Joe Biden has called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, moments after shocking police video was released showing an Illinois officer fatally shooting Sonya Massey after she called police fearing a home intruder.
In his first public statement since dropping his bid for re-election, Biden said the shooting of Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, by white Sangamon county sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, in her home in Springfield, after a dispute over a pot of boiling water, “reminds us that all too often Black Americans face fears for their safety in ways many of the rest of us do not”.
Biden, who is recovering from Covid at his home in Delaware, said Massey, “a beloved mother, friend, daughter and young Black woman … should be alive today”.
I can’t wait for Americans to stop talking about race like it matters…
Shut the fuck up.
Some people just want racism to stay forever …
You’re not fooling anyone.
Fooling? Pal, when I lived in America briefly, that was the first time in my entire life I heard someone say ‘removed,’ with sincerity about a black person… with zero shame… Just fucking meant it.
Americans treatment of race across the board is fucked. The fact that so many well-meaning people who want a world where race is as important as hair colour, won’t stop making race relevant in every conversation…
It’s absolutely fucked.
Middle aged white dude in 'merica here. The amount of legitimate racists who openly identify themselves when I drive my old beat up pickup truck is insane.
We have a real problem that requires we focus on race until we remove racists from power. Well meaning people are just those fighting the issue of racism. You may see it different but we won’t fix it by ignoring it.
He doesn’t see it differently, he’s a concern trolling racist a step away from screeching All Lives Matter.
Fair opinion… But if you actually listen to the racist for 5 seconds they directly use the kinds of rhetoric I’m referring to to legitimise their rhetoric and behaviours.
One can battle racists and racism, without being racist. Unfortunately, there have been many many cases of Americans not understanding that in recent years.
It’s probably a loud small group, but your comments suggest that it’s still a problem.
From my experience in semi rural America it’s 50/50. I drive the old shit truck and hear racist shit from about half the white people I interact with. It’s not a loud small group unfortunately. It’s a group that stays quiet around brown people or foreign people that only speaks when it feels comfortable thinking it’s around other racists. I used to think it was a loud small group. Now, I cannot overstate how unbelievably racist they are.
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Yeah but her race is irrelevant to her behaviours on the night she died.
If you watch the tape, and want to say that her race is relevant to her behaviours…m that’s pretty racist.
And her behaviours are undoubtedly deserving of asking for id, and her threatening behaviour is absolutely worth self defense.
Unless you think a black cop would have taken that water?
Or that a cop of any race would have taken that from a white person… or a Hispanic person.
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Huh? why would I argue a point that you brought up?
Why try strawman me? to argue with someone else? Goargue with someone else if you want to argue their points.
I watched the video. She brought it entirely upon herself Unfortunately. She literally called 911 and then behaved that way. Probably suicide by cop, but who knows. You can never know that kind of thing.
not if the cop views her as someone beneath him and thinks she deserves violence due to her skin. fuck that cop.
lol her “threatening behavior”?!?!
She picked up a pot of boiling water and said ‘i will remake you in the name of jesus/christ.’
Can’t remember the exact wording. And that was after all of what she said and did before that moment. Did you watch the footage? You can see her behaviour.
Why do you think her race is more relevant than… Her gender?
Or hair colour? Serious questions. What brings you to her conclusion?
So hang on, you’ve correctly identified there’s a lot of racism in the US, but your solution… Is that we shouldn’t bring up race in racially biased situations? We shouldn’t call out racism?
???
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Ignoring race, because you keep bringing it up to excuse shitty Police behavior.
Police closing the distance on someone they see as violent is an escalation of violence. She would very likely be alive today if they didn’t choose to make the situation worse by escalating.
Pulling a gun and retreating, then shooting if she advanced, yep shooting is fine. Putting her in a corner and shooting when she flinches thinking she’s about to die? That’s murder. I don’t know how you are too dumb to understand this.
Did you watch the tape?
This is a strangely telling detail for you to have included. You cannot see Sonya Massey’s face or movements in the moments leading up to the shots being fired – Her entire body is obfuscated behind both the kitchen counter and Sean Grayson’s body as he steps between Massey and his partner.
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Lmao, what a bunch of bullshit. “With anger in her face”
There’s like a half second of video that’s not covered by the guy’s arm (after she squatted, I mean) but the guy here, who’s not a racist btw, saw an angry woman trying to kill some cops with some hot water. Literally all you have to do is stay more than 2-3 meters away and nothing will happen to you, but whatever, I guess she got what she deserved.
Also, she said it very dryly, hardly angry or threateningly. And even if she were, in what world is a cop replying with “you’d better not, I’ll fucking shoot you in your fucking face” a normal, disarming response?
Didn’t you just claim it was obscured?
And immediately, here is a picture of it not being obscured.
Look, I agree with you in regular situations. I am frequently frustrated that racism is perpetuated by those claiming to abhor it.
However, you cannot credibly claim that race did not matter in this example.
Leading by example for the next generation by never making race an issue yourself is noble. Refusing to acknowledge naked racism when you encounter it is wrong.
This is the same kind of argument as violence really. Take a lesson from martial arts tradition. Never be try one to bring violence. However, knowing how to defend the weak when violence comes to them is something else.
I mean, we have statistics that say this is a racially biased problem. By default the conversation needs to involve race.
I would love this to be teased out.
Could you explain the chain of events that specifically means this cop deserves to lose his job and be called a murdered… Because of those statistics.
Genuinely i think it would be educational if everyone understood that chain of logic…
As soon as it stops mattering, they will.
Imho… you normalise thinking that race matters when race is brought into as many things as possible
You legitimise their rhetoric to an extent
Conservatives hate being called racist. What exactly is this legitimizing?
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I feel like I’m asking the same question twice: what lessons do they learn?
That it’s ok to make issues about a person’s race . Even if race has nothing to do with it.
So the problem with calling too many things racist is that… people think about racism.
Think about it how? What are the consequences of people thinking more things are racially motivated than there are?
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You read this story and splurted out that sentence?
I watched the footage.
Her race is irrelevant to the what went down… Obviously.
Obviously it matters. It’s just that there’s no better or worse race but we are all different. Ignoring the differences is equally discriminating. We are all equal in human rights but we are not clones.
Like I said… As much as hair colour.
We will get there some day
Not really as hair colour unless hair colour is connected to culture and heritage. Diversity isn’t something to be pursued just because of social justice but it is a genuinely good thing for society and exchange of ideas. Homogeneous societies are stale and uncreative. When many cultures work together they are stronger than all of them separately.
Lol… of fucking course hair colour is connected to culture and heritage!? In the precise same ways that race is.
Nobody here wants a homogenous society. Why you tryna strawman me?!
I am the one arguing that race should matter as much as hair colour so nobody even notices when brunettes and gingers and blondes work together etc.
It’s crazy that you made up another person just now… wtf
The original phrasing of your comment is bound to evoke such responses, it comes off as a bit culturally blue pilled so to say hence mixed reactions.
If you were a political candidate it could cost you a lot for example but obviously this is just forum. You will just get some scolding and that’s it. Take it as free of charge friendly advice
Slack is understandable…
But people making shit up is not.