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carolpk's review against another edition
The Black And The Blue: A Cop Reveals the Crimes, Racism, and Injustice in America's Law Enforcement might have been named Black and Blue. What's the difference you say? This book which deals with encounters between Black Americans and our men and women in Blue, (law enforcement officers), sometimes Black or Hispanic but most often White, causes what I can only think of as a bruise, commonly described as a black and blue, one that never fades.
Author Matthew Horace certainly has the credentials to present this no nonsense, no holds barred expose what his subtitle names rampant injustices and racism; this inequality practiced by those we count on to uphold the law. He tells it like it is and is joined by many others in his field who back him up and tell the tale.
I'd have to be deaf and blind not to know that profiling, railroading, beating, and even outright murder is taking many innocent black lives in our country. I am sickened by it yet feel helpless to make the changes needed. It became far more gut-wrenching when you read one story after the other, gathered together in one place, stacked on top of each other in its disgusting pile, these occurrences of blatant hate for the color of a person's skin. How can we expect it not to topple and cause the protests, outrage riots, and more hate that it does?
Non-fiction that makes me think always earns my praise. Even better is non-fiction in which I learn. I'm sad to say one thing I learned in reading The Black And The Blue: A Cop Reveals the Crimes, Racism, and Injustice in America's Law Enforcement is that though I do not consider myself racist I am guilty of being biased. Can I be one without being the other? I think so.
The textbook definition of implicit bias says it is the attitudes or stereotypes that we all have. They, in turn, affect our encounters with people, and influence our actions and decisions in an unconscious manner. In other words, we internalize repeated messages from our family, our friends, our neighbors, our community, and the stereotypes and images we see on television, and in movies, magazines, and other media.
I believe my bias comes from my upbringing, my isolation in living in a highly white community and my fear of the few black that lived close by. An example. As a young girl, probably under the age of 11, I was allowed to go uptown, to shop, to visit the library, to see a movie. These activities were in a central area mostly on a main street. Safe. Adjacent to this street was a narrow road with industry, and small businesses. The street made a nice round about way to visit upper main. I was forbidden from walking that street as it also connected to the area where most of the town's populace of black people lived. I walked it anyway but always feared what might happen to me. Is this the real-life boogeyman Horace describes? Yet on that connector street I used to pass a black church where on Sunday mornings you could hear the most beautiful and uplifting singing. How could that be something to fear? Such confusion for this young girl. This may sound simplistic but there were many other implied threats like this. I was taught to fear those different than me. This is not an excuse my bias, it is an attempt to understand and to learn.
A thought-provoking read that will stay with me.
Author Matthew Horace certainly has the credentials to present this no nonsense, no holds barred expose what his subtitle names rampant injustices and racism; this inequality practiced by those we count on to uphold the law. He tells it like it is and is joined by many others in his field who back him up and tell the tale.
I'd have to be deaf and blind not to know that profiling, railroading, beating, and even outright murder is taking many innocent black lives in our country. I am sickened by it yet feel helpless to make the changes needed. It became far more gut-wrenching when you read one story after the other, gathered together in one place, stacked on top of each other in its disgusting pile, these occurrences of blatant hate for the color of a person's skin. How can we expect it not to topple and cause the protests, outrage riots, and more hate that it does?
Non-fiction that makes me think always earns my praise. Even better is non-fiction in which I learn. I'm sad to say one thing I learned in reading The Black And The Blue: A Cop Reveals the Crimes, Racism, and Injustice in America's Law Enforcement is that though I do not consider myself racist I am guilty of being biased. Can I be one without being the other? I think so.
The textbook definition of implicit bias says it is the attitudes or stereotypes that we all have. They, in turn, affect our encounters with people, and influence our actions and decisions in an unconscious manner. In other words, we internalize repeated messages from our family, our friends, our neighbors, our community, and the stereotypes and images we see on television, and in movies, magazines, and other media.
I believe my bias comes from my upbringing, my isolation in living in a highly white community and my fear of the few black that lived close by. An example. As a young girl, probably under the age of 11, I was allowed to go uptown, to shop, to visit the library, to see a movie. These activities were in a central area mostly on a main street. Safe. Adjacent to this street was a narrow road with industry, and small businesses. The street made a nice round about way to visit upper main. I was forbidden from walking that street as it also connected to the area where most of the town's populace of black people lived. I walked it anyway but always feared what might happen to me. Is this the real-life boogeyman Horace describes? Yet on that connector street I used to pass a black church where on Sunday mornings you could hear the most beautiful and uplifting singing. How could that be something to fear? Such confusion for this young girl. This may sound simplistic but there were many other implied threats like this. I was taught to fear those different than me. This is not an excuse my bias, it is an attempt to understand and to learn.
A thought-provoking read that will stay with me.
lomesia's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Torture
zoes_human's review against another edition
informative
4.0
What is life like in a black body behind the thin blue line? What does one see from there?
Matthew Horace is a law enforcement veteran with 28 years of experience at federal, state, and local levels. In The Black and the Blue, he examines the toxic aspects of police culture—the racism, the sexism, the "code of silence"—that allow brutality to flourish. I was most impressed at his willingness to openly confess to his own culpability within the system and his regret for the same. He looks not only at what is wrong, but what is necessary to fix the problem, not just within law enforcement but within our culture as a whole.
