George Floyd protest brought my community together

There are lots of ways to feel a sense of community with our fellow humans.

Going to a religious gathering is one way, but definitely isn't the best way, because religions are divisive -- if you aren't a member of a particular faith, likely attending a "service" there is going to feel out of place.

Yesterday I took part in a protest here in Salem, Oregon against the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman. I was deeply moved by thousands of people coming out to protest the needless killings of so many black Americans at the hands of police officers.

What connected us was a commitment to justice for all.

It is deeply wrong to treat people of color differently from white people. But my country's racist past -- slavery -- is still being manifested today. This has to stop. Hopefully the massive protests around the United States will help bring about positive changes in not only policing, but other areas such as education and health care where blacks still are not treated equally.

Have a look at the photos I took at the protest, plus a video of part of the march that followed a rally. I used an Adobe Spark web page to share the images.

Comments

[S]

Great pictures!
Great coverage!
Great turnout!

Love the beaver sculpture with sign plus these imparticular:

‘There comes a time when silence is betrayal’

‘White silence is violence’

Thanks for caring and sharing.
(Laurel doesn’t look anywhere near 70 :))

[Ahukamakanka]

All modern Americans are immigrants
Their forefathers did away with the bulk of the nation's native population over the last 3-4 centuries of colonial exploits

The European brought the African to America largely as a result of slavery while they systematically destroyed the remnants of the original nations of western Indian culture and population.

So for (white) European Americans to think America belongs to them is a total misnomer and contradiction of history, they don't own America, they're visitors and immigrants as much as and if not more than the next. Many of whom landed in America in recent waves of immigrant generations since the 18th and 19th centuries long after the African slaves who were brought to their shores with the early original European colonists.

[j]

"to protest the needless killings of so many black Americans at the hands of police officers."

"So many"? Aside from the Floyd case, where's the evidence (I mean court decisions) that show that police are are "needlessly" killing black Americans?

This is a reasonable and very important question that I posted on the previous blog post. What is your source of information that shows the police are murdering blacks for no reason?

"It is deeply wrong to treat people of color differently from white people." No doubt that's true. But it's also true that non-white police use their guns more frequently than do white police. Doesn't that show that the "white cops are racist" meme is a fallacy?

"But my country's racist past -- slavery -- is still being manifested today." Because one police officer, who has no evidence of believing in racist ideology, used incorrect use of force in arresting one suspect? Because of that one officer's actions, there is obviously a huge problem of white racism that equals the situation in the South in 1860?

[j]

"So for (white) European Americans to think America belongs to them is a total misnomer and contradiction of history, they don't own America, they're visitors (etc)"

Speaking of ownership, there's a strong movement in India right now to jail a young female comedian for making a joke about the Hare Krishnas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f9c8yl5ejE

The United States is the most generous and accepting country in the world.

[Jesse]

"All modern Americans are immigrants"

Including the "natives" who came from Asia. Check out the Kenewick man, too. They're now saying he was also "native" but I think as usual, the "i believe in science" cult buckled to political pressure.

" they're visitors and immigrants as much as and if not more than the next."

Funny how those who press for infinite immigration never seem to ask the "natives." It's almost like you are just using them as your human shields. If you think the "natives" are so keen on more immigration, ask why no reservations are opening mosques and inviting thousands of Egyptians and Somalis in.

But back to Brian's racial fetish religion, only the most screwed liberal brain would cheer on their own ethnic cleansing all because the TV played a video of one single person dying, while mocking a hundred similar deaths and saying it doesn't matter because white people suck.

The curse of the "believe in science" boomer generation never ends. The amount of damage done to the world by drug addled boomer brains will take a thousand years to repair. Thanks a lot guys. Your own kids and grandkids will inherit the hell you created.

[Bud]

Who was here first? Caucasoids? Mongoloids? Negroids? They found some human remains that bear Caucasian characteristics in San Diego while excavating for a highway. Carbon dated over 100,000 years old! Will even older negroid remains be found? The timeline keeps getting pushed further back. Who are the true natives? Who knows? Who cares?.. except academics. We're all here now. Let's get over this petty tribalism and be Americans together.

