Why the Hostility to Black Lives?
Black Lives Matter
“Whites are taught not to have empathy for blacks.”
I read that in an article discussing hostility to the Black Lives Matter movement, but wondered: “Is that really true” And why bother to teach that?”
The notion that whites are taught to lack empathy for blacks seemed strange, and yet there was, after all, plenty of hostility to the BLM movement — and that had never made sense to me either. Football and basketball fans refusing to watch their teams because players were pleading that their lives not be targeted for police brutality and murder. Why is there hostility to that?! Wouldn’t whites feel the same way if their sons were so frequently brutalized and killed?
Further, why did the Wall Street Journal bother to post an op-ed supposedly puncturing the notion that black men are more likely than other men to be killed at the hands of police? An op-ed that was later debunked? (Turns out, the Wall Street Journal allows falsities on its opinion pages that are forbidden from its news pages.) Why make the effort to convince people that BLM should be discredited and discounted?
None of it made sense to me. But as I pondered these questions the puzzle pieces began to fall into place.
Racism has long been used by powerful interests to divide and conquer working people and to distract them from things like the enormous redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the top over the last 40 years.
Years ago corporate heads even planted insurgents into union ranks to spread rumors that black men wanted to take white men’s jobs. This sparked fear, prejudice and bullying which helped keep blacks out of unions. And which provided corporate heads with a ready pool of black workers, should unions strike.
More recently, automation, globalization, gig work, and union busting are throwing workers out of good paying jobs, with their lost wages making their way into corporate heads’ pockets.
Add it all up and wealthy interests have a big incentive to distract folks from the real cause of their problems by scapegoating ethnic minorities, which is facilitated by teaching whites to lack empathy for other races.
Turns out, it makes perfect sense that whites are taught to lack empathy for blacks, which emerges in hostility to the Black Lives Matter movement.
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Posted on December 1, 2020, in race/ethnicity and tagged Black Lives Matter, BLM, hostility to BLM, prejudice. Bookmark the permalink. 64 Comments.
BroadBlogs 
Broad, these stupid white people are the products of the American mis-education system,whose growing installation in “patriotic” eduction (read:” brainwashing”) serves to ensure that yet another generation of poor,middle-and working-class people will stay racially divided while their overlords steal from them.
America is a failed state which,sans MAJOR changes in the way its laws are written,will follow the Soviet Union into Ronnie “Ray-Guns'” ash-heap of history by about 2035,when I am 82 and my New Jersey-born-and- raised great -niece and great-nephew are 30 and 31,respectively.
Well, America isn’t a failed state … yet. But I do worry.
On the right, folks are always talking about how we need our freedom but the coalition between libertarians and cultural conservatives is contradictory. The antiabortionists on the right are working hard to curtail freedom. In particular, working hard to stop women’s freedom of movement with their idea of policing roadways, so that women can’t cross state lines to get an abortion.“Book burning“ à la Ron DeSantis. Limiting what can be taught in schools about history. (I believe the right wants to scapegoat people of color, and it’s easier to blame the victims of racism if you can’t see how racism holds them down.)
I worry it’s all an early step to taking more rights away. Including things like Sen Mike Lee saying that we aren’t a democracy. And I have heard extreme right wingers say the same thing. The peoples views don’t count. Only those they elect (who are strongly influenced by big money, and do what big money wants over what the people want).
So, for once I am largely in agreement with you.
America ISN’T a democracy,NEVER has been where we POCs are concerned.It’s a combination pigmentocracy,gerontocracy and (especially now) plutarchy headed for implosion by the middle of the 2030’s if not sooner.
Agreed. But our democratic ideal is something to work to live up to. And I do believe there is still hope.
In many cases, white people are so hostile around BLM due to their own insecurities and victim complex. They see real world issues and racism as a direct attack to their character instead of working to acknowledge the privilege that their whiteness brings and use it to be able to denounce racism and uplift Black voices and movements. Clearly, in the other case it is solely flat out racism and a notion to their ideal white supremacy.
Yes, there is a lot of insecurity on the part of the audience of these messages, as well. That’s why some people respond much more to the negative messaging than others.
This particular blog post I find very thought-provoking and interesting. The article begins with the quote “White are taught not to have empathy for black,” which gave me a sense of the direction this post was heading. Majority of the blog I agree with especially with how historically there has been hostility towards black men and women in the workforce (no limited to). However, the question(s) that rose in my mind by the end is, are the hostilities towards BLM limited to white people? If not, what are their reasons for hostility? I think the answer to the, why the hostility to black lives, is much more complex than white people are raised to lack empathy for black people. I do not 100% negate that how people are taught is a major factor for the hostility; however, I think it is very vital to look at and beyond that belief.
I don’t think the hostility toward BLM have to be limited to white people because everyone lives in the culture where white people are the majority and targeted.
I agree that there is more to it than purposely trying to convince white people to have hostility toward blacks. But that is one component.
Blog post should only be about 600 words with one topic per post.
Seeing the post saying whites do not have empathy for Black people makes me extremely sad for what our society had become. I also do not think that whites are taught not have empathy and I also believe that as a white person and I love all races this is same. People put ideas in their heads that it’s white people against black people but it’s never that. Everyone wants to feel the same and everyone wants to support everyone in ways that they can support.
