Whatever would Doctor King have said? Police brutality in the 21st century
 

What in hell is going on? Now we have yet another black man shot down, unarmed, for no other reason than that he ran away when stopped by a cop! And not a warning shot either: EIGHT shots, and he was killed. And then the cop (white of course) tries to cover by pretending the guy stole his taser? How is he supposed to have done this when the man ran directly from his car, away from the officer and was shot down at range?

Okay, so the cop is being charged with murder --- probably only because he was caught on video and the powers that be have no choice --- but will he be convicted? Every other week there seems to be some trigger-happy cop looking for an excuse to gun down a black guy. I'm not saying every cop is like this of course, but you have to wonder, with these incidents on the increase, do cops not think before they shoot? Like, there is no other way that cop could have halted his quarry's escape other than to shoot him dead? What happened to the Civil Rights Law? Are we living in the 50s again?

Comments?

>Police about to beat down a person of color
MLK: Hoe don't do it
>Police be like, **** you
MLK: Oh my god

(just so we're clear here this has become a meme)

The police in Norway is now armed with guns, temporarily. For eight weeks longer, I think.

I imagine he would have said something like, "Ow! Please stop hitting me!"

^ would probably be the most inspirational plea for help ever though.

The solution is very simple. Every police officer needs to be monitored and armed with cameras at all times.

^even when he makes love to his wife?

I agree. You could probably beat the hell out of a minority with a big enough camera.

Two straight shooting deaths of unarmed black guys by white cops and two straight indictments for manslaughter/murder.

That's a start.

Ja it's not often that they're indicted.

Probably something along the lines of "I'm going to Canada"

Well the thing is this....

And I know a lot of you will call me racist and bash me but I don't care because this is my opinion and I speak as a minority (so I know first hand what I am talking about because I experience this on a daily)


The thing is this...

Police brutality has always been prevalent against African Americans for YEARS. This is not something that is "new." It might be new to the masses but it is not an issue that has just started.

Because of social media and the internet age, things are now being caught on camera unlike in past decades. Now you have footage, photos, cell phone recordings, etc of these incidents and this issue is being presented on a mass level now unlike before.



What can we do to change this?

Its hard to say... the more things seem like they have changed the more things really are still the same. This issue unfortunately is something that goes deeper than just law enforcement. Racism is very embedded in our culture but its on a different level now. Its more implicit and institutionalized now but it is very much visible in our culture. White people don't seem to care about these issues because they are not directly affected by it.

What would have Dr.King would have said..


Dr. King would have preached the same thing in did back in the 1960's during the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King cared about equality for all people not just blacks but during the 60's African Americans were the ones that were fighting for rights because we did not have any. We don't have real black leaders like Dr. King for our community in todays generation. Most of the famous black leaders, politicians and celebrities just care about status and their own money. They don't care about social issues that affect black people unless they are directly affected by it.

Pretty sure everyone has known it goes on, but the majority of the people I know will find a way to justify it or simply not care.

I fall into the latter. I understand it's awful but so are a lot of things that happen in this country, and I do nothing to change any of them. I got my own life to worry about.

Of course..."the white privilege mentality"


And this thread is a great example of people not "aware" that this is an epidemic that has gone on for years.

I prefer to call it the "Selfish" mentality.. I wouldn't help white people either, it's not about race. When I have my own sh*t together then I'll worry about helping others. I do my part by calling people out for their racist, sexist, ignorant bullsh*t. That's all you're getting outta me for now. You should be happy I recognize there is a problem instead of attaching a negative mentality to it, but of course... "everything is whities fault mentality".

Dr. King was largely successful because he was a teacher. He didn't point fingers, maybe you should try it.

"White privilege" is a real theory and concept.

Its not something that soul flower just made up

I notice some of you like to minimize minority issues on this board and quick to call someone a racist whenever white people are called out. That's not racist that is just calling it like it is.

There are white people who recognize their white privileged and its ignorant to sit up here and not acknowledge it. You live in a culture that gives you privileged because of your skin color and its foolish to sit here and claim otherwise. Your explanation that you don't care about this issue because it does not directly affect you further supports this mentality

99% of people doing "something" about it are just standing around holding up signs. All you can really do on an individual basis is acknowledge the issue. Saying white people don't care and aren't doing anything is pretty silly. White people can be victims of police brutality like anyone else.

I find it pretty gross that race has even been brought into this instead of simply dealing with police using excessive force in general. I mean it's not exclusively a problem for any one race and any solution is going to be for white black brown yellow red orange pink blue purple and mentally ill people anyways. All you can really do is condemn things loudly with numbers creating pressure to investigate and prosecute if the evidence is there sending the message that it is not acceptable behavior.

But that's the thing..... white people are not victims of police brutality. They are actually 9 times out of 10 the ones enforcing the police brutality on minorities.


No one said that White People overall did not care but their white privilege often clouds their ability to care about issues that does not directly affect them.

It is easy to sit up here and say "Oh standing up and holding signs is not going to do nothing OR there are other problems in the world" when you are not the race that is being targeted

I'm not debating "White Privilege". Being a white male in America is potentially the best possible life one can be born into.

I don't want kids because I don't want to spend my life taking care of something else. Is that white privilege too? You just want it to support the mentality you describe so you have someone to blame.

