The College Fix

Here’s one professor’s not surprising take on police brutality in the wake of the situation in Missouri – a wide-sweeping generalization that officers are threatened by black men and Americans are intrinsically racist.

ABC’s WRIC in Virginia reports:

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) –After the police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Missouri, many people wondered if this is yet another case of police brutality.

Dr. Faye Belgrave is a psychology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Belgrave says it’s not a coincidence that many black men and even adolescents become victims of police brutality.

“They are threatened by black men, and even young adolescents, and once people are threatened, they react to protect themselves,” says Dr. Belgrave.

According to Dr. Belgrave, study after study shows that many people perceive black men as being violent or aggressive.  She says this is a belief that’s rooted the country’s history of racism, and many people are unaware of the issue, which she calls implicit racial bias.

We grieve for Michael Brown and his family and have unanswered questions about the officer-involved shooting, and there is no excuse whatsoever for police brutality. But why is it that everything always boils down to racism with most professors?

Setting aside the Missouri incident for a moment, rarely is there a word from professors on how personal choice plays a role in anything, nor a good explanation for the black-on-black murder epidemic. What effect does rampant fatherlessness in many black communities have on its young men, or gansta rap?

It’s not always just about racism.

At least one brave professor has said as much.

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