You can try to teach people to be a particular way without everyone becoming that way. There definitely seems to be a force out there trying to teach whites to lack empathy for blacks. You see it most recently in the movement against CRT, critical race theory. The only thing the theory teaches is how blacks are hurt by social structures in the law. And as a result are more likely to be arrested and go to jail for the same things that whites do too. But if you don’t realize there is this bias in the legal system you think blacks are just worse people and lose empathy.
So there is definitely a movement to decrease empathy for blacks. That doesn’t mean that every white person will fall for it. And I’m glad that you are one who has not. I would hope that I am another white person who has not.
Before reading this blog post, I had never heard the explanation that “Whites are taught not to have empathy for blacks.”. Along with the examples shared, I think this also has to do with the individualistic ideology of capitalism in the United States. White people are often only focusing on themselves succeeding, while Black people are often trying to succeed and fight against racism as a community creating more empathy. Since white people have not been disadvantaged as a whole, they haven’t needed the support of their community.
You make an interesting point because the idea that we in the US are very individualistic is tied into the motivation to make whites not care about blacks. Certain white elites in this country, maybe you have heard of the Koch Brothers network (one of them died so the Koch network) among others, use legalized bribery (unlimited campaign contributions) so that the rich get more than the rest of us. And then they feed racist ideas through their think tanks to media like Fox News and other right wing sources, to distract white people so that they will blame people of color instead of rich elites.
So wealthy right wingers try to convince everyone to be individualist and racist.
Because white supremacy is woven throughout U.S culture,especially its jurisprudence.
Unfortunately the US and the world are filled with both racism and sexism. We must keep up the fight against both.
This posting is actually quite scary. I was talking to my uncle earlier this morning about his thoughts on BLM and how it could be a distraction for worse things. He mentioned how he thinks people are purposely trying to divide our country. It’s true how things don’t add up; he showed me parts of a nearly two hour video on Kyle Rittenhouse and how he killed two and injured another person. He then showed me a video of a woman (I forget the name of) who claims that Kyle was a white supremecist and was out to kill black/brown peoples. Though, all three people he shot that night were not black or brown. What is up with that? You and my uncle should have a conversation.
Even though the murdered men were white they were seen by the killer as defending blacks and so I guess a “traitor to the race” as far as the killer was concerned. I’m glad you are having these kinds of conversations with your uncle.
I personally feel like hatred is taught and not just something we are born with. I understand what you are saying by “The notion that whites are taught to lack empathy for blacks”. I can see that happen in other households and group dynamics. I am thankful that that was never the case for me. My mother always taught me to love everyone no matter what race, sex, religion etc. mostly without even saying or trying. We never discriminated anyone, maybe growing up in a “rich” neighborhood in a lower income community helped humble me and have empathy for everyone. I am embarrassed to say that it took me a little while to get the BLM movement. But that is because in the media all I saw was the bad, like the rioting and the violence. Then I heard the phrase “all live can’t matter until black lives matter” and it totally clicked and made sense to me. This phrase has resonated with me and I have used it in arguments myself. I often times feel bad for being white, because I don’t want to be more privileged just because o f my skin tone. This is why we have to be allies and do all we can to help protect our POC. I never even thought about big corporations planting hate and spreading lies to pit us against each other but I don’t think it is a far reach and I can see how that is plausible. It is so sad to think about.
Hey,Fred,peddle your KKK,REPUTINKKKLAN garbage to the myriad white nationalist/white supremacist websites just made for your KKKonfederate traitor/murder/slavery/rape rag-loving Crypto-Fascist ilk .
Many whites lack basic critical thinking skills because of America’s horrific “mis-education” system,which allows them to be used by the overlords who hate them as much as POCs,but because whites still comprise an (albeit shrinking hourly) U.S. majority, the bigwigs court white support (even as they pursue policies which steal from them as they do POCs) by giving them somwhat better jobs and chances at success while almost literally screaming to Bubba,Billy Bob and Becky,”The n***ers will steal your jobs and daughters and wives-mamy of whom prefer us black lads to white boys anyway-as they lollygag on welfare and waste your hard-earned dollars. ( read Lyndon B. Johnson’s still-timely speech re.why instead of collaborating with POCs to force change for ALL Americans,poor whites opted to become REPUTINKKKLANS and hate fellow POC toilers disgustingly,enriching their corporate bosses
I have been thinking lately about how so many people are being misled to fight against their interests by using racism to distract them from the real source of their problem and love and icon that works in the interest of the wealthy and against the interests of his followers who love him. It reminds me of abusive relationships where the abuser gets the abused to fall in love with them as the abuser continues to harm them.
I was confused for a long time before seeing the post as well. I did not understand why would people be so triggered towards a movement that a minor race trying their best to gain the rights they deserved back. Black people have had a longstanding history of being forced to be the minorities in the nation. I honestly think that when there are inequalities, if people are not supporting the minorities, then they are helping the existing inequalities grow further whether their acts are on purpose or not. It is something that does not even require deeper thought, think about the movement on a human level. They are people who should have at least empathy.
Since I was young I believed that through time people would grow up and see a person of a different race as their equal. I was wrong. As time goes on it feels like its getting worse as many people are coming out in the public and are saying they do not support a historic movement such BLM after a person was brutally killed by a officer unfairly due to his race. It was just a bizarre scenario to me. I thought it was only people of the previous generations that were not trying change their view and not be racist, but I have just as many young people who are even more racist than the older generations on platforms such as twitter.
