How times change

In the article ''Black vs. Blue'', Meta Castarphen talks about the ''strife, even violence, between white policemen and African Americans, that seems to be an ever-present reality,unlimited by time or locality''.
Not so long ago, black people were completly banned from the mainstream of the American society; Decent jobs were off limits; no matter how much money they might have had, they were prevented from buying property outside predominantly black neighbourhoods. The resuliting situation was such, that white policemen interacted with black people only in matters of crisis and crime, seeing them predominantely as criminals. On the other hand, the black people got used to interacting with whites in position of authority, who seemed to have been determined to emphasize their superiority through brutality and rough language. The tensions between the black and the ''blue'' kept growing, up to the point of unequivocal hatred for each other.
The events that followed were staggering. Not so long ago in Dallas, Officer Glen Chase was fatally wounded by a black vagrant, who had been cheered on by other locals(mostly black) to assault the policeman. Next, in Miami, a white Hispanic officer shot an unarmed black motorcyclist for, as it turned out, no reason at all.
Towards the end of the article, Castarphen mentions C.O.P - Community-Oriented Policing. Contrary to the usual police practises, C.O.P members try to ''allay black residents latent suspicions about police with a different set of experiences''. They go around the city of Denton, knocking on doors, meeting the residents, listening to their concerns. Then, Castarphen explains how her encounter with the white police was quite different. The policemen were professional, kind and friendly, which was surprising for her. Obviously, she had prejudice about the ''blues''. This proves that the ''black'' and the ''blue'' are realizing the mistakes on their sides. Accepting the fact that prejudice on both sides was what lead to such racial tensions makes the society as a whole one step closer to putting an end to this issue. And here we are...its twenty years after the publication of ''Black vs. Blue'', and not only are the blacks no longer banned from ''the mainstream of virtually every aspect of American society'', but they have their own representative at the highest position possible: the President of the USA.

Indeed,change is possible...