I'm hearing that businesses around the Twin Cities are shutting down early and boarding up. I heard someone describe it as preparing for a tornado.
What do people expect? Marginalized groups of people in the most wealthy and powerful nation on earth treated like something from a third world slum. Nothing else has successfully cured the problem. Eventually the oppressed lash out in the only way left... destruction and violence. I hear a lot of people saying how what the protesters did is wrong. I can understand that sentiment but I really do not agree.
This statement is true. I think the distinction is that the thing that's happening now is that people are using this as an opportunity to steal and vandalize rather than to make their point. Unless, I missed something, I believe the HK protests were done with a message in mind, not to go on a scavenger hunt. The two don't appear to be equal comparisons to me. And I'm not sure what's going on between the two of you. Just from scanning the posts in this thread, I get a sense that you're trying to make a case that he's a racist. If that's the case, don't beat around the bush. Be direct. If I've misinterpreted what I've read in this thread, I apologize. I'm not trying to single you out or anything. But it's hard to tell where you're going with your posts but it's clear your going somewhere. Yall work it out.
thanks for posting that video rocketsjudoka. the damage is much more extensive than i thought. crazy! its a reminder of how tenuous societal order is and how easily things can totally break down. i saw a video on reddit this morning of a target being looted. i think its important to differentiate between protestors and looters. i would wager that the majority of these a**holes dont care about cops murdering someone...they are lowlifes who are just taking advantage of an opportunity to engage in lowlife behavior.
Ive been saying for years.... black people need to arm themselves with assault style weapons, get conceal and carry and educate themselves on literally every legal and illegal stop procedure. Huey Newton had it right in that regard. The deplorable white folks want to buy a hundred guns and preach the second amendment... that goes both ways.
There is no beating around the bush. Racism isn't a discrete binary paradigm like a computer transistor. It's a gradient. I even said that it's probably due to implicit biases. All humans have implicit biases and all humans have a gradient of tribalism. It's our intelectual duty to be introspective and understand those biases. The poster was involved in those HK protests threads and never complained of property destruction and and now is complaining about it. it's a very obvious bias there. And saying that "this effects us" isn't a valid excuse. The property destruction here doesn't effect anyone here personally except maybe a single poster who might live in the area. That destruction of property does effect people though and in both cases with HK and Minneapolis, it effects people we don't know. One group of people doesn't deserve to have their property destroyed less. If you are going to heavily engage in HK protest threads supporting them and never once condemn the destruction of property and then condemn it here, it's a reasonable questions to ask if there might be a implicit bias here. I'm not going to label any poster a racist just because of an implicit bias but I would like of they acknowledge it and try to correct it. That's what introspection is all about.
It's not really about drawing distinction. No one here is condoning the destruction of innocent people's property. We all understand the distinction. That isn't the debate or point of contention here. However it is important to understand that this is merely a consequence of 400 years of actions taken on this lineage of people and this is what should be expected if we marginalize a group of people for multiple centuries.
Ok, since you’re still on that my posts shape your opinion and your posts shape mine, then I’ll go ahead and start with some good faith on my part, because I think this dialogue is important if we want to change for the better. I have lived through several riots in my lifetime, two in Miami and one in LA. To witness all the property destruction and including the loss of lives is not something you would soon forget. I understand the anger of the black community when seeing the injustices heaped upon them by the rogue police officers. Protesting against such bad behaving cops is perfectly legit and it’s an American thing to do, but when you have opportunistic douche bags waiting to pounce on a store to loot and burn said store to the ground that is owned by a hardworking fellow citizen, that is just wrong anyway you look at it. By doing so, these knuckleheads will harm the cause against police injustice everytime we turn on the news and see another brother running away with an Air Fryer or an Xbox. Looting and rioting images we see on TV going back decades, and that pivots me to the situations in HK. I’m not excusing any private property that are damaged by the protesters, but have you ever seen any looting footages by these protesters? HK is a different case than what’s going on in Minneapolis. The HK protesters are fighting a different battle, they’re fighting against a losing war against the ChiCom which soon will strip away every ounce of freedom that they have ever tasted. Here in Minneapolis and America, we collectively can fight this battle against police tyranny and win if we stick together,
Will drug use go down if the parents of those D.A.R.E. kids echoed its message and also said NO to drugs? If you give people the best schools and healthcare in the world and they go home to hear and see the type of messages that encourage and excuse immoral behavior you will still end up in poverty due to learned immoral behavior. Why? Because those great schools would still have rules that you aren't being taught to follow, consequences that you aren't being taught to accept, and authority figures that you aren't being taught to reapect. On the other hand, people could go to suboptimal schools and go home to a good, moral home with parents who are good examples and they will likely succeed despite their poor schools, teachers, and classmates. Even if one learns nothing more than good morals growing up due to poor schooling, one would still find a way in this country of great opportunity. Of course, that type of kid from that type of home would still be at-risk and have an easier time and complete experience in a more positive environment, but his home is more important than his school.
This isn't about a "moral home". Children of poor families generally have more burdens and responsibilities than children of well off families. Kids in these poor communties often have to be make shift parents for their younger sibling because their single mother has to work 50+ hours just to have a sustainable life. Poor families have less access to things like healthcare. That means that many kids resort to "side hustle" to make sure that their mom can afford her diabetes medication. Poor children just have less time to care about school in our country and it's due to our poor social safety nets. Poor people are just more desperate. You can shout and scream public service announcements about how to be a "moral family" all you want and it will never solve the deep systemic issues. You've never asked yourself why these families in poor neighborhoods aren't up to your "moral" standards. You believe it's inherent in their nature rather than the results of circumstances over the past 400 years. Conservatives really have trouble understanding causality.
They expect black people to be docile and subservient. America loves many elements of black culture but she doesn’t love black people.
Just remember that white colonists shot at people and killed them because they thought they were taxed unfairly. And now so many conservatives who praise those same group of people are left dumbfounded why a lineage of people that experienced almost 300 years of slavery, 100 years of having their farm lands stolen, redlining, segregation, lynching police brutality so and and so forth would commit acts of violence. For many of these conservatives, it's not that they are dumbfounded. They just don't care.
I've got to stop you right there. You've now made this a political (left/right liberal/conservative) argument which it really isn't, unless you drive it to be. Who believes it's inherent in their nature? Are you talking to the specific poster or are you talking to the conservatives that you criticize in the next sentence? Is that not a form of racism? I only point it out to ask that you take time to reflect on what you're saying because you may not realize how it's coming across. The statement "You believe it's inherent in their nature" is a very inflammatory statement. If you're looking for a civil discussion you can't be doing that. I'm confused in that you said in a previous post "However it is important to understand that this is merely a consequence of 400 years of actions taken on this lineage of people and this is what should be expected if we marginalize a group of people for multiple centuries." And then go on to say "You believe it's inherent in their nature". I think I understand what the point you're trying to make. But it's getting kinda uncomfortable. I think the discussion would be more healthy if we pull out the assumptions of what others believe in their heart, because you simply don't know. I'm hoping you don't take it in a defense way because I'm interested in the discussion.
That's what is need to be done! Send a bunch of Karen's up there to get management on the phone. Awesome.