race, the n word, cracker historical context and hate crimes

[beyelzu]

Originally Posted by The Lone Ranger

I've worked a number of manual labor jobs where most of my co-workers were African-American and Hispanic. On the job, we all got along quite well, because we were quite well-aware that we were all in the same boat. But it was simply shocking to talk with these guys about their lives outside the workplace. Almost all of them had spent a good deal of time in jail, for instance. What's shocking is why. They'd quite casually mention that they'd be walking down the street and a police car would stop, and they'd be picked up and taken in for an overnight stay in the slammer -- for no apparent reason other than that they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and were the wrong color.

What I found so astonishing about it was how casual most of them were about this. They were so used to being treated with suspicion wherever they went that they considered it normal to be hauled off to jail at least once or twice in the average year for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some of them were surprised that I found this so shocking -- they thought of it as perfectly normal, and had long ago accepted that this was simply the way things were, and the price they had to pay for being born with dark skin.

what I am amazed by is that you believed that they were all arrested for no reason.

you have to be incredibly naive.

police dont just cruise around arresting black people for no fucking reason.

in short I would like some proof that this assertion has anything at all to do with mainstream reality.

[The Lone Ranger]

Oh, I don't think the police are all going around looking for black people "out of place" in order to arrest them. Nor do I even believe that all the people who told me they were just minding their own business when they were picked up were telling the truth. What I found so shocking about the whole thing was how many of these people seemed to think that getting arrested once or twice a year was normal.

Maybe they were all a bunch of hooligans for all I know. Still, it was a pretty graphic reminder that I -- a poor white guy -- lived in a very different world than the poor brown and black guys did.

Cheers,

Michael

[beyelzu]

Originally Posted by The Lone Ranger

Oh, I don't think the police are all going around looking for black people "out of place" in order to arrest them. Nor do I even believe that all the people who told me they were just minding their own business when they were picked up were telling the truth. What I found so shocking about the whole thing was how many of these people seemed to think that getting arrested once or twice a year was normal.

Maybe they were all a bunch of hooligans for all I know. Still, it was a pretty graphic reminder that I -- a poor white guy -- lived in a very different world than the poor brown and black guys did.

Cheers,

Michael

or conversely, maybe they just didnt want to admit what crimes they had actually committed.

or maybe their cultural meme allows for the possibility that police do go around arresting blacks for no reason and that everyone knows that.

Much as a majority of blacks seemed to think that OJ was innocent and that he was framed for little or no reason.

[Petra]

Originally Posted by beyelzu

what I am amazed by is that you believed that they were all arrested for no reason.

you have to be incredibly naive.

police dont just cruise around arresting black people for no fucking reason.

in short I would like some proof that this assertion has anything at all to do with mainstream reality.

Two words: Tulia, Texas.

Many of those people are still sitting in jail.