Culture
IN THIS SECTION
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Discussion
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Why Culture Important
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A Good Mix
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Cultural Issues Which Can Impact Police Work
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Reverse Discrimination in Work Place
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Turfing and Everyone Wants to Rule the World
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Male Gender Roles
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Opinion: Machismo
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Discrimination
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Stereotyping
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Profiling
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DISCUSSION
Culture is a complex subject, a big topic. Various ways to look at it. Each person is likely to have his or her own slant on it.
For the purposes of this website, the term refers to social aspects around a group that are identifiable from any other group.
For example, a Native American culture, a Chinese culture or a white American culture. Most people have a general sense
about that.
Culture might be seen as a template you use in a word processor document; it is like a set of features added to a blank page.
A person born into this world is like a new document awaiting its template called Greek, Eastern European, Jew, Muslim,
Southern Baptist…..and so on….
The subject is taken further here to flesh out ideas about how certain group behaviors can lead to and support crime.
Usually crime does not operate in a vacuum. In addition, one society’s crime is another society’s freedom fight or resistance
movement. Our culture is about who raised us and where we grew up. We learn from our parents, aunts, sisters and
brothers, ministers or priests, coaches and school teachers. At least a piece of our childhood culture sticks with us for a
lifetime even if we move or marry someone from another culture.
Culture includes language, body language, sounds in language - for example, we can be speaking the same language but our
intonation, slang and preferred choice of words can be different based on nuances in our culture. Culture can include
visual aspects, like clothing, tattoos, hair styles, OK cars to drive and not OK cars, types of houses or neighborhoods and a
whole lot of other things. It can include taboos and things people can say or talk about and what they cannot discuss.
There can be punishment for breaking spoken and unspoken rules of conduct or going across certain lines. Please see Wall
of Silence in https://rivergold.net.
This subject about containing a social group in an identifiable subset of the greater population or globe takes us to who is
boss and how power is distributed or not. Some cultures want to pay more attention to this than others as a matter of what
is heard at home over a lifetime or how gangs can dominate and punish the local people for not conforming. If a child has
been beaten and verbally attacked into submission until he finds he has to become a tyrant to stop being squashed all the
time, this is part of a cultural issue.
As police officers and federal agents, a person comes to the job with a cultural background because no one is born and
raised in a vacuum. How a job is done or not done can be attributed at least partly to cultural patterning and beliefs. For
example, religious beliefs might create a tendency to think and respond in a certain way when confronted with some real
world problems. Some people might put a priority on religion over country, knowing that certain laws are expected
protocol but their beliefs are another thing. In a world of Nazis, following spiritual principles might be a good thing, but in
the USA in which the country did try to set up fair laws to protect people from vigilante behavior, it might be something else
to follow one’s principles and not the law. For example, if one’s religion suggests most women are sinful and need to lean
on their husbands or a primary male leader in the group, that individual in the USA might not play fair with a woman
needing help. The same thing can hold true in Afghanistan when a young boy is being chained to a bed and sexually abused
by a dominant male elder in the group; that group can say it’s OK to do that because of the culture; here in the USA the laws
indicate it is not OK to do that. One person’s social beliefs would clash with the American laws in that case.
Culture in policing can impact how people think and operate with themselves in the policing community and the public. For
example, it might be thought of as “cool” to keep your mouth shut about a fellow officer who is doing something wrong.
Also, a new police officer might find he is experiencing group pressure to follow along with beating members of the public
pulled over for a basic traffic stop. There can be intimidation to play along or lose one’s job or even one’s life.
Social pressures in policing communities can include mixed races and cultures clashing for dominance and the way to run
this country, and to indicate who is really boss here. For example, a La Raza member in a police group might want to work
things so that a certain Hispanic orientation is the way to go, not the general American way. That person could be fighting
the system from within. He could be working within and from a broader cultural network outside the police system, like
familiy members and friends from his old neighborhood, the prison system and even places like Mexico and certain areas in
Latin America.
