Forum - View topicActions Speak Louder than Words #BlackLivesMatter
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FinalVentCard
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 517 |
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I too donated to the Minnesota fund.
I'm Latinx and Neurodivergent. I cannot imagine how much worse the treatment is for the Black community, even with so many important people in my life having been Black. This affects all of us, and I do hope we see progress as the result of the effort of those taking part in the protests. They're the real heroes here. |
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Cutiebunny
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This is exactly what will happen if you defund the police. Or if large chunks of society continue to believe that every police officer/department is corrupt because no one is going to work there if they're not only not going to be properly paid for putting their life on the line but they and their families are going to attacked for it. Let me ask you this - Who is going to protect you and your property when (and it will be a when) there are no police? Your easily distracted doggo? Your Ring device? Do you think that the criminals of our society are going to sit in their homes and not even think about the possibility of breaking in to your home and robbing you blind while you're at work? Doesn't matter if you think you don't have anything much of value - People will still attempt to break in anyways because that microwave, iPad and TV can at least fetch a few dollars somewhere. Ask the people who reside in San Francisco how well the decriminalization of crimes where the property damage is less than $1K has worked out for them as they're going to replace their broken car window for the umpteenth time this year. When the wealthiest people of your society appear to side with your cause by demanding to defund the police, ask yourself what they have to lose by taking this position. In this case, they'll lose nothing because they have the resources to build higher/sturdier fences and hire personnel to guard their properties in the event that there are no more police. Most of the people that want to defund the police are the same people who stand to lose the most from not having them around. It's class warfare under the guise of BLM yet most of these protesters are too blind to see it. There are bad officers just as there are bad teachers, bad doctors, bad clergymen, etc. There are bad people in every facet of society. That's reality. Those who care about their society go after the individuals who behave badly and peacefully lobby for change. They know that rioting, looting and other forms of non-peaceful protests is a great way to lose public opinion as well as the rights they already have. Those who care about their society don't assume that everyone in a certain group of people or who work a certain career are bad nor do they target them across the board. Last edited by Cutiebunny on Thu Jun 04, 2020 3:16 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Narutofreak1412
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Maybe it's because I'm not from the US, but I don't really understand what all this is about.
I know that a black man died, because the police stopped a car and was very rough him, like kneeling on him for quite some time. So was this intentionally done by the policeman because he was racist or was it a mistake and he didn't realize that the man was dying by the way he fixated him on the floor? If it was the first than the policeman should be immediately suspended and face a heavy sentence for murder. If it was the second, of course he has to be charged for killing a person too, but then it wouldn't really matter what skin color the person had. An unnecessary death is always a tragedy. While I approve of spreading awareness of the police being too brutal in some cases and racism in general, I don't like the idea of treating the whole police as an evil force that spreads racism and I don't really get how spending money helps with the situation. Isn't it more of a political issue, like what police can and can't do, in which cases they have to take responibility and how they are chosen and trained? |
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Greboruri
Posts: 378 Location: QBN, NSW, Australia |
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I really find it hard to support what is going on as I am not a US citizen, but then again we have our own issues to deal with here which are none too dissimilar with what is going on in the US (indigenous incarceration rates here are near 30% and they only make up 3% of the population, so far worse than the US).
However I'm utterly astounded by the lack of empathy or even an understanding of what is going on. I remember the 1992 LA riots very clearly. Much like now, that even wasn't entirely about the acquittal of the police officers who were caught clearly on tape beating Rodney King. Tensions had been simmering for years beforehand. The LAPD was a brutal police force in black neighbourhoods. For example they had a six-ton tank with a 14-foot steel battering ram which was commissioned in 1986 to combat drug houses. Except they'd get it wrong on occasion and end up destroying innocent people's houses. They other thing which baffled me at the time was how the media was utterly upset with Bodycount's (Ice-T's thrash metal band) "Cop Killer" song. This was a couple of months after the riots and no one seemed to make the connection between the two. They seemed oblivious as to why a black man would write a song like that, which astounded me. It's just baffling to me that none of the lessons learned from 1992 have been heeded. US police departments seem to have gotten more militaristic and are at war with it's citizens, or more correctly at certain sections of the community. There is also the monetisation of the justice system such as privatisation of jails and really punitive laws and fines which are applied unfairly (see the utter insanity of civil forfeiture laws). And here is the outcome of that; you brutalise a community for decades and eventually they'll crack and fight back. You really have no one else to blame but yourselves. |
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LadyKuzunoha
 Posts: 91 Location: United States |
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I think it's important to note that the FBI reportedly hasn't found anything linking that to the riots - they apparently did find other groups posing as "Antifa" agitating things, however. (Edited to remove a part of the comment referencing something I'd deleted before posting. My bad there.) Last edited by LadyKuzunoha on Thu Jun 04, 2020 3:02 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Sir Winston C'thulhu
Posts: 32 |
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Hooooo boy. From the inane, baseless conspiracy theories, to the utter lack of empathy, to attacking ANN and the staff for even covering this, you're.... It's best to let the staff handle your ass. Now even though I know your post will simply get unceremoniously deleted and you warned/banned, I would regardless love to see Tempest tear into you beforehand. |
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WizardOfOss
 Posts: 77 Location: Oss, Netherlands |
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EDIT: might have been unintentionally offensive, I should have chosen my words more carefully
Last edited by WizardOfOss on Thu Jun 04, 2020 12:10 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Sir Winston C'thulhu
Posts: 32 |
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The whole point of this >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>. Your head Yes, ALL lives matter. Think of all lives as a circle, or a club. Well, for a very very long time, and even right now, certain people based on their skin color were and are excluded from this club. Black lives didn't matter. Black Lives Matter is a reminder that black people are a part of the all. That they're a part of the club. And that's what everyone is fighting for - to make people realize that they are a part of this club, and that they do matter. In case you didn't know, this club is all about living. You know. Breathing. Keeping your heart pumping, brain functioning. The right to live. Not having racist jackasses kill you for no goddamn reason than your skin being a few shades too dark for them. So yeah. All lives matter. Until people forget and black people's lives' stop mattering. Hence, the movement. |
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WizardOfOss
Posts: 77 Location: Oss, Netherlands |
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Sure, there has always been racism, and there still is. And I would love to see that become a thing of the past. But to me, this focus on skin color just seems counterproductive. George Floyd wasn't just a black person, he was a human being. Just like you and me. That alone should have been enough reason to make his life matter. But this probably isn't the right place or time for such a discussion. In the end I'm just as mad about what happened as anyone else. |
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Kirki
Posts: 296 |
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I am not from the US either, but we had a similar case here - a fifteen year old boy was straight up shot by a police officer. Athens was burning and being looted for days, and a decade later, semi-violent marches happen every year at the day of his death.
