The biggest problem is the ingrained institutional racism that permeates this country. Not trying to attack you when I say this, but this is why I don't believe things are going to change. No one is addressing the actual issue; at most a new law will be passed against police (but lets face it...this isn't going to happen) and people will be like "yay progress!" all the while our clear as day to anyone with an modicum of intelligence racist laws will still be around which allows for incidents like these to happen again and again.
The militarization of the police isn't what led to these people in Ferguson protesting; it was the act of one cop treating a black kid/guy like an animal because that's how society at large still views black people; one can say this isn't true there has been huge progress made, and I'd rebuttal things have largely gone unchanged for black people since the 70s because the laws that put black people in the position they're in have not changed. It's the same horrible laws, different era.
People are calling for demilitarization of the police after seeing how the police treat the news personnel and others like them; for most of America this didn't become an issue that concerned them until they saw white people being affected. People are acting like this type of treatment of black people is something new when for black people it's always been this way. The laws just aren't fair at all and this is a direct result of these laws that favor one group of people over another.
Demilitarization is the white issue, equality is the black issue. People see these militarized cops trampling all over the freedom of speech and right to gather and protest and they can directly see how that would effect them in times of protest and as a result have become very vocal about it. But these same people don't see/care about the inequality in application of law and justice that blacks have been going through since forever because that doesn't directly affect them in anyway. So as a result they demand action on what does affect them, and maybe they'll get that change. However at the rate this country progresses for blacks and other minorities (because there is very much a difference in rate of progress for blacks vs whites) it's going to be another 25+ years before someone in a position of power takes a look at these laws and sees them for what they are.
So honestly I couldn't give a fuck about the demilitarization of police force; I really don't give a damn. I want to be able to drive down the street and not get stopped and worrying if this cop is going to kill me because he feels "threatened" by me; I want my brothers and sisters to be able to walk through a protest without getting maced and detained for doing absolutely nothing wrong. I want society to stop painting blacks as these savages and enacting laws that reinforce their fucked up views. I want less Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, <insert black person killed #76841> by the police because of some quota/perceived threat by the rest of the country.
Honestly, fuck the problems of white America. I'm tired of the focus on these "problems" I'm tired of the constant "well get to your problems after we address these problems" approach/attitude. Like no, fuck you we've been placed on this ever growing "To do" list since the fucking 60s. I'm tired of hearing about these really stupid ass "First world problems" I'm tired of hearing about "women's rights" that don't include the plight of black women, I'm tired of the reactionary "men's right advocates" that don't give two shits about the hilariously fucked disproportionate rate at which black men are locked up. Fuck this faux Gaza outrage, when people in your own fucking backyard are being treated like shit but we have people out here rallying about something happening across the Atlantic.
I'm tired of fucking hipster douche silver spoon fucks co-opting everything then dumping it when it's no longer "trendy". Like those fucks who wear those "I Am Trayvon Martin" shirts. No you're not, you're a white kid from the burbs who majored in fucking Art History while living off your trustfund. This will never be your reality; you sit in front of your computer making stupid caption pictures and sharing it with your friends, many of which don't give a single fuck. You then scour the internet for the next tragedy you can be a part of. Many of these assholes don't give a fuck past surface level interest. They sit in their little coffee shops drinking their overpriced shit water talking about "those poor black people, if only there was something like we could totes do". There is fecal breath, stop sharing those stupid images with dumb captions about "Civil Rights man!" and organize sit ins, gather people in your community to talk to your governor. Your facebook crusade is a crock of shit, I'd rather these people do nothing.
Black people make up all of 12% of the US population. I'm going to be painfully honest, there is very little we can do on our own without the help of a larger subset of the US population; but when the rest of the country doesn't give a shit. It absolutely sends a message to the rest of us and slowly but surely kills our morale. I've already done the cliche "send a letter to your governor" here in FL; I've been downtown and talked to people to get them to become aware...they don't give a fuck and that sends a message to me (and thus this long rant is really a cumulation of my frustrations at people's apathy over these past few days).
Don't get me wrong they are very much real issues, but they're issues that by some coincidence are always exclusionary towards minorities. I want women to have their rights, but I would love more for black women to stop being marginalized and being told their ugly by damn near everyone. Men's Rights? Man fuck that shit in general, boohoo. I'm not even going to address that shit because for the most part... simply put fuck men's rights. Talk to me about black men's rights first then I'll give a fuck about "men's" (read: white) perceived injustice. More women movies in lead roles? I'm down for that, but I'm more down for black women not being basically side pieces to these powerful white men despite the fact that vast majority of black/white relationships in America are black men/white women. I'd be down for the cause if these "more women in lead roles" also covered Asian females, black females, hispanic females. I'd be more down for that if there were more black/asian/hispanic females in Hollywood period; and fuck that stupid argument of "herp derp well maybe there aren't many Asian/Black/Hispanic women trying to be actresses".
You have a bunch of "patriots" who are all cheering this Bundy douche and people like him for "protecting our border" and being anti-government talking about how horrible the government is and how much power they're taking away from the people; but these same chucklefucks are silent when there is actual government fucketry going on in front of them. You have politicians talking about the "American" people but let this shit go on for fucking days while they play golf and snort lines of blow off the asscrack of a hooker while having their underpaid intern pen some shitty response about how bad they feel about how the police have handled things so far and sympathize with the people. No, politicians don't give a shit as long as their pockets continued to be lined by the industrial prison complex they have no incentive to change shit.
Honestly there are days where I am seriously like, fuck this country. This country is a big fucking facade; to the outside this place is fucking amazing and great and omg wow a shining beacon of human achievement, but look past the surface and it's shit; absolute unfiltered 100% no preservatives added shit.
"Things will change"
do people not realize just how long this line has been towed? Like this is all black people hear is that things will "change". What people don't tell anyone is that things will change...after this other issue is addressed. And these "issues" are always pages upon pages long.
Fuck it, it's 5:22am and I'm just venting, upset, frustrated with this country and the government on every level. This shit is ridiculous and inexcusable in every sense of the word. In 50 years shit will be the same for black people, but people will proclaim from the rooftops "look how much America has changed". My future kids' kids will be fighting the same battles that are being fought today.
" when something like this happens (Saw this in a thread and it reminded me that bill maher pulled that shit with the Martin case). Why can't you have genuine and authentic outrage that something happened to someone outside of the social construct that is your "race"?
