Stupid Black Man

As a much younger man, harassment from cops was a way of life. For years, rarely a week went by, sometimes hardly a night would pass, when I wasn't questioned, searched, frisked, or rough handed by some dude carrying a badge (and a gun, a stick, pepper spray, cuffs, and a real heavy flashlight that hurt when it struck).

Of course, usually I wasn't doing anything deserving of such affection. Well, not at that moment anyway. But it was suspicion enough just to be young and nearby (or just the slowest runner).
And statistics will bear out: drunken white boys out at 3am are not likely going to choir practice.

Like I said, it was just an accepted part of life, whether I liked it or not.
Not all encounters went smoothly. And I wasn't always respectful. I know, some may find that hard to believe.
And while sometimes, it was just a cop being an asshole, other times, I was just being an asshole toward the cop. And it wasn't unusual for an otherwise smooth encounter to go wrong based upon the latter.

Eventually, I learned a few tricks to life: Don't draw attention to yourself. Don't be where they are. If they show up anyway, leave before they know you're there.
And when ordered to put your hands up, it's less painful to just fucking do it.

You see, not all cops are assholes. And not all dudes out late are causing trouble. A pattern develops that if you are wise, you'll notice a thing or two: the sweeter one behaves toward the cop, the lot gentler he is toward you.
If you are belligerent, you will be treated, rightly so, as a belligerent. Duh.
It's really not that hard to figure out.(Unless, apparently, you are a black Harvard professor)

And if you are in a situation where there is no reason to find yourself in trouble, just co-operate. State your case and answer the cop's questions.
The cop has a hard job as it is. Making it difficult by punishing him for whatever 'cop profiling' is going through your educated-beyond-your-ability-to-reason mind will make your day just that much rougher. This is in addition to already proving yourself the fool.

And trust me on this: a cop would rather not arrest anybody. It increases his work load, reports have to be filed, and adds to his frustration (which may come out on the next 'innocent' suspect.)

Strutting and threatening, playing the Angry Negro when it's not warranted just makes it more difficult to take you seriously, on top of showing yourself to be the Ass you really are. Not to mention adding to the reputation that black men have earned of being combative, unruly and criminal. (Police profiling is based upon statistics, you stupid dipshit.)

I've had my experiences. Some out there might not think I'm very smart, and a Harvard professor would likely agree.
But there is something called wisdom, which I take it is not a prerequisite to qualify as a professor at Harvard.