There's one sentence in the OP first post that shows his true, obnoxious, colours:
No, at this point it just shows that you did not understand or read clearly what I wrote. Try again and don't miss the "or" or the text around the statement you quoted and grossly misrepresented.
What I think activists get wrong is that you don't achieve lasting, meaningful change by changing hearts, but rather by changing laws and creating or modifying incentives.
To get politicians to act often requires political pressure. Decades of mostly asking nicely haven't worked in regards to racial equality. Strikes and protests on the street on the other hand have had measurable impact in improving worker's rights, women's rights and, to some degree also the rights of African-Americans and other minorities. They are the steps before the elected officials are finally swayed to act. The one thing I do agree on is that not supporting the protests doesn't automatically make one an enemy of the cause.
It's obvious that you are reading very selectively at this point. I already stated where this expression is quoted from, and we've been going off on tangents and details that do not matter to the topic at hand.
You mentioned a Patreon blog post as your source. It does not seem
the one I was referring to. Please provide a link so that we can, quite literally, be on the same page, since I don't intend to misrepresent your statements but rather wonder where the "front line organizations" quote is coming from, since you insinuated that I "conveniently forgot it".
If you grow up poor in the US, you will likely stay poor since who is going to pay for your education? It's not a racial issue.
True. But while it isn't directly a racial issue it does affect people of color way more often, since they tend to be much poorer than the white population on average.
There is no systematic and institutional racism. Why do you believe that? You need to be politically correct otherwise you'll get fired like Brendan Eich. As a white guy you have to be extremely careful so you don't step on someone's toes. Otherwise the "holier than you" people will instantly label you as a racist, misogynist, homophobic, whatever they think is appropriate.
Of course there is systemic and institutional racism as a sad remnant of the slavery and segregation eras. while sometimes the outrage about some statements might be overexaggerated, there is not much truth to the "as a white guy you have to be extremely careful" statement. Eich has donated towards a proposition to ban gay marriage in California (a proposition targeting the rights of a minority). How'd you call that, if not "homophobe"? Yet somehow he is the victim here? Sorry but this logic doesn't work out.
Do you know that more white people than black people are killed by cops in the US? Do you know that more white people are killed by black people than the other way around in the US? Who benefits from instigating racial conflicts - maybe people with power?
I don't intend to fall for the cui bono deflection. But about the rest:
- African-Americans make up about 13% of the US population, yet of all the 331 people who have been shot by the police in the US (whose race is known), 88 were black, amounting to 26,5%. (
source)
- Black people are not only overrepresented as homicide offenders but also as homicide victims (
source)
- On short notice I could not find data that more white people are killed by black people than the other way around. This
might be true in relative numbers but it seems to be highly unlikely in absolute numbers. Please provide a source to clarify.
We also know that certain population groups, like young black males, have a significantly higher risk of being involved in violent crimes (
source). But we also need to ask about the reasons. Black households are, by quite a large margin, the poorest ones in the US (
source) and have been basically forever. If the people in power (almost all of which are or have been white) had actually cared enough, things wouldn't look that bleak anymore. While it cannot be identified as the sole cause for crime and violence (and certainly not as an excuse), there still is a clear link between them (
source). Which makes sense for a number of reasons (less resources for education, less access to the job market, higher financial pressure and vulnerability to economic fluctuations etc. pp.). The solution to this often times has just been to increase police presence rather than coming up with education programs and sending in social workers to help prevent the escalation of conflicts in affected neighbourhoods. Aka: dealing with symptoms instead of root causes.
Add to this the continuous armament of the police with both money and equipement originally intended for military use while newly recruited officers often lack a solid educational background and only get a few months of training on average. The police as a law enforcement organisation with strict hierarchy and the promise to wield power also seems to attract some problematic, decidedly biased folk, who don't seem to like black people. This all adds up to black people having the lowest opinion about the police of all ethnic groups in the US (
source). And there is lots to go on. Funding for schools in predominantely black vs predominantly white districts, the effects and targets of gerrymandering, local regulation and laws targeting blacks to make voting harder for them. Of freaking course there is systemic and institutional racism
Martin Luther King was a great guy and that's why he was murdered. He wanted justice for everyone, not special treatment for black people.
Unfortunately asking for justice for all meant and still means that black people need to be treated better than they currently are. Unfortunately some mistake such a change to the status quo for a "special treatment".
