Makes you think...

[Recusant]

I corrected the numbers, doesn't change the fact.

I admire the swift edit, Steeler. Seriously. 

Thanks.I heard your footsteps.

I was pitter-pattering around, but not headed in your direction, so to speak. The original comment would have been fine, but I think your edit is more cogent. 

[Steeler]

I corrected the numbers, doesn't change the fact.

I admire the swift edit, Steeler. Seriously. 

Thanks.I heard your footsteps.

I was pitter-pattering around, but not headed in your direction, so to speak. The original comment would have been fine, but I think your edit is more cogent. 

Ok cool. I know it's a little more serious around these parts than other sites I visit. I felt after I posted it that it could have been seen as teetering on the line so I got rid of it.

[Steeler]

I corrected the numbers, doesn't change the fact.

What fact? The fact that, Black bodies are systematically linked to criminality, and perceived as threatening even when unarmed, following police orders, or being manhandled by two officers?

Protesting, it gets people talking about things we don't want to talk about. In this case, it's about getting people to talk about how racism is alive and kicking in the USA. Who cares if like you said, "the thuggish ones sure do make the legit ones look bad?" Back then, some people thought it was the "dirty-long hair-hippies" who made the legit ones look bad...But they got people talking about the Vietnam War. 

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the blue?
Sarcasm I assume? A site I admin on we use purple but just checking.

[gentle_dissident]

The wrong leadership has been in this country since the start. The people are convinced they cannot act toward something if they are not an authority and depend on leadership. This mechanism works because being a leader in the US means being a slave owner. The considerate intelligent individuals all ran off to organic farms.

GD, I will be copying this to a new topic in "Politics", er, forgotten what I called it  , look for something asking what sort of government we need!

Saves the current theme of this topic getting messed up.

I thought it fit the general reader for this thread, but I was thinking of Bad Penny when I replied.

[Magdalena]

I corrected the numbers, doesn't change the fact.

What fact? The fact that, Black bodies are systematically linked to criminality, and perceived as threatening even when unarmed, following police orders, or being manhandled by two officers?

Protesting, it gets people talking about things we don't want to talk about. In this case, it's about getting people to talk about how racism is alive and kicking in the USA. Who cares if like you said, "the thuggish ones sure do make the legit ones look bad?" Back then, some people thought it was the "dirty-long hair-hippies" who made the legit ones look bad...But they got people talking about the Vietnam War. 

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the blue?
Sarcasm I assume? A site I admin on we use purple but just checking.

No, it's not sarcasm. We don't have a sarcasm font--Yet. If you "click" on it, it's a link that takes you to an article called:
Structural racism in the US won't diminish with time. Written by: Khaled A Beydoun
Khaled A Beydoun is an assistant professor of law at the Barry University Dwayne O Andreas School of Law.

That's a quote from the article, here's the full quote:

Black bodies are systematically linked to criminality, and perceived as threatening even when unarmed, following police orders, or being manhandled by two officers.

This "weaponization of blackness" is a cornerstone of the structural racism that pervades police departments in Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights, and law enforcement agencies between and beyond them.

It is the very lifeline of the growing mistrust for police in black communities, and the crux of the marching orders driving the Black Lives Matter movement forward.

I don't know what you meant when you said, "I corrected the numbers, doesn't change the fact."

When the number was 29% and you changed it to 50%, it changes the way we see blacks.
Like the author of the article said, "black people are going to be systematically linked to criminality, and perceived as threatening even when unarmed, following police orders, or being manhandled by two officers."

I forgot to mention that I also agree with what you said, "Being a cop can be dangerous business." You also said, "...no free pass from me if you are dumb enough to start an altercation or resist." I also agree with you, one should not "challenge" a police officer, but then again, maybe it's fear and growing mistrust for police in black communities that make them, for lack of a better word, "run."

In the United States, we have the Judicial branch, the Legislative branch and the Executive branch. I believe the police department belongs to the Executive branch. The Executive branch of our Government is in charge of making sure that the laws of the United States are obeyed. You said, "There are too many (overtrained?) officers freaking out over simple movements of someone who they stop for easy stuff like traffic violations." When they "freak out" they are becoming the law makers, the enforcers of the law, the judges, and they give the death sentence in a matter of minutes. They can't do that!

[gentle_dissident]

When they "freak out" they are becoming the law makers, the enforcers of the law, the judges, and they give the death sentence in a matter of minutes. They can't do that!

Preach it sister.

