Hmmm, I bet JT10000 is one of the few people of color posting in this thread. So maybe his reality and common sense aren't disconnected, they are just different because of his different life experiences. Of course most white people can't even accept that different people have different life experiences.

The thing that drives me craziest about this thread is people who put their head in the sand completely. "racism doesn't exist" is the worst response.

I get that lots of people believe in some bootstrap ideals. But to deny racism and then victim blame is so unbelievably terrible, I'm at a loss.

By the way, Minnesota political leaders are agreeing to meet with BLM leaders. So to those who said "what could this accomplish?" It got them a seat at the table and someone to hear them out and that's the whole point of activism.

You keep doing this, and you keep ignoring me when I point it out. Eric Garner was not "killed" by a cop, and certainly not intentionally. He was resisting arrest and died after the scuffle that ensued BECAUSE he was resisting arrest. His ill-health was likely a significant contributing factor also. And regardless of his alleged crime, no matter how petty you think it was, had he not resisted arrest, he would still be alive today.

And if you go about in public brandishing a gun, even a fake one that looks 100% real, then you have to expect some potentially serious consequences. Don't go about pointing guns in public, don't resist arrest.

As you can see from my earlier posts I'm not suggesting some changes in policing techniques would be unwarranted. But the examples being used to criticize the police are often bad ones. Now if Michael Slager is acquitted, then that would be a good example to use, but for now he's been charged with murder. And by the way, while I do not condone Slager's actions, if Walter Scott had not fled, he too would still be alive. Unfortunately part of the gun culture in the States makes it easier for police to justify shooting suspects sooner rather than later. Note police in the UK are not even armed. Cue gun control debate...

Racism is not the problem. People behaving like animals is the problem. Behaving like an animal will usually result in a violent confrontation with law enforcement. I fully support law enforcement.

Racism is not the problem. People behaving like animals is the problem. Behaving like an animal will usually result in a violent confrontation with law enforcement. I fully support law enforcement.

You're the problem.

The pain and rage caused by centuries of systematic oppresion may not fit into your idea of what it should look like.

Have you actually watched the video of Garner's take down? He was engaged verbally with the cops and then BOOM, cop goes and physically takes him down. There was no physical threat from Garner and certainly nothing that warranted the use of lethal force.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

You're the problem.

Last I checked, resisting arrest doesn't justify use of deadly force. Only someone fleeing a felony and endangering the lives of others. Again, could be wrong, but sheer resisting arrest doesn't justify use of deadly force, which I think a choke hold qualifies as.

You can't reason with stupid, or racism, the fact that you say, "we're not living in the past. We're living in the now" demonstrated how completely out of touch with reality that you are. Like I said, I'm at a loss that people really don't think racism has serious consequences for the lives of black people in America today. And what I'm talking about goes well beyond just police citizen interaction. Education, health care, housing, employment. All of these things, that when you're given the benefit of the doubt, make life a lot easier. When you are at a disadvantage in all these facets of life, because of an immutable characterictic, life becomes a bit more challenging.

The real sign to me that racism is alive in this country, is that k-5 children of color receive far more suspensions and discipline at school than there white counterparts. These are kids, they all act the same, and studies back this up. If you have authority treating you unfairly since the age of 5, how exactly are you to expect that that's going to change at some point in your life?