Racism: glorified hyperbole in America

[Diemen]

Originally Posted by the iron horse

-The coffee house I operated in the 90s in my town was located not far from the police station. One Saturday night before midnight I parked my truck by the side entrance by a door to load up the trash. It was a one hour parking zone.

-About thirty minutes later I was called outside. A police officer quickly got in my face tell me I was over parked and he was writing a ticket. When I started to explain his demeanor quickly escalated and it was like he was daring me to move or say anything else. He was trying to get me into an altercation. His charge that my truck had been parked for hours was wrong and I really felt like pushing back. I backed off, took the ticket and moved my truck.

Notice how this incident ended in you merely getting a ticket?

[PhilsFan]

It's about time we stop judging the impact and frequency of racism based on what we see in our everyday lives because our individual bubbles are such a minuscule representation of the issues in this country and this world.

[the iron horse]

Originally Posted by Diemen

Notice how this incident ended in you merely getting a ticket?

It did but only because I backed off.

Believe my blood was up at that moment and I was ready to push back
because I knew my truck had not been parked that long. The guy had a
pumped up wild look in his eye, He was pushing me to fight. I almost took his bait.

He was a bad cop.

For all I know, if I had push back he might have shot me.


I can understand how a young person might be in a similar situation
and be pushed into fighting back.

An officer should never act in an aggressive harassing way to prompted
an altercation.

[the iron horse]

Originally Posted by Galeongirl

It is about time yes, but how do we get to that point?

That is exactly the question I hope we can discuss here
and I hope our society will discuss.

[mikal]

We had a situation in Green Bay that was under investigation and ultimately dismissed in favor of the cop. No racism involved, just a complete nut job of a cop that's had multiple complaints over the last few years. While racism is definitely a component in the Ferguson case, I think an underlying issue is that there are a lot of over aggressive cops that just shouldn't be in that profession.

http://youtu.be/KDqP-4uxJ9k




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[BVS]

Originally Posted by the iron horse

That is exactly the question I hope we can discuss here

and I hope our society will discuss.

A starting point is to recognize that it does exist, where it exists, and that it's not hyperbole.


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[Irvine511]

Originally Posted by the iron horse

And I guess I am funny, I just don't see this rampant racism in my interactions with people day to day.

I just believe it is time we judge people by their character (actions) and stop putting select groups of people into categories where actions cannot be judged because of skin color.

do you see a contradiction here?

[the iron horse]

Originally Posted by BVS

A starting point is to recognize that it does exist, where it exists, and that it's not hyperbole.


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Where did I say racism does not exist?

Please name a country where it does not exist.


The hyperbole is this narrative that every incident is about race.

That is the narrative that is trying to keep the fires of racism flaming
and not trying to bring us together.

[cobl04]

The slightly angry response from the black community in Ferguson suggests it might have something to do with race.

[nbelcik]

Originally Posted by cobl04

The slightly angry response from the black community in Ferguson suggests it might have something to do with race.

And the fact that black men are killed by police all the time. Eric Garner is just another recent example. There's a reason why the black community is so upset and it's because this isn't an isolated incident, this happens everyday in America.


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[the iron horse]

Originally Posted by nbelcik

And the fact that black men are killed by police all the time. Eric Garner is just another recent example. There's a reason why the black community is so upset and it's because this isn't an isolated incident, this happens everyday in America.


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Do you know how many blacks have been shot in Chicago since January?

26 last week.

Post the number
and cite source.

Police are killing blacks every day?
Post the number
and cite source.

[iron yuppie]

Can we please stop using Chicago as a poster-child for murders? Per-capita it is not even in the top 20 in the USA.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by the iron horse

Where did I say racism does not exist?



Please name a country where it does not exist.





The hyperbole is this narrative that every incident is about race.



That is the narrative that is trying to keep the fires of racism flaming

and not trying to bring us together.

The problem lies on both sides; the ones that makes everything about race, and the ones that ignore it's happening.


