How does vandalism and looting accomplish anything???

[Mokat76]

My last word on the subject, before I get a little too sarcastic for the rules and regs: if any of you actually thinks that race isn't an issue in American policing, you seriously need to check your privilege.

Oh please.

 

[arminnie]

I can only guess if a cop pumped 9 bullets into your unarmed child's head that you wouldn't be against these so called riots.

So what's your response when a non-cop pumps shots into your unarmed 2 and 4 year old child? Who were only innocently playing in the drive way.

Should that child's parents and neighbors get a free pass to go steal anything they want and beat up strangers?

A 2 year old boy and a 4 year old boy are in critical condition after being shot in the head yesterday morning (no not by a cop). Their parents and family are distraught beyond belief but will not take this as a pass for a "free shopping spree". They might organize a civilized march, etc. against the senseless violence.

But because they are not stupid morons they will not take this horrible action out on others who are innocent.

 

[luvsJack]

It cuts both ways though. They expect more trouble from the black kid because statistically speaking, that's where it's more likely to originate. Does that make it right or fair? Hell no! But, the cycle will continue as long as both sides have their heels dug in.

In my youth, I found the kind of car I drove brought about a lot of unwanted and unwarranted attention from the police. It is what it is

But that is profiling and is wrong. The kid I know couldn't be less violent or get in less trouble.

If you don't know what the police face DAILY, I don't think you are in a place to judge...you don't know what they are facing.



If you believe any of that you should seek counseling. That is flat out laughable.



Guess what? That works both ways.



It is not every black kid every time though. My brother, for example, is black and has never been treated badly. However, it is the job of the police to find the bad guys, and when six reports come in one night for robberies, and in every case the suspects are described as young black men, then the police would be stupid to waste their time questioning a white red-haired man wouldn't they?

They weren't stopping them because they thought they fit the description of a crime. They were stopped because they saw a white boy and a black boy together and assumed things.

Look, I have a lot of respect for police officers and the job they do. I understand what they go through and how they put their lives on the line every day. But they weren't looking for someone that went by the description of my son or his friend.

That is very hard to believe.

I'm sorry if you don't believe it, but that's the way it happened.

Maybe you haven't been in the wrong part of town at the wrong time. Maybe you haven't been a teen boy friends with another teen boy that is a different race. I can't say why it doesn't happen in your world. But it did happen.


The rioting that is going on is wrong. The store owners should not have to pay for what the police did (right or wrong). But, no one here, unless you have lived in that part of that city and are the race of the boy who died can say that you do or don't know what they are feeling and how they feel toward the city and the police.

But, I do think that rioting only makes things worse and people need to realize that before they go to that extreme. Protesting is one thing, but this is something else.

 

[pioneer89]

That is very hard to believe.

Not every time, certainly, but it really is that simple in large parts of America.

First off, not at all supporting the looting. In case people take this that way.

I have a similar experience from 30 years ago, when getting rides home from after-school activities with a friend, who happened to be one of 2 blacks in my entire high school of 1000 students. (Suburb of Milwaukee.)

Of the 20 or so rides, we were pulled over 4 times. My friend didn't do anything wrong (that I was aware.) Each time the office was polite, and my friend didn't get any tickets or anything beyond a verbal warning (slow down a bit. etc). The cops never really hassled him (beyond the stop), and were really just checking to see if he 'belonged' in our area.

This was a time before our police have become so militarized, and the "War on this, War on that" managed to turn the prevalent attitude into "you are an enemy, unless I decide you are not."

Doesn't take long on you-tube to find literally thousands of example of this still going on, and getting worse.

Doesn't excuse looting, but explains the frustration and anger.

 

[CPT Tripss]

Never said it was. But, I understand WHY it exists - and it's not just about racism.

It's the same reason men are harassed more than women, teens more than 50-somethings, etc.

What about race in policing is valid, as you asserted in the post I quoted? So are you saying that it is, at least in part, about racism?

You, the collective you, can say that the effects of racism come into play in leading up to the St. Louis incident/riot without having to justify the riot.

