So, what we need here is an absolute role reversal, with new masters, but the same old tools of oppression - is that what I have been picking up from your posts the last few weeks?
[quote=âteapot, post:19, topic:39395â]
PS I agree with you on the racism bit, but we disagree to what degree police militarisation is bad for everyone, especially the communities disproportionately targeted.
[/quote]Iâm not saying itâs not an issue. It is, and Iâve talked about it tons of times for years. Iâm just saying I wish people (virtually all White) would stop shifting the subject to it here and now in this case, when it had absolutely no role in what happened.
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Coalition building. You get people concerned about one issue and try to get them to work with people concerned about another related issue. Or you can simply call them ignorant and do your best to alienate them. Your choice.
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[quote=âChuckV, post:23, topic:39395â]
Coalition building.[/quote]How are you going to build a coalition with people working against you?
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Iâm sorry. I missed the post that argued for anti-Black racism.
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I blame agitators from the Judean Peopleâs Front.
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[quote=âChuckV, post:26, topic:39395, full:trueâ]
Iâm sorry. I missed the post that argued for anti-Black racism.
[/quote]Turning Ferguson into a police militarization story, rather than a racism story, is working against the people in that community and Black people in general. If youâre actually interested in âbuilding coalitionsâ, then do something another time. Right now, youâre just shifting the subject away from the people affected and what theyâre trying to do.
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Actually, the racism in Ferguson (and elsewhere) concerns me much more than police militarization. Iâm fairly certain that I have made no posts expressing concern about police militarization. So, how am I shifting the subject by merely arguing for working together as opposed to angry finger pointing? If someone is not 100% with you, do they have to be against you?
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Turning Ferguson into a police militarization story, rather than a
racism story, is working against the people in that community and Black
people in general.
I see this as a racism story and police militarization story as well as a general story about increasingly eroding civil liberties. Is it possible to agree that there is a whole lot out of balance here?
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We are all affected. And I see you shifting the subject away from that and drawing lines that arenât there, while complaining about people drawing lines and changing the subject. Maybe Iâm wrong, but myopia is a hell of a thing.
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Youâre all correct: a lot of people came for the militarization, will stay for the racism.
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The killing had little or nothing to do with police militarization. The protestersâ initial grievances had little or nothing to do with police militarization. The racism at the issueâs core certainly predates recent police militarization.
The heavily armed response to those protesters, like stun grenades and combat gear and armored transports and tear gas? THAT is some hardcore police militarization, and itâs one element of this ongoing clusterfuck that deserves some serious public scrutiny.
If a racist cop with a gun is a problem then shouldnât we be even MORE concerned about a racist cop with a rocket launcher?
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I built on this video by John Oliver and asked, "What exactly do we have to do to take their toys away?â
We saw some of this equipment used on white and brown Occupy people, but when it is used on black people in the South it reminds people of the 1960âs civil rights protests. 'âOh, yeah that wasnât a good thing.â
Letâs Remove âunnecessary military equipmentâ from Ferguson-like Police Departments
Go take a look John Oliverâs video and the first half is about racism and police targeting African Americans. He points out how few of the police force in Ferguson are black and plays a clip that points out that despite blacks getting stopped by the police more often, it was found that whites had contraband. Plus many other clips and recent statistics showing clear racism.
Itâs mid way through his segment that he moves onto the issue of the militarization of the US police.
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I think the fact that S.W.A.T. operations on drug warrants (mostly for black suspects) skyrocketing because of an increasingly militarized police force has a lot to do with all of this. Itâs all part and parcel.
The way the police reacted to the protests wasnât just fueled by the same kind of racism that gets unarmed black men killed by police on a regular basis, but also by a militarized, warfare mentality which further dehumanizes the citizens the police are there to protect.
Nothing John Oliver said indicates that he didnât understand that what sparked all of this was part of a long history of anti-black racism. In fact he frequently makes it clear that he understands that appalling history. Talking about other severe problems in modern policing doesnât mean that the speaker is pretending that racism isnât also a huge problem.
The fact that there are also plenty of black people who believe that Ferguson illustrates the (concurrent) problem of increasing militarization of police makes me think that itâs possible and reasonable to talk about both problems at the same time.
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[quote=âBrainspore, post:33, topic:39395â]
If a racist cop with a gun is a problem then shouldnât we be even MORE concerned about a racist cop with a rocket launcher?
[/quote]The racist cop in question was armed with a revolver, not a rocket launcher. And you know what? The kid is still dead.
You donât need military gear to do what the cops are doing. Their acquisition of this gear has done nothing to increase their mistreatment of Black people. And getting rid of that gear will do nothing to lessen it. Their behavior is totally separate from what sort of gear theyâre using.
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The dramatic increase of S.W.A.T. raids on mostly black residences clearly shows your assertion to be untrue.
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I respectfully disagree. The militarization of police, particularly in neighborhoods of color, has made the already-huge problem of police racism and brutality even worse.
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Hello,
As to the case of whether or no Michael Brown was a criminal
- He was video taped robing a convenience store.
- This refutes witness testimony that âwe wasnât doing nuttinâ
- This refutes character testimony the Mike was a âgood guyâ
Was Michael Brown a criminal on this basis,? No. on this basis you are correct that Michael Brown stands unconvicted of this crime
However, point #2,3 plays a role as to the character of the person.
Next.
The officer who shot Michael Brown had a skull fracture. The officer who came to have a skull fracture had a service weapon on his person.
The person who had the skull fracture could not allow his service weapon to fall outside of his control.
The conclusion I leave to you.
You let the media convince you that police-persons in Missouri were shooting black people at will. For that, I cannot blame you. Now that the whole story is becoming known it looks like it was not quite so extreme as we were initially led to believe, no?
I await your reply.
I wouldnât be too sure about thatâso far the only ânewsâ sources reporting this little factoid donât exactly have reputations for fair and accurate journalism. If true then it certainly begs the question why hasnât the Ferguson PD made any statements to that effect?
[quote=âTrollsOpinion, post:44, topic:39395â]
The person who had the skull fracture could not allow his service weapon to fall outside of his control.[/quote]Yeah, somebody could have gotten hurt.
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