A former 40 year Atheist analyzes Atheism, without resorting to theism, deism, or fantasy. *** If You Don't Value Truth, Then What DO You Value? *** If we say that the sane can be coaxed and persuaded to rationality, and we say that rationality presupposes logic, then what can we say of those who actively reject logic? *** Atheists have an obligation to give reasons in the form of logic and evidence for rejecting Theist theories.
The video pretends to explain the lies of the BLM movement but actually ends up misrepresenting the whole situation. For instance, it starts with a statement about what the BLM movement is based on: the idea that Whites, especially cops, are exterminating Blacks. This is not very far from the actual words found on the BLM movement: Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. The BLM movement makes the mistake of implying that the system is purposely against them and that cops are intentionally killing Blacks even when there is no good reason for that. This is obviously wrong; cops have no intention to kill unharmed black people, just like any other people. The BLM is exaggerating on that front.
Moreover, the BLM has been horrible at picking its examples of police violence, in my opinion. The obvious one is the case of Michael Brown. It is one of the most commonly used example; perhaps one of the most well-known and the one that sparked some of the worst riots. Yet, after watching the full interview with Darren Wilson and the multiple reports showing that Brown was 'not' shot in the back and that eye witnesses thus blatantly lie, it seems obvious that Wilson was correct. He is not lying and he was legitimately afraid for his life. Perhaps there was another way to deescalate the conflict, instead of shooting Brown dead, but that's a different debate. The point is that Brown is not some sort of martyr that should have triggered riots against police brutality, and Wilson clearly did not act impulsively out of some racist bias.
But does this mean that there is no problem at all; does it mean that the BLM movement has no reason to protest? Could it be that the words used are off but that the system, the society we live in, is indeed biased, in need of change and statistically more dangerous for good law-abiding Black citizen? It seems that the answer is 'yes'; maybe not as clearly 'yes' as the BLM makes it sound to be, but 'yes' nonetheless. Most of the information used to argue against the legitimacy of the BLM movement seems to be based on 1 source, or other sources that tell the same picture, using the same numbers: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/07/11/arent-more-white-people-than-black-people-killed-by-police-yes-but-no/
Yet, they leave the parts that actually do explain why the answer to the question above is 'yes': "The only thing that was significant in predicting whether someone shot and killed by police was unarmed was whether or not they were black [...] Crime variables did not matter in terms of predicting whether the person killed was unarmed. This just bolsters our confidence that there is some sort of implicit bias going on. Officers are perceiving a greater threat when encountered by unarmed black citizens."
Finally, we also need to note that: "Racial disparities in the rate of police shootings do not mean, though, that criminal-justice experts are not concerned about how many people are being killed by police officers — including white people."
And you also leave out the most pertinent fact: ghetto blacks are much more prone to violence against everyone. It is proper for those humans who are trying to enforce law in ghettos to assume that a law breaker who refuses orders from law enforcement is also armed.
It is also very easy to be a backseat driver after the fact.
Most if not all of the information is available from the FBI on-line crime data, or at least it was several years ago. I'm not sure about the armed/unarmed part, but BLM no longer cares about that, and even riots when armed attackers are killed by black cops after point weapons at them.
As far as BLM is concerned, black on black killing is OK, unless one of the blacks is a cop. What does that tell us?
- The first thing you mentioned is actually discussed in the Washington Post article. - Can you really show that BLM, or anybody else that is conerned about racial biases in the USA, is 'OK' with black on black killing? Don't you see how absurd this sound?
Actually the real absurdity is directly found in the obvious behaviors of BLM. Do they protest the slaughters in Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore? Of course not. Let's repeat that: Of course not. If they were concerned, they would protest the Leftist governance of those cities maintaining those ghettos.
There is nothing rational in the declaration "black lives matter" when they shut down and attack those who say "all lives matter". To the BLM, it is NOT the case that all lives matter, not even all black lives.
I have heard both responses; haven't you? Some idiots, the minority, say that cops deserved it, while the majority and so-called leaders were clearly not supporting murders just like any other normal human being. You pick and choose and bring a Democrat vs Republican debates where it's irrelevant. You're avoiding the evidence of racial bias because it makes you feel uneasy to eveb consider that your dear fellow white people aren't perfect and do, in fact, discriminate and hold all kinds of prejudice, usually not on purpose.
In short, there's racism in the USA todat but not self-avowed racists, which is already better than just a few decades ago, but it doesn't mean there are no issues. You're free to keep ignoring that reality...
Oh and you're lying when saying "To the BLM, it is NOT the case that all lives matter, not even all black lives." This is again a diversion, avoiding the actual issues. Anything but talking about prejudice and discrimination.
You're the typical head-in-the-sand denier. And your own authority on the subject, because you read the news...