I think things actually are getting much better even though people are coming out of the woodwork. And people coming out of the woodwork helps others who had been less concerned become more concerned. The younger generation is definitely much less racist. These racists are typically middle-aged.
Your post actually sheds a lot of light on the injustices in America, it makes me wonder how white people are taught to lack empathy for POC. Is it through subtle comments in school? Or is the prejudice taught by strong willed family members? Either way, it’s a tragedy that extends far past social and economical inequalities. One thing that comes to mind is the numerous injustices against blacks in our justice system. I remember learning in high school the difference between crack and powder cocaine, and while the two are chemically identical, the punishment for possessing crack cocaine is infinitely more severe than possessing powdered cocaine. Why, you may ask? Because black people, on average, were more likely to use crack cocaine, while white people were more likely to have powdered cocaine. Injustices like these showed me just how biased and cruel the justice system is, and I can only hope that we are able to come back from the horrible things this country has done to POC.
I think the main way whites are taught to be racist is by keeping them ignorant of racism. Like the current drive to keep people from learning about critical race theory. And then make people of color out to be extremists when they complain about injustice.
I believe the main reason on why it doesn’t seem as if there is enough white people trying to end racism along with POC is because the orgin of racism does begin with slavery/segregation and with that being said Its almost hard to imagine. We were taught by society to be divided to not be equal and to feel superior/inferior to one another and if there is a fight against racism IE BLM , that means there is no room for the whites to be superior to blacks which we have been systemically taught to be anyway. If there is no dynamic complex and there is a need for equality it is very hard to forgot that alot of of other races and colors are for BLM as well . Its not just black people fighting this fight but then again we also have to deal with things like Blue Lives Matter and All Lives Matter which basically defeats the purpose of BLM , and that also ties in to a hostile environment . Nobody is saying these people dont matter I believe BLM was created to bring awareness to unjust treatment of black people . It wasn’t meant to divide but going back to my previous statement. we are taught to be divided and thats where the “hostility” comes from . I cant say BLM without somebody another color possibly getting offended thats almost like me saying ocean life matters . Are you gonna get mad and say well mammals matter too? It looks very stupid trying to compare apples and oranges . It also looks very problematic trying to dismiss the whole message of BLM all because you dont like the way it sounds.
After reading this blog , It confirms to me even more why BLM should continue to thrive and push as a movement even if it hurts feelings or offends somebody . It was meant for awareness and it should continue being meant for awareness. It is not a chance to one up another awareness or societal difference. When we say BLM thats all we need to say nothing else should be added we shouldnt have to compromise.
It’s remarkably sad to see that we, as a nation, are still ignorant and vulnerable to this pattern that white men of power and privilege have successfully employed, throughout our history, to manipulate their way into power over everyone–including white women and the white working class. Unfortunately, the formula works. It has been replicated so many times and in so many spaces because the distraction is effective and it takes on a life of its own. I think our national identity is largely defined by these threads of fear and racism. If we want a better response to BLM than hostility or apathy, we have to tear at all the threads that are woven into our society’s fabric to support the patriarchy. By “[distracting] folks from the real cause of their problems by scapegoating ethnic minorities,” as you say, people have displaced empathy with white supremacy. I am hopeful that the tide is changing, though, and I think it makes sense that women are leading the movement to take responsibility for it on behalf of white participants in the system. Women in the system, broadly speaking, are at least one step closer to responding to the oppression of black lives with empathy; I say that because most women have the cognizance of their own oppression, as well the wiring and training for emotional work with others.
I found the point brought up about using fear mongering to divide those who otherwise might oppose the extreme wealth held by a tiny portion of the population to make a lot of sense. It’s such a common trend throughout history for those in power to create false fear, or a common “enemy” to achieve their own personal goals. I’ve also found it so sad that the epidemic has caused further rifts in our country, instead of bringing people together in a time of crisis. Throwing blame around is a powerful tool in controlling the masses.
Yeah, it’s unfortunate that it’s so easy to get people to disempower themselves through this divide and conquer technique.
A huge reason to why movements like the BLM protests this past summer as well why “whites are not taught to give empathy to whites” is due to the racist origins of the police force. Whites are taught that the police creates law and order and should be trusted. Whites are not taught that one of the earliest forms of policing in the US was slave patrols and that because of this, the police force is inherently racist.Typically when whites see a black man or women being arrested, they immediately conclude that the arrest is valid and do not second guess if the intent is racist. If we restructured the police and criminal justice system to be more egalitarian blacks would be seen as human, and not just criminal.
