Jeb Bush rally interrupted by #BlackLivesMatter demonstrators

[Shadow 6,697]

Why do people continue to demean and generalize entire groups of Americans on this forum? 

Instead of using racial divisions to vilify people, why not focus on the issues, those with power and status who have the means to affect real change like the government whether local, state, or federal; or the lobbyists mentioned who are funded by powerful associations of powerful corporations?

If we stop allowing ethnic backgrounds to divide us when we all have the same needs as humans, those with power can't manipulate and use those divisions against us to water down any movement that could effect real change like the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King's leadership was successful because it brought numerous groups together to common cause and change. Why can't we get back to the basics of his Dream? 

[Morphine Prince 109,683]

So you admit that it's because of the tagline and not the numbers

Anyway, I get you but we don't need the whole world to care. But do I think that a movement that would pay attention to every racial group suffering from disproportionate police violence would attract more people than a movement that doesn't even really seem open to support from other races. Calling it a "black movement" (though I understand the emotional weight surrounding that idea) comes across to some as: "don't get involved, this is our thing". I have personally been confronted with people telling me to butt out because it wasn't my movement.

So yes, I definitely believe that a movement that could be anyone's movement who cares about equality would get more attention, support and influential power.

I'd be surprised if people cared about the numbers tbh. Wish I was as hopeful as you.

The "don't get involved" logic is so dumb though  Those radicals need a reality check. 

[Whispering 18,865]

There are actual numbers showing the US is the developed nation with most gun violence yet look where we are. Numbers clearly don't work in this country. Seems like people only react to simplistic concepts. Not even that. The Newtown shooting got attention because children died and then the Senate shut that down because of the damn lobbyists. 

Exactly! Black people (since they are the ones at the helm of the current Black Lives Matter movement) have been telling these stories for years, but no one was listening. Statistics clearly showed that minorities were being targeted, and that included a high percentage of black people in our cities, but no one was listening. 

It took people with videos on their phones and the current social media network we have to finally SHOW citizens if the U.S. what people have been living with and experiencing for decades. The numbers and statistics have been out there for just as long, but the public didn't pay attention, until they started seeing unarmed people being gunned down for having an emergency light out on their car...or a 14 year old unarmed young girl thrown to the ground and handcuffed for talking back and crying. 

Then people started caring, and a movement started building, and everyone is questioning what has been going on in our cities and in our towns...when we didn't see it for ourselves. Numbers aren't enough, common sense isn't enough, people have to SEE or be involved somehow personally to really understand sometimes! That's what has happened here in the last year and that's why we have this movement! 

[Didymus 34,380]

I'd be surprised if people cared about the numbers tbh. Wish I was as hopeful as you.

The "don't get involved" logic is so dumb though  Those radicals need a reality check. 

I'm not really hopeful For me it's just about principle here

[Morphine Prince 109,683]

Numbers aren't enough, common sense isn't enough, people have to SEE or be involved somehow personally to really understand sometimes! That's what has happened here in the last year and that's why we have this movement! 

This is what I think. This issue is not new. It's been going on forever. 

We are dealing with a population that has many people that are indifferent to minority issues and always like to blame everything on them. We have whites who don't think white privilege is real. We have people who deny scientific facts. We have politicians that use religion to get votes in a SECULAR state recognized by our Constitution. 

I just don't see logic applying here at all. This country is a MESS in every sense of the word. We have so many broken and outdated systems. We don't have a culture where we are taught to care for each other. It's all about ME ME ME. Capitalism, war, greed, and racism are all mixed together and create this environment. Despite our progress there is a lot wrong here. 

Oh, but if I say this to someone they will just tell me to leave the country and that I'm un-American  Blind patriotic delusion is rampant. 

[Redstreak 6,653]

I'd be surprised if people cared about the numbers tbh. Wish I was as hopeful as you.

The "don't get involved" logic is so dumb though  Those radicals need a reality check. 

tbh a lot of these discussions are too U.S. Centered and you can't really understand the context of these discussions unless you live here. The American of way of thinking is something that can't really be described, but experienced and lived through, and because of that there's always gonna be gaps in these types of discussion.

[Whispering 18,865]

tbh a lot of these discussions are U.S. Centered and you can't really understand the context of these discussions unless you live here. The American of way of thinking is something that can't really be described, but experienced and lived through, and because of that there's always gonna be gaps in these types of discussion.

