BLEEP the BLM folks. They are exclusionary. Police accountability is a completely different thing.

Lives matter, regardless of race, and the BLM folks could give two flying bleeps about Asians, Hispanics and least of all whites.

Hell, the BLM folks would probably APPLAUD that this happened to a white person, because THAT is who the BLM folks are.

Go look up Kelly Thomas, especially the video as well as the morgue photos. The Hispanic and White offers who beat him to death were also cleared.

I worked as a paramedic in a urban city. Ended up walking away from the job with a lot of new stereotypes from on the job experiences. Experiences that were repeated on a continuous occurrence. The way I was treated as a human being was night and day difference when responding to a call in the city compared to the suburbs. The lack of respect shown toward my partner and myself while trying to help people was unbelievable. We would be trying to help a complete stranger and almost become a patient ourselves. I know that police officers are respected even far more less. I could never be a police officer after seeing what I've seen. Can you imagine trying to do that job when you know that people are trying to hurt you just...because. I challenge anyone who says police are the ones causing this problem to do a "ride along" in a urban setting. Don't point fingers until you have actually experienced their point of view. They choose a career that requires them to 'protect and serve' , not sit on the computer and BS like the rest of us get to do during our "Job". They have families to get home to. People are caught in bad situations and decisions have to be made, this person or me. I'm sorry but i'm supporting the person who chose to protect and serve not the one with a criminal background. No matter white, black, or purple.

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�There ought to be something very special about the boundary conditions of the universe, and what can be more special than that there is no boundary?�- Stephen Hawking

Well said. I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt to several of the posters here who don't have your kind of "real world" experience. Some postings just show a high level of naivete and just don't have a grasp of the real world....especially regarding experiences law enforcement officials face in certain neighborhoods every day and night. If BLM was legit, they wouldn't have such a problem with "all lives matter".

Where did I say that? Simply because I point out the errors in his assumptions does not mean that I believe the polar opposite is true.

The world is not all black & white (excuse the pun).

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

So what is your position statement?

Let's talk! What are they? Source your numbers. Hint: Look for asterisks on "Table 42."

I dunno...seems the whole point of BLM is that LEO's are hurting and killing black citizens just....because.

Yes, it is an issue for ALL citizens. The police force acts with impudence across all racial barriers....but to think that it does not happen on a significant higher level against African-Americans is just willfully ignorant.

The implication that the black community somehow *deserves* this because of how some members act is pretty disgusting.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

BLM is not anti-police, they are anti-police violence (especially against AA). Many whites support the goals and efforts of BLM, just as their was biracial support for MLK.

The biracial support that MLK had was far from universal, and not just in the South. In hindsight, it is easy to imagine that MLK had widespread, biracial support, but it simply isn't true.

Oh, and I think the plans of BLM re: the marathon are pretty stoopid and will do more to fuel the hatred displayed in this very thread than achieve their goals.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Agree, it's an issue for all Americans. And of course it happens to blacks on a higher level. But the facts are the facts......blacks commit the majority of crime in this country.....yet they account for less than 13% of our population. Divide that further down....black males are about 6.5%......the ratio of crime committed by this group is truly alarming and way out of balance. BLM needs to focus on the source of this.....not blaming/killing white police officers.

Slowlane19 wrote:

Can you imagine trying to do that job when you know that people are trying to hurt you just...because.

Can you imagine living in a country where you're afraid to call the police because you have seen them abuse innocent people with impunity? Where you're afraid to travel to certain states your whole life? Where you know that no matter how successful and law-abiding you are (eg James Blake, Skip Gates and many many others) if a police officer assaults or arrests you in a bogus way, other officers will rally around them? Where if you're a young person on the street, they can stop and search you without any probable cause?


Can you imagine such a thing? Some people don't have to imagine this - they're living it. You talk about a "ride along." I wish yall could try driving or living while black for a few years, just doing the same stuff you do now, See what it's about. That's your ride along. People don't have to be police. People cannot change the color of their skin.


I haven't experienced police violence first-hand (I have seen it) but I have had police follow/question me for no apparent reason other than the color of my skin. And to make this connect a little bit to endurance sport, a white friend of mine who I travelled to events with for a couple years once remarked "Wow, I never had police talk to me this much before." This was being pulled over with him driving and me in the passenger seat. We never talked about racism, politics or anything that would prompt that remark (just girls, bikes, gossip, etc). To me, that rate of being questioned by police was a normal experience.


