I'm not at all sure who these black folks are Mr. Gardenhire is talking to who want only black officers serving in black communities. They couldn't possibly be any of us who have had negative experiences with both black and white officers. Fair and humane treatment doesn't come in monochromatic tones. Neither do injustices and abuse at the hands of cops, even those who look like you or me.
If the audience Mr. Gardenhire speaks to was more widen, and not just a few select who say what they think is expected of them, I'm sure others he's never met, talked with nor listened to their encounters would say they believe only black cops should serve in black communities, because only black cops will be fair to black citizens. From those of us who know better, that's simply not true.
It may have been two white cops my own son encountered WWB (walking while black) some years ago while home on a short military leave, where at least one of the two cops became verbally and physically abusive. However, there were black cops, along with an assistant black chief or something at the time, who assisted in helping to cover it all up, attack the character of my son and proceeded to stalk and threaten me over a period of time in retaliation for openly speaking out about it. Things really got totally and abnormally morbid during that period and after.
It's not at all complicated. We simply demand fair and humane treatment the same as, at least in my years having personally lived in a racially mixed community, our white neighbors are afforded. There's nothing complicated about any of that at all.
There's no guarantee black cops are going to treat black citizens any better or humanely than white cops. No more than the whip only ripped the skin from the backs of slaves when in the hands of the white slave driver or overseer. The whip still tore the flesh from the backs of the slaves whether it was in the hands of the white or black slave-driver or overseer. And unless there's serious efforts to effect change and reform there's nothing that will prevent the problem from continuing to be the same. Anything else is just window dressing to give the false impression of change.
Brenda Washington