On the other hand, a white cop with strong Irish Catholic tendencies might be working from another cultural predilection,
one in which the anger is over having gang fights between whites in his neighbhorhood and blacks from a certain gang
nearby. There can be strong ideas about abortion, women’s role in the house and world and other things that could cloud
his judgment on the police job. He might have old historic family ties to Irish Catholics in their fierce longterm battle
against the British. This can include old family secrets and stresses and strains which impact his judgment and behavior in
other aspects of his life, including on the job.
No matter how culture impacts us, the more sensitive and educated we become, the better we can think through the
possibilities and curb vigilante behavior. We can also be better problem solvers and more assertive about seeking help
when confronted by bullying or negligence on the job.
Why Culture is Important
We bring our upbringing, as well as racial and religious issues, into the police departments. Culture is the social
glue that binds people together. There are a set of characteristics and tendencies which make a culture distinct
from other cultures. It is likely culture was an evolutionary survival tool to keep families and extended families and
other social ties together against the odds of elements, animals and other tribes. Social tenaciousness and
cohesiveness might have made it easier to carry offspring to the next generations by increasing change of survival
until mating and birthing occurred. Group bonding might have taken pride in, with a feeling of part ownership of,
tribal babies (it’s an extension of me) so that mother and child were better taken care of, thus encouraging
continuance of the family line as extended tribal family. By having a wider sphere of identity, more people were
likely protected, kept under an overall umbrella which insured their genetic and cultural success to future
generations.
Crimes, including those by and against police officers, don’t occur in a vacuum. Group associations and male
gender roles can impact how an officer thinks and operates. Various roles can express themselves in police work as
an extension of those found in church, early childhood raising with male role models, an area’s social networks
including family and friends, and more. Also a sense of other can create a sense of us against them, as in civil rights
contexts. This might push certain tendencies to the forefront because a racial group feels themselves to be under
stress or otherwise fighting against the system, including the one that employs them. The other problem is that
they might want to rework this system to make it more like their culture. This can include erasing and supplanting
the old system with another one. When that happens, the original best intentions of United States laws and
practices can be thwarted. In police systems, this can spell disaster. Police persons who do not genuinely agree
with the American system need not become police officers in the United States. They need to take their cultural
and religious agendas elsewhere.
A good mix
Is there really anything like a “good mix?” What if a good mix includes “everyone but whites” or “everyone but
Muslims” or “everyone but Jews” - a mix of persons in several ways, but one that does not include some group or
another.
One way to prevent abuses in a police department, or any other governmental agency, is to firmly commit to the
ideas that true diversity include a good mix. In some areas of the country, we have to encourage people to seek a
good mix that includes whites; in other areas, we have to make sure the good mix includes African Americans or
some other non-white aspect. Too much of a good thing can spell disaster.
Cultural Issues That Can Impact Police Work
Male Gender Roles - see below
Machismo: see below
https://rivergold.net/hum-machismo.html
Shariah Islamic Fatwa and Shariah in general: - see below
https://rivergold.net/religion_middle-east-islamic-fatwa.html
Religiously connected sexual abuse that can impact police systems
one way or another
Catholic https://rivergold.net/religion_catholic_abuse.html
Mormon
Protestant https://rivergold.net/religion_baptist-abuse-southern-baptist-and-similar-types%20of-protestant-
fundalementalism-sexual-abuse.html
Religious Fanaticism
Also see Shariah Islam
Dominionism (Extreme Christianism) https://rivergold.net/religion_dominionism.html
TURFING
Everyone Wants to Rule the World
Turfing often refers to gangs taking over an area by putting up lots of graffiti in that place, having some dons or head chiefs
intimidating the area. It can include clothes, symbols and more. Police should see turf controlled areas as military priorities
in this day and age. They require strategic counter-operations on a government and military level so we can take back our
cities and towns from these thugs. Everyone who wants a normal and safe life, no matter their skin color, culture or
religious orientation should be on board in this priority operation. It requires both police and members of the public work
together and have good communication with mutual trust. It will require a high level of coordination and organization. Part
of the problem is we likely have had shadow operatives in with the planning against gangs, keeping things from really
happening all the way: somebody is paying somebody off, somebody is making money from international drug networks
supplying stuff to that area and so on. It is not that anti-gang operations have not been attempted in this country. They
have, many times in different ways over the years. It’s that we have a shadow operation keeping things in the old status
quo. We need to start unraveling the real players in these enterprises by exposing the various types of possible. The police
need to believe we can counter organized crime; many have lost hope in this country that this is actually possible.
