As has been widely reported NYT columnist Charles Blow's son was stopped at gunpoint by a cop on the Yale Campus. Blow, and presumably his son, are African-American.
Now it is being reported in some "conservative" outlets that the cop was also Black. This is being taken to vitiate the impact of the story.
I don't get this. Blacks can be prejudiced no less than whites. And even if the cop was justified in making the stop, it is still an experience that most white students wouldn't have, and remains troubling on that level.
I especially find the lack of empathy troubling here (Nick Kristof has a piece on a similar subject also in today's Times). As in the American Sniper case, everyone is responding to these things based on their political impact. The human tragedy in both cases is almost totally lost. This bodes poorly for dialogue and the very existence of civil society. You can't improve things if you can't listen, even if it's people you don't like.
People who talk about "civility" ought to think of this aspect, as well.
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