Every day I learn a new reality. I learn of the divisiveness of corporations. I learn of the power capitalism has on the wealthy. I learn of the calculated games the government plays on its citizens. Reading this post I think back to the campaign I remember when I was in my adolescence, the campaign was the slogan “be color blind” I think this was after the Rodney King beating by L.A. police officers. But I could be wrong, it was a long time ago. At the time I thought it was a great campaign, it was in the direction of race equality I thought. I see now it was a way to manipulate the white masses into thinking they were helping to make a change by not seeing the person of color in front of them. I wonder why I wasn’t taught in school this wasn’t going to solve a single problem. How is it that millions of people bought into this line of thinking without any push back? Was there pushback? Was I just too young to see it? This mass manipulation makes me think of the Father of advertising Edward L. Bernays. The nephew of Sigmund Freud. This guy convinced a gender (the female gender) of U.S. citizens to start smoking cigarettes so the cigarette companies could make more money. He was able to convince women to think if they smoked they were being rebels, they were independent, empowered, were modern, even wealthy. However, what he did was turn women into nicotine addicts, kill women and make the cigarette companies pockets fat. Gong back to race, I saw the governments’ manipulation working overtime with the last presidential campaign. Keeping the poor, who are the largest group in the U.S. divided and polarized was the campaign. If the poor and middle class spent more time organizing their power and less time fighting a battle that would be solved by taking the power away from the rich who are the ones dividing the poor, this would be a different world. I hope with every new person of color who is elected to office a shift happens to end the reign of capitalism. I believe the shift unfortunately is still decades away from seeing light. I have a cousin who lives in Redding California. She is 20 years old no college education, just married and lives to only have kids and be a mom. She is a 3rd generation Republican. She posted on her Instagram, “I believe in God and Capitalism”, I share this because she also posted stuff that contradicts her passion for capitalism. Many Red states are being fed a story that we must open the doors to all businesses, so the U.S. economy doesn’t collapse. But what I wonder, but have never asked her because I try not to talk politics with that part of the family is, has she ever thought about what life would be like without corporate and government greed. I personally think not. k-12 doesn’t teach critical thinking skills. I hope with the passing of years she gains some real-life understanding of how the world works and who is holding her back from buying a new car or house or having more kids. I hope she realizes it’s not people of color
Racism has been going on for centuries and still exists today, which plays a huge part in America. Reading this article I believe that African Americans are going to have to work ten times harder than White people do. African Americans are targeted for no reason, they are seen as less than, lazy, dangerous, and as criminals. Racism is something that is taught because no one is born racist automatically. White people probably think that power is formed through generation brought down to generation, but that’s not the case. I believe that everyone should be seen as equal and no treated less than.
Fortunately, many white people are also trying to end racism. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of efforts to teach whites to be racist.
When I think of the black lives matter movement I think about how it’s a movement created for others to be aware of what is going on to the black community and why it needs to be brought into light like the police brutality and the racism they go through. I believe the reason why some white people react the way they do towards the black lives matter movement is because it doesn’t benefit them. It’s like they crave to be the center of attention not realizing how much privilege they already have but it is hard for them to understand that concept.
I will never understand the backlash against Black Lives Matter, When saying those words how can you not agree the point is equality. I believe that’s what people need to understand there is no hidden agenda but the common belief that all people are equal. The same people who often give backlash are usually the same people who will counter with blue lives matter. However, that analogy is not logical you can not equate someones uniform they can remove to the centuries of not having equal rights and opportunities. The feminist movement also received backlash because people often label it as something it is not. I believe the history of slavery, Jim Crow laws, pay discrimination, disenfranchisement and so much more demonstrate there is clear lack of equality both in history and the present. I like you believe a lot of racism and overall discrimination originates as a way to place societies blame on a minority group in turn alienating them. This is a tactic nazi ideologist Carl Schmitt used and that’s terrifying to know how people can turn against others but that’s why you should seek equality more than ever for a better society one that learns from its history. We are better when we come together and I believe when we do the scape goat tactic will no longer work and we will finally be able to address the issues that can truly restructure society in way the benefits us all and not the 1%.
I think you made an excellent point by pointing out how racism has been used as a distraction to take people’s minds off of the massive redistribution of wealth from the working class to the top 1%. And it isn’t just racism, you see incisive divisiveness on any issue that can be politicized such as equal pay for women and people of color, rights to marry, abortion laws, rights for LGTBQ+ people, separation of church and state, and so on. I find it crazy how people are watching NBC for coverage on the wage gap crisis and the redistribution of wealth, and NBC is a channel known to be left-leaning, but they are owned by a massive corporation profiting off of the redistribution of wealth. And the thing is, this redistribution of wealth has been over decades, and multiple Democrat and Republican presidencies have done nothing to address it. Politics, undereducation of a large part of our population, and disenfranchising of minorities have been used as tools to create further division in our society so that we are faced trying to solve social issues that could be truly progressively worked on in my opinion if our government had any intention of solving them, but the thing is, so many politicians in our government have their hands in the pockets of these big corporations that they are able to maintain the status quo so long as the country stays divided over artificially and deliberately created societal problems.
I work with an anti-poverty organization that tries to get Congress members on board with anti-poverty legislation and I will have to say that the Democrats do everything we want. The main problem: it takes 60 votes in the Senate to pass so much legislation and you rarely have 60 Democrats. But you can do some things with executive orders in budget reconciliation. Here are a list of Obama’s accomplishments despite the problems I just described:
– Passed the Affordable Care Act
– Passed large Stimulus for economic recovery:
– Passed Wall Street Reform: Signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform
– Signed the Consumer Protection Act
– Rescued jobs in the US auto industry
– Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
– Kicked Banks Out of Federal Student Loan Program
– Expanded Pell Grant Spending
– Boosted Fuel Efficiency Standards
It really is too bad that we still have to deal with these kinds of thoughts and behavior in today’s day and age. I guess when you bring up those falsified rumors that were being spread it makes sense that “Whites are taught not to have empathy for blacks” if that were, in fact, true, it reminds me of the notion that illegal immigrants are stealing the American people’s jobs so, therefore, they need to be deported and stopped from coming into the United States for good. Everyone deserves to have a fair shot at life regardless of their personal characteristics, there is just some things that shouldn’t matter.
