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I’m not apologizing for them.
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Slavery ended only with violence and it was less than 50 years ago that we finally legalized interracial marriage as progressive as we like to pretend we are.
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This situation continues despite peaceful protests and I can’t envision it changing without a catalyst. If this is the catalyst, I’m supportive.
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About a month ago the mayor said body cams would be too expensive. I wonder if she still agrees.
Ok so there is really a rise in racial tensions in the USA ?
Or just media hype?
Freddie Gray was covered pretty well in the news, but the reason (IMO) that his death didn’t get as much attention as other recent police-related deaths is that the mayor, police chief and 40% of police offcers in Baltimore are black.
I don’t think there’s a rise in white people vs black people tensions. But I do think there is a huge increase in the perception of discriminatory policing.
I mean Baltimore police arrested a black youth in a bad neighborhood for no cause. He made eye contact and ran, that was it. But it is also perfectly legal in a constitutional non-police state. So they chase him down. He arrives at the station wiht a crushed windpipe and 80% severed spinal cord, slips into a coma and dies. No explanation is given. No charges are levied. Two weeks later, here we are.
65% of Baltimore is Black
One time I got taken hostage at gunpoint by a black man. Half the cops who arrested him were black.
Higgs, fair point.
mlwl8521, lol, WHAT?!
That’s crazy, you gotta share the story.
Yes i’m sure you are right, anarchy and breaking the law is totally justified here, because the “time for peacefully gathering has passed”
what a joke.
Can’t fathom any way in which rioting and looting can be justified as a form of protest if the real goal is social reform.
Well, for starters there was the Boston Tea Party. But that was by white people who ended up on the right side of history, so it was ok. Nevermind that innocent shipping merchants had their goods destroyed. Rioting and anarchy are never OK to accomplish social reform*.
*unless white
and following the LA riots:
In a statement, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck remarked “[Rodney King’s] legacy should not be the struggles and troubles of his personal life but the immensely positive change his existence brought on this city and it’s police department.” Changes in police hires and a focus on the police department’s community relationships became a key result of the Rodney King beating, and the riots. It also elevated the discussion of the racial composition of juries and the location of trials. It was not the first time these considerations were discussed, but the case became a benchmark for teaching best practices both in police departments and jury selection.
In Egypt it drove a change in leadership. For better or worse, that outcome did not arrive through peaceful protest.
The Stonewall Riots in NYC are considered a major LGBT milestone.
You aren’t seriously relating Nazi Germany to… nevermind.
Respect imploding.
Show me where I said the two situations were the same or that my argument relied on them being the same? Idiot.
Good forbid there be anarchy or law breaking.
Again, the willingness of white people to continually turn a deaf ear and insist black america step in line and accept the status que probably has a lot to do with how we got here. Clearly my statements reflect what has been increasingly happening. You can either ignore it, sweep it under the rug, and call it a joke, but something tells me this is not going to just go away until people start lending an ear.
You’re causually linking the idea that the failure that peaceful protests against officers behavior/actions towards minorities with the actions the Allies needed to take to end WWII Nazi Germany rule and hegemony against all minority groups.
If you’re not, feel free to expand
CFAvsMBA should use this one as his avatar.
"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
_Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—_Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
_Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—_Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."
-Niemoller
I was actually referring to pre-war Nazi Germany and the complete failure of pacifist protests. I went on to cite failures in France and Spain as well as the US during the slave era that all ultimately required violence. The point is that pacifist protests are great, but they do fail and they are best used in situations where the other side is listening. So I’m not saying we live in pre-war Nazi Germany, or any of those places. But the knee jerk truism that non-violent protests are always the best path deserves an asterix. As I said, it’s a complex world and there is a time and place for everything.
If your brother or father or son had been shot in the back unarmed while fleeing by a police officer or arrested and returned to you dead for no stated cause, would the differences feel so stark?
But Grays family has denounced these riots as well as any respected activist in Baltimore. This is not a riot for social change. This is violent petulance. SO its ok to set fire to apartment buildings where your fellow oppressed neighbors live? And its ok to burn down a nurseing home (empty thank God) built and funded by a Baptist Church that would help up to 60 elderly community members? WHo cares about the CVS, its the destruction of the city and the targeting of all cops for murder that doesnt sit well with me.
Would there have been a riot if Freddie had been white?
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Grays family is not the arbitor for social justice across the black community. Even during the 60’s the community was divided amongst different approaches with Malcolm X going one way and MLK another.
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The reality is, the city was not destroyed, a few buildings were lost while the attention of the nation was gained. A similar thing happend in the LA riots, which drove major reforms per the quotes I gave above responding to MK.
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I would like to see the destruction halted, I hope nobody is killed and I don’t support the bodily harm that has happened. I’m sure some things happened that shouldn’t have happened. That being said, I don’t think what happened was “appauling”, “inexcusable” or any of the other words the press has been throwing around. I think it’s the frustrated response to a lack of government response to ongoing systemic abuses.
The protests in NY were peacefull and fox news type people were just as outraged.
Doubt it, but I put my views on that forward in the first couple posts I made. A better question is, “Would Freddie have been arrested without cause if he had been white?” or “Would he have showed up in a coma at the police station if he’d been white?” or “Would the police have been charged if he were white?”