What Black Lives Matter Believe

[Erikaspirit16]

I focused on trying to figure out if there was any truth to the narrative I’m often hearing about police gunning down more blacks than whites because they are racist

And the key issue here is “racist.” Different people here are using it in totally different ways. I have repeatedly argued that EVERYONE is racist, in the implicit sense that we all favor our own particular ethnic group, whatever it is. That’s normal. But that does NOT mean that we are all explicitly racist–we don’t all say, “There’s a black guy, let’s lynch him.” Almost all of us would be horrified by that–today at least. But does implicit racism sometimes lead to police murdering innocent people? Yes. Remember the little black boy playing with a toy gun–Cleveland?–and the police arrived and immediately shot him dead. Now let’s replay that, except it’s a little white girl with blond hair–same age, same toy gun. Do you REALLY think the police would immediately shoot her dead? Of course not. So why did they shoot the little black boy? Racism. No, the policeman probably didn’t say to himself, “Look over there, there’s a a black kid playing with a gun, I’d better kill him.” But the policeman was programmed to think “black kid = dangerous = gun is probably real = I’m in danger = I’d better shoot first.” Implicit racism at work.

I heard a quotation from Benjamin Franklin today: “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” And that’s exactly what’s happening now–unaffected people, mainly white, are outraged. Me too.

 

[Paddy1989]

Polak:

I focused on trying to figure out if there was any truth to the narrative I’m often hearing about police gunning down more blacks than whites because they are racist

And the key issue here is “racist.” Different people here are using it in totally different ways. I have repeatedly argued that EVERYONE is racist, in the implicit sense that we all favor our own particular ethnic group, whatever it is. That’s normal. But that does NOT mean that we are all explicitly racist–we don’t all say, “There’s a black guy, let’s lynch him.” Almost all of us would be horrified by that–today at least. But does implicit racism sometimes lead to police murdering innocent people? Yes. Remember the little black boy playing with a toy gun–Cleveland?–and the police arrived and immediately shot him dead. Now let’s replay that, except it’s a little white girl with blond hair–same age, same toy gun. Do you REALLY think the police would immediately shoot her dead? Of course not. So why did they shoot the little black boy? Racism. No, the policeman probably didn’t say to himself, “Look over there, there’s a a black kid playing with a gun, I’d better kill him.” But the policeman was programmed to think “black kid = dangerous = gun is probably real = I’m in danger = I’d better shoot first.” Implicit racism at work.

I heard a quotation from Benjamin Franklin today: “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” And that’s exactly what’s happening now–unaffected people, mainly white, are outraged. Me too.

He wasn’t programmed by anything but the facts that statistically say it is more likely. Until thats understood then others will always see it as racism. Also you made one large assumption, you assumed the police officer who would do the shooting was white? Why? In the case of George Floyd did you see the other three police officers who were present at the scene, where they all Caucasian?

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/04/george-floyd-police-officers-bail-set-at-1-million-in-minneapolis-murder-case.html

They don’t ALL look Caucasian to me

 

[Erikaspirit16]

I’ll throw in another comment before bed. I’ve said it many times before, but it’s worth saying again: Almost all Americans stop any sort of analysis at the US border. And yet almost all countries face the same problems (covid-19 is a great example). And some of those other countries actually have good ideas! Quite often better than American ideas! Amazing, right?

So just for fun I looked up the % of the city budgets that go to police departments in Toronto and Los Angeles. Toronto: 23%. Los Angeles: 54%. About 2.4 times Toronto’s budget. And yet…where would you feel safer? And yes, yes, there are other factors. But a police budget 2.4 TIMES as much? Really?

Now if I were appointed police commissioner of Minneapolis, or any major city (don’t worry, it’s not going to happen), what would I do first? I would get my chief assistants and send them on field trips to England, France, Canada, S. Africa, Argentina, Japan…as many different countries as I could. What are these other countries doing better? What good ideas can we copy?

