race war update!

[MickeyFinn]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/08/subway.shooting.trial.riot/index.html?iref=NS1

Oakland, California (CNN) -- Hundreds stormed the streets of downtown Oakland on Thursday night after a verdict in the trial of a white former police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man.

Johannes Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thursday, a conviction that usually carries a maximum four-year sentence.

But some in Oakland expected a tougher penalty for the former police officer, and took to the streets in protest.

Crowds broke the glass of a Foot Locker and other stores. Others threw sneakers out of the store as police wearing gas masks stormed the area.


There you go, Black America! The best way to convince the rest of the country that you aren't the violent thugs the stereotypes convey is to immediately create a small riot following the verdict of a trial you don't agree with. I wonder why police shoot first in Oakland and ask questions later?

Before you storm the streets, think about who you represent and what you will gain from your anger. The man who died could have made a much larger step toward equality if the result of his killer's trial didn't become a petty riot. Stop giving the white cops an excuse and they won't have one for the next trial.

[Post]

There you go, White America! The best way to convince the rest of the country that you aren't the racists the stereotypes convey is to create a rant about blacks rioting while posting a video with plenty of non-black rioters in it.

[MickeyFinn]

Does it matter? Every cop in that town is pointing at the riot saying "this is why we have a twitchy trigger finger". And you know exactly who they're going to use it against. Of course they're racist, I'm not trying to convince you otherwise. The guy that plead guilty deserves to go to prison.

[Post]

Of course it doesn't matter, but you're insinuating that the race issue is rooted beyond the evils of human nature. You act as if it's not understandable what "Black America" does: not look at the big picture in their mentality and perpetuate the issue. Then you do the same thing.

What should be empathy, is your righteousness.

[MickeyFinn]

It's chicken and the egg.

[Post]

Your argument relies on which one was first, not mine. Mine relies simply on both sides currently doing it.

[MickeyFinn]

I don't believe human nature to be some cemented instinct tucked away from our primordial ancestry. Instinct exists, but people change so drastically over just a few generations. A hundred years ago you'd get a cross-eyed look at telling people that women should vote, but I'm sure everyone on this board feels that they should in their gut, not just as a point they're willing to concede.

I think the race issue is a lot more about the environment in which you grow up, not the human nature factor. Every cop in Oakland is doing the same thing with his kid tonight; pointing at the TV and saying "see?" He won't point at the white ones. And in 20 years, you have another cop in Oakland with an itchy trigger finger.

[Post]

When I'm talking about human nature, I'm talking about two things:

- fearing what's different
- justifying your conclusions instead of vice versa

Yeah, some cops will probably do that. The issue is, you rant about Black America and not that cop.

[MickeyFinn]

That's because you can't change the cop. He'll hate dark people his entire life. He's going to prison for it. What you can do as a member of the public is change how it will be perceived, and that little riot destroyed any progress that could be made by that man's death.

MLK got a holiday when Malcom didn't for a reason; he understood the same thing a tobacco lobbyist does. You don't win an argument by beating your opponent and changing his mind (because you never will), you win it by making your argument the one the public sides with. Watch "Thank You For Smoking", they present it better than I ever could. This situation was a missed opportunity.

I wouldn't dare defend any police officer who kills an unarmed man, especially when he is equipped with a Taser.

[Post]

Well, this isn't me defending the rioting, so I'm not sure why that's where the focus is. Rioting is bad, and sure, it's counter intuitive.

The issue is you focusing on the rioting without putting equal weight on the other side. You say "chicken or the egg," but when you focus on one side, that's not a chicken/egg debate. You're indirectly blaming one side, and asking that side to put more effort into changing the situation than the other.

And who knows? Maybe that's what it will take. But your rant insinuates that the issue is in the people and not the situation they're placed in. It's not. No one* is doing anything different than each side when placed in whichever scenario. If "White America" was in "Black America's" situation (the minority and all of the things that have happened), then people would still be rioting in the streets, and the people in power would still be overbearing and finger pointing towards the not-thems.

*I'm stereotyping here; I'm sure plenty of people on each side do not fit that stereotype.

[MickeyFinn]

I'll concede that part; you are right. I suppose the point should have been something more like this:

There's no question White people have an advantage in this America. A black American wishing for this to change would not do so by rioting in the streets.

[Post]

Any American wishing for a change, actually. They wouldn't react to the rioting as a black issue, either.

Edit: that last part wasn't directed at you; more so the cop in the scenario you gave.