"Black Lives Matter" - it's stupid. Just cut the crap.....

[roseaster]

Kind of like when I said "gang banger" and you automatically assumed I was saying "black". Works both ways.

You don't see the difference in someone that dresses like Steve Harvey compared to someone that dresses like Snoop Dogg? One is in fact a former gang member and has been in prison for murder. Can you guess which one?

Actually, I don't believe I addressed you at all. FTR one of the biggest gangs in my area is actually Latino.

There is a vast difference between being Snoop Dogg and dressing like Snoop Dogg. I would have absolutely no fear of the actual Snoop Dogg at all. I'm actually a Snoop fan. IJS. ...and Snoop was charged with murder. He was found not guilty as it was judged to be self defense.

However, as it was said upthread, making judgments based on superficial things like style of dress, skin color, accent is, pretty much, the definition of prejudice. Wearing a hijab doesn't make someone a terrorist any more than baggy pants make them a gang member, or a white guy with a shaved head makes him a white supremacist.

I also believe that I said upthread that EVERYONE needs to examine their own ingrained prejudices, not just the police. It is a systemic and societal problem.

 

[JimMIA]

O.J. Simpson was found not guilty. Do you agree with that decision? If not, then perhaps you can understand why I (and
I'm sure many others)won't change my opinion based on that idiot cop being absolved.

In both cases, "Not Guilty" does NOT mean absolved. It only means the prosecution failed to prove the charges, in the jury's best judgement, beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Many of them also don't have fathers.

Not having a father in the home doesn't mean you do not have father.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Given what the Jury had, acquittal was inevitable. The worst thing that came out of that trial was the Kardashians.

Do you agree with their verdict?

 

[roseaster]

In both cases, "Not Guilty" does NOT mean absolved. It only means the prosecution failed to prove the charges, in the jury's best judgement, beyond a reasonable doubt.

I think most of us realize that. Or will admit it.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I was going to work on this loooong post addressing "superficial traits" and making "judgments" based upon them, but decided that probably wouldn't go anywhere. Went to delete and instead hit "tab" which posted it! Sorry -- pls ignore.

 

[sunshinehighway]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/12/us/wnba-minnesota-lynx-black-lives-matter-shirts/

So since a lot of the discussion here had been wrong in their actions I think, it's only fair to link this. Maybe it's time for the bad behavior to stop on both sides.

Btw, I'm totally expecting people to defend these actions and tell me it's fine because it's not violent and the women are anti cop.

 

[JimMIA]

I think most of us realize that. Or will admit it.

Actually, I don't believe I addressed you at all.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/12/us/wnba-minnesota-lynx-black-lives-matter-shirts/

So since a lot of the discussion here had been wrong in their actions I think, it's only fair to link this. Maybe it's time for the bad behavior to stop on both sides.

Btw, I'm totally expecting people to defend these actions and tell me it's fine because it's not violent and the women are anti cop.

I think they were wrong to wear those t-shirts to begin with. Walking out is also not the best way to respond, though I understand the sentiment in the current context.

However, I think there is no problem at all with the bold part below -- this is totally voluntary -- they don't have to be there, and I understand not wanting to:

"Four of them walked off the job that night and removed themselves from a list of officers working future games, according to the Star Tribune, which cited a local police union leader."​

 

[sunshinehighway]

I think they were wrong to wear those t-shirts to begin with. Walking out is also not the best way to respond, though I understand the sentiment in the current context.

It's wrong to make a statement by wearing a shirt? Seems like a non violent way to make a statement.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

It's wrong to make a statement by wearing a shirt? Seems like a non violent way to make a statement.

MY OPINION is that they should keep it away from the game itself. Then do whatever they want on their own time.

I think this about ALL political and other "statements" made in this context.

"Nonviolent" doesn't automatically make it appropriate to me in EVERY context.

 

[sunshinehighway]

MY OPINION is that they should keep it away from the game itself. Then do whatever they want on their own time.

I think this about ALL political and other "statements" made in this context.

In this context? I'm not sure what you mean. They were supporting a cause. athletes do it all the time. Football during October is a sea of pink. Do you disagree with that too?

 

[bcla]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/12/us/wnba-minnesota-lynx-black-lives-matter-shirts/

So since a lot of the discussion here had been wrong in their actions I think, it's only fair to link this. Maybe it's time for the bad behavior to stop on both sides.

Btw, I'm totally expecting people to defend these actions and tell me it's fine because it's not violent and the women are anti cop.