On the whole, this book provides a valuable perspective of a pervasive problem.
Matthew Horace is a law enforcement veteran with 28 years of experience at federal, state, and local levels. In The Black and the Blue, he examines the toxic aspects of police culture—the racism, the sexism, the "code of silence"—that allow brutality to flourish. I was most impressed at his willingness to openly confess to his own culpability within the system and his regret for the same. He looks not only at what is wrong, but what is necessary to fix the problem, not just within law enforcement but within our culture as a whole.
On the whole, this book provides a valuable perspective of a pervasive problem.
kara4's review against another edition
5.0
I have a lot of thoughts on this book....I wanted to read and learn more from the viewpoint of the Black police officer, and what their perspective is regarding the intersection of policing in America and race. This is not a perspective I have heard or read over the last year. I was told about this book, and was anxious to dig in. The author, Matthew Horace, is a Black man with over 30 years as a law enforcement officer in varying roles, and in varying cities. His experience is extensive. With this book, he gives his own personal thoughts and perspectives, but he spends quite a bit of it offering views and perspectives from other officers around the nation. He gives quite a bit of history about different cases, people, and situations along the way. It is extremely helpful to gain more understanding of how policing works in America, what’s wrong, and how police are asked to do and play roles they have not been trained—for example how the author speaks to the roles community partners need to play as well. The author does speak to the history of racism, and how it shows up both with officers, and how it plays out in policing. He gives many examples. Prepare to be angered and frustrated as the most high needs communities take the brunt of this. There were some sections that I’ll highlight that I thought were important...
1. Pg1..”Implicit bias lives in our police departments, just as it exists among our coworkers, families, friends, and associates. The textbook definition of implicit bias says it is the attitudes or stereotypes that we all have. They, in turn, affect our encounters with people, and influence our actions and decisions in an unconscious manner. Bias is different than racism and sexism. Racism and sexism affect the conscious prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race or sex based on the belief that one’s own race or sex is superior. Implicit biases are attitudes and assumptions ingrained in our subconscious.”
2.pg109 “We are in the process, in Chicago, of trying to turn this big boat around the way society wants us to police now. Before, society wanted us to be warriors. Now, they’re telling us we don’t want warriors; we want guardians. We want you to be more of a guardian. A warrior goes out and wants to get arrests, to protect the law. If there’s a gray area, you fall on the side of the law and let the judicial system figure out how to handle it.”
3.pg141 “It is unfortunate that there are people who see this continuum of Black Lives Matter and Police Lives Matter as being on either end of the equation. It’s such a false equivalency. It’s not a matter of one being on one end of the spectrum and another being on the opposite end. There’s nothing that says people who care about the past and the future of people of color-and who realize that we have a lot of bad history and that it takes a toll in many ways and that there are still a lot of bigoted attitudes- are anti police. We can acknowledge that and it’s not saying what police do is not important, or that police officers’ lives are not important. There is nothing that says addressing the first means you’re not committed to the second. The great majority of the black community want a good relationship with the police.”
So, a hard but necessary read- especially for someone like me who is a white, suburban, stay at home mom, who has never been impoverished or suffered trauma or racism. This is the history that others like me need to be reading- and then figure out how to get involved and help be part of the solution. This was a very good and helpful read. Highly recommend.
1. Pg1..”Implicit bias lives in our police departments, just as it exists among our coworkers, families, friends, and associates. The textbook definition of implicit bias says it is the attitudes or stereotypes that we all have. They, in turn, affect our encounters with people, and influence our actions and decisions in an unconscious manner. Bias is different than racism and sexism. Racism and sexism affect the conscious prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race or sex based on the belief that one’s own race or sex is superior. Implicit biases are attitudes and assumptions ingrained in our subconscious.”
2.pg109 “We are in the process, in Chicago, of trying to turn this big boat around the way society wants us to police now. Before, society wanted us to be warriors. Now, they’re telling us we don’t want warriors; we want guardians. We want you to be more of a guardian. A warrior goes out and wants to get arrests, to protect the law. If there’s a gray area, you fall on the side of the law and let the judicial system figure out how to handle it.”
3.pg141 “It is unfortunate that there are people who see this continuum of Black Lives Matter and Police Lives Matter as being on either end of the equation. It’s such a false equivalency. It’s not a matter of one being on one end of the spectrum and another being on the opposite end. There’s nothing that says people who care about the past and the future of people of color-and who realize that we have a lot of bad history and that it takes a toll in many ways and that there are still a lot of bigoted attitudes- are anti police. We can acknowledge that and it’s not saying what police do is not important, or that police officers’ lives are not important. There is nothing that says addressing the first means you’re not committed to the second. The great majority of the black community want a good relationship with the police.”
