My turn to speak up · 12:10am Jun 5th, 2020
I've debated doing this, but know I've made the choice to say something on my own, not out of pressure or persuasion.
To start - I am a white man living in Canada. I have no idea what racism for black people in the US is like, and no matter how much I read about and empathize with the stories, I will never fully understand the experiences they have. So for some I'm sure my opinions won't mean a thing. But I will share them nonetheless.
First - the "All Lives Matter" argument. I like to give those people the benefit of the doubt that they are not racist, they are just misinformed or misunderstand what the phrase and the movement want. My parents are not racist people but they have used the All Lives Matter phrase as a rebuttal. As I've said to them, a better phrase to convey what the movement is for would be "Black Lives Matter Too", because that is what they want, equality, because they are not getting it now. They are not saying that black lives matter more than other ethnicities, they are saying they matter just as much and are tired of being treated like they matter less. They are also not saying that white people do not suffer injustices, they do, but black people suffer them more frequently.
I've seen that comic about the house on fire, seen people make the connection. For me, in my own words, I'd explain it like this. Imagine there are two men laying on the ground in the street. One of them was punched in the face and his nose was broken. The other was stabbed in the stomach and is bleeding profusely. Now, are both of these men injured and in need of medical aid? Yes. But one of them is objectively in need of medical aid more than the other, and is going to suffer and possibly die if he doesn't get it. So if an EMT arrives and ignores the man who was stabbed to treat the man with the broken nose, I ask you, is that right? And if this keeps happening again and again and again, for decades, maybe something is wrong with how EMTs judge who to treat. And the argument "hey, the people with the broken noses are hurt and need help too!" is just plain missing the point.
I've also seen the argument "well, police officers kill unarmed white people all the time too". I don't know the statistics to judge to what extent that argument is true, but it doesn't matter, because that is still an outrage and we should still be upset over it. Systemic racism in American is unquestionably part of this, duh, but another factor of this is police accountability and law reform. The police should not be allowed to bust down your front door in plainclothes without announcing themselves and you're the one charged with a crime when you try to defend your home. Police should not be permitted to choke a suspect into unconsciousness under any circumstances. And as far as I'm concerned, no civilian should be empowered, or feel empowered, to take the law into their own hands to track down, apprehend, and hold someone they suspect of commiting a crime, because civilians are not properly trained to follow proper police procedure so everything is done safely and legally. If these things happen to white people as much as black people or more, it doesn't change anything, you should still demand changes to the system that is letting that happen.
On the violent protests, I am of two minds. On the one hand I do not approve of violence to resolve problems, I mourn for everyone killed in these riots no matter what side they are on and hope that the businesses and buildings attacked are able to recover. On the other hand, I cannot say I don't understand it. Peaceful protests have been happening for decades and obviously are not working, or are working too slowly, so it's not hard to understand why someone would feel they need to resort to more extreme measures. If you keep tapping someone on the shoulder that's in your way and ask them to move, and they keep ignoring you, eventually you're gonna want to push them.
Finally, there is Trump. I don't talk about politics too often here, but if you've seen me talk about him, you know I have absolutely no respect or empathy for him whatsoever. Donald Trump is one of the lowest scum to walk the earth, a "creature" so vile, hateful, ignorant, and petty, that he has seeped his poison into virtually every aspect of American life and government and corroded it in ways that may never be repaired. He has damaged the US's relationships with other nations, demonstrated the fragility of the checks and balances meant to restrain the President, undermined the public trust in the government, law enforcement, and news media, and fostered the spread of hate and intolerance. Worst of all, in doing all of these things, he has dragged others down with him, Republican and conservative voters and politicians who, in their blind loyalty to the party, defend the indefensible things he says and does and repeat them themselves.
In this time of crisis, what has he done? Called for unity, understanding, peace? No, the exact opposite. He has threatened violence and control. He has labelled the rioters as terrorists and accused the protests of being staged with actors. He has threatened to turn the US military on the civilians they are sworn to protect, and made it clear he not only accepts and approves of using violent means to end the riots, but it is his preferred method of doing so. And all the while he continues to tweet about fake news, China, his polling numbers against Biden, insisted he did not hide in a bunker out of fear, and of course, had a church seized by force just so he could stage a photo-op outside. A church he has never been inside, and holding a book he surely has never read.