If you go back 40 years to “In Search of Excellence” (TV show or book, your choice) you may remember Stew Leonard’s grocery in Norwalk CT. Every month he got his staff on a bus, and they would visit another grocery store. Each person would have to write a report. And they were forbidden to mention anything the other stories were doing worse than Stew Leonard’s. They had to find things they were doing BETTER, so Stew Leonard’s could copy them. Great idea. The US should do that constantly with other countries. They might even consider leaving a permanent observer where possible.

New Zealand declared itself virus-free a couple days ago. Meanwhile the US is approaching 2 million cases and 113,000 dead. Why? Easy answer from the chief health advisor to the NZ government: “We looked at what Taiwan was doing, and we decided to do the same thing.” Meanwhile, in the US…you know the rest.

 

[Paddy1989]

I’ll throw in another comment before bed. I’ve said it many times before, but it’s worth saying again: Almost all Americans stop any sort of analysis at the US border. And yet almost all countries face the same problems (covid-19 is a great example). And some of those other countries actually have good ideas! Quite often better than American ideas! Amazing, right?

So just for fun I looked up the % of the city budgets that go to police departments in Toronto and Los Angeles. Toronto: 23%. Los Angeles: 54%. About 2.4 times Toronto’s budget. And yet…where would you feel safer? And yes, yes, there are other factors. But a police budget 2.4 TIMES as much? Really?

Now if I were appointed police commissioner of Minneapolis, or any major city (don’t worry, it’s not going to happen), what would I do first? I would get my chief assistants and send them on field trips to England, France, Canada, S. Africa, Argentina, Japan…as many different countries as I could. What are these other countries doing better? What good ideas can we copy?

If you go back 40 years to “In Search of Excellence” (TV show or book, your choice) you may remember Stew Leonard’s grocery in Norwalk CT. Every month he got his staff on a bus, and they would visit another grocery store. Each person would have to write a report. And they were forbidden to mention anything the other stories were doing worse than Stew Leonard’s. They had to find things they were doing BETTER, so Stew Leonard’s could copy them. Great idea. The US should do that constantly with other countries. They might even consider leaving a permanent observer where possible.

New Zealand declared itself virus-free a couple days ago. Meanwhile the US is approaching 2 million cases and 113,000 dead. Why? Easy answer from the chief health advisor to the NZ government: “We looked at what Taiwan was doing, and we decided to do the same thing.” Meanwhile, in the US…you know the rest.

As for New Zealand beating the virus, i live in New Zealand and we were able to beat the virus so easily and effectively because the economy here is insignificant compared to a powerhouse like the US and much of Europe therefore the decision to act hastily and harder was much easier. We have a total population almost 25% of New York to put things into perspective. It would certainly be more difficult for a nation like the US or UK to act as harshly as hastily as we reacted without being able to have a better perspective on what they were dealing with meaning higher risk.

As for US police. The budget for the police should reflect how severe the crime level is and how violent. Cutting the budget for front line services without reducing crime will only leave front line services overstretched and one can only imagine crime will increase similar to the Ferguson effect. It would be like cutting healthcare in order to reduce sickness. It makes no sense.

The Police isn’t the problem, the social issues are the problem, they can be greatly fixed without even having to spend a cent.

 

[Erikaspirit16]

where they all Caucasian?

Nope. One is Vietnamese. I think he also had 3-4 formal complaints against him.

And if you think the policeman in the case of the little boy with the toy gun was going by statistics and not implicit racism, I’d like to hear more about how you rationalize that.

Let’s take a look at this guy–Timothy Lehmann. He’s white. OK, let’s look at his record! " During a training episode at a firing range, Loehmann was reported to be “distracted and weepy” and incommunicative. “His handgun performance was dismal,” deputy chief Jim Polak of the Independence Ohio police department wrote in an internal memo." Looks like a red flag to me. But let’s delve deeper: Before being hired for the Cleveland Police Dept., he had failed the written test for the Cuyahoga Country Sheriff’s Office. He then applied to the police departments in Akron, Euclid, and Parma Heights. They wouldn’t hire him. But Cleveland did. Great move, Cleveland. And THAT is why we need a national database.