Policing is hard. Sure. If someone can't do the job properly due to how they think the public treats they or even the public actually treating them badly, resign. That's fine. If it's too hard, they should quit. They can and should if they feel that way.


So don't dare to say that because you believe (or even in reality) the black public often treat police badly that protesting against police injustice is wrong. Police, as public servants with guns, have to be held to the highest standards. If they can't, they should turn in their guns and badges.


I back police in my city 100% on every fight they have for better wages and benefits, etc. But I do not accept that because their job is hard they should be less accountable for doing it badly.



Did Tamir Rice have a criminal background? Did James Blake has a criminal background?

Eric Garner had a criminal background - does that mean he deserved death?

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http://www.jt10000.com/

There are lots of black protest groups that focus on black violence.

But due to recent media attention there's an impression that BLM constitutes the entirety of black protests. Or that all blacks support BLM.

As I pointed out above, there's a suspicious amount of overreach in this thread. Perfectly valid criticism of this decision this decision by BLM or even the entire organization of BLM somehow seemingly explodes into a lot of emotional outbursts about blacks as a whole, as if BLM is some sort of symbolic distillation of all-things-black.

I'm a huge supporter of law enforcement. I will always take their side and give them the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise beyond a shadow of doubt. They put their lives on the line for our benefit every day. If people don't want to get sideways with the police I would suggest refraining from criminal activity.

I did my paramedic internship in NYC (Bronx actually) and I could not agree more. Working EMS in a small town shows you a scary side of humanity as it is. Working a big city does things to your perceptions that can't be undone (or unseen). When people call 911 just so they can rob the drug box on an ambulance it is time to re-evaluate things

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

While their objective is to bring awareness to police violence that isn't the tenor we hear from them. You hear more about them wishing ill will to LEOs. It is one thing to march and protest demanding fair treatment, it is a whole different march when you are chanting "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon."

They would garner much more support if it was a unified voice demanding more accountability in the police force. But that isn't what we hear, as with any collective, the overtly loud extremists will make the whole group look bad, no matter how small of a percentage of the group falls on the extremist side.

Protesting/disrupting at completely non related events doesn't leave people with warm and fuzzies about them either.

If the youth African American community idolized more MLK and Neil DeGrasse Tyson figures and fewer $0.50 rappers and pos athletes I think things would be much different.

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Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

My hunch is that this is just saber rattling. BLM has accomplished their goal which is to have people talk about it, in a tri forum of all places. They will not block the runners.

MTBSully wrote:

While their objective is to bring awareness to police violence that isn't the tenor we hear from them. You hear more about them wishing ill will to LEOs.

You're getting your information from the wrong place if that's what you're hearing more of.

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http://www.jt10000.com/

I sympathise with you and completely agree that policing in the US needs reform... Better training, stronger internal affairs and better relationships with local communities. They could learn much from reforms instituted in the UK in the last 20 years.

But you also must respect the fact that police officers ARE putting their lives on the line in their jobs at times (police of all races). And in many cases individuals DO resist arrest, which escalates the situation rapidly. Yes, better training could avoid overly forceful use of weapons and there are undoubtedly bad apples in every police force. But really, don't resist arrest and you probably won't be injured or worse. Eric Garner resisted arrest. Of course he didn't deserve to die, but the officer clearly had no intent for him to die either. His health was clearly a factor. Michael Brown resisted arrest. I'm not saying police don't err, and they can err badly, but these two examples (Garner and Brown) were not the best examples to use to protest excessive use of police force. Michael Slager would be a better example, but he's been charged with murder, as he should be based on the evidence.

As for policies like 'stop and frisk', I understand they tend to target minorities, and that is far from an ideal situation. However, they have shown to work well (at least in NYC) and are - ironically perhaps - supported by many members of the black community who believe their neighborhoods are safer with such policies. Murders are up as 'stop and frisk' has been reduced in NY (thanks to Mayor DeBlasio):
http://www.nydailynews.com/...er-article-1.2247406

The only way to change your stereotype is to change how people perceive you. If a group of people do not agree to change their behavior, people will not change their perception. Everyone knows the statistics, everyone knows where crime is more prevelant. Until that changes there will always be a stereotype. Not every white person is a rich racist, not every black person is a criminal, and not every Muslim is a terrorist. We are human, we stereotype, it's a defense mechanism.

