Baltimore Riots!

[Selah_KY]

Yay for being a mutt. No, don’t ever call me a mutt. I’ll be abusive.

My kids are proud of their mutt heritage - granted it’s almost all northern European with a little Cherokee thrown in to make everyone wonder where the one kid who can tan came from… They say it makes them “American”.

 

[Selah_KY]

I do not accept the validity of white privilege, but even if the concept had some validity, it vastly oversimplifies the situation and is rather offensive to Americans like myself of Polish heritage.

White privilege… being held personally responsible for your failures and not being allowed to use your skin color as an excuse.

It’s rather offensive for you to think that your Polish heritage has led you to experience the kind of discrimination that black Americans have faced and face every day. Yes, our ancestors did face discrimination, but once that identifying accent was gone (within a generation), there was nothing that set you apart from every other European American.

 

[vz71]

I do not much care what kind of ‘ism’ anyone may or may not be subjected to in their life or in the lives of their ancestors.

There is simply no excuse for bad behavior.

All of these claims that people do not know what poverty is like, or do not know what racism feels like, or do not know institutional oppression are just hollow claims in an attempt to justify bad behavior.

 

[Deep_Roots]

All of these claims that people do not know what poverty is like, or do not know what racism feels like, or do not know institutional oppression are just hollow claims in an attempt to justify bad behavior.

Or…an attempt to understand the formational factors that influence behavior AND to understand the active and insidious external forces that shape our societies to make them how they are.

You have to understand, in Baltimore the forces that shape poverty and segregation (which lead to pockets of crime, etc) did not happen by accident or because of cultural defects. Instead, there were actual and real policies that MADE Baltimore the way it is. And those policies were downright racist.

And Baltimore is not alone.

 

[vz71]

Or…an attempt to understand the formational factors that influence behavior AND to understand the active and insidious external forces that shape our societies to make them how they are.

You have to understand, in Baltimore the forces that shape poverty and segregation (which lead to pockets of crime, etc) did not happen by accident or because of cultural defects. Instead, there were actual and real policies that MADE Baltimore the way it is. And those policies were downright racist.

And Baltimore is not alone.

Perceived racism is not an excuse.

 

[Deep_Roots]

Perceived racism is not an excuse.

Your use of “perceived” here tells me you either didn’t read what I wrote about Baltimore or you’re willfully ignorant of the realities of racism.

 

[Zoltan_Cobalt]

Or…an attempt to understand the formational factors that influence behavior AND to understand the active and insidious external forces that shape our societies to make them how they are.

What do you do when you have both drunken drivers and sober drivers on the road? The first order of business is to get the drunken drivers off the road. Understanding “formational factors” and “external forces” is, at best, a secondary issue. Public safety and private property come first. Especially during a riot.

You have to understand, in Baltimore the forces that shape poverty and segregation (which lead to pockets of crime, etc) did not happen by accident or because of cultural defects. Instead, there were actual and real policies that MADE Baltimore the way it is. And those policies were downright racist.

And Baltimore is not alone.

I think you should understand that the policies that made Baltimore the way it is were created by people of the same race. Racism has nothing to do with it.

Baltimore’s problems, like other cities (Detroit etc.) were caused by local communities electing officials who were incompetent and promised something for nothing and never delivered. I cannot understand why ethnic groups continue to elect these types of leaders.

On the Federal level, our President gave Baltimore almost $ 2 BILLION in stimulus funds.
That can hardly be construed as a racist policy.That amount of $$$ should have eliminated poverty and crime years ago… but where did it go???

 

[Deep_Roots]

I understand that this seems like an easy to explain issue. But you have to understand, bringing up something from 2 years ago is kind of silly. The policies you bring up as being from the same “kind” of people…yeah…no. The policies I’m talking about go back 40-60 years. When Bmore was majority white. So I’ll help you out.

Here are a few good places to start to get educated on Baltimore’s history of racist policy.

amazon.com/Not-My-Neighborhood-Bigotry-American/dp/1566638437

jhupolitik.org/2015/01/06/the-legacy-of-redlining-in-baltimore-using-credit-to-curb-social-mobility/

washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/29/the-long-painful-and-repetitive-history-of-how-baltimore-became-baltimore/

 

[davidv]

I understand that this seems like an easy to explain issue. But you have to understand, bringing up something from 2 years ago is kind of silly. The policies you bring up as being from the same “kind” of people…yeah…no. The policies I’m talking about go back 40-60 years. When Bmore was majority white. So I’ll help you out.

Here are a few good places to start to get educated on Baltimore’s history of racist policy.

amazon.com/Not-My-Neighborhood-Bigotry-American/dp/1566638437

jhupolitik.org/2015/01/06/the-legacy-of-redlining-in-baltimore-using-credit-to-curb-social-mobility/

washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/29/the-long-painful-and-repetitive-history-of-how-baltimore-became-baltimore/

Could another possibility be that the policies were put in place by the rich and power for the purpose of becoming richer and more powerful, irrespective of race?

 

[Deep_Roots]

Could another possibility be that the policies were put in place by the rich and power for the purpose of becoming richer and more powerful, irrespective of race?

Sure, I’m sure that’s there too. Did you read what I posted? And is it so hard to believe that in the 40s and 50s there were racists who wanted to codify into zoning laws their racism?

Is it that hard to believe?

 

[Zoltan_Cobalt]

I understand that this seems like an easy to explain issue. But you have to understand, bringing up something from 2 years ago is kind of silly. The policies you bring up as being from the same “kind” of people…yeah…no. The policies I’m talking about go back 40-60 years. When Bmore was majority white. So I’ll help you out.

Here are a few good places to start to get educated on Baltimore’s history of racist policy.

amazon.com/Not-My-Neighborhood-Bigotry-American/dp/1566638437

jhupolitik.org/2015/01/06/the-legacy-of-redlining-in-baltimore-using-credit-to-curb-social-mobility/

washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/29/the-long-painful-and-repetitive-history-of-how-baltimore-became-baltimore/

Thank you for the information. I will get to it.

In the mean time let us remember that this “problem” does not go back 2 years or 40 to 60 years. This started with the Rodney King incident and has grown into the absurd contention that white police officers’ primary duty is to shoot and kill innocent young black men. This is the the excuse for your recent Baltimore riot and every other “racial” riot since Rodney King.

As long as race baiters like Sharpton and Jackson get media attention this will continue.

I am sure there will be another “incident” and another “demonstration”…but I hope the civic leaders have to courage to do their duty and protect private property with as much force as is necessary.

 

[KendraDZ1902]

My kids are proud of their mutt heritage - granted it’s almost all northern European with a little Cherokee thrown in to make everyone wonder where the one kid who can tan came from… They say it makes them “American”.

RIGHT! I had to do a genealogy project in high school, going back 5 generations on both sides. I’m soooooooooo mixed up. When I have to check the box for which race or ethnicity, I just wanna fill in “confused” LOL.

 

[SuperLuigi]

I haven’t heard that one, but chastising your child isn’t racism. People need dictionaries thrown at them.

 

[starshiptrooper]

It’s rather offensive for you to think that your Polish heritage has led you to experience the kind of discrimination that black Americans have faced and face every day. Yes, our ancestors did face discrimination, but once that identifying accent was gone (within a generation), there was nothing that set you apart from every other European American.

You are forgetting about the Catholicism and the distinctive ‘ski’ at the end of the name. My point remains. If Poles wanted to compete in the victimhood Olympics, they could. As for present discrimination, it is called affirmative action. My family and I have worked for everything we have. We never used any welfare. While its wrongly called privilege, it is really just hard work.