I really resented my parents growing up because they would never let me play outside. I was raised in Central Brooklyn in the 90s and stories like The Central Park Five and Abner Louima were cautionary tales in our neighborhood. We were too broke for summer programs so I spent a lot of my summers watching daytime TV, playing video games and browsing the internet. Brooklyn has changed a lot since the Regan / Bush days, but when you look closely you can see the scars of crime hysteria and the drug war still here.
To be clear, since it might not be obvious to some readers: the fear your parents had about playing outside is what the police might do to you, as opposed to concerns about crime or general violence, is that correct?
Yes, and for good reason. NYC had a high crime rate in the 80s and 90s, once I was able to have my own day to day autonomy (mid teens, mid 2000s) the city was much safer.
I understand the push for crime reduction policies, lots of minorities (who are victims of crimes themselves) wanted a tougher approach. Unfortunately the politics of the day was that the cruelest types of punishments won out. Three strikes and stop and frisk have devastated the community.
Stop-and-frisk feels like a major violation of rights, but it does work well. I think that doing this by surprise, or around where people live, is problematic. Setting up a limited region, with posted signs, is pretty reasonable. For example, the park might be such a region.
Three strikes doesn't seem to be a violation of rights, and it simply makes sense. Removing bad people will improve the community. Some people simply will not abide by the rules of civilized society, and it is a dangerous mistake to pretend otherwise.
If you're in America, that would (arguably) be a violation of your constitutional rights. Basically, the gov't isn't supposed to bother you until you committed a crime (until they have reasonable suspicion & a warrant or are in hot pursuit). The same thing bothers me about databases, surveillance, biometrics, TSA, stop-and-frisk: the government has no business treating me like a criminal, collecting my information, etc. until they've got a warrant.
If it's any consolation; your parents must really have loved you since they kept you inside. I have three kids and I cherish every moment that I get to send them outside to play.
But I live in a safe place and honestly, "random murder and rape" might change my mind.
I might be wrong, but I get the sense that his parents were not concerned about random murder and rape. More about the cops coming after their kids.
Just pointing that out because I don't think you would agree with that sentiment. So you might want to adjust your comment to indicate that you would be more afraid of criminals than cops.
Surely your parents also wanted to stop you falling in with "the wrong crowd"? I'd wager a lot of people in jail are good people who fell in with the wrong crowd.
But the thing is a Black kid who gets in minor mischief is a criminal in the waiting. A white kid doing the same thing is “kids will be kids” and “that could be my child”.