I've seen black police officers being called "white" because they were questioning a black person. Really? I have not seen any reason why kids would be afraid of police except people telling them to be. How many times do we hear kids getting caught in cross fire between gangs. I would like you to have to go on that call with me. When we are there trying to resuscitate a child tell me that police officer doesn't care...

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�There ought to be something very special about the boundary conditions of the universe, and what can be more special than that there is no boundary?�- Stephen Hawking

Bullshit. People need to obey the law and stop acting like animals. The asshole in Dallas that was shot by police after he broke into a car dealership by driving his car through the glass walls of the dealership. He was caught and then tried to fight the police and would not comply with their orders. The police do not need more training. People in our society need training to learn to act like a humans. It doesn't matter what you skin color is, you have an obligation to act like a civilized human or face the ugly consequences of your actions. It's a gross injustice to spin this truth any other way.

. Love the earl Campbell reference, he was just flat out awesome! On a more serious note, why not just end the marathon short of the protest? It would give everyone a pr, just like the Chattanooga swim or the old Austria Ironman run? Everyone wins! "Yeah dude, that's the year I finally broke 4 hours...".

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Founder of THE TRIATHLON COLLECTIVE (Closed Facebook Group). A SBR discussion group without the white noise/trolling!

It makes no sense to pick on individual incidents and make blanket statements based on them. Of course people need to respect the law and police, as I said. Of course more education is needed in that regard. But to pretend there is absolutely no room for improving policing techniques, training, community relations and cultures within some forces, is choosing to ignore part of the problem.

Slowlane19 wrote:

The only way to change your stereotype is to change how people perceive you.

How the fuck is someone like James Blake or Henry Gates supposed to change the stereotype of how they are perceived?


How was Tamir Rice?


How am I? I went to one of the best secondary schools in the country, one of the best colleges in the world, and was at one of the best universities in the world when I realized how police were following me. But it's my job to change how police perceive me (or black people in general)? Or BLM's job?


BLM is telling police and the justice system to change. That's 100% legit. If you think thuggy black people or whoever need to do a better job with their own lives, that fine, but police abuse of even the most perfect black people makes BLM's goals 100% evidently righteous. It's BS to suggest they should slow it down because black communities themselves are not good enough in some way. Even if some huge % of black people were criminals (which is not the case) it wouldn't mean it's OK for police to be able to kill innocent black people with impunity.


I'll add that if police are incapable of trying harder to overcome their belief in stereotypes, that's a pretty sad indictment of their professionalism: there are too many black people they think are dangerous so it's OK to kill a few innocents along the way and not be punished. The job is too hard to do better. Wow


And even for the people who are actually criminals (Eric Garner whose crime was selling cigarettes), is death or beatings without a trial an appropriate response?

Slowlane19 wrote:

When we are there trying to resuscitate a child tell me that police officer doesn't care.

Who said that here? What I'm saying and what is the core message of BLM is that there is widespread institutional racism in police and the justice system which is not acceptable.


You're making up straw men and raising alternative issues (some legit and some bogus) to undermine an extremely just and vital cause: BLM.

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http://www.jt10000.com/

You are barking up the wrong tree and also making a blanket statement about police needing more training. Are the police actions always perfect? No and they never will be. They go through loads of training already.

The problem with the people is massive. The problem with the police is tiny. Focus on the big problem first.

My analogy response to your post: If you are in massive debt and continue to spend too much at Starbucks and are also going on extravagant vacations, living in a mansion, and driving luxury cars....Starbucks is not your problem.

If you twist the facts when you cite a case you lose some credibility. Whether you have committed no crime, a petty crime or a serious crime, you should not resist arrest. Garner was not "killed or beaten" by the police. He was taken to the ground while resisting arrest. You can argue excessive force, but if he didn't commit a crime and then resist arrest no force would have been necessary!

What a remarkable excuse for denying the scope/impact of institutional racism and dismissing the need to do anything about it.


Someone here said that some commenters here would have been saying how wrong Martin Luther King Jr. Your post exemplifies that.

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http://www.jt10000.com/