 

[Paddy1989]

Paddy1989:

where they all Caucasian?

Nope. One is Vietnamese. I think he also had 3-4 formal complaints against him.

And if you think the policeman in the case of the little boy with the toy gun was going by statistics and not implicit racism, I’d like to hear more about how you rationalize that.

Let’s take a look at this guy–Timothy Lehmann. He’s white. OK, let’s look at his record! " During a training episode at a firing range, Loehmann was reported to be “distracted and weepy” and incommunicative. “His handgun performance was dismal,” deputy chief Jim Polak of the Independence Ohio police department wrote in an internal memo." Looks like a red flag to me. But let’s delve deeper: Before being hired for the Cleveland Police Dept., he had failed the written test for the Cuyahoga Country Sheriff’s Office. He then applied to the police departments in Akron, Euclid, and Parma Heights. They wouldn’t hire him. But Cleveland did. Great move, Cleveland. And THAT is why we need a national database.

I just did, it’s a statistical reality that will weigh heavily on the officer’s perception. As for a national database on Police officers, that makes sense

Listen before you get all jumpy on racism this is a fact across the world. When British police officers came into Irish nationalist communities they were alot more edgey and more likely to fire their weapon at something that wouldn’t make them blink in England. That fear was based on a statistical reality, nothing to do with race. Does that make it right, no especially if it’s the killing of innocents.

The INTENTIONAL killing of innocents is another story which did/does happen

 

[Erikaspirit16]

As for New Zealand beating the virus, i live in New Zealand and we were able to beat the virus so easily and effectively because the economy here is insignificant compared to a powerhouse like the US and much of Europe therefore the decision to act hastily and harder was much easier.

Ah, the old excuse that “Well, such and such country is “different.”” Everything is relative. Sure, NZ has a smaller economy. It still got shut down. Are you telling me that gov. actions had nothing to do with NZ’s success? I think Jacinda would have something to say about that.

The budget for the police should reflect how severe the crime level is and how violent. Cutting the budget for front line services without reducing crime will only leave front line services overstretched and one can only imagine crime will increase similar to the Ferguson effect. It would be like cutting healthcare in order to reduce sickness. It makes no sense.

Interesting theory. Let’s put it to the test. Remember Eric Garner, who also was choked to death by police? Well, the NY police didn’t like the criticism they got. So they went on a 7-week “work-to-rule” or “slowdown.” Anarchy in the streets, right? Actually, no. Just the opposite happened: “So, with the drop in relatively low-level police activity, what happened to serious crime in the city? The scientists found that civilian complaints of major crimes dropped by about 3% to 6% during the slowdown.”

In New York, major crime complaints fell when cops took a break from ‘proactive policing’ - Los Angeles Times

But you’re right, social issues are the problem–and crime is the symptom of the problem. So tell me, how much training do police get in handling mental illness? Or disability of some type? Or homelessness? I know in our own little town the sheriff’s dept. had two instances just months apart–they saw a car driving erratically, pulled it over, and when the driver didn’t respond to orders, they beat him up. He was diabetic. He was having a diabetic episode. They should have learned from that, right? Not a chance. A few months later the exact same thing happened. Or the case of Robert Saylor–a Down Syndrome guy 26 years old. He watched a movie, his caretaker went to bring the car around to the entrance, and he sat down to watch the start of the movie again. He didn’t have another ticket. The usher called the two off-duty police at the theater. The caregiver came back just as the police were dragging him out of his seat. She told them “He doesn’t like to be touched!!! He’ll go crazy!!!” But those well-trained police ignored her–and killed the guy. Died on the spot. They were all white, but that’s not the point. The police were idiots and had obviously no idea what to do in that situation–except use force. Terrific.

 

[StudentMI]

But those well-trained police ignored her–and killed the guy. Died on the spot.

How tragic. Let’s pray for him.

