Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

sparklydude t1_j66agyw wrote

It was a bad and gruesome video but all the cops involved are fired, and charged, idk what much else can be done to placate people

80

Raecino t1_j66jply wrote

Probably because the cops were black

13

Hoyarugby t1_j66mdq3 wrote

Unfortunately probably true

Videos from this are bad but nowhere near as bad as the Daniel Shaver video, and they let the cops who killed Shaver retire on disability. I've seen videos of ISIS executions and those were only somewhat worse than the Shaver video

7

Raecino t1_j66n3p1 wrote

There’s countless videos of people being killed by the police and immediately many come to their defense saying things like “well what happened before the cameras started recording?” immediately casting doubt on the victims and giving the police the benefit of the doubt. As you all can clearly see, these officers were immediately fired and charged, as they should be! But that should be the way these cases are handled across the board, not just against black officers.

3

jf1702 t1_j66utef wrote

That one still haunts me because it was truly a “this can happen to anyone” set of circumstances.

And yet, you say his name to 100 people, how many will recognize him? 1 or 2? Got no widespread media coverage.

3

MedievalFightClub t1_j66ej0x wrote

What happened?

0

Hoyarugby t1_j66lr1m wrote

After a traffic stop in Memphis a bunch of cops beat a guy to death, and they just released video and body camera footage

7

Motophoto t1_j66f7zi wrote

it's not about placating people, justice needs served here. this needs to be a capital offense for all cops involved. Death penalty needs to be on the table

−11

Psychogistt t1_j66h4jt wrote

Exactly. We need to kill people to teach people not to kill people.

The fucks the matter with you?

5

km89 t1_j66sel8 wrote

An alternate perspective: these people have done something that arguably makes them not worth rehabilitating. They are willing to literally kill the citizens they're supposed to protect, seemingly for no reason at all other than perverse enjoyment. A man is dead so that these people could exercise their authority and power.

I personally don't support the death penalty... largely because I don't trust that the government will use it correctly, and that largely based on decades of evidence of wrongful convictions.

But if it were to be allowed and used correctly, it would have to be a method of removing un-rehabilitatable, dangerous people from society. People who either cannot ever be trusted not to be a danger or who have shown that they are unwilling to cooperate with reform attempts.

I don't disagree with the death penalty as a concept, in some fictional ideal world where it would only ever be used on people we know will never not be dangerous to society. We don't live in that world, but I sympathize with people who believe that people who commit crimes like this should just be removed.

2

_token_black t1_j66bgvn wrote

And there's zero way to paint it as racially motivated

−19

manickittens t1_j66elqp wrote

I didn’t realize wanting to protest against police brutality only counts if the officers are white.

81

_token_black t1_j66fb7a wrote

I didn't realize I said those words, but hey, thanks for giving me the feeling of watching the news. Love having narratives painted out of thin air.

−23

Psychogistt t1_j66ira8 wrote

Biden is already making it a racial issue

Edit: they always want it to be a culture issue instead of a class issue. Keep us divided and conquered.

−28

manickittens t1_j66iwe1 wrote

Because Tyre Nichols was a Black man? Because Black and Brown men are targeted by law enforcement at significantly higher rates than white men?

14

Psychogistt t1_j66jgcw wrote

You think the cops were racist in this situation?

−6

Electrical_List_2125 t1_j66k8la wrote

Black people can be antiblack, absolutely. A lot are. I personally have been when I was much younger, I’m not proud to admit it but it’s true. That’s common for all communities, hating your own people (I keep bringing up women as my other example, this is like the women who say “I’m not like other girls, I can’t be friends with other women, I’m only friends with guys”) it’s standard stuff

12

Psychogistt t1_j66m9f9 wrote

It’s possible that all 5 of the police officers are anti black racists, but I think you’re also discounting the influence of class in this situation.

Police routinely prey on the weak and vulnerable, regardless of race.

1

manickittens t1_j66kkk5 wrote

I believe the entirety of the law enforcement system as it currently stands is inherently racist. Law enforcement, regardless of their individual racial or ethnic backgrounds, have shown that they view each other as “blue brothers” with the goal of protecting each other and consolidating power. When Black people were enslaved peoples in the US who did the white owners rely on to enforce and punish the “field slaves”? I sincerely doubt they would have done this to a white man pulled over for a traffic stop.

8

Psychogistt t1_j66lpga wrote

I think it’s pretty racist to compare black police officers to black slave drivers.

I do think there is systemic racism in law enforcement, but that’s not the primary driver here. The power they are primarily consolidating and protecting is class power. Police brutality happens regularly to working class white Americans as well.

4

manickittens t1_j66mch7 wrote

It was an analogy to show how the racist system utilizes folks being oppressed to work against their own best interests.

But you have a good night! Stay safe!