With that in mind, turfing involves oppression. Sometimes the dominant culture is white, sometimes it is African American,
Mexican American, Native American, Chinese. When any one area in the USA seems to have succumbed to negativity and
discrimination against any one race, watch out. Sometimes the main race in the area is providing a cultural theme for
everyone else as if it is the only game in town. What we want to watch for are “good mixes” in this country to help push back
things becoming imperialistic. We want everybody to be safe, have equal employment opportunities and have equal
representation in all of the government services offered the public. If there is too much of one race or culture in
government and large national employers, we need to say Watch Out - who is really running the show here - a mafia? A
planned organized crime network geared toward just one kind of person? A religion? A civil rights group type, like one
dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood? Why aren’t there any whites here? Why aren’t there any blacks here? Why only
whites? Why only Hispanics? Use your eyes and ears and be prepared to go into the places you hand out your money to and
look around. Is this a place that would hire YOU? If not, why not? And if not, do you want to spend money here?
Police people need to be sensitive to their own racial, cultural and religious situation in terms of how it is played out in the
community they serve and their own work places. Most are very sensitive already to these subjects, but how can we take it
to a higher level so that we are all working together no matter our differences? For example, do we have Hispanic or Irish
officers playing out a Catholic theme in their neighborhoods? Is there a group of people in town, including police officers,
bus drivers, Salvation Army deliverers and more trying to get everyone “on board about Jesus” or about “Mohammad” or any
other religious belief to the point they are sharing inside information on a non-believer and targeting that person in certain
ways as he or she moves around town? Are police part of the problem, not part of the solution, in a network violence case
like this? If so, how do we investigate and stop it?
Cultural fanaticism often starts with religious fanaticism, but this is not always the case. Communists running through civil
rights movements and college campuses have been applying sinister agendas on a largely unaware American public for
decades. This brand of Communism can operate like a fanatical religion. Please see the author David Horowitz for more on
this topic; he was a Jewish Communist associated with the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1970s and pulled out after a violent
murder of one of his work associates made him realize it was an organized group of thugs who were more about violence
and oppression than any real civil rights. Police need to realize that hidden agendas in organized crime, often disguised as
civil rights movements, can impact many aspects of their jobs and can suck them into one side or the other of a plotted war
game designed to get everybody mad, mixed up, hating each other, pulling in groups like the ACLU for mega-bucks lawsuits,
paying off the media for fake news stories, screwing with judges and court cases, paying off or killing real witnesses, creating
fake suicides, disappearing people and the whole nine yards.
REVERSE DISCRIMINATION
When there is not a good mix - the mix is corrosive - reverse discrimination
How willing are your non-white employees ready to hire a white person in an all Hispanic department? How likely
are they to bully or disenfranchise that white person, or play various secretive games against him or her, including
setting him up or letting him take the rap for someone in the family (family, tribe, friendship networks, club or race)
whether inside or outside the police force? Once raised to management, how likely is a Hispanic in that department
to only hire Hispanics or Native Americans, excluding whites, from that time forward? Do they realize racial
multiplicity does in fact include white persons, not just a variety of non-whites? On the other hand, in an all white
department, how likely are the hiring managers to hire an African American or other person of color? How likely
are they to exclude a person of color from a sense of being on the team, advancement or pay raises? Is there any
bullying?
