The Badge and the Blind Spot

What happens when you're treated like a suspect before you've done anything wrong?In The Badge and the Blind Spot: Racism, Profiling, Power, and the Fight for Justice, Alander Pulliam takes readers on a deeply personal and thought-provoking journey into the realities of modern policing, racial profiling, institutional power, and accountability in America. The story begins with a seemingly ordinary walk to a store in Little Rock, Arkansas.
But a routine encounter with law enforcement becomes a life-changing lesson about perception, authority, and the presumption of suspicion. From that moment forward, Pulliam began asking difficult questions about a system that claims to protect and serve while often treating entire communities as threats. Combining firsthand experiences with criminal justice education, legal analysis, historical context, and documented examples from across the United States, Pulliam examines: Racial profiling and the presumption of suspicion The lasting effects of systemic racism Police accountability and misconduct The influence of incentives, quotas, and revenue generation in law enforcement Civil asset forfeiture, fines, fees, and cash bail The relationship between power, justice, and community trust Constitutional rights and how citizens can protect themselves This book challenges the belief that racism disappeared when laws changed.
Instead, it argues that while legislation can regulate behavior, it cannot change character, incentives, or institutional culture. Through powerful storytelling and sharp analysis, Pulliam exposes how many of the same inequalities that existed in previous generations continue to survive in new forms. Neither anti-police nor anti-law, The Badge and the Blind Spot is a call for honesty, accountability, and meaningful reform.
It asks readers to look beyond slogans, political talking points, and official narratives to examine the realities experienced daily by millions of Americans. Provocative, timely, and unflinchingly direct, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in civil rights, criminal justice, policing, public policy, constitutional rights, and the ongoing struggle for equality under the law. Justice begins with seeing what others have chosen to ignore.
The question is: Are we willing to confront the blind spot?