This is not surprising, of course, Trump is a sociopath and narcissist incapable of feeling empathy or affection for anyone but himself, and lacks the self-awareness to put on airs of pretending otherwise. Of course he is unable to make the effort to calm the situation, aggression and anger is all he understands. Constantly tweeting words like "LAW & ORDER!" and "OBAMAGATE", slogans as empty as his soul, with no meaning or context or action behind them, just loud, angry words with no purpose but to encourage his supporters to be louder and angrier. Like a modern Nero, Trump tweets as America burns, unwilling and unable to understand that his actions are only making things worse.
I don't know how the next few weeks are going to go, with how extreme the riots are and how unstable and unhinged Trump is, it's hard to say. The riots could intensify and turn into a revolution, Trump could face a coup from a military that refuses to carry out unconstitutional orders, the Senate could turn on him and impeach him, or maybe the rioters will just surrender and go home. I don't know.
What I think needs to be remembered is that we do not let the anger fade until another news story like this happens and we flare up again. Let the anger burn down into resolve. A month from now when hopefully the riots have ended and Covid-19 is over and we can start returning to a semblance of normalcy, remember the anger you feel now. And put it into writing, and send it to your chief of police, and your mayor, your senators, your congresspeople, your governor. And when they don't answer you, go out and protest again, don't wait for another tragedy. And when people ask why you're protesting, tell them exactly why - because those in power have chosen to learn nothing from their mistakes that led to the riots.
And when the time comes, make your voice heard with something more powerful than a letter or a protest sign - a vote. Don't just vote Trump out this November, vote for your senators, your congresspeople, your governors, your judges, your mayor. Get politically active and support and vote for people who WILL listen to you if those already in office won't. And if there is no one like that running in your area, then step up and run yourself, be the change you want to see and that others want to see. Remember, the best part of the democracy is also the worst part of democracy - it only works if people participate.
Be safe, everyone. I love you.
We'll see what happens from here.
Here here Drakey. Here here.
Some strong words against Lord Dampnut. I've always said people in other countries could run this one better. :)
5276729
A gorilla that knows sign language could run the country better than Trump.
5276767
We would have more bananas.
Or maybe we wouldn't.
I could use a banana right now. D:
5276767
I would much rather have Koko lead the US than Trump.
Good post, Drakey. Thank you!
Politics all over is filled to the absolute brim with corruption. I damn near disagree with just about every statement you made. Racism is very real and very rampant towards whites atm from what I can see. You are basically told you are a racist if you are white regardless if you do ANYTHING at all that proves otherwise. The democrat leaders from all I see do absolutely nothing for anyone in the US and spend all their time pandering to one group or another or try changing terms such as illegal immigrant to undocumented immigrant.
The list goes on on many of the things I believe you do not see but Its heartbreaking how no one can ever have a civil discussion anymore. We are all still people on this floating dirt ball hurdling thru space we should all get along but it seems anger and hate prevail more nowadays and others with a different opinion are shouted down.
I WOULD chat with you if you wanted a civil debate and its not 2 am in the morning if you were ever interested.
everywhere i see, its like no one wants the US to exist anymore. Im gonna be honest, i am so sick of the media making conservatives out to be bad people.
From what I've seen none of the so called Democrats act like they care about the border. Pelosi's answer? oh , just build a fence or something. Im sick of politics, and I'm sick of people acting like they have the right to tell me how to live.
5277150
Koko died two years ago.
Then again, John Ashcroft lost an election (for Missouri's Senate seat, in 2000 - Ashcroft was the incumbent) to a dead man, why not Trump to a dead gorilla?
Both sides dropped the ball and everyone else is ****ed in one way or another.
This is all ok. But I have seen too many times well intended people creating and supporting social justice laws to cater to their preferred protected class and the attempt back firing... Only for them to claim the problem was not enough social justice. There's an inability in social justice advocates ever to admit doing something wrong.
"All lives matter" approach would be worrying about police brutality in general. You would get what you want, the numbers would be more impactful (since you could add white and other pic murders too) and wathever solution you reach would have less blindspots to be exploited, and would be much harder to criticize.
5277352
the boarder is not in any danger \
if you really wanted to stop illegal imigrants you would go after the people who hire them
oh wait THATS RICH ASS HOLES LIKE TRUMP WHO HIRE THEM