Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
You have to excuse me, but I laughed at the "redneck" comment - while I've never met you, the image I have had in my mind over the years was anything but a "redneck"
i am pretty much the exact opposite of a redneck. but i suppose the person was looking for a white person slur, and that's what came to mind.
So you profile white people?? You said you profile people all the time who commit the vast majority of street crime. Obviously you would never profile a black person as a criminal as you're past posts boasts. So you only profile a white person as a criminal. What a racist.
i'm not sure what you're talking about here.
where i live, yes, the vast majority of street crime is committed by black males, and the vast majority of victims are black males. setting aside the problematic term of "black on black" crime or violence (as if it counts less), i don't think it's out of line for me to be alert and aware. i also profile on age and especially gender.
however, i don't seek people out and follow them and walk around armed like i'm fucking robocop.
and i'm also aware that if i stiffen as someone passes, i've sent out signals that i'm sure they pick up on. i try to be aware of that, and i'm not sure what i could do differently, but i'm also aware that it would drive me bonkers if white ladies clutched their purses every time i walked by.
I'm sure you've been profiled as a gay man and didn't even know it. It just shows how far we've come to accepting the gay lifestyle that you don't even recognize it.
being a vegetarian is a lifestyle, being gay is not.
i'm sure people know i'm gay, but i can honestly say that i've never felt threatened at all (can't say the same for some of my friends, however, as i know people who have been bashed and physically harassed). but Memphis and i are thick, rock solid men. and we also don't go places where we might feel threatened, and being gay you can usually "pass" if you need to, whereas you really can't hide being black. or white.
Btw. Sorry for jumping on Pres Obama the other day. I only seen a few soundbites of his speech on the news and figured it was an answer to one specific question. Didn't realize it was a 17 min speech. The news kept showing the same 4 sentences. I just recently watched it and thought it was very good.
i experienced some kind of hassle from pretty much every nationality there - and the guys on the train were French but high as kites and very very rough! needed eyes in the back of my head in Paris just to survive unscathed lol
exactly. there is a degree of "street smarts" that one needs in pretty much every city in the world. the only time i've ever been actively (attempted) robbed was in Prague (by a white woman, and i literally pushed her away from me as she went for my wallet) and the only time i've seen an organized pickpocketing was by white girls on a train in Belgium.
profiling is a part of that. but we need to be aware of the effects of profiling on other individuals, how the assumption of criminality breeds resentment and anger, and being a member of a minority that's still socially acceptable to persecute and demean by no less than members of Congress, i think i get it, the anger that must come when you haven't done anything wrong but someone is acting like you're about to do something wrong. it's maddening.
but another difference is, unlike GZ, i protect myself and that's it. i take defensive steps, not proactive, shit-starting steps. and i don't walk around with a gun.