Post by okin15 on Apr 28, 2015 17:08:09 GMT -5
Gonna take this topic in a different direction if that's OK. I'm trying to come to grips with the rioting in Baltimore, and also what has happened before in Ferguson. There are so many arguments, and so little transparency. Obviously, I don't condone the rioting, but I wonder if it has become the only option left to get a point across that more and more I feel is valid. Some thoughts:
1. as stated, I think the rioters are deplorable, and are going about this the wrong way
2. I think I've convinced myself that there is racially motivated police brutality in the US, and that it should be stopped when it happens
3. I don't think it is being addressed enough, in the media (until recently): see article on how we don't even know how many police killings there are, let alone whether they are justified or not
4. or by those in power, whether it be police chiefs, prosecutors, law-makers, or the POTUS: there ought to be more indictments of police officers which would likely require much more aggressive prosecution. Without an indictment, it's hard to believe that Wilson was truly innocent. Especially given the data on police indictments. Really, no public investigation? Perhaps there ought to be a court-martial system on the force to get around the lack of public enthusiasm for indictment? Somehow, that stat has to change.
Some conclusions:
1. the riots are a symptom of a problem or several problems, and only part of that problem is the character of those rioting
2. I think disadvantaged people need to vote more. People in Ferguson aren't voting enough to change things.
3. I get too much of my news from fivethirtyeight.com (is this really a problem though?)
4. would this make a difference? www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/17/why-one-way-streets-really-are-the-worst/
5. Obama or even better, a white leader, needs to put political pressure on police forces and DA's to change. There needs to be more accountability. I don't think that cameras on cars will work, as they "malfunction" at inopportune times, and it doesn't seem to help anyway. If people who ARE "caught" are prosecuted fully and hopefully indicted, then there can be a trial, and more truth comes out.
Lastly, I feel there is a larger, underlying problem, and that is a persistent racial income and opportunity gap. I have no idea how to fix it, but I'm quite certain that hoping a group of people will simply pull themselves out of a situation isn't going to work. I believe there will need to be targeted, prolonged work to ameliorate this situation. Obviously, some of that is on-going, but new strategies need to be evolved and implemented. I don't have a philosophical reasoning for this argument, but I feel that allowing an identifiable group to persist in a disadvantaged condition is akin to reducing opportunity for targeted individuals, rather than a meritocracy where group association and birth condition do not matter (or at least matter much less).
ADD: mods, feel free to remove or relocate. If you remove, I'd appreciate a reasoning.
1. as stated, I think the rioters are deplorable, and are going about this the wrong way
2. I think I've convinced myself that there is racially motivated police brutality in the US, and that it should be stopped when it happens
3. I don't think it is being addressed enough, in the media (until recently): see article on how we don't even know how many police killings there are, let alone whether they are justified or not
4. or by those in power, whether it be police chiefs, prosecutors, law-makers, or the POTUS: there ought to be more indictments of police officers which would likely require much more aggressive prosecution. Without an indictment, it's hard to believe that Wilson was truly innocent. Especially given the data on police indictments. Really, no public investigation? Perhaps there ought to be a court-martial system on the force to get around the lack of public enthusiasm for indictment? Somehow, that stat has to change.
Some conclusions:
1. the riots are a symptom of a problem or several problems, and only part of that problem is the character of those rioting
2. I think disadvantaged people need to vote more. People in Ferguson aren't voting enough to change things.
3. I get too much of my news from fivethirtyeight.com (is this really a problem though?)
4. would this make a difference? www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/17/why-one-way-streets-really-are-the-worst/
5. Obama or even better, a white leader, needs to put political pressure on police forces and DA's to change. There needs to be more accountability. I don't think that cameras on cars will work, as they "malfunction" at inopportune times, and it doesn't seem to help anyway. If people who ARE "caught" are prosecuted fully and hopefully indicted, then there can be a trial, and more truth comes out.
Lastly, I feel there is a larger, underlying problem, and that is a persistent racial income and opportunity gap. I have no idea how to fix it, but I'm quite certain that hoping a group of people will simply pull themselves out of a situation isn't going to work. I believe there will need to be targeted, prolonged work to ameliorate this situation. Obviously, some of that is on-going, but new strategies need to be evolved and implemented. I don't have a philosophical reasoning for this argument, but I feel that allowing an identifiable group to persist in a disadvantaged condition is akin to reducing opportunity for targeted individuals, rather than a meritocracy where group association and birth condition do not matter (or at least matter much less).
ADD: mods, feel free to remove or relocate. If you remove, I'd appreciate a reasoning.