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[LJT]

Originally Posted by the iron horse

Do you know how many blacks have been shot in Chicago since January?

26 last week.

Post the number
and cite source.

Police are killing blacks every day?
Post the number
and cite source.

What we are discussing here is state violence and racism against a group of people, the internal community violence can be dealt with once we all as a society stop being passive in letting institutionalised racism be.

It is well researched and documented that black people get treated very differently to white people, higher incarceration rates and more likely to have exceptional force used against them. Or do you think black people are just more naturally violent?

It was only when us Irish were stopped being treated as sub-human animals that we were allowed to move up in the world, that came at the unfortunate expense of black people.

[AEON]

Originally Posted by BVS

The problem lies on both sides; the ones that makes everything about race, and the ones that ignore it's happening.


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That's very true. When I see black people on TV claiming the video of Michael Brown is "photoshopped" I think, "There is no hope for the Midwest black community." Then I see Captain Ronald Johnson, a black man from Ferguson, on TV acting like a true servant-leader, I change my mind.

I think many of will always give the benefit of the doubt to our "tribe" first. But we need to catch it early and let reason be our guide. When we see events like this on the news - we need look at the facts and perhaps wait a few days before developing an opinion. It's so rare the media gets the story right.

It may turn out that Michael Brown was indeed a "thug" - but as a society, we need to examine the root cause, address it, and solve it - not deny he was a thug (he was) or simply write him off (he's still a child of God).

[Irvine511]

Originally Posted by iron yuppie

Can we please stop using Chicago as a poster-child for murders? Per-capita it is not even in the top 20 in the USA.

Right?

The only reason it gets brought up so much is because Obama.


Sent from

[BVS]

Originally Posted by AEON

It may turn out that Michael Brown was indeed a "thug" - but as a society, we need to examine the root cause, address it, and solve it - not deny he was a thug (he was) or simply write him off (he's still a child of God).

But the truth is, it doesn't matter if he's a thug or not. That's just a distraction. At the end of the day it comes down to if this was a justifiable shooting. There have been 5 unarmed black men killed by cops in the last month.

So far nothing about this story proves to me it was justifiable, but not all the facts are out there, and some of the facts that are are fishy.



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[Diemen]

Originally Posted by the iron horse

Do you know how many blacks have been shot in Chicago since January?

26 last week.

Post the number
and cite source.

Police are killing blacks every day?
Post the number
and cite source.

Black People Are Not Ignoring 'Black On Black' Crime - The Atlantic

There is a pattern here, but it isn't the one Eugene Robinson (for whom I have a great respect) thinks. The pattern is the transmutation of black protest into moral hectoring of black people. Don Imus profanely insults a group of black women. But the real problem is gangsta rap. Trayvon Martin is killed. This becomes a conversation about how black men are bad fathers. Jonathan Martin is bullied mercilessly. This proves that black people have an unfortunate sense of irony.

The politics of respectability are, at their root, the politics of changing the subject—the last resort for those who can not bear the agony of looking their country in the eye. The policy of America has been, for most of its history, white supremacy. The high rates of violence in black neighborhoods do not exist outside of these facts—they evidence them.

[Diemen]

As for systemic racism, just look at how much more favorably the media portrays white killers compared to black victims:

When The Media Treats White Suspects And Killers Better Than Black Victims

Headline about white killer: Ala. suspect brilliant, but social misfit
Black shooting victim: Montgomery's latest shooting victim had history of narcotics abuse, tangles with law

White killer: Son in Staten Island murders was brlliant, athletic - but his demons were the death of parents
Black victim: Trayvon Martin was suspended three times from school

White killer: Oregon school shooting suspect had fascination with guns, but was devout Mormon, friends say
Black victim: Police: Slain Lakeland teen had been shot before, death possibly drug-related

White criminal: Straight A student plotted to bomb school
Black victim: Shooting victim had many run-ins with the law

Notice a pattern?

[cobl04]

^ wow.

I shared that on Twitter and was sent this in reply