The Ferguson, Missouri thread

[NynJa]

Black life matters just as much as a white life, as an asian life, as a jewish life, as an arab life. Fuck you for saying anything otherwise, racist fuck.

[Priran]

Saying all lives matter is ignorant

[notorious bum]

I have much more confidence behind this movement, because they actually have organization and, more importantly, they recognize their co-opters like the black misleadership class, white allies who are bored and only want to join the movement because it's popular, and so forth. Starting in Ferguson, groups like @millennialAU went out and signed up big numbers for voter registration, held regular community meetings, all without the help from the NAACP or clergy who wished to delegate behind their backs.

Who knows how fast or how long it will take to expand this movement to the point where politicians have to start listening to their people, but the message is much more focused and much louder than what Occupy was able to accomplish. Here we are only 4 months removed from the spark that ignited these young people and turned into leaders and activists overnight.

[kuronosan]

Seriously? Believing all lives matter is ignorant? No wonder nobody likes you man.

I understand the differences between how good I have it versus minorities in worse situations than I.

There is NOTHING wrong with believing all lives should matter equally as long as I am cognizant of the fact that there are huge imbalances that need to be rectified. Women should have more rights, blacks should not be treated less than whites, homosexuals less than straights, anything.

If anything it diminishes an equality movement by demanding all people see it the way that you do 100%.

I believe black lives matter, far more than others do now. I don't believe they matter any more than any other lives do. That is why I say all lives matter.

I don't have blinders on, I'm not ignorant to how bad racism, sexism, and sexualism run rampant in this country or how difficult it must be to be the outcast in a society that has no reason to not be accepting in the 21st century.

I simply think social issues are being spread too thin because far too much inequality exists for anyone to unite under a single cause.

[notorious bum]

Saying all lives matter is co-opting the message. In fact, this is exactly how people deal with shit they are uncomfortable with or don't want to discuss. It's like the running joke that Occupy had no clear message, it was akin to "all corporate stuff is bad" or "we need to change a lot of things, somehow"

Black Lives Matter. Otherwise, people are basically saying this: "yeah, black people are getting dealt a really fucking unfair hand in life and are getting mistreated/killed at exceedingly higher rates by police"

"But, you know what? White people die from police, too. Let's just focus on how cops are being bad at their jobs and ignore the whole systemic racial issue, it's too messy."

[chazzyphizzle]

no, people are not basically saying that

[notorious bum]

Not all people, obviously. Like I said, some of them mean well, but are not educated on the importance of this movement for those that started it, who live it.

Also, wanted to quote this on my previous post, but forgot.

All politics is local. Local demands will translate to national victories. National victories will translate to a bigger movement.

[kuronosan]

Yea no. You totally don't understand people.

[Koul]

I feel like a potential problem though with the movement is that if it doesn't start to encompass "all lives matter" and how the police are overstepping their bounds with everyone (moreso blacks) it'll alienate a lot more people and weaken the movement in the long run.

[Drex]

no matter how many psych studies show that shared causes bring disparate groups together, the self-segregationists can always hide behind Black Lives Matter and ensure this never advances beyond Conversations About Race. meanwhile their neighborhoods burn.

but that's ignant whitey talk

[notorious bum]

The protests have only gained support, though. This is why I'm so confident. The #alllivesmatter phrase is a social media misstep. There are plenty of white allies out there in all the pictures and videos across the globe. Look at London, hundreds/thousands of white people shouting "black lives matter".

And when was the last time you saw the medical field protesting with such gusto like today, all saying "black lives matter"?

[notorious bum]

no matter how many psych studies show that shared causes bring disparate groups together, the self-segregationists can always hide behind Black Lives Matter and ensure this never advances beyond Conversations About Race. meanwhile their neighborhoods burn.

but that's ignant whitey talk

Empathy is also an important trait to have, if you wish to go back and look at the civil rights movement, you will see how that played a roll in gaining support.

The segregationists do thrive in these types of movements, but none have penetrated within those whom I would consider leaders of this movement. I have pointed out in the past, various members who are not wise to NBPP/NOI's threat.

[Nephlite]

You lost a good chunk of America with the video of the protesters burning the American Flag saying it's just a piece of cloth.

I don't think you realize just how much of the population loves our country. Especially our veterans who have fought and died for what that flag means. If anything, support for our military is a much bigger issue than anything else on public agenda. Those people are basically saying they don't care about America and what America means, yet they're fighting for what they believe America means. Isn't that basically defeating your own argument? When the majority of America fights back and calls those who are pressing this issue zealots, it'll be a rude awakening.

And just because there's a couple hundred people, or even a thousand, or a million people joined together to "march" and bring awareness, it doesn't represent a majority of America. This "movement" isn't as large as you think, and it's reckless to think it's going to encompass more than what it is.

[Blubbartron]

no matter how many psych studies show that shared causes bring disparate groups together, the self-segregationists can always hide behind Black Lives Matter and ensure this never advances beyond Conversations About Race. meanwhile their neighborhoods burn.

but that's ignant whitey talk

Yeah, that's kind of my opinion on the matter as well. Catch phrases are important, and shit like "black lives matter" or "feminism is for women" is inherently dividing people instead of uniting them.

[Koul]

I feel like this is all just hashtag activism +1. Yeah, doctors and people are playing dead. I don't think people honestly care though. I don't think any protest in this day and age can actual do much of anything unless you held things up or cut the balls off of a particular service or something in that regard. And if you do that now, you'll just piss people off and further shit up your movement.

The longer something like "blacks lives matters" goes on the harder it gets to justify that Black lives > everyone else. Personally for me it's hard to get behind any type of social movement because all I think about is how much better the majority of America has it compared to people in like... I dono. Gaza. hiccup

[Mazmaz]

bum understands how co-opting and dismissing of messages work beyond the surface level of understanding that the rest of you have. Yes, it is important to identify the oppressed and how they are oppressed. No, it is not ok to state things in a way to trivialize that.

[NynJa]

Coming from a femnazi, I wouldnt expect anything less.

Who isnt crying oppression these days? Everyones crying about how they're oppressed that its become a buzzword.

[Mazmaz]

I know right why can't everyone be like white guys

[tyven]

I like you notorious bum. don't let these turkeys bring you down!

[Ezek]

I know right why can't everyone be like white guys

Yeah, or these Asians apparently since we're +10 privileged.