So true! It's not that others can't have an opinion on issues in the U.S., it's just that people who have never lived here aren't going to be able to fully understand all of the layers upon layers of bigotry that surround certain issues in this country. We've been in the hallways or on campuses and watched our classmates and teachers treat others differently. We've been in the stores and watched people get treated differently. We've heard the conversations behind closed doors from aquintances, co-workers, friends or family members. We've heard the little "jokes" made by people we have been around. These types of experiences can't be summed up in numbers and statistics. You aren't going to really understand the underlying racism in this country, like the people who have been surrounded by it and more importantly,  experienced it their whole life. 

[Morphine Prince 109,683]

So true! It's not that others can't have an opinion on issues in the U.S., it's just that people who have never lived here aren't going to be able to fully understand all of the layers upon layers of bigotry that surround certain issues in this country. We've been in the hallways or on campuses and watched our classmates and teachers treat others differently. We've been in the stores and watched people get treated differently. We've heard the conversations behind closed doors from aquintances, co-workers, friends or family members. We've heard the little "jokes" made by people we have been around. These types of experiences can't be summed up in numbers and statistics. You aren't going to really understand the underlying racism in this country, like the people who have been surrounded by it and more importantly,  experienced it their whole life. 

I've heard some of my own family members joke when driving and a black person is crossing the street that if they ran over them there'd be "one less black" and joke about how the pavement would be tainted. 

Clearly black lives don't seem to matter. 

[Redstreak 6,653]

I've heard some of my own family members joke when driving and a black person is crossing the street that if they ran over them there'd be "one less black" and joke about how the pavement would be tainted. 

Clearly black lives don't seem to matter. 

I remember my uncle saying that there was a BLM protest going on at the mall near where he lives while he was in the food court and it took all his mental strength not to dump his tray of food on them.

[Morphine Prince 109,683]

I remember my uncle saying that there was a BLM protest going on at the mall near where he lives while he was in the food court and it took all his mental strength not to dump his tray of food on them.

The irrational anger the hidden racists feel is so disturbing tbh. 

[Melech 9,900]

So true! It's not that others can't have an opinion on issues in the U.S., it's just that people who have never lived here aren't going to be able to fully understand all of the layers upon layers of bigotry that surround certain issues in this country. We've been in the hallways or on campuses and watched our classmates and teachers treat others differently. We've been in the stores and watched people get treated differently. We've heard the conversations behind closed doors from aquintances, co-workers, friends or family members. We've heard the little "jokes" made by people we have been around. These types of experiences can't be summed up in numbers and statistics. You aren't going to really understand the underlying racism in this country, like the people who have been surrounded by it and more importantly,  experienced it their whole life. 

So only Germans who lived under Nazi Rule are only allowed to have opinions on Nazi Germany?

Only Israelis and Palestinians are allowed to have an opinion about their conflict?

Only Russians are allowed to have opinions about their human rights? 

I guess we can stop any kind of discussion about other countries conflicts then. 

[Whispering 18,865]

I've heard some of my own family members joke when driving and a black person is crossing the street that if they ran over them there'd be "one less black" and joke about how the pavement would be tainted. 

Clearly black lives don't seem to matter. 

I've heard people say they will get more "points" if they run over a black person, a black pregnant woman is a double bonus...two for the price of one. 

 

[Whispering 18,865]

So only Germans who lived under Nazi Rule are only allowed to have opinions on Nazi Germany?

Only Israelis and Palestinians are allowed to have an opinion about their conflict?

Only Russians are allowed to have opinions about their human rights? 

I guess we can stop any kind of discussion about other countries conflicts then. 

Didn't say that. What part of "it's NOT that others can't have an opinion on issues in the U.S...." 

Do you not understand what that means? 

[Melech 9,900]

Didn't say that. What part of "it's NOT that others can't have an opinion on issues in the U.S...." 

Do you not understand what that means? 

Whoops I marked the wrong part

I meant "aren't going to be able to fully understand". You guys act like racial profiling and stuff like that ain't happen in other countries

 

[Morphine Prince 109,683]

Whoops I marked the wrong part

I meant "aren't going to be able to fully understand". You guys act like racial profiling and stuff like that ain't happen in other countries

 

Key words: Fully understand 

You can't completely understand something you've never experienced. Racial profiling can occur in different forms depending on where you are.