Cops being cops

[donquixote99]

Originally Posted by finnbow

I've grown profoundly tired of the BLM movement as I find their complaints about police violence address a symptom of the problem and not the problem itself. In Minneapolis (where my daughter and her husband live), BLM had very little public support as a result of them choosing to demonstrate illegally on private property (the Mall of America), and when a judge intervened they moved to the airport and blocked access to the airport on December 23 in the midst of the Christmas travel season. FWIW, most of the Minneapolis protesters were pampered (white) millennials.

That doesn't excuse a cop calling for BLM protesters to be run over, but I understand his and the public's frustration with the movement and its tactics.

If a particular group is frequently singled out for mistreatment, isn't it allowable for them to complain about it? If the mistreatment is extremely severe, isn't it understandable that they may feel like registering their complaints aggressively?

But you were 'tired' of BLM the first time you heard of them, I think.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

If a particular group is frequently singled out for mistreatment, isn't it allowable for them to complain about it? If the mistreatment is extremely severe, isn't it understandable that they may feel like registering their complaints aggressively?

But you were 'tired' of BLM the first time you heard of them, I think.

I first heard of it (in those terms) as a result of Ferguson. The cop was exonerated by the Justice Department while the protesters burned large parts of the city down.

It's all a matter of perspective. There were 162 homicides in DC in 2015, almost all of which were black-on-black crime involving young men. There were 2 police shootings, both as a result of cops defending themselves against bad guys shooting at them (both were adjudicated as justified). There is something very wrong in American inner cities (crime, unemployment, drugs, etc.), but cops shooting innocent black men is pretty far down the list but is getting the lion's share of attention/ink, unlike the real sources and solutions to the pathology of the American inner city. Treating police violence as the primary problem impacting black culture does little to address the bigger, vexing problems that we've tried to resolve (mostly in vain) for decades.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by finnbow

I first heard of it (in those terms) as a result of Ferguson. The cop was exonerated by the Justice Department while the protesters burned large parts of the city down.

Even granting (which I don't) that the Ferguson protests were illegitimate, there are hundreds of other manifestations of a racist police culture in America that entirely legitimize the Black Lives Matter movement.

Even from the perspective of your point of view of the events at Ferguson, your efforts to dismiss BLM and their grievances and to decry their tactics is very misguided.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Even granting (which I don't) that the Ferguson protests were illegitimate, there are hundreds of other manifestations of a racist police culture in America that entirely legitimize the Black Lives Matter movement.

Even from the perspective of your point of view of the events at Ferguson, your efforts to dismiss BLM and their grievances and to decry their tactics is very misguided.

To me, the knee-jerk (and seemingly mandatory) endorsement of BLM by liberals is a way to show solidarity with the black community without having to actually undertake the requisite analysis, funding, cultural changes and hard work needed to make a dent in the problems of the inner cities.

I'm harbor no illusions that solving the problem is anywhere near that easy, particularly when much of the solution needs to come from within the black community. For the most part, I perceive white liberals endorsement of BLM as an intellectually lazy fig leaf to help assuage their white guilt.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Even granting (which I don't) that the Ferguson protests were illegitimate, there are hundreds of other manifestations of a racist police culture in America that entirely legitimize the Black Lives Matter movement.

Even from the perspective of your point of view of the events at Ferguson, your efforts to dismiss BLM and their grievances and to decry their tactics is very misguided.

The black community did itself more harm than good with its self-destructive behavior in Ferguson.

[donquixote99]

Originally Posted by finnbow

I first heard of it (in those terms) as a result of Ferguson. The cop was exonerated by the Justice Department while the protesters burned large parts of the city down.

It's all a matter of perspective. There were 162 homicides in DC in 2015, almost all of which were black-on-black crime involving young men. There were 2 police shootings, both as a result of cops defending themselves against bad guys shooting at them (both were adjudicated as justified). There is something very wrong in American inner cities (crime, unemployment, drugs, etc.), but cops shooting innocent black men is pretty far down the list but is getting the lion's share of attention/ink, unlike the real sources and solutions to the pathology of the American inner city. Treating police violence as the primary problem impacting black culture does little to address the bigger, vexing problems that we've tried to resolve (mostly in vain) for decades.

I don't think the Justice Dept is in the exoneration business, and I question your claim. No prosecution does not equal exoneration. The city's practices in general were damned, rather than exonerated.

injustice from a justice system gets folks riled-up more than substandard services and diffuse economic disadvantage and other factors leading to the violent urban subculture with which you smear all black people.

[sheltiedave]

I can see why blacks are more than a little upset. A teen with a toy gun gets killed, while armed white thugs take over a federal preserve, threaten employees and law enforcement, steal, break, and damage federal and state property, and are allowed to squat and order takeout.

Black lives do matter, and if it takes a little inconvenience to change a culture, great.

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by finnbow

FWIW, most of the Minneapolis protesters were pampered (white) millennials.

Pampered, and are out protesting?

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by finnbow

That doesn't excuse a cop calling for BLM protesters to be run over, but I understand his and the public's frustration with the movement, its tactics and cluelessness.

Why does this remind me of Trump "understanding" why his supporters in Boston stomped a homeless Hispanic man or "understanding" why his supporters in Birmingham beat and kicked a BLM protester at one of his rallies?

[donquixote99]

Stuff the accusations of simple-mindedness, Finn the Man.