 

[Servant31]

I think in this debate and time is an opportunity. How many decades have past, and some has changed, but not nearly enough. The fact we are still legitimately discussing racism is a failure in some ways. I suggest we take this moment to stop and to listen. I, like everyone, have trouble with this. But imagine something for a few moments…

I’m our lives and our faith, we spend day after day, month after month, year after year, often in the same threads. Understandably we live our lives. But imagine if the thread of this generation wove a new cloth. If this generation said it’s a new beginning. If we could tell our kids that this was the generation that was the beginning of the end for this chapter in the history. The end of racism. That’s a conversation worth having and it’s a life worth living. I think we should take this opportunity to listen. To forgive and to forget. To really hear and not form a response. To attack the uncomfortable and hear the other side. We can bring this world into a legitimately new light.

To the victors go the spoils. Our battle is in the mind but our only wounds are our pride.

I watched some of the Floyd funeral, I recommend it to everyone. I’m not one to usually listen to Al Sharpton, but what I heard of his speech was good. The white pastor who spoke before him was impressive. We disagree on some theology sure, but this message counts. To whom much is given much is expected. Look at what we have… look at this chance…let’s let go of the past and make this work.

 

[StudentMI]

I’m not one to usually listen to Al Sharpton, but what I heard of his speech was good.

I can’t listen to a guy who led a virtual pogrom.

 

[Erikaspirit16]

Listen before you get all jumpy on racism this is a fact across the world. When British police officers came into Irish nationalist communities they were alot more edgey and more likely to fire their weapon at something that wouldn’t make them blink in England.

On your first point, “racism…is a fact across the world…” that’s what I’ve been saying over and over and over. We agree!

The other part is more tenuous. We don’t know what the motivation was with the policeman in Cleveland or the Br. police/soldiers in N. Ireland. But I don’t think “statistical reality” comes into play in a split second decision. Racism does. The Cleveland policeman wouldn’t shoot a blonde little white girl with a toy gun because she’s white. The British police/soldiers in N. Ireland? Well, let’s transplant them to Wiltshire. Let’s assume the good people of Wiltshire are in revolt. Would English police/soldiers be so trigger-happy in Wiltshire? I doubt it. Of course we can’t prove it either way. But I’ve got a hunch the Irish felt they were being targeted simply for being Irish.

 

[Paddy1989]

You missed the point i was making, government actions had EVERYTHING to do with success, no–one is disputing that but my point was you can’t compare the decision making of a country that has 25% of the population of New York to the most powerful and wealthiest nation on Earth. Shutting down the US has much more drastic consequences than shutting down a nation 25% of New York, not just for the US but the world. That would weigh heavily in the decision making, surely you should have some understanding of that.

Also i’d like to look at that statistic myself but every page is hidden behind a paywall. Do you have a link? As for that being proof that will work, thats ridiculous and i can assure you that in the west many nations are having to increase their spending on the Police in relating to rising crime. As i said the Ferguson effect should be evidence enough for you to realize that pulling police back is not the best option and will lead to higher crime.

As for mental illness and how the police are trained. Do they need more training? That is something i have little to no clue about however if it’s a proven issue and will help then by all means but lets no pull front line services off from dealing with the high crime rate and thinking that somehow it will drop, it didn’t work in the past and won’t work now. These communities need to change first, that much is evident. I think there needs to be someway for these communities and Police to engage each other in being able to Trust each other. The problem is when you have black on black crime going unreported and then when a police officer is out restraining individuals you have the entire community out with their phones it’s a little difficult to understand why they only care when it comes to the police. I mean this stuff has been plastered over Facebook over the last several years aswell as genuine brutality

Hatred of the police has become a cultural identity it seems and that needs to stop. A bridge between them and these communities need to exist and so it will take work from both sides.

 

[Paddy1989]

Paddy1989:

Listen before you get all jumpy on racism this is a fact across the world. When British police officers came into Irish nationalist communities they were alot more edgey and more likely to fire their weapon at something that wouldn’t make them blink in England.