How willing are both white or non-white managers to play fair in hiring practices and on-the-job-treatment with
persons of another race? Is there a sense of teamwork and reciprocity between races and genders?
These questions apply to all government jobs across the country. Again, too much of a good thing can spell disaster
for American security. It can prevent proper police work from adhering to American laws designed to protect
people. A good mix can help push back anti-American agendas, white supremacist tendencies, religious cults and
regional quirks. It can help keep things from going underground; can encourage creative thinking; can bring in
outside ideas and innovation; can help prevent abusive tendencies from becoming a bad habit.
Reverse Discrimination in general (includes post offices or anywhere else)
Fed Employment Law Blog
https://www fedemploymentlaw com/blog/2016/06/reverse-discrimination-in-the-workplace-what-it-is---and-what-
to-do-about-it.shtml
Higgin Botham Blog
https://blog higginbotham net/how-to-hire-for-diversity-while-avoiding-reverse-discrimination-claims
XPert hr
https //www xperthr com/news/employers-should-be-careful-not-to-engage-in-reverse-discrimination/9311/
Eli Inc
https://www eliinc com/how-to-avoid-a-diversity-backlash-at-your-company/
Work Chron
https //work chron com/address-reverse-discrimination-workplace-16869.html
Modrall
2016/07/27 Update on Reverse Discrimination Claims in New Mexico. By Elizabeth A. Martinez
https //www modrall com/2016/07/27/update-on-reverse-discrimination-claims-in-new-mexico/
Excerpt: The New Mexico Court of Appeals recently considered the legal standard applying to employee
reverse-discrimination claims under the New Mexico Human Rights Act (“NMHRA”). Reverse discrimination
occurs when a member of a majority group is discriminated against on the basis of a protected factor, such as
race or gender. In Garcia v. Hatch Valley Public Schools, 2016-NMCA-034, cert. granted, 2016-NMCERT-___ (No.
S-1-SC-35641, Apr. 14, 2016), the court held that non-Hispanic workers can bring reverse-discrimination claims
under the NMHRA, and that such claims will be analyzed in nearly the same way as other NMHRA
discrimination claims. This holding makes it significantly easier for New Mexico employees to succeed on
reverse-discrimination claims under the NMHRA than under Title VII. As such, New Mexico employers could
see an increase in reverse discrimination claims and should take care to document non-discriminatory
reasons for all employment decisions, including decisions affecting traditional majority groups such as men
and non-Hispanics.
MALE GENDER ROLES
Machismo
https://rivergold.net/hum-machismo.html
Machismo lends itself to resistance and rebellion against mainstream gender equality practices in the United
States. The idea is the man should handle it in social contexts with women. This includes ego sensitivities of
various sorts, the most pronounced being sexual. There is a pride of male sexuality, a tendency to take a
conversation with a woman toward the sexual - it can get graphic fast, including visual images in his head
while talking to her; a crude but unfortunately realistic example is where he wants to show her how his penis
is and how good he is in bed; there might be sexual jokes running through his head or uttered against her
with the other guys in the room once she leaves the room, the jokes are at her expense and designed to
reconfirm male superiority. There can be an unwillingness to get down to business or to respond to her
questions or requests for help. He can become irritated inside in his mind, whether or not he says anything
about it, or he can find himself wanting to turn the conversation toward sex. There can be a tendency to not
really listen to what she has to say and to resent the fact she is taking up even brief dialogue space by
focusing on herself or what is on her mind.
There can be a reluctance for her to go into male turf, including areas like an automotive garage or a male-
only police department. The men can want to control certain activities of the woman, including body
language, forms of speech, when, how and where to eat, types of dress and more.
