to talk (vent), even if it costs you 20 minutes. I often learned valuable intelligence about the issue and the neighborhood.
So, no, I don't know blacks as well as some of you Mericans. But I do know them a little,and Carribean blacks and Vietnamese, and Pakistanis and Sikhs and East Indians and Arabs and African blacks and natives and Metis and trashy whites and Chinese and Phillipinos and bikers and you name it, we got it.
Strangely, I often preferred working on the rough sides of town. It was farther away from where I have lived 30+ years and I seldom met my "clients" (they seldom recognize you out of uniform) at the grocery store. People is those areas usually treated me with a form of respect. I remember speaking to the nanny in a wealthy area. The owner phoned me and berated me for speaking to the nanny and advised that he was a lawyer (who cares). Anyways, he said, "my nanny probably makes more than you." Whatever. There was more action and less push back in the rough sections of town.
I will grant you that if you read about Africa, they have tended to very violent. Whether that translates to the black crime in America, that is open to discussion. When I was in the RSA, I expected to come across the big, well muscled noble Zulu warrior.What I found are blacks that top out at 5'7" to,5'9" and probably weigh no more than 140lbs, if that. In Joburg, there were some heftier men, but not much taller. I have speculated that the American slaves came from farther north on the African continent and that American slave owners bred their slaves to be bigger and stronger. Also if you look at noses, and some other features, it is abundantly evident that some owners or white men bred with black women (or white women with black men). I think the American black is a highly modified African.