Black Man Claims ‘Racist’ Treatment by Police, Cop’s Body Cam Shows He’s a Liar

[Teddy B 17,252]

Well actually it implies togetherness and solidarity. I think it's quite telling that people accept this idea of 'community' unquestioningly when talking about other demographic/ethnic groups - because those people are 'over there' and are different to us.

Race is only important for white people when talking about people of other ethnic backgrounds.

The word community has different meanings.

com·mu·ni·tynoun, often attributive \kə-ˈmyü-nə-tē\

: a group of people who live in the same area (such as a city, town, or neighborhood)

: a group of people who have the same interests, religion, race, etc.

: a group of nations

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

what do you think affirmative action is?

Affirmative Action isn't racist.

Of course, there are Affirmative Action programmes that rich whites have benefitted from. I don't see anyone complaining about that.

The word community has different meanings.

True. But we don't need to trot them out here :-)

You and I are better than that.

[SMOKE 1,426]

Affirmative Action isn't racist.

Of course, there are Affirmative Action programmes that rich whites have benefitted from. I don't see anyone complaining about that.

preferential treatment based on skin color isn't racist?

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

I think white America is growing tired of everything bad that happens to a black person being blamed on racism. I know I am.

I know Black America is tired of being profiled, mistreated, and executed(physically and character assassination).

I agree it needs to be done in tandem, finger pointing will get us nowhere.

I will say this though and I believe I speak for a good amount of reasonable people in this country that do agree racism is still a problem. When Black people react in an irrational manner, the way they have been to recent incidents, it pushes folks like me who want to help make a difference further and further away.

You have to remember, this has been going on for years. I try my best to contain my anger when I'm accused of stealing, or being a drug dealer, or not speaking proper English. It's not easy. And I know how I feel when I see black men and women killed by the police and the EMT's are sitting there letting them die because they can't be bothered. It adds fuel to the fire.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Let's say I came out and said I was proud to be white. I'd be called a Nazi skinhead racist.

To say something like that you'd need to answer the question 'what does being white mean to you?'.

The answer to that question is why we call White Supremacists 'Nazi skinhead racists'.

[Teddy B 17,252]

Affirmative Action isn't racist.

Of course, there are Affirmative Action programmes that rich whites have benefitted from. I don't see anyone complaining about that.

True. But we don't need to trot them out here :-)

You and I are better than that.

You were questioning the meaning behind the word "community" as it was used, were you not?

Probably because most black people live here in America. I've read stories about what it's like to be black in India. Over there, it's more in your face and you can't do anything about it. Even in Japan and Korea, I couldn't stand it when those Japanese women would give out flyers to white service members, but would clam up and flat out ignore my sailors and I. White people take the brunt of it here because of the history of slavery that took place here.

I thought Africa had a larger Black population, no?

[Karee 4,191]

To say something like that you'd need to answer the question 'what does being white mean to you?'.

The answer to that question is why we call White Supremacists 'Nazi skinhead racists'.

What?

True. But we don't need to trot them out here :-)

You and I are better than that.

Someone is putting the moves on Teddy

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

preferential treatment based on skin color isn't racist?

Here you are. I borrowed it from Reddit. This sums it up quite well:

First off, AA is a countermeasure against centuries of discrimination against the minorities it's attempting to benefit. There are significant wealth, education, and income gaps between the power elite, i.e. white men, and minorities like women and racial and ethnic minorities (note: I'm using the sociological definition of "minority," which is not the same as a minority by population). AA is an attempt to alleviate those gaps by giving those minority groups a leg up so that they can compete. Therefore, they would say, affirmative action is not a discriminatory policy, it's an attempt to re-balance the scales after they've been tipped for so long in a certain group's favor.

Second, there's the "merit" argument. What many opponents of AA argue is that while there are disparities in things like wealth and income, it's unfair to give certain groups a leg up because of their race or gender, because that sort of policy makes the somewhat erroneous assumption that "black = poor" and "white = rich," which obviously is not always true. The problem is that if, say, a college were to attempt to enact a "colorblind" admissions process where they try to balance things out by giving preferential treatment to poorer students, it becomes a bureaucratic quagmire. The challenge of accurately assessing the financial status of every applicant is mind-boggling, extremely expensive, and time-consuming, whereas just saying "look, if we give 1,000 black applicants a leg up, most of them, just by pure demographics, will be lower-middle class" is not that difficult. It's callous, but pragmatic.

Third, there's the goal of diversity, period. This applies more to schools than workplaces, but it's just generally better to have a racial/ethnic climate that at least somewhat accurately reflects the makeup of the society we live in. Many students come from a place where they aren't very well-exposed to people of different backgrounds, and I think it's hard to argue that meeting people of different races and cultures is a good thing.

Fourth, there's the still ever-present nagging specter of discrimination. It's sad but true. Minorities still face discrimination, particularly from employers, whether it's overt, subtle, or entirely accidental. White men still run the world, and white men are more likely to hire white men, even if they're the nicest most tolerant and progressive guy you've ever met (we like what we're familiar with; black men are more likely to hire black men, women are more likely to hire women, etc). Having an HR rep nagging the manager to remember to hire women and minorities helps people who are otherwise at a distinct disadvantage have somewhat of a fair chance.

That's the best I can do while keeping it reasonably short. Just so everything's above board, I am in favor of affirmative action, but I tried to be as impartial as possible.

Incidentally, it should be pointed out that there is no single overarching policy of Affirmative Action in the USA. Individual policies should be considered on their own merits, not written off out of hand.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Let's say I came out and said I was proud to be white. I'd be called a Nazi skinhead racist.

That's because at no point in your life here, you were told you weren't the same as anyone else. Black people were told back then, they weren't worth the same as a white person. Even now, when it comes to police brutality and death of a person, there's a distinct difference depending on the ethnicity.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You were questioning the meaning behind the word "community" as it was used, were you not?

I was pointing out that white people generally don't consider whiteness to be a community value. However, there is a tendency for white people to consider blackness that way.

That's a fairly good indication of how a lot of white people view the world.

[SMOKE 1,426]

Here you are. I borrowed it from Reddit. This sums it up quite well:

Incidentally, it should be pointed out that there is no single overarching policy of Affirmative Action in the USA. Individual policies should be considered on their own merits, not written off out of hand.

I didn't read it. no need to. AA is racism plan and simple...see spot run

[Karee 4,191]

That's because at no point in your life here, you were told you weren't the same as anyone else. Black people were told back then, they weren't worth the same as a white person. Even now, when it comes to police brutality and death of a person, there's a distinct difference depending on the ethnicity.

Key phrase: "back then"

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

You were questioning the meaning behind the word "community" as it was used, were you not?

I thought Africa had a larger Black population, no?

There's a huge difference between a black person and an African. Not to mention the whole Apartheid thing that went on over there. And even in 2014, there's a lot of racial strife in that country:http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/20/19039961-all-white-town-fights-to-preserve-segregation-in-mandelas-rainbow-nation

[Teddy B 17,252]

Someone is putting the moves on Teddy

Wait, what???

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Key phrase: "back then"

And it still goes on today. Look at this forum. Look at the reactions when a victim is black. We go looking for faults. We instantly go looking for blame. Black victims are put on trial for their own murders.