Posted: 09 June 2020 at 10:13am | IP Logged | 9
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Miss Jansen: "Is there some white man saying hey, my opinion about black or women's experiences is important..."
I think it could be. I feel my opinion is pretty important; I believe in equal rights, fair treatment, and the same justice for anyone. I've spoken about it and while I could do more to support it, I've done a little in my time.
Call me a bigot, but I believe it should be about the issue and not the nature of the subject/victim. Black lives do matter. Harassment has run rampant for far too long. There's no place for either in today's society, or as we step into the future.
Andy Mokler: "If there are truly hundreds or thousands of examples of innocent bystanders being targeted and harassed and abused by the police, I haven't seen them."
Watch the news over the last two weeks. Or the last year. Or the last two hundred and fifty years. A history book might help. Or the nightly news. On the assumption that innocent bystanders include American Indians, Jews, Italians, "hillbillies", Germans, and especially Blacks - you have to be blind to NOT see it. And that's CENTURIES of occurrences. CENTURIES!
Andy Mokler again: "Black on black crime. Fatherless homes. Crime. Drugs. All of these things are much bigger problems than a supposed systemic problem with the police specifically targeting blacks"
These are not independent events. They can ALL be occurring. A house fire can occur in the north part of town while two policemen have stopped and searched a black pedestrian, and now have their guns drawn and cocked because he jaywalked. There are bigger problems and lesser problems, and they vary at different times. Drug abuse is indeed a horrible affair - but it's hard to focus on that when one is targeted by three magnum guns.
Mr. Byrne: " As long as every police officer knows that anyone they stop for any reason can potentially pull a gun and shoot them, there is going to be overreaction."
Or if I might quote to you sir: With great power, there must also come... great responsibility.
"Defund" may be too vague a term. I still believe that adjusting the law forces is the solution, not just taking away funding.
Police forces are being overtasked, beyond a doubt. Perhaps the solution is a change to responses from calls in. "A man with guns ran into an abandoned factory" - send a SWAT team. "A family thought they heard someone break into their house" - send a police team. "A homeless woman is running around Main Street, screaming and obviously in pain" - send a medical unit (perhaps trained with non-lethal weapons.) It may be time to start sending the right group for the right problem, instead of laying everything at the police's feet.
And again... this problem is dirty cops. Fix that and the problem is addressed considerably (but not totally... we all have a lot of learning and growing to do also.)
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