3

km89 t1_j66tdsk wrote

>Police brutality happens regularly to working class white Americans as well.

I'm sure, but it's worth pointing out the overtly racist elements of police behavior. It's not even remotely out of the realm of possibility that these cops have gotten it in their head that they are some of the "good ones" who either personally or whose family at one time escaped the hood, and have contempt for those who have not. I've personally head almost as many black people as white people make the comment that "there's n*****s and then there's black people." (EDIT: Though, to be fair, my social circle is mostly white. It's possible there's a bias there, regarding which black people choose to be a part of that circle or are made to feel uncomfortable doing so.)

Here's a personal anecdote. Probably about 10 years ago or so, I was in an acquaintance's back yard. There were a group of white adults, white teenagers, and one black teenager. All of us were borderline white-trash at the time.

A cop car comes screaming up the driveway. Two officers jump out, ignore every single white person, and tackle the black teenager. They ended up fracturing his skull and breaking his nose. We later found out that they were doing a drug bust... at the wrong house. I offered to testify, but the victim and his family never took me up on that and I have no idea if it went anywhere.

The point is, we were all very obviously of similar economic background--but somehow that was not enough to cause police brutality to the white people, but was enough to cause police brutality against the black person.

I think it's true that police action is largely class-based, but it's also important not to forget that there are racist elements at play.

2

Accounting_Idiot t1_j66bxjd wrote

All cops are cops first. All cops exist to protect white supremacy in the United States.

−12

31November t1_j66c7zb wrote

IMO, Cops protect the rich, not just the white rich.

There's significant overlap, but the goal is to protect the wealthy, not just the white wealthy.

27

_token_black t1_j66hxpu wrote

That was my point but the damn edgelords downvoting me from Lansdale & Springfield (or even from Northern Liberties or some college dorm) only want to burn the system, period. Nothing short of anarchy.

Guess who gets blamed when that shit happens? Won't be them...

3

TechSquidTV t1_j66cr86 wrote

>All cops are cops first. All cops exist to protect white supremacy in the United States.

All cops are cops first. All cops exist to protect white supremacy the rich in the United States.

​

Fixed that for you.

15

_token_black t1_j66enju wrote

That's a damn lie. If a cop knows you have $$ (and we're talking old $$ not just in a nice car) you are teflon.

Poor white people get fucked up by the judicial system too, just like poor Chinese, poor Hispanic, etc. If you're poor and suspected of a crime, you're fucked. If you're rich and (somehow) suspected of a crime, you can buy your freedom.

12

HotPoptartFleshlight t1_j66ep4e wrote

What a nuanced multifactor analysis.

The unironic "5 black cops beating a black man is to uphold white supremacy" take as if you're living in a satire.

4

Electrical_List_2125 t1_j66fjjk wrote

I don’t think it’s that weird. There were Black slave drivers. There have always been all kinds of people that sell out their own people. See: women who specifically target and tear other women down in the workplace, etc. That’s much less serious but it’s the same principle

0

31November t1_j66ghb5 wrote

I get what you're trying to go for, and if you want to abstract this to the point of "police culture is furthering white supremacy" then I think you are coincidentally right to a degree, but I would still argue that the main point or the main toxin to police culture (that these five black officers upheld) is to protect the rich.

White people tend to be the rich, but the focus is on wealth, not race.

3

Electrical_List_2125 t1_j66hu2i wrote

I don’t like seeing people limit it to a class thing because it feels like they’re erasing the race piece of it when the race piece is foundational too. I see it as based in both, money and race.

Edit: I think I’m trying to say- race stuff feels so tied up with class anyway. In the US Black people are a permanent underclass. The country assigned people to be slaves and then to be under resourced after that (through policy decisions like blocking Black ppl from home ownership, blocking ppl from good jobs, etc.) Race is the way they assigned people’s class so it feels weird to just take that out of it when it matters- I don’t want to erase who is doing the worst with the police and why the way “it’s just about class” feels like it’s erasing it, does that make sense?

4

31November t1_j66kl68 wrote

Thank you for explaining your POV, and I think I understand what you're trying to say.

I agree that there is so much overlap that it does feel like effectively a race-war - I mean, you live here in Philly, look at the demographics of Kensington v. Society Hill - so I guess trying to draw the two (race versus class) out too much can be counter-productive, even if I personally would weigh one over the other.

0

Electrical_List_2125 t1_j66l7zw wrote

Yeah! I think you’re dead on. The overdrawing one or the other is the issue. I have noticed what you’re talking about with demographics in Philly and it has made me kinda moderate my past viewpoint that race was everything in terms of who gets what - in Philly it’s clear that that’s not true. Thanks for your thoughts

2

Psychogistt t1_j66iz9i wrote

Biden is already painting it as a racial issue

−1