Here is an intelligent (not emotional) Los Angeles native black man speaking on Black Lives Matter and other political concerns. We are being influenced, molded and activated by political interests that have power as their main objective, not truth. Have a listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piwaBO6U43U

[Ahukamakanka]

Perhaps Hiawatha, Sitting Bull, and Geronimo were long lost cousins of ancestors of paleo human migration either from Eastern Asia via Bering land bridge or as some are considered to have crossed oceans by sea faring vessel along a vastly large continuous shoreline from habitats linked to Polynesian ancestry.

Whichever the route of migration from ancient times, the native American was present in his indigenous habitat for at least 15,000, and could even stretch to 40,000 years, prior to any modern European colonization, which transpired after the 15th century in the recent relative twinkle of an eye 3-4 century period of western European immigration into the 'New world'.

So according to the Navajo they have 'always been American' and didn't come from 'somewhere else'. As did the Smith's Jones' Washingtons Jeffersons Lincolns Johnsons Kennedys Clinton's or the Schwarzeneggers, Cuomo's or Trumps.

Yup 'white' Americans are definitely not natural natives, and it's them who captured and enslaved somewhere in the region of around 10 million African slaves of which around 4 million survived the horrendous trans Atlantic voyage and 'brought' them to their 'new homelands' to till soils and raise and tend and harvest crops in pursuit of the European colonial exploit.

So effectively African Americans are just as much 'American' as any Caucasian American thinks he or she might be. In fact probably more so, as their American heritage generally tends to stretch back into the 17th or 18th century when the slave trade was at it's zenith. And as their anglicized European names signify their American status. ie Jesse Owens, Michael Jordan, Michael Johnson, Robert Johnson, Huddleston Ledbetter, McKinley Morganfield, etc.
And whereby a larger percentage of European immigration influx into the US was probably most prominent through the nineteenth and early 20th century.

All that's happened in recent times is that the 'spoils', ie repercussions, of the rampant European colonization into previously uncharted territory has simply 'come home to roost'.

So paint it anyway that is appropriate to the circumstances, but racism as a means of racial or ethnic nationalism, and as a smokescreen for 'self preservation' as explicitly expressed through racist ideology, whether it be in the heartland of Europe as promoted by Nazi Germany, or via the systematic genocidal trend of the expansion of the British and European empires through American, Australian and African continents, it simple does not wash as a valid prerogative to try maintaining exclusive and subversive rights and priveledges.

Otherwise Jo jo should perhaps just pack up his troubles and get back to where he once belonged.

[Ahukamakanka]

Here is an intelligent (not emotional) Los Angeles native black man speaking on Black Lives Matter and other political concerns. We are being influenced, molded and activated by political interests that have power as their main objective, not truth. Have a listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piwaBO6U43U

Posted by: Bud | June 08, 2020 at 10:22 PM

This guy is likely 100% correct he's more American than most 'white Caucasian' Americans, his genealogical ancestry is possibly homogenous to America by at least 10 generations, how many current European Americans can claim to have the same American heritage he has?

[Georgy Porgy]

Yep patriots often have zero perspective.

Lines drawn in the sand, constantly shifting, along with the peoples who inhabiting them.

All these human fools who think their birthright is linked to some passport or place that they happen to be lucky or unlucky enough to be born into at some specific point in time.

Each with their own silly cultures as to who shall own what piece of land and is entitled to what rights, and yet the earth existed long before humans and their silly tribes, countries, cultures and laws, and will exist long after they gone.

This one thinks they better than that one cos he’s got a lighter or darker tan - all total bullshit. If you look at kids playing together they don’t give a toss about colour or nationality or anything else / what is this stupid shit we learn and get conditioned too.

[Spence Tepper]

Ahukamakanka
The video you cite is highly biased. There is video evidence of police officers using lethal force without provocation. Statistics aside, these domestic terrorists who have found a home in police departments must be identified and brought to justice. A disproportionate number of blacks are being targeted.

A person must be very biased to use statistics as the reason to ignore hard video evidence of murder.

It is political and bigoted to quote statistics unrelated and out of context as an exuse for using available video evidence to root out and bring to justice these murderers, and those leaders who protect them, just like the catholic church protecting sex offenders. It's wrong. It must stop.

But the statistics-quoting form of bigotry stems not always from ill intent, but fear and ignorance. And a lack of experience. The solution is simply sensitivity and a willingness to listen and learn from the victims and their families.