On your first point, “racism…is a fact across the world…” that’s what I’ve been saying over and over and over. We agree!

The other part is more tenuous. We don’t know what the motivation was with the policeman in Cleveland or the Br. police/soldiers in N. Ireland. But I don’t think “statistical reality” comes into play in a split second decision. Racism does. The Cleveland policeman wouldn’t shoot a blonde little white girl with a toy gun because she’s white. The British police/soldiers in N. Ireland? Well, let’s transplant them to Wiltshire. Let’s assume the good people of Wiltshire are in revolt. Would English police/soldiers be so trigger-happy in Wiltshire? I doubt it. Of course we can’t prove it either way. But I’ve got a hunch the Irish felt they were being targeted simply for being Irish.

You misunderstood me? The fact across the world is that police officers will generally enter communities regardless of race and their behavior and perception of these areas will largely be based the statistical realities of those communities, for example how dangerous they are.

Also you might not know the motivation behind the actions of those British police officers but i do. It wasn’t based on racism, sure we were the same race, it was based on statistical facts and thats it. They were more likely to be shot because they were seen as the enemy. This is all really simple. Also we Irish didn’t feel we were more targeted, we were more targeted. I can give you the stats if you’d like

If Wiltshire was in revolt and using violence then common sense would tell that a Police officer entering it would be more on edge than peaceful Surrey for example. Surely you understand this. I mean it’s the same for war. A US soldier would be more on edge in Baghdad that they would in their Texas base wouldn’t you agree?

 

[Paddy1989]

I think in this debate and time is an opportunity. How many decades have past, and some has changed, but not nearly enough. The fact we are still legitimately discussing racism is a failure in some ways. I suggest we take this moment to stop and to listen. I, like everyone, have trouble with this. But imagine something for a few moments…

I’m our lives and our faith, we spend day after day, month after month, year after year, often in the same threads. Understandably we live our lives. But imagine if the thread of this generation wove a new cloth. If this generation said it’s a new beginning. If we could tell our kids that this was the generation that was the beginning of the end for this chapter in the history. The end of racism. That’s a conversation worth having and it’s a life worth living. I think we should take this opportunity to listen. To forgive and to forget. To really hear and not form a response. To attack the uncomfortable and hear the other side. We can bring this world into a legitimately new light.

To the victors go the spoils. Our battle is in the mind but our only wounds are our pride.

I watched some of the Floyd funeral, I recommend it to everyone. I’m not one to usually listen to Al Sharpton, but what I heard of his speech was good. The white pastor who spoke before him was impressive. We disagree on some theology sure, but this message counts. To whom much is given much is expected. Look at what we have… look at this chance…let’s let go of the past and make this work.

The problem are those who are invoking racism for being the bane of western society, who are doing so in a time when it’s never been less prevalent. Racism is now overused today by those on the left, the same as sexism, fascism etc. They use it to advance their political objectives, not because it is a inisititual reality holding society back. The only thing wrecking society is the loss of God and the family in society, the left doesn’t want to take responsibilities for those damages so it blames it on something else, racism, white privilege, sexism, patriarchy etc

Lets not forget the hippocricy about Covid-19 when people couldn’t even go to their families funerals, businesses closed aswell as Church’s yet we have protests, riots and mass funerals used politically by the left, it’s time people stop pretending to be so naive, this hippocricy is clear to see and NOT one of them can defend it so they ignore it hoping you will to, don’t, let them know and don’t buy into their divisive narrative. Phantom institutional racism isn’t the cause of our problems, it’s our rejection of Christ and his teachings, the solution is obvious, well it should be at least to everyone on a Catholic forum

 

[Erikaspirit16]

Shutting down the US has much more drastic consequences than shutting down a nation 25% of New York, not just for the US but the world. That would weigh heavily in the decision making, surely you should have some understanding of that.

Some understanding? Sorry, no. If I own a restaurant in NY or Auckland and I’m shut down, I have the exact same problems. The gov. help may be different, but that’s not the point.