This makes no sense at all.

I am acknowledging a theory as to why some white people don't care about police brutality and your post IMO summed that up.

Now you wanna back track and make this into an argument just because white people are being called out.



Who are the ones engaging in police brutality and is privileged in this country?

Its not Native Americans
Its not Asians
Its definitely not African Americans
Its not Africans etc

Its almost like you want to get in an argument with me because you are in upset because white people are the ones enforcing police brutality in this country.

Don't get mad at me for stating a fact.

I would love to engage in intellectual and intelligent conversation with other members who are open minded and educated on this issue. I remember WhateverDude gave some thoughtful responses in the Ferguson thread.


I am tired of immature responses on this issue with people who just want argue.

You just made that up.

Using white privilege in this context isn't going to be remotely helpful either, I don't think. I mean... white males bag groceries and work as cashiers too. Need to just leave race out of it and focus on the issue at hand, which is police brutality.

Why would I get mad? I'm not disputing your fact. I think you're confused.

White privilege isn't the reason I don't care about police brutality. If it were white people getting attacked I wouldn't do anything either. I don't care about police brutality because I have other priorities that have nothing to do with anyone except myself. That's not white privilege, that's called selfishness.

I like your honesty lol.

I am definitely not confused.

You need to do a better job in clarifying your opinions on the issue.


Just to be clear selfishness is an attribute that is apart of "white privileged" believe it or not.


Also, you implied I was blaming someone as if I was "blaming white people" for an issue white people have been enforcing for over the last hundred of years. Some of your comments came off ignorant and like you were exercising your privileged. Ex. "I don't care about this issue, there are more important things in the world, I just care about my own self" those are all traits and emotions that fall under white privileged whether you want to acknowledge that or not.

But whatever I will accept this response now. You need to be careful how you word certain things on this issue.

Do you honestly believe race has NOTHING to do with this? lol

White privilege is apart of this issue because police brutality is rooted in racism.

The reason why police brutality has been an epidemic for as long as it has IS because of white privilege (white people have gotten away with this for years).

Ahh I gotcha. White privilege is the causation for every bad trait white people possess, but everyone else is just being human.

I believe that making this primarily about race is exclusionary and sloppy. It's not just a black problem. What is your basis for saying that police brutality is rooted in racism? Any race of officer can do it to any race of victim. It obviously would be in some cases but it seems like a stretch to say that, especially when non-white officers do it too. I'd say one big component of it is that police know how easy it is to get away with because their fellow officers will, as is often the case, defend them right or wrong and that makes the case difficult to prove.

What about the mentally ill? It's been found that they suffer from police brutality disproportionately.

No I think you are taking offense to this issue because you are white which I think is immature and narrow minded because if you actually research what white privileged is for yourself, you will the see the same thing.


White people get upset when they get painted as the wrongdoers for problems they start which is why I said your post had a white privileged mentality.

I have discussed this issue with numerous white people and they have maturely and intelligently acknowledge their white privileged.

But for some reason everytime I get into this discussion with you, you always argue I am blaming white people Lol

Yea... sure... lol I am blaming white people for something they have been reinforcing in this country for YEARS.

I think you need to get educated on what it actually means.

What do you think about the black kid who lives in the ghetto? He never does or sells drugs, he gets beat up all the time, and he doesn't do anything but focus on getting out of the ghetto to make a better life for himself. He never bothered to help anyone but himself.

Based on your logic he caught white privilege.. What a dick.

No one is not arguing that this issue can not happen to other races outside of African Americans.


However, this issue is not happening to other races it is mostly happening with minorities specifically minority males/ black men


This is not my opinion, its a fact and this issue has been going on for YEARS.

Police brutality is rooted in racism because these black men are getting pulled over or stopped because they are being stereotyped and racially profiled.

As a result, they are being gunned down and shot for non justifiable reasons (imo racial ones). There are not even given a chance or a chance to exercise their civil rights.

Well that's just a false statement.

You clearly don't know what white privilege means.

I would advise you to research what it means. Its a complex multi-facet theory.

Because your posts often come off ignorant in these discussions.

Outside minorities, what other races is this happening too on the level that it occurs with minorities?

Outside minorities there would only be one race, caucasians, who are the race most commonly killed by police. Though they also make up most of the population so it's all about proportions.

This really has more to do with class than race. I'm telling you, making this primarily about race is a bad idea. It makes for a better story but it's just not a good way to get things done. A solution needs to be one to the entire problem. This white privilege thing in general is silly, it's all about class, most white people aren't well off doing great having fun.

Get 'em, Soulflower!

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view/1031...licopter-o.gif

So racist...

Gloriously racist...

Are you sure you meant to write the bolded the way you did? I am going to assume you made a typo??? The bold makes no sense and is not accurate.


Also I never suggested that this was ONLY about race. You made a absurd argument that race had nothing to do with this issue and I just supported reasons for why it did. I think racism as well as classicism go hand in hand.

There are African American celebrities and wealthy minorities who still get pulled over and stopped by police.....simply because they are black. Now if you look at the statistics this issue occurs mostly in poor/low income areas but it does occur in wealthy areas too which goes back to the whole point that race is very much apart of this issue.