Racism is a real problem and it is in full evidence in the comments of those who defend hard video evidence of brutal terrorist intimidation of innocent citizens by police.

Black Lives Matter. And if they don't, you and I are next. It's 1937 all over again for blacks. They are being terrorized by the militarization of our police departments, where such new power is now in the hands of a sub-group of sociopathic killers who only understand lethal force. Don't enable them. For these murderers probable cause is just a formality they trigger by bullying innocent citizens. And with new tactical weaponry lethal force is only a hair trigger away.

Sitting in your own home quietly with the front door open can become your death sentence as long as these murderers are at large.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/10/13/fort-worth-police-officer-fatally-shoots-woman-her-home-while-checking-an-open-front-door/%3foutputType=amp

Blacks are being hunted down by sociopathic killers in our police departments. It's not the first time in history this has happened. But it is actually getting worse as police departments, step by step, are being tactical, weaponized, militarized, where everyone is a suspect. And as prisons become privatized, where keeping blacks, who have no funds for defense, incarcerated longer means more profit to the owners. Even the dollar once again is being aligned to racism.

If you are black, you are, to the sociopaths on the force, de facto a combatant.

[Megara]

@Bud

Thanks for sharing the link. Inspired further research regarding statistics shared by Larry Elder. Found this which is apropos as Father’s Day is around the corner:

‘A Father’s Impact on Child Development’
https://www.all4kids.org/news/blog/a-fathers-impact-on-child-development/

Note: Obama is a unicorn.
(Grew up without a father. Became first “Black President”.)

[Sonia]

This one thinks they better than that one cos he’s got a lighter or darker tan - all total bullshit. If you look at kids playing together they don’t give a toss about colour or nationality or anything else / what is this stupid shit we learn and get conditioned too.

Posted by: Georgy Porgy | June 09, 2020 at 09:45 AM

None of us really know what race, nationality, age or spiritual affiliation you truly have (initiate or non initiated?). You’ve shared multiple conflicting things about yourself.

However, it’s really good to know you’re not racist. You’re emotional and imaginative as hell, but not racist.

That’s a big thing. It’s the first step towards civilization and away from tribalism.

[j]

There is no "systemic racism" in American society.
There is certainly no evidence of systemic racism or wanton attacks on black Americans by U.S. police.

These are the facts:

In 2019 police officers fatally shot 1,004 people, most of whom were armed or otherwise dangerous. African-Americans were about a quarter of those killed by cops last year (235), a ratio that has remained stable since 2015. That share of black victims is less than what the black crime rate would predict, since police shootings are a function of how often officers encounter armed and violent suspects.

African-Americans made up 53% of known homicide offenders in the U.S. and commit about 60% of robberies, though they are only 13% of the population.

The police fatally shot nine unarmed blacks and 19 unarmed whites in 2019, according to a Washington Post database, down from 38 and 32, respectively, in 2015. The Post defines “unarmed” broadly to include such cases as a suspect in Newark, N.J., who had a loaded handgun in his car during a police chase. In 2018 there were 7,407 black homicide victims.

Assuming a comparable number of victims last year, those nine unarmed black victims of police shootings represent 0.1% of all African-Americans killed in 2019.

More context: Black Americans killed 7000 other black Americans in 2019. You didn't know that because it's never mentioned by BLM.

Here's the nub of it: a police officer is 18½ times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is to be killed by a police officer.

Consider how many black lives the police have saved by literally putting their lives on the line every day. The charges that the police are murdering blacks is unfounded, and the surrender to the activist mob's demands to abolish the police force, if enacted, will endanger the lives of everyone.

[statsprofessor]

History always comes in a context. Always broaden the database.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/158-resources-understanding-systemic-racism-america-180975029/

[Spence Tepper]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/police-killed-their-sons-these-mothers-are-fighting-for-reform-11591448401?st=z3lsr8t62kgi46z&fbclid=IwAR39BD4ke3Ng4gbAjQwAobrJCB0hYap_x8GMWH6MSf7aeveNfYuHJlTGEkc

[Spence Tepper]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1205651

[Dungeness]

@ the surrender to the activist mob's demands to abolish the police force, if
@ enacted, will endanger the lives of everyone.

I think the term abolition (and/or defunding) is misleading. It's
more like a radical makeover of the police as a panacea for
all that ails society.

