Thoughts on Kaepernick & the national anthem

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Leon

Their actions are worse than hers in my eyes.

I understand that, but not why.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Today, folks, today! Why are we discussing events from decades ago? What opportunities are minorities (specifically black, since that is the topic of discussion) lacking today?

[packs]

Did you see the video of Philando Castille? What did he do to deserve to die other than being black in America? He had been stopped 52 times by police in his area. 47 violations were dismissed because they had no merit. But he had the same opportunities as you, right?

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by packs

Did you see the video of Philando Castille? What did he do to deserve to die other than being black in America? He had been stopped 52 times by police in his area. 86 violations were dismissed because they had no merit. But he had the same opportunities as you, right?

I probably saw the same thing you saw - a much edited video of Philando Castille that showed NOTHING about what lead up to the shooting. I'll reserve my comment on that until ALL the facts are in.

You really didn't answer my question though. What opportunities are minorities lacking today?

[packs]

Well the point I was demonstrating was that African Americans lack the opportunity to live their lives unimpeded by people violating their civil rights and taking their lives for no reason.

Also that video was not edited. It was streamed live as it happened.

[packs]

One more stat for you since you think life gives everyone in this country a fair shake. Are you familiar with the Innocence Project? If not please read up on it. They have worked tirelessly to exonerate 344 people who were serving sentences for crimes they did not commit. Of those 344 people, 212 of them were African Americans. The system does not treat everyone the same, nor does life. You can't deny what exists.

Some more perspective for you. This was the government's finding on how the police department in Baltimore does business:

In Baltimore, a city that is 63 percent black, the Justice Department found that 91 percent of those arrested on discretionary offenses like “failure to obey” or “trespassing” were African-American. Blacks make up 60 percent of Baltimore’s drivers but account for 82 percent of traffic stops. Of the 410 pedestrians who were stopped at least 10 times in the five and a half years of data reviewed, 95 percent were black.

[tschock]

Originally Posted by packs

The system does not treat everyone the same, nor does life. You can't deny what exists.

In Baltimore, a city that is 63 percent black, the Justice Department found that 91 percent of those arrested on discretionary offenses like “failure to obey” or “trespassing” were African-American. Blacks make up 60 percent of Baltimore’s drivers but account for 82 percent of traffic stops. Of the 410 pedestrians who were stopped at least 10 times in the five and a half years of data reviewed, 95 percent were black.

Yeah, I think I get it now. You're looking for equal OUTCOME, not equal application. No allotment for police force allocation, time of day for stops, or even for possible offenses. Don't matter whether or not the vehicles stopped had expired plates, taillights out, etc. You just want to see people arrested in proportion to their population, regardless of offense. I get it.

Regarding traffic stops. A little anecdotal discovery. A number of years ago there was some hub-bub around blacks being stopped disproportionately for speeding violations in North Carolina. Something like 3x the amount than whites (not remembering the exact numbers). Based on my amount of driving, I thought that odd. So on my numerous trips between the triangle and Charlotte I did my own little experiment. Cruising at 5 MPH over the speed limit, I counted the number of times I was passed by whites vs blacks. Ended up that I was passed by blacks 2-3x MORE than the disparity they were complaining about. (unscientifically, it seemed like an even faster speed as well). So the conclusion could be promoted that they were being stopped LESS FREQUENTLY than they should have been.

But you are correct in that you can't deny WHAT exists. But WHY it exists might not be the blatant racism all the little Sharptons who cry wolf would always like you to believe either. Is there racism? Yep. Is it the case most of the time? Probably not.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by packs

One more stat for you since you think life gives everyone in this country a fair shake. Are you familiar with the Innocence Project? If not please read up on it. They have worked tirelessly to exonerate 344 people who were serving sentences for crimes they did not commit. Of those 344 people, 212 of them were African Americans. The system does not treat everyone the same, nor does life. You can't deny what exists.

Some more perspective for you. This was the government's finding on how the police department in Baltimore does business:

In Baltimore, a city that is 63 percent black, the Justice Department found that 91 percent of those arrested on discretionary offenses like “failure to obey” or “trespassing” were African-American. Blacks make up 60 percent of Baltimore’s drivers but account for 82 percent of traffic stops. Of the 410 pedestrians who were stopped at least 10 times in the five and a half years of data reviewed, 95 percent were black.

OK, you don't want to answer my question, you want to discuss statistics instead. OK, I'll play along. Blacks make up 13% of the American population, yet they are responsible for over half of America's violent crime.

From 1980 to 2008, blacks accounted for 52.5% of of homicide offenders (whites 45.3% and "other" 2.2%. - U.S. Department of Justice - Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Shouldn't the crime rate be somewhat proportionate to the population? Why isn't it?

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

.

You really didn't answer my question though. What opportunities are minorities lacking today?

The only things I can think of as of today are having a prime time show on MSNBC and being nominated for an Oscar .