Submitted by william huber, Dec 17, 2007 16:29

If John Mcwhorter actually believes that the police/kid war is a recent development , he must've spent a sheltered youth. It's the job of police to keep an eye on that segment of the population most likely to commit crimes, act crazy, take drugs-- profiling sensibilities not withstanding-- and that has been ,since time immemorial, mostly young men between the ages of 11 and 25, regardless of race. I've watched this phenomenon at work in the wealthiest neighborhoods and the poorest. What makes Mcwhorter's opinion irresponsible is that he, first and foremost, ascribes racial motivations to the police, which is an observation at least a generation old. Urban police departments today are multi-racial, multi-cultural and increasingly employ more and more women. But worse, McWhorter asserts that the cause of friction between teenagers and police , is entirely the fault of the police. Actually the only thing that has changed is that profitable lawsuits and political capital can be mad. Older generations assumed their kids were, if not at fault, hanging around with the wrong crowd. It changed more kids for the better than the current attitude, the one Mr. McWhorter sadly promulgates

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