Camden NJ has had significant reductions in violent crime as
a result:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-04/how-camden-new-jersey-reformed-its-police-department

[Ahukamakanka]

The proud legacy of white European empathetic colonial "civilization"

And then there is a flabbergasted wonder why there is a backlash

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/slavery-trail-of-tears-180956968/

[Spence Tepper]

Thank you Dungeness.
The article is an excellent model for progress, I've saved it as a favorite. Iy gets to the heart of resolving the mental illness, the sociopathic culture, and the racism in some police departments.

"The department adopted an 18-page use-of-force policy in 2019, developed with New York University’s Policing Project. The rules emphasize that de-escalation has to come first. Deadly force—such as a chokehold or firing a gun—can only be used in certain situations, once every other tactic has been exhausted. “It requires that force is not only reasonable and necessary, but that it’s proportionate,” says Farhang Heydari, executive director of the Policing Project. Most important, “they’re requirements. They’re not suggestions.”

"An officer who sees a colleague violating the edict must intervene; the department can fire any officer it finds acted out of line."

[anami]

If you watch the video of Mr Floyd's arrest, you'll see that he was in handcuffs for several minutes and cooperated until it was time to get into the police car.
https://youtu.be/VDd5GlrgvsE

Whatever happened, he was still in handcuffs and outnumbered. The worst he could do was bite, kick, curse, run or flail about.

Did the policemen want to show who's boss? How about calling for a van and lifting him gently into the back with a few more cops? They could've proven their point without killing him.

Commenters have shared crime statistics that make people of African extraction look bad as a group, but can anyone argue that Mr Floyd the person deserved to die that day?

[Spence Tepper]

Now the cops are fabricating crimes and blaming it on black lives matter. This is racism.

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/mass-wife-faked-home-invasion-blamed-black-lives-matter-article-1.2850208?fbclid=IwAR1Xdx0QdAQ_HN8wcozdyDr22ZWPcIWHTGqpZhsBImLWI4XKSQ7vWIRyYHk

[Georgy Porgy]

Sounds like the cop chauvin and Loyd knee each other. Both worked security at same nightclub. Apparently chauvin was generally pretty aggressive to patrons and seemed to feel intimidated by black folk. Kinda makes sense - this is what I mean about these guys who volunteer to join the cops and military - not all but many got small Willy syndrome or something. Total dufus’. Half those cops look like nerds no wonder they overreacted, Floyd coulda probably gobbled them up.

[S]

Cops don’t fare well in prison. Probably why so many of them get cleared of charges eventually. Especially if they’re part of a department with a lot of skeletons.

If this had happened 60 years ago, no one would have caught it on video. That’s the difference today. I don’t think there’s less racism... not sure that will ever change. It’s the stupidest most tribal concept ever.

My good friend is Indian and lived there till she was 16. She told me that there’s no racism in India. I almost fell over laughing.

[S]

And that’s why Jesse’s idea wouldn’t work. You could create a country for each race or culture and then they’d start dividing them selves up. The dark side of human nature stems from people needing to feel superior to others. The light side looks for unity.

[Sonia]

And John Oliver weighs in...

https://youtu.be/Wf4cea5oObY

[Spence Tepper]

Watch police firing tear gas pellets at journalists and protestors who are doing nothing but holding up their cameras and signs. Police walking into protestors who are holding signs and beating them with batons. Police resigning when a bad cop is suspended. Police stomping on an elderly protestor with their horse.

Watch the whole video.

https://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow/videos/1152549088440471/

[Sonia]

Commenters have shared crime statistics that make people of African extraction look bad as a group, but can anyone argue that Mr Floyd the person deserved to die that day?

Posted by: anami | June 10, 2020 at 09:12 AM

Just to be clear, the statistics I’ve shared show how racist our system is. Just want to make sure there’s no confusion there. Our “justice” system is racist as hell. Racist against “non-whites”.

[S]

James Baldwin’s ‘Black Lives Matter’ speech (1965)

https://youtu.be/Vbj0oZYucKs

[j]

"Now the cops are fabricating crimes and blaming it on black lives matter. This is racism."

From the story: "Daly's husband (ie, the cop) was not involved in the faux crime and has not been charged, police said."

