Riots in Ferguson

I don't want to get all caught up in this, and I didn't read all the posts. But I'll just say this.
The plight of black folks here in the U.S. has little-to-nothing to do with slavery from generations back. I watched an amazing documentary about the post slavery years, I can't remember the name of it, I think it was a Ken Burns documentary? Anyway, after these people were freed they had physical, mental, and emotional issues from a life that harder than anything most of us could imagine. Yet, they didn't allow that to keep them down. They started businesses (usually within the black community for obvious reasons), they got educations, got married, and so on. I don't know what happened in the years since, but the folks I went to school with (Detroit, 95% black graduating class) had a very different outlook. Not everyone for sure, but the majority seemed to have lost that attitude. It became a 'what can/will/have/are you doing for me attitude. The 'I'll do this no matter what' attitude is just about gone. That's not a black thing, that's a socio-economic thing. But it's an attitude that's handed down from generation to generation in lots of cases.
I'm going down a rabbit hole, so I'll just sum it up with this:
Slavery sucked. Black folks in Africa sold other Africans into slavery. White folks bought them because they had the money. If Americans didn't, someone else would have. Slavery ended. Fast forward to today. There is an entitlement attitude that pervades that culture. NOT that race, but that culture. They look to leaders that want to assign the blame for a failure to succeed on others. There are plenty of those leaders.
Now to compare:
1942: Japanese are rounded up and put in internment camps. They lost businesses, homes, farms, everything. Today, are the Japanese crying because they lost everything? Are Japanese flooding the welfare and unemployment coffers of every state? No. They are arguably the most successful ethnic group in the U.S. They don't appear to expect anyone else to give them anything. They look at the situation they are in and find a way to make the best of it. That attitude, handed down over the generations, has worked.

The folks in Ferguson chose the wrong horse to back. They chose a situation where a criminal was committing a crime (assault) after committing a crime (assault, robbery) and was shot when he apparently made a second attempt to assault a police officer. They only look dumb for 'protesting' that. Had they chose a different situation, like the one that happened just a few weeks later where the cop shot an unarmed man who was retrieving his wallet AS DIRECTED TO BY THE STUPID COP they'd have been better off. Now, they look like unreasonable people.

Thank you, you nailed it.

mndsm wrote: I have no clue who you all are on about. Must be before my time

Different time. Different place. In some people's views all white people are guilty and racist. To say otherwise makes you even more racist and closed minded. Which, that view is quite closed minded. But don't point that out either.

mndsm wrote: St Louis rams do the hands up dance. Everyone is up in arms. Personly I.think its the first time since.the kids Beem shot that anyone did this right.

I don't see this any different than the raised, clinched fists on the podium at the Mexico City Olympics

mndsm wrote: I have no clue who you all are on about. Must be before my time

a guy on another forum that we all know and love

wbjones wrote:

mndsm wrote: I have no clue who you all are on about. Must be before my time

a guy on another forum that we all know and love

I didn't know that mentioning splintery baseball bats wrapped in rusty barbed wire being placed in an uncomfortable place was "love". I'll have to remember that.

the guy's very smart, and very good at what he does … but can be a major PITA on line .. at least in a political discussion … pretty easy to get along with at the track, to drink beer with after the track activity … but … like I said a major PITA on line … even if I do find myself agreeing with a little of what he puts out … he goes so over board that I have to shake my head and walk away far more often than I like

wbjones wrote:

mndsm wrote: St Louis rams do the hands up dance. Everyone is up in arms. Personly I.think its the first time since.the kids Beem shot that anyone did this right.

I don't see this any different than the raised, clinched fists on the podium at the Mexico City Olympics

It is much different. The Rams players are representing St. Louis, sort of, but mostly just a team that pays them to play sports. The olympics, the athletes were representing our country on an international stage. They chose to put the race issues above their country.

wbjones wrote:

mndsm wrote: St Louis rams do the hands up dance. Everyone is up in arms. Personly I.think its the first time since.the kids Beem shot that anyone did this right.

I don't see this any different than the raised, clinched fists on the podium at the Mexico City Olympics

It's completely different. Mainly because Michael Brown never actually raised his hands over his head and never said "Don't Shoot." All the protestors doing the hands-up motion and wearing "don't shoot" paraphernalia are ignorant garbage sacks who care nothing about truth and are mostly responsible for the E36 M3show going on there.

mtn wrote:

wbjones wrote:

mndsm wrote: St Louis rams do the hands up dance. Everyone is up in arms. Personly I.think its the first time since.the kids Beem shot that anyone did this right.

I don't see this any different than the raised, clinched fists on the podium at the Mexico City Olympics

It is much different. The Rams players are representing St. Louis, sort of, but mostly just a team that pays them to play sports. The olympics, the athletes were representing our country on an international stage. They chose to put the race issues above their country.