I don’t know what you mean by “that statistic.” I do know I don’t make stuff up, I do searches. Whatever it is, you could do a search too.

if it’s a proven issue

I have come to hate this word “prove” or “proven.” In the hands of the right wing it has become “mathematical proof” – 100% certainty. In other words, NOTHING can be proven. There is ALWAYS doubt. Which is true. But you don’t need 100% certainty to enact laws or policies. The other half of that is “possibly” – as when Trump tweeted today that the 74-year-old guy in Buffalo who was pushed by the police was “possibly” an Antifa agent. He could “possibly” be Stalin’s lost grandson. Or “possibly” an alien from space. This use of “possibly” is just silly.

As for your “high crime rate” I’m confused. On the one hand you seem to be agreeing with me that the cause of high crime is social conditions. But on the other hand you seem to see the solution as more policing. Policing is not going to solve any of the social issues. It will, however, make them worse. It will make the police see the community as “the enemy” and vice versa. Is that a desirable goal? And no, it’s not evident that “these communities need to change first.” The point of the protests is that the POLICE have to change first. You can’t terrorize a community and then ponder why they are really, really angry.

You seem to be convinced about “statistical facts.” Sorry, but I’m not. Not at all. Try taking the Harvard implicit bias test on race I gave a link to earlier. Search on “Harvard” in this thread. See how you do.

And I think that once again we are having a problem with the word “race.” I am using it in the sense of an ethnic group that you identify with. So are Irish and English both Caucasians or Indo-Europeans? Sure. But if I call an Englishman Irish or I call an Irishman English, will either of same say “Yeah, sure, we’re the ‘same race’”? I don’t think so. All I’m saying is that an English soldier from, say, Norwich, is going to have a different built-in instinctual reaction to an Irishman than he will to someone from Wiltshire. Again, that’s natural. It’s not evil. But it would be evil to discriminate in some way against an Irishman simply because you were English. And so on.

Time for bed.

 

[Erikaspirit16]

it’s our rejection of Christ and his teachings, the solution is obvious, well it should be at least to everyone on a Catholic forum

I can’t resist one more thing since you brought it up. Let’s assume Jesus came back and looked at the situation with Floyd. Would Jesus say “I don’t see any problems here. The police are just doing their duty”? What did Christ do with the woman taken in adultery? Did he say “Follow the Mosaic law and stone her to death!!!” What did he have to say about the Roman soldiers who crucified him? Did he say “You will all be damned to Hell for eternity!!” And yes, I agree, if we all just followed Christ and his teachings we would all be better off. But that’s not a practical solution.

 

[Paddy1989]

As for your “high crime rate” I’m confused. On the one hand you seem to be agreeing with me that the cause of high crime is social conditions. But on the other hand you seem to see the solution as more policing. Policing is not going to solve any of the social issues. It will, however, make them worse. It will make the police see the community as “the enemy” and vice versa. Is that a desirable goal? And no, it’s not evident that “these communities need to change first.” The point of the protests is that the POLICE have to change first. You can’t terrorize a community and then ponder why they are really, really angry.

You seem to be convinced about “statistical facts.” Sorry, but I’m not. Not at all. Try taking the Harvard implicit bias test on race I gave a link to earlier. Search on “Harvard” in this thread. See how you do.

And I think that once again we are having a problem with the word “race.” I am using it in the sense of an ethnic group that you identify with. So are Irish and English both Caucasians or Indo-Europeans? Sure. But if I call an Englishman Irish or I call an Irishman English, will either of same say “Yeah, sure, we’re the ‘same race’”? I don’t think so. All I’m saying is that an English soldier from, say, Norwich, is going to have a different built-in instinctual reaction to an Irishman than he will to someone from Wiltshire. Again, that’s natural. It’s not evil. But it would be evil to discriminate in some way against an Irishman simply because you were English. And so on.