A cop's wife does something, and that means that the police are racist? "The cops" are guilty of nothing in this NYDN story Spencer posted. This is the kind of hysteria and false accusations that has many of us shaking our heads.

Some are pointing at the Floyd arrest and arguing that it wasn't done correctly. I think that's been obvious from day one and accepted by all concerned from the very minute this story broke. Technically, the police has the right and even the obligation to prevent someone from resisting arrest, but techniques that risk grave injury shouldn't be employed.

The larger question is whether what followed the arrest was justified or madness. Several police officers are dead trying to keep order. At least one bystander has been murdered by a protestor. Hundreds of people have been injured. Millions of dollars of damage have been done to public property and to businesses - - many of them black-owned businesses.

Just as disturbing, an all-out attack on free speech and the very concept of respect for law and order is underway, and getting the endorsement of the usual suspects. This despite that fact that the sacrifices of law enforcement officers have saved thousands of black lives across America.

I'll say it again: If you find the idea of law enforcement to be against your principles, then post your address on your FB page and tell the world that you'll never call the police to help you.

[S]

Watch the whole video.

https://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow/videos/1152549088440471/
Posted by: Spence Tepper | June 10, 2020 at 02:18 PM

I hope everyone watches that video to the end. He’s absolutely right. The police have a gang code. Truly shocking.

[Georgy Porgy]

The police are funded by tax-payers money for the specific purpose of helping, ie protect and serve, not kill and demean.

There are many ppl, eg anarchists, who feel their shouldn’t even be police. I think the last time I called the police was to report something stolen, not because I expected them to find anything, but because I had to for insurance purposes.

Ultimately it’s a job, and one paid by the public at that. It doesn’t require much skill, and those skills they should be proficient at, most of them aren’t.

You need to have a calm and fair disposition, be brave, and exercise restraint using force as a last resort abd in the right situations. A lot of these guys aren’t like that and try test themselves and then when they get into these situations they panic and overreact. They remain on someone’s neck because they are too scared. They shoot someone carrying a candle rather than a gun. They overdo it. Look at those cops in that video - runts.

They are given a huge amount of power and respect, especially in the US (yes sir mr officer) than they would ever have if they were not a cop.

Then there are simply the out-an-out fascists that join the army or police or anywhere that they can bust heads and get away with. These fascists tend to also be highly racist.

Finally there are mindless thicko hicks good ole country boys who just need a job, any job. They often have both fascist and racist tendencies.

The runts, fascists and hicks all pretty much need to be weeded out if you want better ‘policing’.

Overwhelming force is what is used in war or a fight for your life where anything goes, but it’s not for policing. I’ve got no doubt that policing is v difficult if done properly, but many of the ppl and attitudes involved need a total make over.

I actually think it could be a very interesting and rewarding job. But there’s a problem with many of these cops. It needs a different type of character, someone who actually cares, and where the words ‘protect and serve’ don’t mean kneel on the windpipe until suffocated dead. Fkn idiots.

[Georgy Porgy]

And then there are the few good guys like gene hackman in Mississippi burning , but maybe that’s only in the movies.

Some of these plonkers you can only shake your head at thinking who in their right mind thought it was a good idea for that palooka to be made a cop.

[Georgy Porgy]

I don’t think it’s murder - it’s manslaughter.

For murder there needs to be mens rea or the intent to kill - I don’t believe there was that intention here. Tho I dunno how American criminal law work. Every society got the same overbearing police element.

These cops are just grossly negligent idiots plain and simple, with the wrong training and wrong personality for the job. most shouldn’t be in charge of moving machinery, let alone people’s lives. It you call a call you want someone whose going to help, not commit manslaughter in your name. There are some ppl that would rather die then for that to happen. Didn’t Bobbie D sing about these oppressive types many years ago?

Arthur Dexter Bradley said, "I'm really not sure."
Cops said, "A poor boy like you could use a break
We got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend Bello
Now you don't wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow
You'll be doin' society a favor
That sonofabitch is brave and gettin' braver
We want to put his ass in stir
We want to pin this triple murder on him
He ain't no Gentleman Jim."
Rubin could take a man out with just one punch
But he never did like to talk about it all that much
It's my work, he'd say, and I do it for pay
And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way
Up to some paradise
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
And ride a horse along a trail
But then they took him to the jailhouse
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse“