Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well, this is what I have to say about this. Calls for peace aren't working. Rioters and looters aren't going to listen to reason. And especially when many of them are gang members. "Live by the sword, die by the sword" is the philosophy. What has stopped looting in the past(of businesses anyway) are people shooting looters. I am in favor of people defending their businesses. What I hope doesn't happen are those persons who use the Stand Your Ground mentality as an excuse to shoot random people whether they are looting or not.
if liberals had their way across the country, we would have anti-gun laws that ordinary citizens can't protect their homes and their business in situations like these where the police can't protect you.
I wonder where are the anti-gun liberals on tv now?
this is sad, you only see these things in 3rd world countries under dictatorship or civil war......why do blacks act these way? Not all blacks but this only happens in black communities...This doesn't happen in the Asian, Latino and other minorities communities because THEY won't let this happen, they won't look the other way or participate, that's why!!!
... and he also wants to try and attract new businesses into these urban communities.
The sentiment is there ... but timing is WAY off.
I'm sure the business community is jumping all over themselves trying to get to the front of the line to have their livelihood burned and looted.
Yea I saw on the news that they had a hard time attracting big businesses to the neighborhood. One government official said they had a hard time even getting the CVS Pharmacy they burned down to come to the neighborhood and now it's gone.
Well, this is what I have to say about this. Calls for peace aren't working. Rioters and looters aren't going to listen to reason. And especially when many of them are gang members. "Live by the sword, die by the sword" is the philosophy. What has stopped looting in the past(of businesses anyway) are people shooting looters. I am in favor of people defending their businesses. What I hope doesn't happen are those persons who use the Stand Your Ground mentality as an excuse to shoot random people whether they are looting or not.
Bill Clinton would just drop basketballs from helicopters.
Blame that on the rabble rousers who fill their heads with racist BS to further their private ambitions. On the night in question, the police encountered a physically robust suspect. By the end of their shift, the police handed over a mortally wounded one. To date, no explanation for the violence has been brought to light. Had these been citizen volunteers instead of police officers, they'd be under arrest.
It doesn't matter if I think the violence is justified; it doesn't matter if you think it's justified -it isn't.
What matters is that the rioters think it's justified, and if we want these riots to stop, we have to convince the disaffected that we as a nation tolerate no double standards. This is being discussed as a racial incident (yet another one under Obama the Great Healer, but that's another discussion), but this is not a racial incident when you drill all the way to the bottom of it, in my opinion.
The fundamental reason that this is happening is a lack of confidence. To wit, confidence that when police officers behave in a criminal or suspect manner that they will be treated the same way the rest of us would be treated: as criminal suspects.
This isn't fundamentally a matter of racial animus so much as it is a matter of frustration with a perceived double standard in a country that says everyone will be treated the same.
(Oh, and I will brook no bull**** from anyone who tries to allege that I am anti-cop. Most of my Friends are in law enforcement or are retired law enforcement and a family member is in a Police Academy as I write this. You can be in favor of police reform without being "anti-cop".)
ITA with the bold above. To me, it is kind of odd that the majority of you cannot see this. I saw a post on Facebook recently that was pretty spot on:
Quote:
"Stop bringing up black on black crime. We understand black on black crime is a problem. But when Ray-Ray kills Tyrone, Ray-Ray goes to jail for life. Our issue is when Officer Bob kills unarmed Tyrone, even with audio/video and 19 witnesses, Officer Bob goes home on paid administrative leave"
It is odd to me how clueless people are about this issue. It certainly is not a racial thing. It is a double standard thing and a police brutality issue, which brings me to the comments below:
Quote:
Originally Posted by nei
I'll add the police chief of Baltimore is black, and so is half the police department.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suncc49
Mayor - Black
Police Chief - Black
Majority of City Council - Black
Tell me again what is wrong with Baltimore's policies? Officers involved in the Freddy Gray thing were black too.... some of them at least.
Also rioters are specifically targeting white people for robbing/pelting with garbage/car attacks.
Tell me why it isn't about race?
How many black people on the force have nothing to do with the issues cited above. If Officer Bob is black, he will get treated in the same way as described above. In my experience, black officers many times are much more aggressive and violent than white officers (I am black). Black officers won't get their face plastered on the news as easily as a white officer who abuses his/her authority. I had a run in with police where I sued and got a settlement. My lawyer flat out told me that if the officer involved was a white officer we would have gotten 10 times as much money. Race plays as an issue to the media only. When the officer involved is a black officer you just don't hear about it. You all are not told as much about the black officers but they are just as bad or worse than the most racist white cop.
Look at an old movie called "Boyz n da Hood." The black cop was based on all crazy black cops that harrass, bully, and kill black people too. Nobody cares when they do it except their victims and the people who live in those communities.
ETA: I doubt all the officers involved in Freddie Gray's death were white. Also, look at the officer in North Charleston who offered no assistance to Scott Walker as he lay dying. Black people get just as mad at them. It is an institutional frustration, not a white cop frustration. The majority of white officers I have come into contact with were very nice and professional, not so with the black officers I have come into contact with and I lived in a majority black city for many years with a police force that has a high representation of black officers.
Deray McKesson on CNN right now. Can't stand that guy. He came down here to Charleston trying (quite hard) to stir things up. We said no thanks and his efforts largely came to naught. I see he's onto the next city.
You make a good point- until police are held to the same criminal standards as everyone else, frustration will continue to boil over. I wouldn't go so far as to say there is no racial element here, however.
Clearly, the people in Baltimore (and opportunistic politicians and rabble rousers) see it first as a racial matter. I guess what I'm saying is that, while there is clearly a racial veneer to it, and it's easy to understand why it's seen that way, this is at least as much a police reform issue as it is a racial one.
all the more reason to question their behavior then isn't it?
Well, I think it calls into question the idea that Baltimore police and leaders' policies are based on racism as this is a city with a majority black police force and black administration.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