“Nope. BLM is not any of the things you say it is. If it were why are all of these male sports figures for it? What does it have to do with LGBT? ”
OMG!!!! I cannot believe you actually wrote this. That tells me you have not bothered to go to thier website and read what it really stands. Here it is taken from the site,
“Black liberation movements in this country have created room, space, and leadership mostly for Black heterosexual, cisgender men — leaving women, queer and transgender people, and others either out of the movement or in the background to move the work forward with little or no recognition. As a network, we have always recognized the need to center the leadership of women and queer and trans people. To maximize our movement muscle, and to be intentional about not replicating harmful practices that excluded so many in past movements for liberation, we made a commitment to placing those at the margins closer to the center.”
Smash the patriarchy! Down with heterosexual cis-gendered men! Down with the nuclear family.! I guess they prefer the current bastardized one in Black America.
You and I simply have different views of this. They are just trying to equalize people who have been put down like the LGBTQ community, along with the black community. That’s not to put down straight, cis-gender white folks. I absolutely believe in equality, not patriarchy.
Obviously you’ve seen the disgusting action yesterday with Fringe Trump supporters, proud boys and quonon storming Capitol Hill. Ridiculous. I’m not liberal or go too much on both sides but that says something when I feel Trump needs to get the hell out soon. He’s on his way out late January but it’s not soon enough. He’s a cancer and petulant, hostile child, and I don’t get why people are so blind. He’s always had strong tyrannical ways. Him trying to get a mob and stir violence to try to take what his entitled self is owed to him. That’s not a president but a dictator disguised as a president. But many people I see speak, various anchors not just on CNN or FOX but even non political stations who are black, just blatantly brought up what they knew all along of how black people are treated differently. They saw how the people storming the capitol were treated and they knew if that was black people, they would have been mowed down like it was nothing. This was terrorism and yet because of people’s color that were treated much differently than POC. This is why BLM exists amongst other reasons.
I am amazed at what kid gloves white terrorists get treated with! I did hear that law-enforcement, or someone advising them, was worried that if the police were too hard on them that it might actually help their cause. And I can see how that could be true. Whereas when people just watched what happened I think it probably backfired. More than half of Republicans don’t approve of what happened. It’s still amazing that almost half are OK with what happened. But are they really OK? They also blame Biden for what happened, suggesting they don’t really think it’s OK.
“Right wing politicians and media often skew facts.”
My response:
Left wing politicians and media often skew facts.
The facts are clear: the BLM protests/demonstrations/riots resulted in considerable property damage. Also, in that Utopian enclave called CHAZ or CHOP or whatever were there not rapes and murderers committed?
People like you always use the “right wing” terminology as a way of trying to discredit those who do not share your world view. Why cannot people like you simply accept the fact that there are people on God’s earth who have a different view than you? Why is that so difficult for you people.
Is even worse: now it is anyone who thinks differently is spreading “disinformation” or engaging in “conspiracy theories.” The point is to discredit all other views.
The problem today is that people like you are convinced of your moral superiority. Hence, since you believe in such rubbish, everyone who does not believe as you are dehumanized.
It will not succeed! This totalitarian approach will not stand.
It is funny how Trump was labeled an “authoritarian” now we see borderline communist tactics coming from the Democrats and the Left. It simply will not work. People want to be free! They want to think freely.
I think that both left-wing and right wing violent extremism are wrong. And especially wrong when you are using it to overthrow democracy. Then the people will be left with no voice.
Where were you when BLM protestors, including the mayor of Portland himself, were firebombing the federal court in Portland? In fact, where was Joe Biden and Kamela Harris? Oh that’s right, they set up a bail fund to get all those rioters out of prison so that they could go back the next day and do it all over again.
Right wing politicians and media often skew facts. Here’s a fact check from the Washington Post.
MFF is among the many organizations that seek to mitigate what some see as inequities in the nation’s cash-bail system. People who cannot afford to pay the full amount in cash for bail generally must either wait in jail until their trial or borrow money, forfeiting 10 percent of the loan up front.
Some states have moved to eliminate cash bail. For instance, New Jersey, under former governor Chris Christie (R), replaced it with a point-based system, overseen by judges, that assesses risk based on the nature of the charges, the defendant’s prior record and the risk to the public. So far, the state says, people released under the new system appear no more likely to commit a crime while waiting for their trials than people previously released under the cash bail system.
I find it amazing that she did not answer your question. But, then again I am not surprised.
Some of the BLM protesters and rioters who were arrested were convicted rapists and felons. But, BLM is not about Black lives. It is an LBGT organization that is anti family, anti male, and anti American. Black people are once again being used and exploited to further a White liberal agenda that for decades has been ruining Black America.
Black Americans are very low information voters. We are myopic in our outlook. For most Black people everything is about race. Everything. The Democrats always seize on this to run the same playbook on Black America. You got a half senile, 78 year old cracker, like JB telling Black people if they don’t vote for him they are not Black. How insulting. It is racist at its core. What was pathetic is once again, you had nearly 90% of Black people voting for the Dems. Rinse and repeat.
Nope. BLM is not any of the things you say it is. If it were why are all of these male sports figures for it? What does it have to do with LGBT? That they both care about equality and dignity of every human? That’s a good thing. I have no idea how any of this could be anti-family?
