[Unthinking Majority]

MLK would not have been successful without people like Stokely Carmichael, Malcolm X, and Fred Hampton.

So give me the reason that MLK's Selma to Montgomery marches wouldn't have been successful in getting the 1965 Voting Rights Act passed without the above people or violence in general?

[Unthinking Majority]

This policeman should be punished to the full extent of the law. This is disgusting murder.

What measures can be taken to ensure that this is stopped once and for all?

But it does seem to be cultural problem of American policing. The US police always seem bad tempered and highly aggressive. Just so much as make eye contact with them and they will arrest you.

Police need better and more training and more oversight, and strict enforcement when they cross the line. They abuse their power far too often.

[Unthinking Majority]

It's because Obama's statement is thoughtful and considerate. For Trumpster dimwits this is offensive, especially when it comes from a black person.

Instead, what really calms things down is Trump's "when the looting starts, the shooting starts".

Trump's looting/shooting tweet is maybe the most disgusting thing i've ever heard a POTUS say.

Obama's tweet shows us how a POTUS should speak about these things.

[Donna]

Please provide evidence of "over-policing" inflating black crime rates.

Are you denying that black communities are over-policed? If so, you're a straight up racist arguing in bad faith. If not, then you must logically accept that over-policing will result in more blacks than whites being arrested for similar offences.

Blacks kill other blacks at high rates, and you think the problem is too many cops??

The problem is structural racism, of which over-policing is an aspect of.

Would the black-on-black shootings not happen with less cops?

They would happen less with less racism, yes.

To say there isn't is to bury your head in the sand. The stats don't lie.

Why do you want to demonize black people?

There's been a lot of policies over the last 40 years that have destroyed the white middle class too. Is this racist?: https://www.pnas.org/content/112/49/15078

Are you making the argument that white privilege doesn't exist? I'm not sure what your point is.

So give me the reason that MLK's Selma to Montgomery marches wouldn't have been successful in getting the 1965 Voting Rights Act passed without the above people or violence in general?

Because MLK's nonviolence only works if the threat of violence remains a very real one. MLK was basically "Give us our civil rights now, peacefully, or you will have to deal with the Malcolm X's of the black movement."

[Beren]

Trump's looting/shooting tweet is maybe the most disgusting thing i've ever heard a POTUS say.

Obama's tweet shows us how a POTUS should speak about these things.

Vote for Biden then.

[SpecialOlympian]

Why did you omit this part of my quote when you were quoting me? I do think that Trump is being extremely inflammatory with his unnecessary input.

Because you're still downplaying both his actions and the situation in general. A several days long riot in a major city is not just a "small, local crime."

I also consider your trashy racism and badfaith approach to every argument to not be worth much of my effort to address, so if you want me to treat you with more respect then stop making shitty racist posts in bad faith.

[Saeko]

If you're still concerned about the destruction of private property, ask the MPD where they all were during the riots.

[Julian658]

Lol. Read Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky.

I agree!

The media is driven by ratings which means MONEY. They push racism 24/7 because they know it creates ratings. They also try to change the opinion of voters. They complain that Russia placed a few adds in Face Book to favor Trump and at the same time outlets like CNN are an anti Trump propaganda machine 24/7/365. The last thing the media wants is to eliminate poverty and racism.

[Beren]

They complain that Russia placed a few adds in Face Book to favor Trump and at the same time outlets like CNN are an anti Trump propaganda machine 24/7/365.

Sure, but CNN is not a foreign actor as Russia, it's domestic as Fox.

[maz]

Because you're still downplaying both his actions and the situation in general. A several days long riot in a major city is not just a "small, local crime."

I also consider your trashy racism and badfaith approach to every argument to not be worth much of my effort to address, so if you want me to treat you with more respect then stop making shitty racist posts in bad faith.

Obama commented on a police killing a citizen, which is are small local issues that happen to people of all races fairly often in America. Would you agree?

