Ferguson protest in Ross park mall Saturday (Tioga, Homewood: home, gated)

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by Nick538

Moby Hick

Where do these people find time to spend weeks or months protesting? If you have a job, you don't have this kind of time. Even students don't have this much free time! Using deductive reasoning, we can easily arrive at the conclusion that those who have enough time to spend days, weeks or months protesting and marching do not have any family, school or work obligations. Just the facts.

The average American watches 5 hours of TV a day and wastes plenty of time otherwise. The time is there.

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by fat lou

Yeah, that's what the media tells me. But could you explain what this "nationwide problem with race" is?
So what's your background, anyway? I'm kind of from the hood, myself. And there are serious problems in the hood. But the police aren't the problem, regardless of what the New York Times or NPR or whomever will try to tell you.

The nationwide problem with race is simply part of the problem we have with education, with violence, with poverty...they are all intertwined, and honestly I am not sure if there is anyway to undo the mess that they are.

Poor people live in neglected areas with bad schools, and this set up only continues to perpetuate the problems. It leads to violence or other ills such as addiction.

For AAs you see it play out in inner city neighborhoods with bad schools, high poverty, and high violence.
For whites you see it play out in the rural areas with poor schools, high poverty, and high rates of addiction.

The reason you don’t see a bunch of cops killing rural white folks is because they are even more neglected that inner city blacks. That is unless they are part of a fringe church group...

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by fat lou

But could you explain what this "nationwide problem with race" is?

If you have not noticed yet, I don't think I'll succeed. It's not like I haven't had conversations like these before.

The reason for the protests isn't to change the minds of people who don't or won't see anything. It's to make those who do see the issue take action and not just throw-up their hands and say nothing can be done. I think it's working so far.

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by Nick538

Moby Hick

Where do these people find time to spend weeks or months protesting? If you have a job, you don't have this kind of time. Even students don't have this much free time! Using deductive reasoning, we can easily arrive at the conclusion that those who have enough time to spend days, weeks or months protesting and marching do not have any family, school or work obligations. Just the facts.

How do you know they don’t work during the day and go to the protests at night? I easily could have spent my lunch break this week laying on the streets downtown, or heading up to Oakland afterwork. Maybe they work two weeks on and two weeks off.

Also, how do you know they are the same people every time? Maybe each time you see someone on tv at a protest it is the only one they attended?

But really, in the end maybe you are right...just a bunch of spoiled trust fund blacks and non-working whites....

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by JimboPGH

A huge nation with a disproportionally huge prison population, that is disproportionally (within the bounds of criminal activity) disproportionally black and hispanic.

Unless people are being put into prisons on completely fabricated charges then how is it necessarily a problem what percentage of each race makes up the prison population.

Take homicide for example, how should the disparity of African Americans being convicted & imprisoned for said crime be remedied; make up charges & throw some random Asians in there because they are underrepresented in the murderer population (or the prison population in general)?

The easiest way to stay out of prison shockingly is to not commit crimes that would land one in prison. For some reason that causality for one being in prison is considered racist by some to discuss.

[fat lou]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

If you have not noticed yet, I don't think I'll succeed. It's not like I haven't had conversations like these before.

The reason for the protests isn't to change the minds of people who don't or won't see anything. It's to make those who do see the issue take action and not just throw-up their hands and say nothing can be done. I think it's working so far.

I'm a white guy. I went to Peabody High School, which was about 70% black when I went there. I've lived in Lawrenceville most of my life, including ten and fifteen years ago, when it was considerably more black than it is now. What life experiences have you had that gives you an insight into race relations that I don't have?

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by fat lou

And I've asked this question before: if police are waging a reign of terror against black people, why can't we find a more sympathetic victim than Michael Brown to focus on? Why aren't we focusing on the times that police gun down a middle-aged, tax-paying black person for no reason at all?

When the Brown shooting story first broke, the initial report was that Brown was a college student who was shot in the back with his hands up saying "don't shoot".

It seemed like such a slam-dunk story to make their case, the media ran with it. It fit all of their stereotypes about white police officers, and made all of their points. Of course when all of the facts came out, it became less clear, but at that point in time they were already committed to the initial accounts and making this story a great cause.


Its just a lot like the UVA gang rape story, feeding stereotypes about college frat boys, really tough to let go of if the story falls apart.


If the idea of showcasing a single case as representative is going to be used, I'd hope that they would vet the cases a little bit better.

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by fat lou

Well, come down out of lily-white Brookline some time and spend some time in Beltzhoover or Knoxville. You may learn a few things.

I used to deliver pizzas in Hazelwood, is that OG enough for ya?

And ****, Brookline is a damn rainbow of diversity compared to my hometown.

Originally Posted by fat lou

And I've asked this question before: if police are waging a reign of terror against black people, why can't we find a more sympathetic victim than Michael Brown to focus on? Why aren't we focusing on the times that police gun down a middle-aged, tax-paying black person for no reason at all?

I wish the media did spend more time on unarmed black men killed by police. There's certainly no shortage to choose from.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by fat lou

I'm a white guy. I went to Peabody High School, which was about 70% black when I went there. I've lived in Lawrenceville most of my life, including ten and fifteen years ago, when it was considerably more black than it is now. What life experiences have you had that gives you an insight into race relations that I don't have?

A white guy saying there is no racism? Now I've seen everything.

[fat lou]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

A white guy saying there is no racism? Now I've seen everything.

Boy, you're really dodging the issue of your racial bona fides, aren't you? Why is that?