[Steeler]

Ok my tired ass wasnt paying attention. I feel a little like a dumb ass for not recognizing that that was a link, but I'll blame it on my failing eyesight and using my phone for the net most of the time.
My point with the 29 percent, which I believe a few years old stat and think more recently was in the mid thirties, was simply to show that those numbers could suggest or cause people to hold the belief that blacks are more violent by nature.

[Magdalena]

Ok my tired ass wasnt paying attention. I feel a little like a dumb ass for not recognizing that that was a link, but I'll blame it on my failing eyesight and using my phone for the net most of the time.

I know what you mean.

My point with the 29 percent, which I believe a few years old stat and think more recently was in the mid thirties, was simply to show that those numbers could suggest or cause people to hold the belief that blacks are more violent by nature.

Yes, they "could" suggest or cause people to hold the belief that blacks are far more violent by nature. When you changed it to 50% it made it look a lot worse. Do you believe that blacks are far more violent by nature? I sincerely don't think so.

[Magdalena]

When they "freak out" they are becoming the law makers, the enforcers of the law, the judges, and they give the death sentence in a matter of minutes. They can't do that!

Preach it sister.

Sorry, I get a little carried away.
I live in Los Angeles, CA.   

[Steeler]

When they "freak out" they are becoming the law makers, the enforcers of the law, the judges, and they give the death sentence in a matter of minutes. They can't do that!

Preach it sister.

Agreed.
Not to further derail but it reminds me of a time I was stopped for speeding (one of many) and had a young officer get very close to freaking out.
After he stopped me and very quickly approached my passenger side, which I wasn't expecting, I realized he would likely be able to see my handgun which was tucked between my driver's seat and center console.
After asking for my license and registration, while keeping my hands on the wheel, I informed him that I had a legal firearm and that I was just letting him know because I didn't want him to suddenly see it as I was getting him the paperwork and have him think I was reaching for it.
He got really jumpy with his hand on his gun barking orders while a second officer (a little older and much calmer) removed more from the vehicle.
No biggy as he quickly figured out I was no threat. All ended well with him thanking me for handling it like I did, and no ticket, with a friendly discussion of guns before we parted.
I can imagine how differently that could have went down had I been a rough looking character driving a crappy car and not bothering to inform him of the weapon.

[Steeler]

Ok my tired ass wasnt paying attention. I feel a little like a dumb ass for not recognizing that that was a link, but I'll blame it on my failing eyesight and using my phone for the net most of the time.

I know what you mean.

My point with the 29 percent, which I believe a few years old stat and think more recently was in the mid thirties, was simply to show that those numbers could suggest or cause people to hold the belief that blacks are more violent by nature.

Yes, they "could" suggest or cause people to hold the belief that blacks are far more violent by nature. When you changed it to 50% it made it look a lot worse. Do you believe that blacks are far more violent by nature? I sincerely don't think so.

Do I believe blacks are more violent by nature? No.
I believe it isn't the person or race that makes you violent, but the environment you are brought up in. Poor parts of a city will be more violent, black or white part of town, doesn't matter.

[Magdalena]

...
I believe it isn't the person or race that makes you violent, but the environment you are brought up in. Poor parts of a city will be more violent, black or white part of town, doesn't matter.

That's another topic.
Perhaps you would like to discuss it with our dear Davin? 
Now you know that if he posts something in blue--it's not sarcasm. 

[Steeler]

...
I believe it isn't the person or race that makes you violent, but the environment you are brought up in. Poor parts of a city will be more violent, black or white part of town, doesn't matter.

That's another topic.
Perhaps you would like to discuss it with our dear Davin? 
Now you know that if he posts something in blue--it's not sarcasm. 

[Icarus]

Do I believe blacks are more violent by nature? No.
I believe it isn't the person or race that makes you violent, but the environment you are brought up in. Poor parts of a city will be more violent, black or white part of town, doesn't matter.

I am not a sociology major but I can not help but believe in Steelers contention. The grim reality is that much of the black community has not yet been delivered from its depths.  Some of us are trying our damnedest to do some good things about that social and economic disengagement. Too many of us are not encouraging the black community ( or the poorer Hispanic community) to pull up their bootstraps.  Shamefully, there are those who resist any such acts of compassion, common decency, and real world reality.  A few, thankfully very few, cops and others in authority treat people of color as suspect.  This is not to say that certain elements of the "others" are not complicit in crime and socially inappropriate behavior....but that gets us back to the above quote, does it not? 

[Magdalena]

I think we should take a break right now, let's watch cartoons for a while. 
This one never gets old: