Attorney General William Barr: ‘I Don’t Think That the Law Enforcement System is Systemically Racist’
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

June 9, 2020

Attorney General William Barr: ‘I Don’t Think That the Law Enforcement System is Systemically Racist’

Attorney General William Barr said over the weekend that he doesn’t think the United States “law enforcement system is systemically racist” while he was a guest on CBS’s Face The Nation.

He continued by saying, “I understand the- the distrust, however, of the African-American community given the history in this country. I think we have to recognize that for most of our history, our institutions were explicitly racist. Since the 1960s, I think we’ve been in a phase of reforming our institutions and making sure that they’re in sync with our laws and aren’t fighting a rearguard action to impose inequities.”

“I think the reform is a difficult task, but I think it is working and progress has been made. I think one of the best examples is the military. The military used to be explicitly racist institution. And now I think it’s in the vanguard of bringing the races together and providing equal opportunity. I think law enforcement has been going through the same process.”

Face The Nation‘s Margaret Brennan asked Barr if he thinks there should be some tweaking of the rules and reduced immunity to go after some of the bad cops? His response:

“I don’t think you need to reduce immunity to go after the bad cops, because that would result certainly in police pulling back. It’s, you know, policing is the toughest job in the country. And I, and I frankly, think that we have generally the vast, overwhelming majority of police are good people. They’re civic-minded people who believe in serving the public. They do so bravely. They do so righteously.”

Yet, he admits that there are a few bad apples but doesn’t feel that the system itself requires police reform.

“I- I think that there are instances of bad cops. And I think we have to be careful about automatically assuming that the actions of an individual necessarily mean that their organization is rotten. All organizations have people who engage in misconduct, and you sometimes have to be careful as for when you ascribe that to the whole organization and when it really is some errant member who isn’t following the rules.”

You can watch the interview below.

 


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