Frequently machismo can be connected to deep insecurities of manhood; it is suggested strong ties to the
Hispanic/Italian Catholic system can have influences. Where there has been sexual abuse of the male to male
sort, it can make men feel confused about their gender roles and sexual orientation; as a result, they might
feel the need to put on more exaggerated attitudes of manhood to cover up those troubling feelings.
When confronted with machismo, the men might make superficial signs of change, pretending to comply
with American value systems for gender equality, but down inside they are fighting it the whole time. Also,
their tendency is to convince themselves they are being nice and fair, but there is something missing in their
understanding of what it really feels like to be honestly fair with a woman. The most difficult part of
machismo is this aspect where they convince themselves they are complying when they really are not.
Somehow they just don’t get it; call it early childhood programming, mind control, culture, whatever, but
down inside this guy just doesn’t get it because he cannot and will not empathize with how the woman feels
by sensing how he would feel in her shoes if the tables were turned. Somehow he just simply is not able to
bridge the situation to be able to see it from her perspective. This is the gap in communication that prevents
machismo from truly evolving.
Beyond this, it is suggested here machismo is linked to ancient historical behaviors with roots across various
races and cultures, such as Asian, Far Eastern and Jewish peoples who spread into the Mediterranean and
Spain. Italy and Spain have similar issues as Hispanic peoples of the southwestern United States. It is taught
early through speech and inflections, body language, male role models and group dynamics between uncles,
grandparents, siblings, extended family across geographic distances. The programs run deep, making it hard
for men to stand back and look at themselves in order to make changes that are real and lasting.
It is suggested here that police departments be leery of hiring males exhibiting signs of exaggerated
machismo because it can lead to problems later - violence, sexual aberrations, lawsuits, unnecessary killings,
aggression during off hours, backtalk, retaliation against people who anger them, playing favorites with
family members, divulging secrets to cohorts and the lack of willingness to adapt to new ideas. Machismo
takes away from the cool-headed professionalism needed to stay out of trouble.
Shariah Islamic Fatwa and Shariah in general
https://rivergold.net/religion_middle-east-islamic-fatwa.html
The reason Fatwa is included on Police Factor is that more Islamic influences have occurred in this country
than many people realize. It enters the door through various channels, including Civil Rights groups, war
zone players who are influenced, cartels and gangs who have had interplay with Islam in Mexico and Latin
America and beyond. The danger of Islamic Shariah and Fatwa is the way it can slip in largely unrecognized
and unnoticed. You need to think of it as letting Dracula in the door. Once vampires get in, they go after the
blood. They often seem charming and amenable on their way in the door, but the fact is they have a plot to
take over.
Groups infected can be Christian fundamentalists, conservative Republican sectors, media, American land
space, strategic locations next to American governmental and military facilities. The people often have funds
for training so can come in through college and high tech jobs. People tend to over-simplify how potent the
danger is.
Fatwa is about attacks on women, but its roots in Shariah Islam need to be understood from the context of
broad anti-American agendas. In this regard, it’s about both women and men. Fatwas are the single-minded
goal to fight a woman who speaks out against the problems of Shariah Islam.
Shariah Islam is a male-dominated approach to life which subjugates women to intense civil rights abuses of
every kind. It is an extremist, totalitarian system of annihilation of a human’s dignity, self-respect, ability to
think for herself; it attempts to control her every thought, utterance and movement, including the control of
her finances and dress. The men behind Fatwas try to convince themselves it is in the best interests of Islamic
society to destroy people who contest their view of reality. The people involved are deeply programmed to
the point you cannot just simply talk them out of it. Wanting power through violence and force to subdue
enemies becomes a whole way of life. There is single-minded purpose to subdue the enemy.
Prison Culture
Can enter society, police systems, certain social services sectors
Cartel Culture
Can enter society, police systems, certain social services sectors
DISCRIMINATION
Stereotyping
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary
A standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group that represents an
oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment
Profiling
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary
The act of suspecting or targeting a person on the basis of observed characteristics
Updates: 2020/12/26 some editing