Take A Knee

[InversneckieDob]

Too obvious. Turn it down a notch & you might get a better result

Beat me to it Mason!!

[InversneckieDob]

The race issue in America is highly complex. In some ways more complex that it was 50 years ago. No question there's far less prejudice now but African Americans are, in material terms, worse off now than they were back then. But that's a whole other debate.

I don't think that race relations are served by polarising gestures by rich entertainers. I stopped watching the Academy Awards a long time ago but I definitely won't be tuning in after the farce of the last few years. Will Smith complaining about racism? Give me a break. The entertainment industry is one area in which AAs are disproportionately successful.

There's an argument that the higher profile guys should use the platform they have.

[ragnarok]

There's an argument that the higher profile guys should use the platform they have.

Fair point if you're using your platform to highlight some broader issue. Will Smith was upset that he wasn't nominated and then pretended that he was protesting some broader injustice.

At what point does it become ridiculous? The Academy falls over itself to display its progressive credentials. Is it necessary to include representatives from every conceivable minority? Surely the whole point is that candidates are selected based on merit (I'm pretty sure that's the dream that MLK had) not based on ticking some diversity checkbox to signal how progressive and inclusive you are to other people who think exactly the same way you do. I think the term is 'bigotry of low expectations'.

BLM is well meaning in part but also has a fair number of extremist nut jobs. They use understandable outrage over isolated cases to cast a net over the police force as a whole. Well I won't go into the statistics here but there are some fairly uncomfortable facts you need to confront if your view is that AA disadvantage is attributable purely to concepts such as 'structural racism' as BLM does.

Of course his window licking supporters lapped it up, but more broadly the sh!t has hit the fan.

You mean a sizeable chunk of the country, many of whom voted for Obama?

The fact is that the USA is becoming more racially divided and you can't put all of the blame on one side. Well you can, but that's only going to have one result in the long term.

[InversneckieDob]

Was more talking about the NFL guys than Will Smith. I recall the Oscars thing, but can't recall the details.
And I seriously doubt anyone at Trump's rally in Alabama voted for Obama!

Yes, it seems the U.S. is regressing racially.
It's not ALL on Trump, but there's little doubt that he's acting as an enabling bell-cow for some pretty unpleasant factions.

But like Brexit over here.

[Mason89]

What won't end well is the renaming of schools, highways & the removal of the statues of confederate generals. Banning the sale of the stars & bars & the battle flag is just silly. The Dukes of Hazard was on for years and no one gave a f*ck

Be interesting to see if this cultural cleansing extends to the two slave owners on Mount Rushmore

[Pacman1903]

Bit close to "back where they game from" there Pac.

How is it? That's nothing like what I said.

[InversneckieDob]

So why would a boy born in Milwaukee who's lived in America his whole life "try" Angola...or any African country?

[ragnarok]

Probably best to take Pacman's comment in good faith.

[krakowdon]

I thought at first Pac was being sarcastic in response to Jupiter, but then realised that he was agreeing with his main point. So yes, a bit close to 'get back where you came from'.

That is also to miss the point. The NFL boys are not complaining about their remuneration or their lifestyle, they're making a point about civil rights issues. The argument that they should simply be grateful or do one back (sic) to Africa is condescending at best and outright racist if meant literally.

Look up The Little Rock Nine, sixty years ago today as it happens, for an example of what this is about.

And as an example to us all look up Peter Norman, a hero to little old bleeding heart pinky liberal me.

[ragnarok]

I thought at first Pac was being sarcastic in response to Jupiter, but then realised that he was agreeing with his main point. So yes, a bit close to 'get back where you came from'.

That is also to miss the point. The NFL boys are not complaining about their remuneration or their lifestyle, they're making a point about civil rights issues. The argument that they should simply be grateful or do one back (sic) to Africa is condescending at best and outright racist if meant literally.

Look up The Little Rock Nine, sixty years ago today as it happens, for an example of what this is about.

And as an example to us all look up Peter Norman, a hero to little old bleeding heart pinky liberal me.

In what way is it a "civil rights issue"? What civil rights do African Americans (which I'll shorten to AA for ease of typing) lack in 2017 that other Americans enjoy?

It seems to suit the prejudices of some to buy in to the narrative racist redneck "Murica F*ck Yeah!" police are disproportionately targeting black people. It's true that AAs are killed by police in disproportiantate numbers but it's also a fact that they commit a disproportionate amount of crime (unless you think official crime statistics are fabricated). The numbers of police killings per year are actually very low in the context of a population of over 300m but, relative to the number of whites killed by police, the numbers of AAs killed by police is broadly consistent with the rate at which AAs commit serious crimes.

This is not to draw any conclusions as to why a segment of the AA population is doing so badly. Of course racism and prejudice exists and needs to be addressed when it is exposed but having spent a bit of time looking into this I don't see any hard evidence that widespread nationwide racism is the main reason why AAs are disproportinately convicted of serious crimes and hence disporoportionately filling the jails. Baltimore which is AA majority has one of the worst crime rates in the country.

A more realistic explanation is that it's primarily a cultural issue in a segment of the AA population as there is little evidence that black people in higher income groups face significant discrimination. In fact, the federal government has adopted targeted welfare and affirmative action programs for decades - maybe that's part of the problem. But I can't claim to be an expert on this subject.