8 comments:
The video pretends to explain the lies of the BLM movement but actually ends up misrepresenting the whole situation. For instance, it starts with a statement about what the BLM movement is based on: the idea that Whites, especially cops, are exterminating Blacks. This is not very far from the actual words found on the BLM movement: Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. The BLM movement makes the mistake of implying that the system is purposely against them and that cops are intentionally killing Blacks even when there is no good reason for that. This is obviously wrong; cops have no intention to kill unharmed black people, just like any other people. The BLM is exaggerating on that front.
Moreover, the BLM has been horrible at picking its examples of police violence, in my opinion. The obvious one is the case of Michael Brown. It is one of the most commonly used example; perhaps one of the most well-known and the one that sparked some of the worst riots. Yet, after watching the full interview with Darren Wilson and the multiple reports showing that Brown was 'not' shot in the back and that eye witnesses thus blatantly lie, it seems obvious that Wilson was correct. He is not lying and he was legitimately afraid for his life. Perhaps there was another way to deescalate the conflict, instead of shooting Brown dead, but that's a different debate. The point is that Brown is not some sort of martyr that should have triggered riots against police brutality, and Wilson clearly did not act impulsively out of some racist bias.
But does this mean that there is no problem at all; does it mean that the BLM movement has no reason to protest? Could it be that the words used are off but that the system, the society we live in, is indeed biased, in need of change and statistically more dangerous for good law-abiding Black citizen? It seems that the answer is 'yes'; maybe not as clearly 'yes' as the BLM makes it sound to be, but 'yes' nonetheless. Most of the information used to argue against the legitimacy of the BLM movement seems to be based on 1 source, or other sources that tell the same picture, using the same numbers:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/07/11/arent-more-white-people-than-black-people-killed-by-police-yes-but-no/
Yet, they leave the parts that actually do explain why the answer to the question above is 'yes': "The only thing that was significant in predicting whether someone shot and killed by police was unarmed was whether or not they were black [...] Crime variables did not matter in terms of predicting whether the person killed was unarmed. This just bolsters our confidence that there is some sort of implicit bias going on. Officers are perceiving a greater threat when encountered by unarmed black citizens."
Finally, we also need to note that: "Racial disparities in the rate of police shootings do not mean, though, that criminal-justice experts are not concerned about how many people are being killed by police officers — including white people."
And you also leave out the most pertinent fact: ghetto blacks are much more prone to violence against everyone. It is proper for those humans who are trying to enforce law in ghettos to assume that a law breaker who refuses orders from law enforcement is also armed.
It is also very easy to be a backseat driver after the fact.
Most if not all of the information is available from the FBI on-line crime data, or at least it was several years ago. I'm not sure about the armed/unarmed part, but BLM no longer cares about that, and even riots when armed attackers are killed by black cops after point weapons at them.
As far as BLM is concerned, black on black killing is OK, unless one of the blacks is a cop. What does that tell us?
- The first thing you mentioned is actually discussed in the Washington Post article.
- Can you really show that BLM, or anybody else that is conerned about racial biases in the USA, is 'OK' with black on black killing? Don't you see how absurd this sound?
Actually the real absurdity is directly found in the obvious behaviors of BLM. Do they protest the slaughters in Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore? Of course not. Let's repeat that: Of course not. If they were concerned, they would protest the Leftist governance of those cities maintaining those ghettos.
There is nothing rational in the declaration "black lives matter" when they shut down and attack those who say "all lives matter". To the BLM, it is NOT the case that all lives matter, not even all black lives.
I have heard both responses; haven't you? Some idiots, the minority, say that cops deserved it, while the majority and so-called leaders were clearly not supporting murders just like any other normal human being. You pick and choose and bring a Democrat vs Republican debates where it's irrelevant. You're avoiding the evidence of racial bias because it makes you feel uneasy to eveb consider that your dear fellow white people aren't perfect and do, in fact, discriminate and hold all kinds of prejudice, usually not on purpose.
In short, there's racism in the USA todat but not self-avowed racists, which is already better than just a few decades ago, but it doesn't mean there are no issues. You're free to keep ignoring that reality...
Oh and you're lying when saying "To the BLM, it is NOT the case that all lives matter, not even all black lives." This is again a diversion, avoiding the actual issues. Anything but talking about prejudice and discrimination.
You're the typical head-in-the-sand denier. And your own authority on the subject, because you read the news...
Interesting commentaries related to the issue:
http://www.sbnation.com/2016/9/5/12795542/colin-kaepernick-heroes-national-anthem-captain-america-nfl
http://www.sbnation.com/2016/8/30/12708298/colin-kaepernick-protest-drew-brees-reaction
The video in the 2nd one is especially well put. And that's EXACTLY what you are doing.
Interesting commentaries related to the issue:
http://www.sbnation.com/2016/9/5/12795542/colin-kaepernick-heroes-national-anthem-captain-america-nfl
http://www.sbnation.com/2016/8/30/12708298/colin-kaepernick-protest-drew-brees-reaction
The video in the 2nd one is especially well put. And that's EXACTLY what you are doing.
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