I know it's being crazy in the US, but I think that things like police brutality need to be drastically called out. I am not justifying practices like looting, but I understand that there is a severe racism problem in that country. That man died because he was black. I think that even the most resilient alt-right people cannot refute that. It's just that serious and big of an issue. So the pent up rage is completely understandable to me. |
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Agent355
 Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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Thank you, ANN. I’ll be very interested in reading articles focusing on Black people’s contributions to anime—from people who work in the industry to critics to cosplay and fan art!
When I was in my early 20s, my laptop and bag were stolen and I called the cops to file a report. The officers were hostile from the get go, but I was earnest and naive. I was completely shocked when they *accused me of filing a false report and threatened to charge me. The way the officers accused me of committing a crime while trying to report one made me feel worse than the violation of having my stuff stolen. I let them go at first, but I ended up fighting them a bit—I called a neighborhood watch group and some neighbors, and asked them to support me as I called them again and insisted they take a report. It was an awful experience, but it left me knowing that I was lucky: The crime I was accused of making up wasn’t as traumatic as a sexual assault. Assault survivors are at best disbelieved and at worst charged with making a false report disturbingly often (see the Netflix series Unbelievable). And as a white young woman without any disabilities, I was never afraid that the officers would try to physically hurt me. Even after they accused me of making up a false report, I didn’t think they would actually arrest me. Percentage wise, people of color and people with disabilities are usually not as lucky. Even if you think defunding police is extreme*, most Americans understand that police in America need retraining, especially in understanding racial bias, understanding the way victims of crime communicate after trauma, dealing with individuals with mental health issues and/or communication issues (Deaf people, neurodiverse people, people who aren’t fluent in English), and de-escalation. Police also need to be held accountable when they abuse their power. No police officer should act as judge, jury and executioner—the use of force should only be applied in self defense. Remember that citizens do not have the legal right to fight back against officers, even if the officers are being egregiously violent towards them—cop killers can’t claim “self defense” in court. Cops have that extra legal protection because we as a society give them the benefit of the doubt that they won’t kill innocent people, or suspects already in custody. It is in every citizen’s best interest that dangerous cops don’t get away with mistreatment, and I’m glad these protests have led to the arrest of 4 very dangerous officers. *People calling for the abolition of police do have plans on how to deal with society’s needs, including replacing cops with social workers But I think they understand that the immediate goal is to reform the current system. |
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noblesse oblige
 Posts: 280 Location: Florida |
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Thank you ANN for highlighting the need to support our black friends and neighbors who are experiencing the violence of our police and prison system which grows increasingly militarized and brutal. Anyone who is afraid to join the protests out of fear for the violence police might send your way, remember that this is the fear our black brothers and sisters are faced with on a daily basis.
After reflecting on that, there are other ways to help that don’t involve putting your body at risk: donating to bail funds for the protestors, and writting your state senators and city council members demanding they create Civillian Police Accountability Councils, (that include survivors of police violence and their families,) and empower them with the authority to hire and fire officers, issue disciplinary measures in cases of misconduct, and approve/reject requests for equipment. Also we must demand a ban on the 1033 program through which the police purchase military hardware. Listen to black voices in your community. Many towns and cities will have a local chapter of BlackLivesMatter or other organization, like PEACE, and each chapter will have its own perspective based on the experiences of their members. Learn from their experience. |
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nobahn
 Subscriber Posts: 5120 |
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Last edited by nobahn on Thu Jun 04, 2020 8:09 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Punch Drunk Marc
Posts: 1743 |
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This will forever be the equivalent of going to an AIDS walk and yelling "Cancers bad too!". |
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TrailOfDead
Posts: 198 |
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Black people cannot choose not to see how law enforcement treats them. The reason behind what is happening is precisely that the police, and the power centers of American society more broadly, do see color. George Floyd's skin color is why he was killed. Failing to recognize systemic racial discrimination is not a virtue. |
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