Running racism in America thread

Someone mentioned Candace Owens.

 

Ya' know, this one has always baffled me.

Growing up in my working class white background, the grandchild of two steel mill workers, I've always heard people of the same ethnicity use slurs towards each other in conversation. I've heard fellow Italians call each other, "dumb dagos." When my aunt and uncle on my mom's side adopted a Korean child in the late 1980s, my grandmother wasn't initially pleased. "What will people say?" she asked. An uncle on dad's side replied, "what makes you think this kid's gonna' be grow and be happy she was adopted by a family of dumb Polacks?" It was understood: you can say it about your own, but not others. Yet I've never seen white people ask why they can't say Polack, or Dago and reference the, "but THEY call each other that!" defense, but time and time and time and time and time and TIME again I see it happen with black folks and the N-word.

Wonder why that is.......

 

This is why the other cops need to be thrown in prison for a long time. They didn't need to do anything that "showed up a brother cop" or break that precious thin blue line that allows the murder of Black people to perpetuate. All they needed to do was walk up to the asshole and say, "OK, let's get him into the car. I've got some questions for him." Something that simple to get the asshole to break the hold.

 

I don't disagree, but to point out the obvious, "Polack"and "Mick" don't have the same poisonous history that the N-word does. For most white people, you just can't/don't use it, period. When the people it refers to use it to describe themselves it is jarring. I would set "Kike" and other derogatory words to describe Jews very close to the N-word on the scale, because Jews were literally poisoned wholesale by the Nazis.

 

Cops are killing blacks but hey, look at that market

Fox News Chart of Post-Unrest Stock Performance Outrages

 

If she had any self respect she'd be liberal.

 

They all represent the attempt to diminish another group of people.

 

I'm sure this has been touched on here somewhere, but my sister just came across her the other day and was shocked. She shared something she posted and polietly asked this was a good argument, etc. Having known about Candace Owens for a while I was just like you aren't going to change her thoughts or any of her followers. And don't go too far back on her feeds or you'll be really impressed!

Anyway, I've done a good deal of studying and interacting and even networking with social media and "brands" and "influencers" over the past few years. So many are just flat out fake, which should be obvious but it's not to the general consuming public. I would imagine Candace Owens falls into this category fairly significantly. She figured out all the demographics and takes and that she could make a killing going this route. She maybe believes some of what she spews, but got to think it's just for her own greater good of her brand overall. She's really popped up lately. As a result of that my sister decided to take down the post to not give it any more voice, even if it was just a small fraction.

 

But what if the choke-holding cop is a veteran and the other a rookie? (I don't know the tenure of all the cops in the Floyd case; I think one of them was on his first week on the job.) In that case, the rookie with the concerns is screwed. His career is over. He either pushes back physically on the veteran, in which case he gets ostracized or worse, or he defers and gets charged by prosecutors and his career is over that way. The problem is the toxic mix of racism, training and insular culture.

 

I see your point but my sympathy for the rookie only goes so far. A) he could have said something to one of the other two or B) tried to intervene. If either works, Floyd is alive. If either fails, he at least did something and the others add fuel to the charges they will face. Rookie or vet, a cop's primary responsibility is to maintain the safety of the public. The rookie's responsibility was to notice Floyd was in jeopardy and to act. He did not. His fear of being the low man on the pecking order only goes so far in my book. And with everyone being charged it sends a message that you must do your job and if you refuse, you will be thrown in prison if someone does. That will get officers to change if they know they will actually be held accountable and will send a message to young officers it is their duty to step in of they see something that's wrong.

I just completed my first year as a teacher. I am expected to act in the best interest of all students. If I see a veteran teacher harming a student or being inappropriate, I will be asked what did I do to stop it. Saying I didn't think I could speak out against the teacher isn't good enough. My ads is gone and the school doesn't even need to formally give me a reason. Feel bad for the rookie but his first duty was to serve and protect. He didn't and a man died.

 

At their roots, yes. Today, finding actual outright prejudice against the Irish or Italians or Polish is far rarer than it was a hundred years ago. That's part of why someone Polish can embrace "Polack" without it causing him pain. Black people still find the N-word from white people hurtful and harmful, and I in no way disagree with them. If another black person uses it, there is no question about whether they used it in a racist way.

 

Agreed. He should have jumped on the killer cop if necessary to stop it. What's the worst that happens? A guy wanted for passing an illegal $20 bill goes free. Fine by me.
And I don't know what's harder to cure: racism or blind fraternal loyalty.