Would you or anyone else care to name another small insignificant local issue that wasn't specifically racially charged where Obama happened to give a statement on?



Obama Wades Into a Volatile Racial Issue

In response to a question at his prime-time news conference about the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Harvard professor, left, President Obama declared that the Cambridge, Mass., police had "acted stupidly."

[Red_Army]

All you cowards shaming people looting a target don't give a shit about the massive looting that was just passed by congress increasing the wealth of billionaires by a trillion. Shut the fuck up.

[Godstud]

@maz As soon as they burned down the police station it stopped being a "small insignificant local issue".

[Saeko]

For those of you bitching and moaning about violence during protests, here's a video of police throwing tear gas grenades and shooting rubber bullets into a mass of people that is as still as can be:

https://tuckbot.tv/#/watch/gsu5fp

[Red_Army]

All these same right wing morons were bitching about costco requiring masks like it was the holocaust, but now they lick cop boots like popsicles for murdering a man.

[JohnRawls]

All these same right wing morons were bitching about costco requiring masks like it was the holocaust, but now they lick cop boots like popsicles for murdering a man.

To be honest here, rioting is also not okay. I understand that a black person was killed and the cops should get punished. But it doesn't mean that the government shouldn't use the police or the national guard to supress and stop the riots irrelevant of people like Maz supporting that or not. This is what the government is supposed to do:
1) Serve justice
2) Protect the people who don't want a riot and who don't want to riot. (Average joes who simply have other things to do right now)

[Saeko]

For those of you bitching and moaning about violence during protests, here's a video of police throwing tear gas grenades and shooting rubber bullets into a mass of people that is as still as can be:

https://tuckbot.tv/#/watch/gsu5fp

CORRECTION: Those weren't rubber bullets, it was live ammo!

To be honest here, rioting is also not okay. I understand that a black person was killed and the cops should get punished. But it doesn't mean that the government shouldn't use the police or the national guard to supress and stop the riots irrelevant of people like Maz supporting that or not. This is what the government is supposed to do:
1) Serve justice
2) Protect the people who don't want a riot and who don't want to riot. (Average joes who simply have other things to do right now)

This kind of government only exists in liberal fantasy land.

[Godstud]

@JohnRawls Right now, the government is doing neither of those things.

If they'd done #1 right, there wouldn't be a need for #2.

As evidenced in the video, the cops are shooting rubber bullets and using tear gas without having the provocation for it.

[Unthinking Majority]

Obama commented on a police killing a citizen, which is are small local issues that happen to people of all races fairly often in America. Would you agree?

Would you or anyone else care to name another small insignificant local issue that wasn't specifically racially charged where Obama happened to give a statement on?

Small and insignificant local issue? It's causing nation-wide riots.

[wat0n]

I don't find it particularly surprising the cops won't allow a crowd to meet to confront them. There's literally no reason to do so.

I agree with @JohnRawls, even if it's an idealized version of how government should work, it's what it should try to do. And it's definitely better than having people riot at will, going back to the LA riots there were far more deaths from civilians killing civilians than from law enforcement or military repression.

[SpecialOlympian]

Obama commented on a police killing a citizen, which is are small local issues that happen to people of all races fairly often in America. Would you agree?

No, because you're framing this in the dumbest fucking way possible. He Tweeted it out 8 hours ago, after two days of rioting. What dumbassed racist reason do you have for trying to frame this as a story with no more reach than the 7 On Your Side consumer report segment of the local ABC affiliate?

I categorically reject your question and the premise on which you based it because it's fucking stupid.

Oh wait, I figured it out: like any white supremacist, you have to turn a story about systemic white oppression into one about white people being attacked or meddled with by the mean black man. You have chosen to do this by crying crocodile tears over Obama's tepid ass statement. And you're doing a shit job of it because your internet poisoned brain doesn't know how to communicate with people who aren't online nazis.