I agree this country has totally screwed up risk-perceptions. Racism undeniable still exists, but it is not in the capacity that it was in the past. There will always be people still acting off of racial stereotypes and their own prejudices, however, we need to hold police accountable for their actions because they are the “professionals”.
In the video, both men are approached by police first. The details of the social experiment are in my article, but the men are working together to prove the different reactions police give white males versus black males. However, using your interpretation of the video, I would not blame the civilian who called the police on the black man who was carrying an assault rifle. My issue is that the police, in the same state, viewed the black male more of a threat than the white male. The reality is that police should have viewed BOTH of the males a threat because they were BOTH carrying assault rifles.
Using your case example of John Crawford III, I do not blame the civilian for calling the police to report what he thought was a guy in the toy section with an assault rifle. The “professional” police should have assessed the situation better, and they would have realized that he was only holding an airsoft gun in the toy section.
Take the instance of Tamir Rice, he was in a park playing with a toy gun. I do not blame the civilian who called the police reporting that there was a guy, probably a juvenile, pointing a gun (probably fake) at people. He was a concerned individual calling on the professionals for help.
I do blame the police officer for pulling up to Tamir Rice and unloading his weapon as soon as he exited his vehicle. There was no attempt to set a safe perimeter, no attempt to negotiate with the individual to put the gun down, no attempt to wait for backup. The police officer did not assess the situation before getting out of his car and shooting Tamir Rice.
It is time to hold police accountable for their actions. They take an oath to serve and protect the city not shoot first and ask questions later.
#GetBothered_StayWoke