I always hated selling band candy, even though nobody ever choked and/or slammed me even once when I was doing it.
More seriously, I’ve mistrusted law enforcement for a long time (the institutional racism really seems undeniable), but I never really grokked how much the average schmo contributes to the dynamic of escalating violence until we started seeing all these videos of white folks calling the cops on brown people for obviously bullshit reasons.
What are you trying to say?
Sorry, no criticism intended. Just presenting a perspective I found interesting [1].
Apologies for any offence.
.
[1] i.e. the perception of this issue from within the Black community, and what Disco suggests about the pervasiveness of pro-cop attitudes in White culture.
Not exactly. Mostly none of us see it up close so have a hard time imagining it properly.
Thanks for clarifying. I’ll admit I felt a little bit attacked. Not at first, but as I was working out a reply, I realized “oh wait, I know this person, he’s that guy who posted all those interesting photos of his work sites where insects tried to murder him; but he’s also the guy who’s got like an eight-hundred-thousand-post thread about politics and current events that I’ve never read and I wonder if I just got savagely burned.”
I feel like this site is one of the few places online where I expect to be given the benefit of the doubt w/rt to my comments, so when I thought for a moment that maybe I wasn’t, I decided I’d try to live up to my own expectations and just ask. And even then, I couldn’t help but do it in a passive-aggressive manner; my apologies for that. I wasn’t necessarily offended, but I was kind of hedging my bets, if that makes sense.
As to the substance of your post, it’s not entirely unfamiliar. I get where the guy’s coming from, or at least I think I do as far as I’m able to. And I’m usually pretty good at understanding that if the behavior described is not the sort in which I’d engage, then they’re probably not talking about me when they say “white people”. People are angry and frustrated and hurt, and rightfully so. Let it out, I say. Just rage that shit right out of your system, and if I catch a little blowback in the process, that’s OK because it’s probably not going to really harm me in the long run. I get how infuriating it can be when the tide starts to turn (even if just a little bit) and people finally start noticing what’s been so obvious and so painful to you all along.
At the same time, this kind of sentiment, casually expressed as some sort of fundamental truth, still bothers me:
I hate being lumped in with these people.
The irony of a white guy being upset at being stereotyped is not lost on me, and yet… I hate it.
I hate being lumped in with the family members I no longer speak to or associate with because of their so-called “political” views. I hate being lumped in with the redneck and frat-boy assholes I didn’t want to have anything to do with growing up. I hate being lumped in with the tech-bro assholes currently doing their utmost to immanentize the eschaton. And I hate, and I mean I really loathe, being lumped in with those boot-licking authoritarian pricks who think cops can do no wrong.
And at the same time, I know it’s not about me.
If there’s one thing I’ve taken away from some of the feminist narratives over the last couple years, it’s that I should shut up and listen. And I’m fine with that. (It’s why I lurk, but rarely (never?) post on the Not Feminism 101 thread). I’m self-aware enough to question my own behavior and perceptions, but not so “woke” (if that’s the right word) that I’m confident of any particular outcome.
And, frankly, sometimes I outright despair at the notion that there’s any correct path of action. I hear “shut up and listen” at the same time as I hear “if you’re not actively supporting us you’re against us” at the same time as I hear “many so-called allies are actually predators in disguise”. If I don’t say something, I’m a bad person for not speaking up against injustice, but if I do say something I’m either a clueless white person who thinks it’s all about me, or a deceptive white person who’s just virtue-signalling to exploit some advantage.
I legitimately don’t know what I’m supposed to do here.
And I feel silly for even posting any of this, since my suspicion is that social media is largely an outlet for feeling like we’re doing something meaningful without having to go to the trouble and expense of actually doing something. Anything.
I find these words to be sensible regarding this sort of subject:
My sentiments exactly. Thanks.
The only way to win is for (everyone) not to play!
This was very thoughtfully written, and I can imagine was difficult because you had to weigh every word.
Thanks for doing it!
Unless we’re visibly “other,” we’re Schrodinger’s fascist. we’re a face-down piece that might be an enemy. people can’t know we’re not.
We finally have a verdict.
If you’re not familiar with this case, you really should read it.
White privilege beats cop privilege?
At the margin.
(Mohamed) Noor is a former Somalian refugee whose family moved to the US and settled in Minneapolis.
This should be enough to know why prosecution succeeded.
So, there was a party next door at this same house, and they got loud, after midnight. I called the cops; they came by.
Not 15 minutes or so ago, that young man I mentioned in my previous post was in front of my front bedroom window, saying some things I caught, some I didn’t. I caught that I didn’t have to call the cops; and that I’m a fucking bitch, this one several times. One of the others talked to him in Hmong, sounded like they were trying to get him to stop, but he didn’t. And he said my name, “Luuuu-cy”…really creepy.
I called the cops again. WTF?
PS: And yes, I am frightened.
PPS: Cops were here: I told them the above, plus about the previous problem. Since the guy had gone back into his house, there wasn’t much they could do besides tell me to call 'em again if there are more problems.
I just want to go make a LOT of noise right now.
The next morning…
I got about 3 hours sleep, if that. He didn’t break my rosebushes; now THAT I could charge him with, but if the cops weren’t present when he was creeping me out, there’s nothing they can do. (I went out and checked not long before dawn.)
I’ve been out in the backyard, but not in the front. This is really bothering me - like I NEED this right now, I’m sure you all know from my other saga. I was scared and now I’m extremely pissed-off. LIke, it’s a good thing I’m only a coffee drinker and not a meth head sort of pissed off
If he starts it up again, maybe try to record him?
If possible.
Sounds scary, though… on top of everything else you’re dealing with, a shitty, threatening neighbor doesn’t help.