I didn't care for what they did … but at that time, in our country it was … maybe …. needed

something was needed anyway

jsquared wrote: It's completely different. Mainly because Michael Brown never actually raised his hands over his head and never said "Don't Shoot." All the protestors doing the hands-up motion and wearing "don't shoot" paraphernalia are ignorant garbage sacks who care nothing about truth and are just looking for another excuse for their personal shortcomings.

Just wanted to quote this because troof.

^FYI I edited the original to account for the "don't shoot" whackjobs coming from other areas b/c they're protest hobbyists

And not one pair of Ferguson work boots was looted.......

bentwrench wrote: And not one pair of Ferguson work boots was looted.......

Timberlands are ostensibly work boots.....

jsquared wrote:

wbjones wrote:

mndsm wrote: St Louis rams do the hands up dance. Everyone is up in arms. Personly I.think its the first time since.the kids Beem shot that anyone did this right.

I don't see this any different than the raised, clinched fists on the podium at the Mexico City Olympics

It's completely different. Mainly because Michael Brown never actually raised his hands over his head and never said "Don't Shoot." All the protestors doing the hands-up motion and wearing "don't shoot" paraphernalia are ignorant garbage sacks who care nothing about truth and are mostly responsible for the E36 M3show going on there.

From the testimony that appears to be correct. I nominate this whopper from the testimony of one of the survivors for the next t-shirt, "Hey guys, why don't you walk on the sidewalk?".

mndsm wrote:

bentwrench wrote: And not one pair of Ferguson work boots was looted.......

Timberlands are ostensibly work boots.....

Yet, not a scratch on them....

In reply to Bobzilla:

the sad thing is how common people with this view in their heart get microphone/camera time...

Wow all I want is to live I a country where the police are held to the same rules as the rest of the population. Here in Canada the only way to get away with killing a unarmed person is to be a cop. It makes me sick to think a armed officer can not control a teenager with out killing him. That's all I got it is a very sad state of affairs when the value of life in in our safe western country is sinking to the level of the Middle East.

In reply to danvan:

I'm not sure how you can conveniently ignore the fact that this teenager was actively attempting to take the officers gun after punching him in the face. Never mind the fact that he had 80lbs on the officer and by any measure a very large individual.

I'm not sure how things work anywhere else in the world but if I punch an officer in the face and try to take his gun I'm pretty sure that I'm going to get shot if I fail in doing so.

I'm also pretty sure that if he would have been successful in getting the gun this officer would have been shot.

It very easily could have went this way. http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/03/johnson_city_officer_killed_with_his_own_weapon.html

Sooooo maybe we should not have 98lb weaklings as cops. Cops in Canada kill about 10 to 1 ratio unarmed and armed I am sure the stats are the same down there, you hardly ever hear about a police shooting where the victim was armed. I think the average cop today has a chip on his shoulder and way to many bullets in his gun, just waiting for the chance to use it.

But then that's what we are programed to accept as being normal in our world, we are sinking to a lower level programed to think it's ok to be very violent just have to look at what passes for entertainment on T,V these days

In reply to danvan:

The officer is 6"4' 210 pounds. This "teenager" was bigger and violent with no regard to anybody all hopped up on adrenaline from just having assaulted and robbed a store owner.

I understand the point you are trying to make. I just feel that you are picking the wrong case to grandstand on.

Danvan, it's (usually) really simple: don't assault a police officer, whether or not you are armed.

danvan wrote: It makes me sick to think a armed officer can not control a teenager with out killing him.

It is a lot more difficult to physically control someone than to seriously injure or kill them (people can slip out of joint locks, but wounds stay wounded). It is doubly hard to control someone who is 40% larger than you. It is pretty nearly impossible to defend yourself hand-to-hand when you are seated inside a car, and they are outside of it.

For every alteration you hear about that involves a firearm there are dozens, if not hundreds, of hand-to-hand confrontations that don't make the news.

The average cop is most definitely not a 98 lb weakling, nor afraid to knuckle up.

danvan wrote: Sooooo maybe we should not have 98lb weaklings as cops. Cops in Canada kill about 10 to 1 ratio unarmed and armed I am sure the stats are the same down there, you hardly ever hear about a police shooting where the victim was armed. I think the average cop today has a chip on his shoulder and way to many bullets in his gun, just waiting for the chance to use it. But then that's what we are programed to accept as being normal in our world, we are sinking to a lower level programed to think it's ok to be very violent just have to look at what passes for entertainment on T,V these days

Most cops don't have to kill an unarmed person because most people stop dead in their tracks when a gun is pointed at them. This kid was out to get the firearm away from the cop and likely use it to kill the cop.

Put yourself in the cop's situation danvan. If you have a gun on you and someone who has a physical advantage over you is trying to get it from you to use against you. What would you do? Let that person take it and shoot you? Because from everything you've written (as well as a countless amount of others), you make it sound like that is what Darren Wilson should have done.

No one would have cared if Michael Brown would have wrestled the gun away from Darren Wilson and killed him.