Callers lock horns in heated debate over whether British police are racist
4 August 2020, 16:41
Two callers argue over whether police have racial bias or not
These two black callers disagreed over whether police are inherently racist, with one caller having being stopped over 70 times without charge.
Ian Payne started the debate over whether people thought police are racially profiling people after footballer Danny Rose spoke out on his own experience of being frequently pulled over by police and being singled out on trains.
Gary and Ryan both phoned in with conflicting views on the matter. Gary challenged Ryan right off the bat by asking him if he has been pulled over more than his white friends, to which he said he has.
Gary went on: "I've been stopped over 73 times now and I'm 57. I have no problem when I'm stopped by the police."
"You can't just identify me as a criminal, simply because I'm black, and that's what's been happening to you," Gary said, asking Ryan why he would have been stopped more than his white friends.
Ryan quipped: "you need to check your driving if you've been stopped that many times," to which Gary argued "if I had have been doing something wrong, and illegal, surely they would have nicked me."
"It's like anything else, there's always good and there's always bad," Ryan said, noting that he isn't saying that police aren't racist. The caller argued that black people are targeted because of a disproportionate presence in criminality.
"We're talking about german cars with black guys driving them," Ryan said, recalling two instances where he witnessed drive-by shootings. He then challenged Gary by asking who should the police be going after in these cases.
"Every time I've been pulled, it's been for something I've done wrong," he said, suggesting that people don't get pulled over for no reason.
Gary didn't accept Ryan's argument. "Just because i am black, doesn't mean you can pull me over," he said.
"I am not responsible for black crime."
Gary concluded the debate by telling Ryan "don't categorise us all as criminals, because we're not."