I’ve been a bit surprised too at the hostility towards the BLM movement ~ and while I expected to see some against it, there seemed a more organized hostility against it and your post hits at what is likely the root cause for much of it. A well written and informative post, Georgia, thank you.
Thank you for adding your thoughts!
The conversation about privilege is a conversation I noticed happening more frequently the older I got. It has definitely being a controversial conversation in the past months even more than before. White privileged is a real thing. As mentioned in this blog, we see black men, women, and even black children get killed for no reason. In the past few months we have witnessed how black man have been murdered for no logical reason, and most importantly showing absolutely no threat. In the other hand we see a white men with a AR-15 in a protest in Chicago able to walk free, and this was okayed by the police. How is this not a threat? How is this right? In what right person mind this is okay? So, I can definitely say whites do not have empathy, they do not care for black people. This does not apply to every individual, but we see the bad more than the good.
Yeah, it doesn’t apply to all whites but there does seem to be an actual attempt to teach whites to not care for the feelings of black people. Fortunately, many, many whites refuse to learn this lesson and many march with their black brothers and sisters.
I really appreciate this post as this situation is not spoken about enough prior to the recent uproar following the Breonna Taylor and George Floyd murders. It disappoints me and is truly hard to wrap my head around how some people do not understand or support the Black Lives Matter Movement. Typically, those who cannot fathom supporting this are those who are extremely right wing conservatives that do not educate themselves properly. It was interesting to see that it is common that racism is used as a distraction for a redistribution of money. It makes me wonder if all the current racism was an uproar to distract from the election and other political differences or the current pandemic. Like you mentioned, doing this only teaches white people to continue to overlook the issue and continue being racist. It is sad to think that racism is used as a sort of toy and is considered less important than money.
Yes, and specifically racism is used to distract from the redistribution of money from the middle class to the top.
It’s a way of dividing and conquering working people.
Unfortunately, it works like a charm so they keep doing it.
“…..and specifically racism is used to distract from the redistribution of money from the middle class to the top.”
EXACTLY!!!! You just supported the argument I made below. IT HAS ZIPPY TO DO WITH RACISM AND HELPING BLACK PEOPLE!!!
The real issue in America is one of class. The new elite are destroying America. They could care less about the middle class. They care more about illegals and non Americans. More importantly, they care about themselves!!! So, they need to stop using Black people to further their own agendas.
Look at Biden’s proposed appointees. They are all the same clowns from the Obama era. They are not going to do a damn thing for middle America.
You really confound me. A highly intelligent person but you refuse to see what’s happening. Trump policies ACTUALLY raised middle class incomes and employment. I saw so many young Black guys who had jobs and a were very happy.
America is really at a crossroads. This new elite running this country is pathetic. we must get rid of these people. Whether they are Reps or Dems. Same crowd.
“It’s a way of dividing and conquering working people.”
Do you really believe the Democratic Party is still a party of the middle and working class?
Well if you see Fox news which many on the far right wing conservative side do. You can see the way propaganda is drummed up. I can’t stand Hannity, and the way he brings up such stuff, the fear mongering. Cnn can be biased too so I’m not crazy for either networks. But people watch such shows or OAN and then it instills in their brain or whatever thoughts they already have. Granted there are extremists that are part of blm, but most I don’t believe are bad and just people who want a fair shot. I heard there’s BLM which is an organization, and blm that’s people use to go against racism, but they get blended together.
Yep. The people chanting “Black Lives Matter” are upset by the murders that have taken place, and are not a bunch of Marxists. All lives will matter when Black Lives Matter, too!
Interesting information both in your post and comment replies. So far, the only negative opinions that I have heard personally about BLM have been from racist right-wing people who believe what they read on Facebook.
Yep. That’s pretty true for me too. And it does fit a pattern of right wing media trying to distract the middle class from the real cause of their problems by focusing their anger on minorities.
“Wouldn’t whites feel the same way if their sons were so frequently brutalized and killed?”
In 2018, police in the U.S. killed 1,099 people, according to Mapping Police Violence, a research and advocacy group. Black people accounted for 24% of those killed, it found, despite being only 13% of the population; they are three times more likely to be killed by police than white people, and 1.3 times more likely to be unarmed than white people.
According to my math that is about 264 Black people killed by police. Period. Less than one person per day. No mention of how many of those shootings/killings were justified.
This whole BLM thing is a complete damn farce. It is just White liberals using race as a weapon to go after Trump. Same for the NYT 1619 farce.
As an organization, BLM is flat out a LGBT/Marxist organization founded by Black lesbians. They hate heterosexual men (all men). They hate the nuclear family. They hate patriarchy. So, for me I have nothing but contempt and a giant middle finger for that organization. Yet again more White liberal garbage being imported into an already busted and dysfunctional race of people.
It is always Black women who lead and advocate for this nonsense. They love CHAOS!!! They are the least married at about 25%. They have the highest rates of abortion (40% of the total). They have the highest rates of out of wedlock births (around 75%). They also have the highest rates of STDs (48% per CDC). So, why in the hell would I want to follow any damn thing put forth by this group? Seriously. But, the real venom I reserve for White liberals who continue to push poison into the Black community through its women. Despicable!.
