If everyone would just read the lyrics they would see that this is NOT an anti-cop song. It's about the difficulty of making snap decisions in todays society. If anything, it talks about the difficulty of being a cop and making the right decision.

This is copied from the Backstage board:

Springsteen writes explicity about "American Skin" in the brand new edition of Songs, his longest statement by far about the controversy and the song itself. Bruce writes, "Though the song was critical, it was not 'anti-police' as some thought." As he also points out, the first verse is from the point of view of a police officer, "kneeling over his body in the vestibule, praying for his life." Rather than being an indictment of police, if the song points a finger at anyone, Springsteen suggests that it points at all of us in this country, the singer included. "The idea was here," he writes: "Here is what systemic racial injustice, fear, and paranoia do to our children, our loved ones, ourselves. Here is the price in blood."

Kathleen