Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by taxwonk

The thing is, dealing with race and not dealing with poverty at the same time winds up leading to assholes like Clarence Thomas and Ben Carson, with their "let them eat cake" philosophy and bigger, more insidious assholes like Bill Cosby telling Blacks to stop whining and just get rich like him, so you can rape women and get away with it instead of doing it and winding up in Soledad, making the rest of the Black folks look bad. I have actually heard Black people in a higher income setting complain about those lazy, shiftless thugs and welfare moms in the inner city making them look bad.

can you think of a webpage where rich white people write off poor rural white people as shiftless idiots?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Adder

You're talking about these things as if they are conscious decisions.

Mike Brown and Trayvon Martin (and many others) did not get killed because someone went out seeking to be a racist asshole that day.

The power dynamics you guys are talking about play a role too, absolutely. But their blackness is absolutely key to some dumb asshole thinking they are dangerous and deciding to shoot.

You know, there are people out there who do indeed go out seeking to be racist assholes. Every day. Hopefully fewer than in the past, but still not an insignificant number.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

can you think of a webpage where rich white people write off poor rural white people as shiftless idiots?

The New York Times?

[Not Bob]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

can you think of a webpage where rich white people write off poor rural white people as shiftless idiots?

The FB, but that's really more related to The Poors' taste for mass-market beer.

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by Not Bob

The FB, but that's really more related to The Poors' taste for mass-market beer.

Unfair! I know you wear shirts.

Oh wait, never mind.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

Wrong. They harass them because they think most young Black men are involved in some illegal act, and have outstanding warrants or drugs on their person. The average local cop has zero interest in tangling with truly dangerous people. He's looking for easy targets.

You are absolutely fucking wrong. Young black men get shot because white people have been taught all their lives (in many different ways) to fear them.

TM

[Hank Chinaski]

http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/19/medi...ech/index.html I guess we are a country happy to stay uniformed idiots?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

You are absolutely fucking wrong. Young black men get shot because white people have been taught all their lives (in many different ways) to fear them.

TM

I think Sebby was referring to the "stop and frisk" in Adder's post. But you are right as to shootings- cops (and neighborhood patrols) are on edge. I wonder if there are any stats on cop shootings that compare numbers based on percentages of the cops' race?

[Not Bob]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

I think Sebby was referring to the "stop and frisk" in Adder's post. But you are right as to shootings- cops (and neighborhood patrols) are on edge. I wonder if there are any stats on cop shootings that compare numbers based on percentages of the cops' race?

Unfortunately, there aren't even any reliable statistics nationally on the numbers of people shot by the police, much less ones that have a break down like that. (Sebbyesque Disclaimer: I could be completely wrong on this, but I seem to recall reading shortly after the Ferguson stuff first broke that the FBI/DoJ deliberately don't keep track of these numbers.)

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

I think Sebby was referring to the "stop and frisk" in Adder's post. But you are right as to shootings- cops (and neighborhood patrols) are on edge.

What's the difference? Do you think the policies, the policy-makers, and the policy-carry-outers behind stop-and-frisk aren't influenced by the same exact thing?

TM

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

You are absolutely fucking wrong. Young black men get shot because white people have been taught all their lives (in many different ways) to fear them.

TM

How, exactly, were white people "taught" to fear black people? Actually curious not snarky.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

What's the difference? Do you think the policies, the policy-makers, and the policy-carry-outers behind stop-and-frisk aren't influenced by the same exact thing?

TM

the same ignorance is the well-spring but in one case isn't it "this kid might SHOOT ME!" and in the other "a kid like that is likely to be carrying dope and getting him off the streets is going to make everyone safer?"

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

I think Sebby was referring to the "stop and frisk" in Adder's post. But you are right as to shootings- cops (and neighborhood patrols) are on edge. I wonder if there are any stats on cop shootings that compare numbers based on percentages of the cops' race?

There are no stats on cop shootings. Here's a Daily Show segment on that problem (about a minute and a half in, after the faux familial spat).

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

How, exactly, were white people "taught" to fear black people? Actually curious not snarky.

That's a good question, but it's there in our culture somewhere.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

How, exactly, were white people "taught" to fear black people? Actually curious not snarky.

I can give you a few examples:

1. Some are actually outright taught, whether it's "You should hate black people because they're all thugs who want your money or vagina," or the more subtle influence of being with your mom or friend when she clutches her purse closer or crosses the street when a black man approaches

2. Some are taught because of ignorance bred from under-exposure (ghettos are created in places easy for all non-ghetto people to avoid, white people flee cities in favor of lilly white suburbs and gated-communities, etc.)

3. Popular culture: from beauty standards, to acting opportunities, to the types of "black" music embraced and disbursed by white people, stereotypes created around fear win the day

4. Rush Limbaugh and his ilk

5. Media issues: Whether we're talking about darkening OJ's skin on the cover of a magazine to make him more menacing or reporting on crack cocaine and how it's creating a generation of crack babies (complete bullshit), while completely ignoring how much worse meth has been in this country. Hell, picture a white dude who smokes weed in your head and then picture a black one. Is one of them a college dude who enjoys a good bong toke and the other a dark-skinned criminal in a hoodie and skully pulling on a blunt while looking menacingly at everyone?

6. The drug war, which has been waged primarily against minorities (even though drug use numbers are almost exactly the same between whites and blacks), which results in a higher incarceration rate for blacks, which feeds fear and stop-and-frisk and 3-strikes policies

7. Politicians: Don't get me started. The fears they constantly stoke with ad campaigns of black men coming to get you while running on a tough-on-crime platform. Palin-types who say shit like, "let's take back our country" or "Obama pals around with terrorists" or "He's from Nigeria, he's not American, he's a community organizer [or any other dog-whistle bullshit]" to a group of rabid racists

I can go on and on. Fuck, I went to a Halloween party in New York fucking City last month and dressed as a member of Run DMC and 3 white girls (separately) asked if I was a thug. You don't think that fear is constantly being taught? You're sure as hell not born with it.

TM