As a Black man I have experience overt and covert racism. You know what? I was primarily from White liberals! and immigrants! No, it was not the rednecks. But, turn on MSNBC and CNN all you see are Black women and gay Black men talking about “Black and Brown folk!” Give me a break. These Indians, Arabs, Chinese, etc are the biggest racists I have EVER encountered. Guess who detest BLM? These immigrant groups. Why don’t White liberals like you speak out against the way these people treat Black people? Oh no…you want to waste our time going after racist White people.
Yes, I was one of the people who tuned out the NFL over this BS. Then, I see this big 6’9″ clown LeBron James with his $100 mil house and private security detail talking about Black men being “hunted.” What a moron. Yeah, we are being hunted by other Black men!. Can you challenge this fact? NO! But, that is what I would expect from a guy raised by a single mother.
Of all the groups in America, Whites are the most empathetic towards Blacks. The least empathetic: Indians, Arabs, and Chinese. You know those other “people of color.”
I know this post is rather bellicose in tone. Sorry. But, this BLM bullcrap irks the shit out of me. We are wasting our energies on the deaths of less than 300 people. Frankly, some of these people killed needed to be eliminated from the population anyway. They have killed and raped elderly Black women. Yet, in Baltimore City we are already over 300 murders. I want mention Chicago. But, what about the fact that Black kids in say Baltimore are reading 2-3 grades below their grade level? Where is the White liberal outrage? Where is the Black outrage? Crickets!!!
I had hoped to get a little diversity in response to this post before approving/responding but so far I’ve just gotten 2 comments that disagree with me.
So if the BLM movement is only about Marxism why are so many millionaire athletes insisting that Black Lives Matter? Why is billionaire Romney marching with the BLM movement?
Why would one need to be a Marxist to care about black lives?
Just because one of the founders calls herself a Marxist doesn’t make the whole movement Marxist.
And what does the sexual orientation of founders or supporters have to do with anything here?
I am amazed that you and others can’t sympathize with the horror of seeing black men and women murdered by those who are supposed to be protecting us. Yes, there are many good police officers. But too many times black men, women and children are murdered for ridiculous reasons. For no reason, really. I don’t understand why that doesn’t move you.
And people are concerned with the education of young black people. But murder tends to get people even more upset for obvious reasons.
One of your reasonings (of the many delusional reasonings) for not “follow[ing] any damn thing put forth by this group” is because black women have higher rates of out of wedlock births, abortions, and marriage. I fail to see what any of those statistics have to do with their sons and brothers being executed at the hands of your beloved white male counterpart. And you site these issues as an outcome of black women “loving chaos”. What? Your argument, just in that one paragraph, is so heavily flawed it’s unreal. But everything your’e saying is riddled in falsehoods, stereotypes, contradictions, and shameful mistakes, that I am so confused and now have a series of questions. Please, enlighten me.
1. “It is always Black women who lead and advocate for this nonsense”
Always? Before black women (your supposed ancestral matriarchs) were even looked at as human, let alone as citizens, it was white women that led the fight and advocated for “this nonsense”. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was white. Julliete Morgan was white. Jessie Daniel Ames, the leader of the anti-lynching movement in the south, was white. Virginia Foster Durr, white. All white, all women, and all pre Martin Luther King Jr era. I’d give you a longer list, though I doubt you’d recognize the truth from your ideologies anyway. But in case you need further research evidence on the history of activism, google it. You’d find it comforting to know your beloved white class are in fact empathetic toward the race (your race) that has always been and is still currently subjected to the inhumane attempt to eradicate it. Yet another reason for you to place them (whites) above black people, in terms of moral code (but you knew that already). The question here is, if it’s “always” black women leading the fight for “this nonsense”, then why do you attribute it to white liberals throughout your argument? Are you going to give us the credit for BLM or not? I say “us” because you seem to like to generalize and just put us all into your stereotypes against black women. And if in fact it is always black women who lead this fight, then yay us! At least there is a group of single, unmarried, abortion supporting black mothers out there that care about you because of the color of your skin, and not the derogatory hate speech slurring from your lips. Moving on.
2. “They love CHAOS!!!”
I don’t know what to say to this, I am just so confused. Are we really the ones that love chaos though? And why is this statement followed by doubtful statistics about black women’s choices in love and life? Were they supposed to represent a chaotic lifestyle? In your world, does choosing or not choosing to have children out of wedlock, chaotic? How so? Are you saying that women aren’t capable of raising children without a husband in peace, without order and lacking direction? If so, would this still apply to all women, or is it just black women that are incapable? Or does white liberal single mothers count as chaotic women, as well? On a separate note (because I am genuinely fascinated and curious about your world), would a white man who sleeps with multiple women and impregnates them without marrying them, be considered chaotic? Or would he still be of sound mind, heroic, smart even, for sowing his seed, perfectly and undoubtedly just fine? Would you give him a slap on the wrist for being irresponsible by not marrying the women he gave a child to? Or would you pat him on the back, and then condemn the woman or women for not marrying this man? Lastly, are you the chaotic one?
3. Oh here we go.. “They are the least married at about 25%. They have the highest rates of abortion (40% of the total). They have the highest rates of out of wedlock births (around 75%). They also have the highest rates of STDs (48% per CDC)”
Okay let’s unpack this slowly. Of course, I have a multitude of questions. The most common one that has consistently popped up is: So?