Time for bed.
[/quote]

No policing isn’t the solution for high crime, policing merely meets the level of crime at where it is at. In other words less crime, less police needed. The solution to crime as with all of society’s problem ly’s with Christ and his Church, not Marxist movements. To say that police are terrorizing these communities when many of the homicides and crimes go unreported is ridiculous. The only thing terrorizing these communities is crime and peoples complacency in dealing with it. They are only bothered when a white police comes along.

As for your last part about the British soldier, i don’t agree, first of all a large number of those British soldiers were Irish (Unionists) and second there were plenty of other more passive nationalist communities where they were much more at ease in because of the lower statistical chance of violence.

On the other hand English police in London today within some communities are on edge much more so than those now in Irish Nationalist communities after peace had been settled. What happened however was dialogue and cooperation from both sides, that much i know needs to happen in the US. There needs to be respect and trust from both sides.

 

[Paddy1989]

Paddy1989:

it’s our rejection of Christ and his teachings, the solution is obvious, well it should be at least to everyone on a Catholic forum

I can’t resist one more thing since you brought it up. Let’s assume Jesus came back and looked at the situation with Floyd. Would Jesus say “I don’t see any problems here. The police are just doing their duty”? What did Christ do with the woman taken in adultery? Did he say “Follow the Mosaic law and stone her to death!!!” What did he have to say about the Roman soldiers who crucified him? Did he say “You will all be damned to Hell for eternity!!” And yes, I agree, if we all just followed Christ and his teachings we would all be better off. But that’s not a practical solution.

No-one is defending what happened to Floyd, it was wrong, we just don’t agree with the racist narrative especially when most of the Police present weren’t even white, and certainly not the result of some deeper conspiracy of institutional racism in the US. BLM have jumped on this to advance an agenda, they have been pushing this for years and this thread as i put in my very first post outlines what BLM stand for.

I think thankfully most people don’t even recognize race in society, we just live our lives side by side in peace but there are those who can’t help but look at the world through the prism or race, gender and sexual orientation and attempt to see discrimination everywhere.

I’m sure you have heard this especially in the likes of Hollywood where everything now is based on diversity. Where even political parties can’t be too white because apparently that’s racist. Listen removing racism means everyone regardless of race has equal opportunities in life, that may mean a political party is all white or a sports team or they may be all black. If we weren’t racist we shouldn’t care, we should know the best person got the job regardless of race but there are those who can’t help but see it where there is a disproportion in ANYTHING.

It’s ruined movies and TV, it’s been shoved down our throat because rather than making great art the creators are too worried about a box ticking exercise of diversity and it’s message rather than just making great art that elevates us toward truth. The very people who cry racism and sexism in everything are the very people who can’t see past it and they don’t want us to either.

 

[Paddy1989]

A beautiful letter from a fellow Catholic in response to these events. Please read

Mailbag: An Open Letter to My Catholic Brothers & Sisters | Spirit Daily Blog

 

[Polak]

Remember the little black boy playing with a toy gun–Cleveland?–and the police arrived and immediately shot him dead. Now let’s replay that, except it’s a little white girl with blond hair–same age, same toy gun. Do you REALLY think the police would immediately shoot her dead? Of course not. So why did they shoot the little black boy? Racism.

You’ve made your own conclusions without showing a shred of evidence that it’s ‘racism’.

Sadly, this is another (of the many) false narratives pushed in the media.

Washington Post stats show that in 2018, six of the 229 black people killed by police had a toy weapon. They also showed that 15 of the 451 people killed by police had a toy weapon.

We can go further. Let’s only look at kids with toy weapons who were shot by police in 2018. For black people, it was 6. For white people, it was also 6.

There is actually no proof backing up your claim that police would never shoot a little white girl with blonde hair who was holding a toy gun but would shoot a little black boy with a toy gun, because they are racist.

I am telling you that there is no evidence, no definite proof that confirms the police in the US are racist. I’m not even saying they are definitely not racist, but I’m saying we have no ironclad proof that they are, based on the stats we have, and yet all we here about in the media is how they are.