I love John Oliver. He gets his points and facts across while also making us laugh. However, Oliver’s humor never overcomes his facts.
Personally, I have an odd reaction when I see a police officer. My initial reaction is always fright. This would seem to be extremely strange on the surface. For one, I’ve never been harassed by the police; for another, my uncle was an officer. Of course, that could be adding to the problem. He was not anyone I would have hired to be a security guard, much less a police officer. However, I did grow up watching the police attack peaceful protestors on the news; I did see the Kent State killings and other infamous acts of police brutality.
While I live in a mostly white town, the one that is literally down the street is mostly minority, with all the accompanying problems of poverty that seem to follow that dynamic, I find my reactions to seeing the police as a problem. Why, if they are there to defend me, do I feel uneasy? At the one time in my life when I did indeed need help from the police, their behavior was anything but helpful. When confronted with a battered, raped and traumatized woman, dressed in over-sized sweats, who was beaten and left for dead by her attacker, why was the initial statement from the police that I deserved what I got because I was female? Does this reaction lead to trust and respect? I think not. As Mr. Oliver says, a few bad apples spoil the basket. The John Oliver clip is below, watch it and let me know what you think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaD84DTGULo
