Quote:
Originally Posted by Oscar1
had a look at the video you linked. Just out of curiosity are white people not allowed to care if a man is killed? I would think black, white, or brown we should be more pissed that a man had a knee on his throat till he died.
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EXACTLY. I try to stay out of such discussions, but these incidents are being made into racial issues when it is a tyranny issue. No one deserves to be treated like that, but I really don't think the guy's race had anything to do with it.
Before anyone starts throwing stones, blood is red, no matter what color you are. And, as someone else has said here recently, a Richard is a Richard. Regardless of what color you are or where you're from. And has anyone here had a bus act any differently because you painted it a different color? Doubtful... A good bus is a good bus, no matter what color it is, and a POS bus is a POS bus, no matter what color it is. Same with people.
Everyone is going to have their take on this incident, but while I am appalled that this sort of thing can still happen, it comes down to a human being with a seriously out-of-control Napoleon complex who blew a fuse at the wrong moment and it cost someone else their life.
Pardon the expression, but I have seen enough situations where someone mouthed off to a cop and got their ass handed to them. I'm not saying that's what happened here, but there are plenty of people who find themselves in serious trouble with the police who make it worse because they don't act accordingly.
And we, the public, only know what was caught on camera. We don't know what led up to it. It could even have been a case of mistaken identity, and most people have a blind instinct to start fighting and resisting in such situations. No one wants to be cuffed or arrested for something they didn't do.
And by that same token, there are a number of people running around with a badge and a gun because it makes them feel important, and could care less about what the job is about -- KEEPING PEOPLE SAFE AND KEEPING THE PEACE.
This is my take on it, and before you say I'm drifting off-topic, hear me out. I drove a tractor-trailer for 4-5 years. And there are other members here who have driven those beasts for far longer than I, some who are still driving them for their daily bread.
I have seen a number of bad apples out there that try to push other vehicles down the road with their rig, bullying their way through traffic, what-have-you. And so have most everyone here. Because that's what you see and remember. You remember the ones who behave badly. And that tends to unfairly bias the public view of an entire profession. How many here have seen such commercial drivers behaving badly? Now how many here have seen or heard of cops behaving badly?
In contrast, I have called out more than a few Billy BigRigging supertruckers in my time. I have also stopped my rig and ran a quarter-mile back (with asthma and COPD, no less) to help a lady with three kids in the car who was stalled in a blind curve on the interstate, straddling the white line between the shoulder and the right traffic lane, 11:30 at night, when no one else would stop.
I have lost count of how many erratic (presumably drunk) drivers I've called in and gotten stopped simply by being willing to say something and stay on the line with emergency services until an officer could intervene. Call me a snitch all you want, I probably saved your significant others' life, or maybe that of another member of your family, maybe even your best friend.
My point is this. I'm not asking for a medal. I'm asking you to consider how many good truckers are out there as opposed to the bad ones. I'm asking you to consider how many good truckers you remember, and how many bad truckers you remember.
Now apply that same disproportion to the police and ask yourself if you are viewing this situation clearly. Most people tend to forget that when you do good, no one remembers. When you do bad, no one ever forgets. And how would you feel if you were unfairly judged or punished because of the actions of a colleague, maybe even someone you didn't know, just because they happened to do the same work you do?
I want to clarify here, I don't condone or excuse this officer's actions in any way, just because he might have had a bad day and let it get the best of him, causing him to harm or kill someone. No, because there is no excuse for what happened.
But how many here are assuming this officer treated this man this way because of his race? How many here are going to rail against the police as a whole because of the actions of a few? Because that is the bulk of what I've heard about this incident since it happened, not necessarily here, but it has been said by many people.
We need to remember, in this time, that while this officer's actions were disgusting and appalling, they shouldn't be allowed to voice a demeanor for the entirety of the police of Minneapolis, much less of the police elsewhere. Nor should they be used as justification for losing our own cool and behaving badly ourselves.
All these people taking to the streets, burning, looting, etc.? Such people are no better than the person and actions they are 'protesting'. They themselves are becoming the reason the police exist in the first place. There is no excuse for their actions either, and before you say, "But they have a reason to be angry", remember Reginald Denny.
That could just as easily be you, being pulled from your vehicle and beaten for something you had nothing to do with -- just because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yes, people do have a reason to be angry about this, but your actions in a time like this will show who you truly are. Right now, far too many people are not stopping to ask themselves who they are, and who they want the world to see, before they act.
And the last thing we need right now is an angry mob destroying everything in sight and attacking innocent people, especially when they paint their self-serving interests in the colors of injustice-fueled outrage. I agree with the above post by Oscar1, and I rather think that if I were George Floyd, I would be ashamed of these people for what they are doing in his name.
I hope that I am coming across with the best of intentions as the voice of reason, because that is truly my intent. But as with any volatile, not to mention both emotionally-and-politically-charged topic, we need to think before we speak, and think before we act, lest we become what we seek to prevent. I fervently hope that cooler heads will prevail here.
Side note, if this is my $0.02 becoming $20.00, I wish my mind and voice were a Vegas slot machine...
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