 

[NotUrsula]

What's accomplished? Well, a few thugs got their fill of free beer and saleable sneakers. DS7 saw the looting on TV this morning and asked me, "Mom, why would anyone want to steal shoes?" That's the point of looting, it is a license to get away with stealing. Nothing else.

Brown's mother was absolutely right. Her son lost his life because of a stereotype fed by thugs and wannabe-thugs. Whether the cop was truly afraid or just justifying reckless behavior, the stereotype buttresses his argument.

DH grew up in west Ferguson, about two blocks from the businesses on the southern end of the riot zone. Ferguson is a working-class suburb that has one small turn-of-the-century neighborhood (now gentrified), surrounded by a huge swath of tract homes built for the returning GI's after WW2 and the Korean War. White flight there has been pervasive since the Nixon administration. (DH's parents left in the early 70's due to a job change, but his grandparents lived there until quite recently.) Quite frankly, I'm surprised that there are still white cops on Ferguson's police force.

BTW, fwiw, the officers you are seeing on TV mostly do NOT work for the City of Ferguson. Those are St. Louis County and St. Louis City Police. The total staff of the Ferguson Police Dept is 52 people, including the secretaries and dispatchers.

 

[EMAW_KSU]

I'm sorry if you don't believe it, but that's the way it happened.

Maybe you haven't been in the wrong part of town at the wrong time. Maybe you haven't been a teen boy friends with another teen boy that is a different race. I can't say why it doesn't happen in your world. But it did happen.

How many times is every time?

 

[luvsJack]

How many times is every time?

Good Lord! I don't have a clue how many times he drove that boy home. Can you tell me how many times you have driven down a particular road or past a certain house?

Every night that he went in that neighborhood, he got pulled over. Plain and simple. Believe what you want.

 

[EMAW_KSU]

Good Lord! I don't have a clue how many times he drove that boy home. Can you tell me how many times you have driven down a particular road or past a certain house?

Every night that he went in that neighborhood, he got pulled over. Plain and simple. Believe what you want.

I could if the police pulled me over every time.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

What about race in policing is valid, as you asserted in the post I quoted? So are you saying that it is, at least in part, about racism?

The demographic targeted by profiling is the same one that commits the most crime.

When a crime is committed in a mostly black neighborhood, everyone (black or white) is going to think "young, black male" long before they think "old, white woman". Anyone says otherwise is lying.

Does that make profiling "okay"? Of course not. But, it's why profiling exists.

 

[luvsJack]

I could if the police pulled me over every time.

I wasn't in the car. I didn't get pulled over, he did.

 

[Viva Las Disney]

It's not to be understood. It's not the actions of people thinking rationally.

No we can't wait for an investigation because the investigation will lead to what it always leads to when police kill African Americans. No where.

That's where the anger comes from. you have over 200 years of an unjust system maiming and killing your youth. you no longer believe in the system.

I certainly don't. I know that at any time the police can kill my sons for absolutely no reason and not a dang thing will be done.

No I don't condone looting but I do not in any shape, form or fashion trust the legal system in this country.

So what you are seeing is a group of people who no longer have any thing to lose. the police will kill us when they want, any time they want and get away with it.

Not a thing has change since 1619 when the first African slaves were brought here. We are still a disposable people.

I was reading the St Louis paper today and they had an article on law enforcement homicide including a study that showed that 44 percent of those who died during an arrest were white, 32 percent were black, and 20 percent were Hispanic.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_8b66cd4b-bcbb-525d-ad75-33b05eec6cca.html

People are killed every day by the police, I live in Las Vegas and we've had a half dozen very controversial police killings in the last couple years, we've had marches, we've had protests, we've had community meetings, and we've had changes in police policy, the one thing we haven't had is looting and rioting.

I guess I just don't understand how a cop killing a black person is somehow worse than a cop killing a white or Hispanic person and warrants rioting and looting.

 

[olwyngdh]

I wasn't in the car. I didn't get pulled over, he did.

Give up, some people just need to live in a state of denial, and nothing you say is going to convince them until they are at the receiving end of reality. Sorry your kid and his friend had to go through this.

 

[TinkerBelled]

Oh please.