I already displayed my confusion for the “having children out of wedlock” part. But also, so? Being a single mother means you can’t advocate and fight against racial injustice? It means you have no empathy for human beings? It means what? What exactly does having children out of wedlock mean to you, and what does it deem a woman as? Insane? Lacking any form if intelligence? Being physically incapable of providing for their family, serving their community and country? Please explain. What does this have to do with anything? Or the subject of BLM for that matter. What? Same questions go for women that are unmarried. You gave these statistics as if it was a burn or a diss of some sort. And yet, unfathomably, you imply nothing, give little explanation, elaboration, further context, nothing. It makes no sense. I ask again, are you the chaotic one? Furthermore, the data on STDs, is that supposed to be to the fault of solely black women? We have sex with brick walls and suddenly get STDs? Are you really excusing men from this point? It goes back to my point of men irresponsibly sowing their seed and getting a pat on the back, while women get reprimanded for becoming pregnant (and yet still condemned, if not verbally stoned to death, for even considering an abortion, because the man won’t take responsibility). So here women are, left to take the blame for getting an STD in the first place, while also defending themselves for choosing to sleep with someone (who by the way is getting high fives from his buddies like you) that gave her the STD. Again, are you placing all the blame on women for having contracted an STD? What are you doing with this statistic? And what does it mean with regard to BLM? I am still genuinely lost in all of that. Because someone has an STD they are what? A flaw in this society unable to organize, advocate, and fight delusional bigots that can’t seem to think beyond their peripheral vision? Incapable of inspiring your “sympathy” (if you have that) for black lives and racial justice? Does having an STD make black women chaotic? So white men with STDs are chaotic? And finally, the abortions statistic. I have given up a long time ago on arguing with people that seem to be against abortion with no other reason as to why, apart from religion (which is the case for you since you give no elaboration). So I’ll assume that not only did you think the abortion statistic was going to burn, but you also thought it had anything to do with order, peace, and the fight for black lives. Well it doesn’t. But also, your stance on abortions have nothing to do with how “chaotic” it makes black women look to you, and more on your personal religious beliefs. With that said, do you really believe a woman’s abortion as anything to do with you and your religion? Think about that first. And does it (abortions) have anything at all to do with BLM, the fight against the inhumanity that has flooded itself in this white man’s society (a society that has brainwashed you “a black man” to believe it is black women that deserve your hatred and misguided anger), wether a an entire gender in a racial class group are all chaotic or not, or anything to do with your life? And are you sure, you are not chaotic? You are a “black man” in America (I’m assuming) freely displaying your hatred toward black women- sit down if you haven’t already, and humble yourself before you start degrading the women that raise generations, fortify and nurture cultures, prolong life on earth, and still love their son’s like you.
Do you really think this is all okay? Have you heard the voices of these mothers, crying out because their children have been murdered by those that promised to protect them? Could you really be this blind? Could you really choose to ignore the outcry of your own people? Turn a blind eye to the truth, the pain, the division, the inhumane nationalism ideologies that white men had force fed you, and accept that as deserved assistance by the hand the feeds you? How could you look at the killings of black children, and deem that justifiable? Are you really blaming black women? Condemning them like your’e allowed to? Judging them like the white man would, and continuing to push the narrative to fear and hate black women. Are you chaotic? One last honest question, and I’ll leave it at that: would you much rather just be white? If you appreciate your race, then I don’t see why you can’t appreciate the women of your race and have compassion for the children of your race.
“there was, after all, plenty of hostility to the BLM movement”
The leaders of the BLM movement are self proclaimed Marxists… an ideology that killed 100 million people in the 20th century. Gee, I wonder why there might be some hostility to that? Next maybe you’ll express confusion about why people don’t like Nazis.
They’ve also proclaimed that they want to disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure, and it turns out people don’t want their families “disrupted”. Go figure. And they don’t much like mobs holding the BLM banner burning down their businesses either. Don’t know why.
“why did the Wall Street Journal bother to post an op-ed supposedly debunking the notion that black men are more likely than other men to be killed at the hands of police?”
It wasn’t debunked. If your criteria is the ratio of black vs white men killed in ratio to the number of black vs white perpetrators, black men are less likely to die. Sure, more black crimes are committed, but what do you expect the police to do about that? Sorry, we’ve reached our quota on putting black murderers in jail for this year, so now we’re going to let them go? Blacks commit 850% more murders per capita than whites.
Oh, and the police shot dead about 10 blacks across the United States in a year, maybe 2 or 3 of those weren’t justified. Meanwhile, blacks murdered roughly 3100 whites. Explain to me again which race is oppressing which race with violence?
Well, I guess your response would fall into being “exhibit A“ — an example of learning to not care about black lives.
The Wall Street Journal study referred to has been debunked. I will have to insert the link but the device I’m using right now doesn’t work very well to do that. See this:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/07/15/police-shooting-study-retracted/
I responded to the claim that BLM is Marxist to huggy bear so you can read that. But also, follow the money. The main place I have heard this claim is from people like Rush Limbaugh who is paid millions of dollars a year to distract working people from the real cause of their problems, which is the redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the top via automation, globalization and the gig economy. If you can get people worked up about Black people you can distract them from the rich people who are laying people off from good jobs and automating their work or contracting out work so that they don’t have to pay out benefits.
Check your sources on murder rates. Whites are much much more likely to be murdered by other whites. Social media often gives faulty information. Here is something from Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-data-racial-murder/fact-check-false-data-on-u-s-racial-murder-rates-idUSKCN24I2A9