Hey, remember, the police force in Ferguson isn’t all white. They have “five black guys…they had six, but one of them left.”
I learned a big difference in my neighborhood. The white people here tolerate me. But in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse, while I’m certain I would offer my neighbors food and shelter, I am also very certain they would shoot me in a hot second and take what I have away from me. This gives me the advantage, because in the event of an emergency, I already know to be prepared for either situation. Their treachery will not be a surprise. It’s not all the white people around here, but some of them. It’s not even about education or class. White people’s experience on this planet is alien to the experience to those of us with stripes or spots, and vice-versa. Thing is, I don’t think most of the spotted or stripped would just plain ignore the plight of the downtrodden the way these others have. It’s not natural, and it’s put this species in danger.
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Or did they shoot him by accident?
“He was reaching for his gun!”
“You were on the shooting range!”
Anyway, amidst all of these incredible non-shocking statistics, I did take interest in the last bit:
While the cases are obviously different, and the stats don’t actually measure what I am about to suggest they do, this feels like it is showing an upward trend in how much people care about young black men getting shot. I guess I find it a little bit heartening.
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I chuckled, but there is truth to this. Growing up in Chicago (still one of the most segregated cities in the country, and boy-howdy was it bad in the 1960s and '70s) I fell into the cusp: obviously mixed race in some way, but not with any Sub-Saharan African. (North, yes, but that’s different.) This meant that I was lumped with Italians, Greeks, Jews, other Arabs, Mexicans, Asians of any stripe, etc…“colored”, rather than white…except when whites felt outnumbered by blacks, in which case we were then one of them.
Nowadays, we don’t even think of Italians or Greeks or Jews as being anything other than white, Asians are super-white, Arabs usually pass unless they’re wearing something to indicate Islamic tendencies (heaven forbid), and even “Hispanics” are divided into white and not-white categories. The perception of “colored” has changed, but African-Americans are still on the other side of that line.
Like I said: when whites feel outnumbered, they’ll add anyone to the party to make it seem like they still have a critical mass.
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Technically the survey says more white people in the US have confidence in the police than black people do, not that white people have more confidence. The graphs provided divide responses into a “confidence/no confidence” binary, and not a gradient, which would be more instructive when judging confidence levels as opposed to the number of reports of confidence.
What I’m always interested in is the inconsistency of the Republicans/Libertarians/Tea partiers on this issue.
On the one hand, the more extreme members openly advocate revolt against the government, and even the more restrained members believe that the government should not infringe on their rights and liberties.
On the other hand, when poor or black people protest they have absolutely no problem with the police using armored vehicles and high-caliber weapons to subdue them.
Because rights aren’t for “those people,” they’re only for Real AmericansTM.
I don’t find it all that difficult to comprehend, it’s all rooted in racism and xenophobia (ie - willful ignorance).
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Am I the only one who wonders why the “Do Trust” and the “Don’t Trust” are:
- roughly the same colour, though different density;
- laid next to each other, so that if you don’t read the legends you(well, I) might think that the two colours are “Trust a lot” and “Trust a little”.
Make them different, heck, even use standard primary and secondary colours (B/Y, G/M, R/C), put one on the left, one on the right and put the “Don’t Know” in the middle. Is that so freakin’ difficult?
Grrr!
Some of them would shoot you if the lights as much as flicker. The old school preppers are incredibly racist and have been preparing for human waves of ethnic cannibal rapists since the 1960s.
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“White guy” or “hippie”?
Well, if you can see his collar to grab it…
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More like “scruffy local guy in his 20s who lacked the ambition to be a proper thief.”
Hate to break it to you, but Asians are definitely not “super white”. We’re definitely treated as “other”, even if it’s “good other” (you know, not like “bad other” like those dark, non-kicking our asses on SAT scores etc… races). We’re still very “Ching Chong Chow” (to quote Rosie O’Donnell) to a lot of white america. But yeah, definitely considered “white ally” when folks are feeling threatened.
The tribalism on every side of the fence is really quite sad. Growing up mixed race asian/caucasian (but looking mostly asian), you definitely weren’t white, and I definitely wasn’t Japanese enough to be accepted as Japanese. Good in a sense that it really forced me to not develop an “us vs them” mentality (when “Us” is just you and your sister, that gets pretty lonely). I’m pretty encouraged that there seem to be a lot more mixed race kids of all sorts than there were when I was a kid, but a bit saddened that things like the “mixed race cheerio” commercial are shocking in enough of America that people actually notice it.
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Not surprised or shocked, just upset.
Those being protected and served are the white elite. Most other white people have aspirations towards being part of that elite so view that protection favourably.
I followed a link yesterday, I believe from somewhere on the BBS to an article about a bill being presented to disarm federal agencies that have never traditionally been armed. It turned out to be a pretty wacky right wing site, and the comments section was straight bananas. The most amusing tangle was when the discussion came down to stripping federal agents of weapons, BUT WAIT WAIT, not their personal weapons, they should be able to be armed 2nd AMENDMENT!!!1! but they shouldn’t have their guns at work, WELL WAIT they can have their personal concealed firearm or high-powered automatic rifle, at work, or anywhere they want, but…not…the one they…got…from…work…OBAMASATANSADDAMHUSSEIN
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I guess this is as good a thread to post this as any, but there’s an update about a story a couple of months ago about a SWAT attack on a home where they threw a flash bang grenade into a toddler’s crib:
County officials aren’t going to pay for the medical expenses, although they did originally say they would consider it.
I’m relieved to find the boy survived, though maimed. Makes my heart hurt. 
I’m disgusted to find the responsible party is now refusing to take full responsibility. Sue the fuckers out of existence. That is all.
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Because that place in their souls where conscience and compassion abide in normal humans has been occupied instead by a demon composed of the most hellish aspects of an amoral accountant and a shyster lawyer.
Whenever a friend of mine talks about moving to Texas because of “tort reform” I think of cases like these.
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