They weren't necessarily anti-cop. The t-shirts they wore even expressed support for Dallas Police.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

In this context? I'm not sure what you mean. They were supporting a cause. athletes do it all the time. Football during October is a sea of pink. Do you disagree with that too?

See my last response.

 

[JimMIA]

I understand both points of view and don't have any criticism of either.

If I were a black athlete, I would have made a statement.

If I were a police officer grieving for fallen brothers, I would have walked out...and never gone back.

 

[sunshinehighway]

See my last response.

That's just a way to not answer a specific question.

 

[sunshinehighway]

I understand both points of view and don't have any criticism of either.

If I were a black athlete, I would have made a statement.

If I were a police officer grieving for fallen brothers, I would have walked out...and never gone back.

This is a totally honest question...

Why? Besides the fact that they had something on their for the tragedy in Dallas also, what is wrong with showing supportfor a cause in a non violent way? As a hired professional why would it be ok to walk out on a job. Isn't that just continuing the one against another atmosphere we all day we want to solve?
The shooter in Dallas wasn't a member of blm. By all accounts he was a lone wolf type.

 

[Mikie]

How about being stopped for being the wrong color in a white neighborhood with virtually no crime? It happens and we were told "if you don't like it you people can stay out of my town."

Or being asked during a routine traffic stop if my new car was REALLY mine, if it was legal, if I had any drugs on me and WHY was I in THAT neighborhood. Ummm Bc I freaken LIVE HERE. All while he literally had his head looking around my tires like I was transporting guns and drugs.

So then this thread has been helpful to you as you learned something new. Driving While Black is, unfortunately, a real thing. Google it. Google Chris Rock and Driving While Black. Why do you think Philando Castile was pulled over so many times? Why do you think that in addition to the birds and bees talk, every parent of a black driver, especially a young man, has the "What to do when you are pulled over for no reason" talk with their son or daughter? It is a very real problem.

Incidents of being pulled over for driving while black should be addressed and this discussion has made me more aware of it than I had been before. However, like in most things, it's important to note that not EVERY case of a black person being pulled over is a result of systemic racism; and it's not true that NO cases are racist, but the truth is somewhere in the middle. A number of other posters have explained that it happens to white people too for being in the "wrong" place. My upper-50's white mom got pulled over coming from her lilly-white suburban neighborhood on her way through MY lillier-whitier neighborhood at 2am (coming to sit with my older child when I went into labor with #2). The cop was questioning her on why she was their in that area "so far" from her home (different suburb 25 min away) at that time of night. . . I suppose her 2 year old Kia sedan was not as nice as the Land Rovers and BMWs in the area, or perhaps most residents simply aren't out at 2am. . .

My point is that it is important not to deal in absolutes. It's very necessary for white folks to not assume driving-while-black is a fiction, but also important for people of color not to assume routine traffic stops are entirely due to their color and therefore believe that cops are universally prejudiced against them.

And white people also teach their kids to defer to police officers, keep their hands on the wheel, answer only the most basic questions before respectfully requesting a parent/lawyer. I am surprised that the teaching of this is taken to be a "sad fact" applicable only to minorities.

This is totally and absolutely FALSE. In fact, most of the time police officers are held to a higher standard than average citizens.

Why? Because they have specialized training that gives them both special skills and special responsibilities.

You stated this in response to a prior poster who said that police have more leeway in the amount of force they use than what an average citizen would have. Perhaps context is key here, but I'm thinking of a physical altercation between a cop and citizen - cop is allowed to shove him around, chase him and forcefully apply handcuffs. If two citizens were involved in an altercation, that behavior would be assault, right? That's what I thought of as more leeway for the police.

 

[TLSnell1981]

In this context? I'm not sure what you mean. They were supporting a cause. athletes do it all the time. Football during October is a sea of pink. Do you disagree with that too?

I don't know ANYONE who is offended my the sea of pink.

 

[JimMIA]

This is a totally honest question...

Why? Besides the fact that they had something on their for the tragedy in Dallas also, what is wrong with showing supportfor a cause in a non violent way?

I didn't say they were wrong. I don't think they were wrong.

As a hired professional why would it be ok to walk out on a job. Isn't that just continuing the one against another atmosphere we all day we want to solve?

The officers have as much right to make their feelings known as anyone else.

Is it continuing "us vs. them?" Sure...on both sides. We have to work through that, not ignore it.

The shooter in Dallas wasn't a member of blm. By all accounts he was a lone wolf type.

Agreed...what's the point?