So, you don't have a problem with BLM getting more attention then gang on gang violence in the black community? I understand why BLM was formed, but I don't understand why the black community picks this issue to focus on more then what is the leading killer of black lives. It's like supporting a cure for shingles and ignoring cancer.

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Is that what Bigfan calls it? Gross!


Joking Denisdman, it's nothing personal you just keep setting them up for me to knock down...

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Shots fired at Original Snitch Denis.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

No I don't have a problem with criminal justice reform getting more attention than gang violence. Unfortunately gang violence receives more attention despite being at historically low levels. The "black community" didn't pick this issue to focus on. The BLM organization picked this issue and it's gotten a lot of attention. There are organizations in black communities that are focusing on a variety of issues. All of them are important

Besides illnesses and car accidents do you know what the leading cause of death in white communities is? White on white violence. The same is true for every community in America. No one questions how they find time to focus on Muslims or other issues that are important to them.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Why are we worried about gang violence when cancer kills more people?
Why are we worried about cancer when heart disease kills more people?

Ultimately, the ONLY thing we should worry about is heart disease.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Black people in urban areas live in terror every single day. Most of that fear and terror from which they live is caused by black people. There is too much attention paid to an issue that is far from epidemic.

It is not about what causes more deaths either because black on black violence directly affects the way black people live their lives. A black person being killed in Minnesota and Baton Rouge shouldn't cause people in Dallas to hold a peace rally. It's a misguided emphasis. It is a prime example of selective outrage.

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More lives are destroyed by the justice system in black communities than by a bullet.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

This is how I'm starting to feel about BLM. I don't like how black on black crime is just shoved to the side as an issue. I'm kind of getting tired of not being able to say all lives matter. Also, the lack of real structure, and no figurehead at the top of the movement is a recipe for failure.

I understand the need for police oversight and reform.

I'm just pivoting here. How does shutting down interstate highways and throwing cinder blocks get you closer to anything except more racism? You're pushing away the moderate white people, where MLK embraced them.

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Slogans yet again. That is only true if the people being convicted are innocent. Usually they aren't. Is there any basis in fact for what you just wrote?

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If ltg had his way I think a lot of protest groups would go away.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

But it does--it shows you that the protestors identify with the people who were killed in Minnesota and Baton Rouge.

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I know it is sort of fashionable to disagree with me about everything but in this case you really don't what you're talking about. You are generalizing and I hope you know that generalizations are inherently false.

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I don't really have a problem with a protest about police brutality, but I do have a problem if that is the only thing that black lIves feels the need to protest about. That is a problem

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there are far too many innocent convictions given the philosophy that we would sooner let 100 guilty go free rather than convict one innocent.

However, I see one major problem in what types of crimes are charged, sentences handed out and the discretion taken on who to charge. That is where the systemic racism lies. No one is saying an individual is racist (although it may be true). What is being said is the application of facially neutral laws/systems is disproportionately impacting (to take language from another area of law).

I do have to say that I see things more as class rather than race but however its framed, there is bias.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Isn't your point that protesting something that isn't the primary cause is not worth protesting?

There are plenty of protests that aren't as important as others.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

As I said earlier, blacks do protest about other stuff. They do it frequently.

I do admit that I shake my head at some protests, though. People should be out for justice and equality--not extra privileges. So many of the demands college protestors are making today are ridiculous. Of course, young people, even the smartest ones, do not always think through their ideas. And others are angry and are expressing rage.

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Your argument is dismissed because it rhymed, Boilermaker Nipsey.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

You don't quite understand my point which is unsurprising. The next time that black lives matter protests about black in black homicide will probably be the first time that they protest over black on black violence.

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The issue isn't shoved to the side. It's been one of the most popular topics for damn near 50 years. Turn on your television or open your daily paper and you'll find it. As I and MANY others have repeatedly pointed out BLM is focused on 1 issue.

You can say all lives matter but the laws that were designed to target blacks, the sentencing and the and many other things would tell you Lady Justice doesn't value the lives of blacks.

If you understand that reforms are needed you shouldn't have an issue with Americans exercising their rights in an attempt to force politicians to make the necessary changes. Yeah it may be an inconvenience to your life and MANY others but this is what it has come to. You or the people in your community haven't been living under the thumb of our justice system for decades so it hard for you to understand how desperate for change people are and how tired they are of waiting.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

there is a certain millennial flavor to some of the protesting that makes me do a double take

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Is there bias yes, but the vast majority of people in jail are criminals. We could debate the legitimacy of what put them in jail, but if the vast majority are there for breaking a law then they are criminals

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So BLM has to point out problems that blacks may be responsible for or their arguments should be dismissed. Makes perfect sense. Does the same rules apply to politicians like Hillary Clinton or political organizations like the Democratic Party?

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

A criminal is someone who is convicted of a crime (duh, thanks dolphin). Two people who have acted in very similar ways may not both be criminals. The one who is a criminal is headed down a path of recidivism, unemployment and all the other items attached to a person with a record. The one who isn't will get to mature out of his stupidity without labels.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

The vast number of people in Chicago that are murdered in Chicago are black. The vast majority of people committing the murders are black. This has been the case for decades. If this is such and has been this way for generations, then why is there so much attention paid to the killing of blacks by police?

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But how does throwing cinder blocks, running across the interstate, and shooting fireworks at the police do anything except turn off moderate whitey?

I am no fan of the police. They haven't been the best to my family. They have definitely targeted blacks and the poor of this country for decades. I'm not ignorant to any of this. I just don't like being told how to feel when it seems MANY within BLM don't understand the message themselves. That's why I say the structure of this movement is severely lacking.

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The failure to convict or even charge one doesn't make the convicted person any less of a criminal though. You're probably saying that it should but that is a separate point.

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If your organization's name is going to be Black lives matter, then yes. Otherwise the name should be Black Lives Really Only Matter When They Are Killed By The Police.

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Simple answer is it doesn't help in a positive way. It does get attention for your cause. Reality is if that's the only thing a person notices that tells me that they don't support the cause or they're looking for reasons to be against it because the overwhelming majority are peaceful. At this point I don't think people care if white people are for reforming the system or not. They believe that they have begged and pleaded long enough and NOTHING has changed. He there are people that have spent decades in jail for selling the same drugs that people are doing legally in Colorado and making millions.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

So we're back to the name. So BLM needs to change their name and mix in some Bill Cosby critiques of blacks or they should be ignored. Makes a lot of sense. I can really tell you are on the streets and have a real good feel for how MANY blacks feel.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

I do understand. Why should they be required to protest that? They exist for one specific reason. Protest groups can exist for one specific reason.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!