So, a hard but necessary read- especially for someone like me who is a white, suburban, stay at home mom, who has never been impoverished or suffered trauma or racism. This is the history that others like me need to be reading- and then figure out how to get involved and help be part of the solution. This was a very good and helpful read. Highly recommend.
elturko64's review against another edition
5.0
A powerful and difficult book to read. The writing is very personal and accessible too most readers, while the content itself is difficult mainly because of the subject matter. Racism in law enforcement is sort of a no brainier. I was first aware of it as a kid due to the 'Rodney King' incident. However I didn't realize how widespread the racism was. There was even one moment in the book where the author Matthew Horace brings up an incident that happened in the area that I grew up in. The incident involved racial profiling, where the author asked his fellow officers what the suspect did. The
white fellow officers would key the radio microphone to make a clicking sound in a show of sarcastic disapproval at his question. This shook me to my core, as did most moments in this book. I don't think I'll read this again anytime soon, due to the emotional effect it had on me. But I think its a book that's worth reading and it's one of my favorite non fiction books in recent memory.
white fellow officers would key the radio microphone to make a clicking sound in a show of sarcastic disapproval at his question. This shook me to my core, as did most moments in this book. I don't think I'll read this again anytime soon, due to the emotional effect it had on me. But I think its a book that's worth reading and it's one of my favorite non fiction books in recent memory.
brandinh's review against another edition
5.0
Horace has delivered a searing look at the reality of relations between our nation’s police forces and communities of color. He ends the book with a call to action, “Everyone can do something.” Leaving me thinking, “What will I do?”
bookanonjeff's review against another edition
3.0
Missing Two Very Important Words. In this book by former high ranking ATF agent Matthew Horace, we get an inside look at the problems and perils of policing in America through the eyes of a man who is both black and blue.
The book overall was very surprising to me, as I happen to be a former leader in the Cop Block movement, who has been active in fighting police brutality since a few years before anyone had ever heard of Michael Brown or Black Lives Matter (the organization). It was surprising in its balance, in that he at minimum admitted how bad police are, his own particular abuses, and that this is not "a few bad apples", but the entire system and culture. All of this was refreshing to hear a cop say, and very welcome.
At the same time, however, rather than fully accept responsibility for *not killing people*, Horace routinely makes excuses and says that the ultimate responsibility for ending police brutality lies with politicians, community leaders, mental health providers, businesses, indeed *anyone* but police themselves.
Structure wise, the book spends quite a bit of time - roughly half its 14 total chapters (counting the epilogue as a chapter) - looking at the New Orleans and Chicago police departments specifically. The rest is a more general look using Horace's career as a lens. He looks at a few specific and infamous incidents, including the Danzinger Bridge, the aforementioned Michael Brown case that spawned the Black Lives Matter organization, and the Laquan Mcdonald case that threatened to plunge Chicago into chaos, through the lens of someone who both investigated and trained police in proper procedures, and often makes it a point to point out exactly where the police made the mistakes that resulted in the body bags.
Unfortunately there are also a number of grammar errors throughout the book, often a misplaced word similar to a word that was clearly intended.
Overall, this is a recommended book, if only because it is so thorough, balanced, and from this particular viewpoint. I would still recommend Radley Balko's 2013 classic The Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of Police in America as a better look at the overall issue, but this is a solid companion to that book. I'm going with 3 stars for now, but honestly there was considerable debate within my head between three and four stars, and I can see cases for both.
The reason for the 3 stars? Even while admitting his own abuses, he neglects two very important words America needs to hear from even formerly abusive cops:
I'm Sorry.
The book overall was very surprising to me, as I happen to be a former leader in the Cop Block movement, who has been active in fighting police brutality since a few years before anyone had ever heard of Michael Brown or Black Lives Matter (the organization). It was surprising in its balance, in that he at minimum admitted how bad police are, his own particular abuses, and that this is not "a few bad apples", but the entire system and culture. All of this was refreshing to hear a cop say, and very welcome.
At the same time, however, rather than fully accept responsibility for *not killing people*, Horace routinely makes excuses and says that the ultimate responsibility for ending police brutality lies with politicians, community leaders, mental health providers, businesses, indeed *anyone* but police themselves.
Structure wise, the book spends quite a bit of time - roughly half its 14 total chapters (counting the epilogue as a chapter) - looking at the New Orleans and Chicago police departments specifically. The rest is a more general look using Horace's career as a lens. He looks at a few specific and infamous incidents, including the Danzinger Bridge, the aforementioned Michael Brown case that spawned the Black Lives Matter organization, and the Laquan Mcdonald case that threatened to plunge Chicago into chaos, through the lens of someone who both investigated and trained police in proper procedures, and often makes it a point to point out exactly where the police made the mistakes that resulted in the body bags.
Unfortunately there are also a number of grammar errors throughout the book, often a misplaced word similar to a word that was clearly intended.
Overall, this is a recommended book, if only because it is so thorough, balanced, and from this particular viewpoint. I would still recommend Radley Balko's 2013 classic The Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of Police in America as a better look at the overall issue, but this is a solid companion to that book. I'm going with 3 stars for now, but honestly there was considerable debate within my head between three and four stars, and I can see cases for both.
The reason for the 3 stars? Even while admitting his own abuses, he neglects two very important words America needs to hear from even formerly abusive cops:
I'm Sorry.