Greetings and Salutations;
I had the following dialogue with a very young lady (who started reproducing very early in life) on a local FB Page. It demonstrates the level of mindfulness that we struggle with in Tennessee, mostly as a result of the fact that it is a very Red state. This means, of course that racism is rampant, and, the educational system puts us in the bottom half of the school ratings.
As a bit of background, there is a meme going around right now, with a tear-jerker about a young, white boy that was shot by a black kid only a bit older than him, and killed. The theme is “why is this not being reported, and why are there no riots about this event. My reply and the conversation it generated follows:
Dave Mundt: : Why no riots? Perhaps because this is one murder out of over 1500 a year that happens between citizens. the punk that did this is a nobody, and, I will be interested to see if we ever hear why he did this.
In the case of Mr. Floyd, he was pulled out of his car and murdered slowly by the people we give authority to, in order to keep the peace, serve and protect. he was murdered with no more care than one feels when squashing a bug.
Do YOU want the police to be judge, jury and executioner? I suggest not, because even white privilege will not protect any of us if we hit the wrong cop on the wrong day.
of course, there is the reality that people of color live in an America that we, white folks, cannot even imagine. Every day, every time they leave their house, they go with the fear that they will not return… How many of us white folks had our parents go over exactly how one needs to act when interacting with the police…calling them “sir”, no matter what; Not moving unless we make it clear what we are doing; and a variety of other techniques needed to increase the probability that we will not be killed because a cop “Feared for his life”
PS: Dave Mundt: dont break the law u have nothing to worry about but I find it a lot easier to believe that an officer half a guys size would be afraid for his life then that that pos who killed an innocent lil give yr old feared for his and u trying to justify it makes you an even bigger pos get over urself this isn’t a black vs white matter this is a grow man against an innocent child problem and u cant justify that
Dave Mundt: PS: Did you read my comment and understand what I said? I said NOTHING about race as regards the punk that killed the kid. However, I did forget to point out that perhaps it would be a good idea to address the problems in our society that make life so cheap that 1500 plus kids are killed each year by being shot.
As for your first comment, that is simply a kneejerk reaction. Mr. Floyd was not breaking any law. If you are ok with the cops murdering someone who broke the law in the past, perhaps you would be OK with DCS coming in and taking your kids away because 5 years ago, you got a traffic ticket for reckless driving? Mr Floyd made some bad decisions, and was put in jail for a period of time for it. He served his time…but does that not matter?
PS: Dave Mundt: if he had cooperated with police they would not have needed to use that force no I’m not ok with anyone killing anyone but I dont get to make that call he died and that is a tragedy but to say it is anywhere near the same thing is rediculous dcs has been involved with my kids and has determined I am a damn good mother so leave them out of ur pety argument it doesnt help u it angers me my point sir is not all black people are in danger just bc they r black so stop playing the race card with everything it makes u look desperate
Dave Mundt: Have you watched ANY of the body cam video? It is true, Mr. Floyd did attempt to keep from being stuffed in the back of the confined cruiser. However, NO cops were injured…and he was not that violent. The rest of the time he was very compliant. The video clearly shows that the cops were escalating the situation.
I see you have no answers to my questions…just defensive deflections. I would remove the beam from thine own eye before attempting to remove the mote from my eye. I said NOTHING about what kind of a mother you were. I asked if you would be OK for a misdemeanor you committed several years ago be a reason for DCS to come in and take your children. To make it as clear as I can, I do not think this is a good thing, and I would be upset even if it happened to you!
As for your claim about people of color…Your opinion is not supported by the actual, life experiences of them in today’s world. As for “Playing the race card” that is without merit. The reality is that people of color have at least a 4 times greater chance of an interaction between police and them going south. That is reality, and no deflection on your part can change that.
I can see that your world view is cast in stone though, so, I am done.
It is this sort of lack of mindfulness, and the prejudiced attitudes expressed by PS that causes me to wonder…should humanity continue?
God Help Us All!
Be safe…wear your mask…wash your hands.
Bee Man Dave