Meh, I thought it was more polite than "out of your minds" or "completely unlearned in the historical realities of American politics and history."

 

[Wendy31]

It's not to be understood. It's not the actions of people thinking rationally.

No we can't wait for an investigation because the investigation will lead to what it always leads to when police kill African Americans. No where.

That's where the anger comes from. you have over 200 years of an unjust system maiming and killing your youth. you no longer believe in the system.

I certainly don't. I know that at any time the police can kill my sons for absolutely no reason and not a dang thing will be done.

No I don't condone looting but I do not in any shape, form or fashion trust the legal system in this country.

So what you are seeing is a group of people who no longer have any thing to lose. the police will kill us when they want, any time they want and get away with it.

Not a thing has change since 1619 when the first African slaves were brought here. We are still a disposable people.

When a statement like this is made, the hyperbole of it makes me disregard everything else said.

Quite in the same way that looting & vandalizing makes me not to want to listen to anything the "victims" are saying.

Looting & vandalizing do absolutely nothing to further the cause &, instead, only serves to perpetuate the problem, further aggravate the issue, & validate the police officers & the action taken.

Looting & vandalizing are criminal acts & should be prosecuted as such.

I don't know the whole story or how everything went down. However, the kid was in some sort of struggle w/ the police officer.

If you don't want to be treated like a stereotype, don't act like the stereotype.

And, hey, I get it. I'm from the south. Supposedly, we're all ignorant, backwoods, racist rednecks. However, while I do have a southern accent, I'm not ignorant, backwoods, racist, or redneck. I don't act like the stereotype.

Regarding being pulled over...

A couple of years ago, DH & I were pulled over. We were on our way back from a funeral home. The funeral home was in a small town, &, in order to get there & back, we had to drive through a few other small towns.

When we were pulled over, DH asked the police officer if there was a problem. The officer shined his flashlight into our car & said, "I was just checking to make sure everything was okay." And then he sent us on our way.

We have NO CLUE why he stopped us. He didn't even look at DH's license.

We are both white &, at the time, were in our late 30s.

Were we profiled? Did our different county plates make us suspicious for some reason to this small town police officer? Who knows?

It happens. Sometimes, you get pulled over for no apparent reason. And, as another PP pointed out, we all teach our kids to be polite to police officers, to keep their hands on the steering wheels, etc.

For the most part, police officers have crummy jobs & are put in all kinds of situations. I respect most police officers for the jobs they do.

At the end of his/her shift, a police officer wants to return home to his/her family just like everyone else. If a threat is perceived, then, yes, the police officer is probably going to act on that threat. And there are probably certain sections of town where police officers are just inherently more suspicious & careful.

Sorry, that's just the way it is.

 

[Art 1]

If any US citizen wants to move to an African nation there is nothing holding them back. If it's so bad here, move there.

 

[luvsJack]

Give up, some people just need to live in a state of denial, and nothing you say is going to convince them until they are at the receiving end of reality. Sorry your kid and his friend had to go through this.

Its a shame that some people can not see what can be happening around them unless it happens to them. People would be in a much better place if they could put themselves in another's shoes for just a minute, you know?

And don't worry about ds. He got through it and has moved on. Took a long time to get him to trust the police but he'll live. He did learn to stand up for himself and to speak up when he thought he or someone around him was being treated wrongly.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Meh, I thought it was more polite than "out of your minds" or "completely unlearned in the historical realities of American politics and history."

The notion that none of the bad things that happen to blacks are the fault of whites is ignorant at best.

The notion that everything bad that happens to blacks is the fault of whites is equally as ignorant.

 

[TinkerBelled]

The notion that none of the bad things that happen to blacks are the fault of whites is ignorant at best.

The notion that everything bad that happens to blacks is the fault of whites is equally as ignorant.

What I said was [and clearly I lied about it being my last word] was that you had to be out of your mind/historically ignorant to think that race has no impact on policing.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

What I said was [and clearly I lied about it being my last word] was that you had to be out of your mind/historically ignorant to think that race has no impact on policing.

And as you may recall, I agreed. But, I also elaborated as I've done elsewhere.