Crime Americano, Um

Himself - Ciy Councilmember: Mr. President, all of us I think have been stunned by what has happened. And I can't imagine that the chief or anybody else in the city would condone the kind of conversation that took place-both electronically and by voice- in that Foothill division that night. Blacks are not animals. They're not lizards. They're not apes. They're not gorillas anymore than any of us are. They're human beings. The first way to open the door to brutalizing people in any place is to cheapen their worth as human beings. And when I read the transcripts of the conversation, I was appalled. But the ability to freely converse in racist terminology suggests a level of tolerance for that kind of discussion that- that is unacceptable by any standard of decency.