Well this certainly shook me to the core. I have a job and a gun. What if I get sooo mad one day - or even fired? Even though I passed all those background checks back then, I could become a monster in the future. Until pre-cog crime fighting is perfected maybe it’s best I get a new hobby. I used to like to collect stamps.
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Which I’m kinda relieved about, actually. Because even though I probably would’ve watched it, I’m not entirely sure why I’d voluntarily subject myself to that horror. Internet version of rubbernecking, maybe?
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Yeah, Bryce Williams is in on-air name.
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Twitter is saying Vester Flanagan AKA Bryce Williams. Screen name?
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I regret that I have but one like to give.
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Wow. Given all the defense of guns you’ve written here in the past, that’s really surprising (and good) to read. Unless you’re being sarcastic.
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I don’t want to go too off topic here, but
I think this is perfectly fair, and applies to a lot (vast majority?) of people - and I do wish more people asked themselves this question. But do remember that some can see through the institutionalised racism they were raised in (not in the sense that ‘I don’t see colour’, but in the sense that it;s something that they’re aware of when it triggers). Besides empathy can work in weird and wonderful ways. This was senseless and the victim could have been anyone - when a black victim is gunned down by the police there’s so much baggage there that my feels get jacked up to 11. I care more about the disadvantaged than I do about ‘the familiar’ - people like me have it easy, we don’t need any extra empathy sent our way.
I’m not sure if that was a white-guilt or a #notallwhitepeople post (ideally neither) - but hopefully you at least don’t feel I’m trying to push your point to one side - just build on it.
I’ll take that bet.
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He posted to FB too, but that account has also been pulled.
Yeah, he tweeted that he posted on Facebook but I didn’t search for it. I sort of stumbled onto the twitter stuff.
He also posted a lot of photos about his glory days and specific news articles in the days leading up to this:
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Sounds like both to me. Few black people fail to realize that some white people can see past white blinders, at least some of the time. I don’t think you’re building on what I wrote. Thanks for trying to explain why you wrote what you wrote, but I think you’re actually trying to justify something that you’re feeling.
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Can we have that long overdue gun conversation, NOW?
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Given the context of the discussion I’m going to respect your position and leave it here, but I assure you that isn’t the case. My point was merely that empathy isn’t tied to the familiar, and insisting that all white people must feel worse for this lady than all the recent victims of racially motivated police violence is kinda unfair. We need to work together, and that outlook distances us.
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Where did I write “all”?
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Ok I totally did a #notallwhitepeople. Damn that happens easily…
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You don’t hear the clucking of people proud that they guessed the race of the shooter I guess.
They’re reporting that the shooter killed himself while fleeing.
Just shot himself, apparently.
Yeah, but owning up to it doesn’t. Good on you, mate. As I think I said above, I think that white folks can learn a lot about themselves in cases like this if they think about how and why they feel differently (if they do) in different racial situations.
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It’s sad that a silly-sounding word like “disgruntled” always gets associated with tragic events like this. I think it’s forever tainted and can’t be used to describe moderate disappointment or dissatisfaction. e.g. Frank was really disgruntled this morning when he discovered the coffee shop added hazelnut cream to his coffee.
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