If the majority of white Americans were 'decent' as they keep telling me, two Black men minding their business wouldn't have to deal with a handful of racists who targeted them simply because of the prejudice.

But there's the rub. White American want us to believe the majority of them aren't racist bigots with no actual evidence to support the claim.

What we do see is racists working together to harass and marginalize Black people with very little push back from white folks.

I would absolutely love to believe the majority of white America aren't racist and hateful pieces of shit.

But the evidence shows them not intervening when their racist counterparts act. The evidence shows us that most of them support racist and sexist politicians. The evidence shows us most white people support harsher sentencing for Black people for the same crimes they commit.

I'm not saying most white people are racist. That is what they are telling us.

@Are0h Do you have a link you can recommend to read about what happened? I'm not familiar with the story.

@christianbundy It is very easy to find if you look for it.

@Are0h Sweet, just found a Salon article that seems to do the trick. Thanks.

@alfred That would be amazing. There has never been a moment when Brown, Black and Native folks have had a break from racism because the alleged Good Whites™ are so quiet.

@alfred That's the culture in the States. Anything that interrupts that bubble is 'terrorism'.

Well, except when white people do it. Then it's just an 'isolated incident'.

@Are0h White people think "not being racist" means not physically lynching folks, forgetting that it was a whole public event. They can jump through so many hoops to avoid culpability.

@guerrillablack That's what they do. They've built an entire culture around denying the truth. They have made affirming each other's bullshit a lifestyle.

Ironically, this is just confirmation that they know what they are doing is wrong. Why else would the put so much effort into denying the very thing reality says over and over again.

@Are0h Oh, they absolutely know because no one wants to be treated like a black person. They won't admit that racism is a thing that they participate in, but they sure as hell don't wanna trade shoes. Hmmm. 🤔🤔🤔

@guerrillablack Ha, you on it. That's why I always say it's not ignorance.

White people, racist or not, know what they are doing. They could stop racism today if they wanted to.

But they won't.

@Are0h But stopping racism would mean getting off their comfortable lazy-boy recliner!!!

@guerrillablack And you know we can't have that, despite the fact white people's apathy is a big factor into why their population is in rapid decline.

But hey. Maybe Darwin was right.

@Are0h @guerrillablack This got me thinking. I’m a married white male and my wife and I don’t have kids and don’t plan to have any. I had never really thought about apathy in this context before. There are all kinds of ramifications to be considered here like duty to society and the future of mankind.

@feoh @guerrillablack There is & that expectation is always put on non-white communities when it comes to crime, education, healthcare etc. There is expectation that we should be responsible for our hoods. And that's cool.

However, when that expectation is placed upon white Americas as far as dealing with the gun violence (mass shootings) and racism, it's usually 'it's not that simple' or 'not all white people' or 'that's reverse racism'.

There is always some excuse to shirk responsibility

@Are0h @guerrillablack Totally agree. I also think there are aspects of the gun violence problem that go beyond race - the wretched state of our mental health care system cross-cuts boundaries. In so many of these cases there were significant outward signs, and if we had a mental health care system worth its salt, we'd be getting these people the help they need.

@Are0h I want to be the one who says "pardon me, officer; I'm also waiting for a friend to arrive" and force their hand

But their hand has a gun and that's really not something I can ignore

@rey Welcome to the reality of most non white people in America.

We can't ignore it either, but we don't get the option to opt out of injustice.

@Are0h yeah :<

fwiw if it were two white dudes getting arrested, i'd also be too afraid to intervene. the thing i find troubling is that most white folks don't understand that *summoning the cops is a violent act* ... we're taught from an early age that the police are our friends and that they can solve our problems for us

and then we're shocked -- SHOCKED -- when their solution is to murder the guy who "looked suspicious" because he was armed with an iPhone

@rey The equivalancy is not the same as white people simply aren't arrested at the same rates and it is far less likely the police would be called in that circumstance if they two men were white. And we both know the police are far less likely to resort to violence when it comes to unarmed white people.

I'm not saying every white person should put themselves in harm's way.

But there is very little resistance from white people that think they're 'allies'.

That's a problem.

@Are0h yeah... like honestly i'd probably be in shock if this situation happened *at all* w/ two white guys. i can't even imagine it.

why not? well, i was raised to be racist, to be classist, to be sexist, to be homophobic, to be transphobic. the programming goes deep.

i suspect this wasn't uncommon among my generation, although we never really talk about it. i, for one, am embarrassed by it.

it's just something that parents have the right to inflict upon their children. :<

@rey I get that but most of us are this way in the States, yet a lot of us are able to not be hateful bigots. White America is still making the decision to either not do anything about it or continue. Either results in proliferation of racism.

Being embarrassed just isn't enough. I appreciate the sentiment, but it doesn't really do anything.

Being embarrassed about sexism isn't enough. As a dude, I need to get some skin in the game.

Same with white people and racism.

@Are0h nodnod... i am in no way claiming to be doing enough.

but i'm just sitting here thinking "you know, the hateful bigots are a distraction from the actual problems."

locking our car doors when we can't avoid driving through the "black part of town" is so fucking wrong.

and when a kid is in the car... they notice. (i did, at least.)

(note: these are New Thoughts for me. i appreciate your help in coaxing them out. i'm gonna chew on this...)

@rey If it's one thing I could impart to white people it's that bigots _are_ the actual problem. That is the contingent that is keeping America from moving forward. That's how the majority of white people vote.

If it was just about feelings, I wouldn't care at all. But it isn't. White people are voting against healthcare, infrastructure spending, good schools, etc because they don't want non-whtei people to have them. It's insanity.

And white people need to deal with that.

@Are0h this is also so very very true and we gotta do better at calling it out.

arguing against universal healthcare isn't arguing for a competitive business environment or consumer choice or avoiding bureaucratic morass. it's about making sure that we (wealthy white people) aren't burdened by them (non-weathy, non-white people).

it's not about taxes or free markets or choice. it's about racism. it's about classism. it's about sexism.

it's about being complicit in genocide.

@rey Yeah, that's the whole thing.

I'm anti-racist not because I dislike white people. I'm anti-racist because people shouldn't be suffering based on one groups completely fabricated biases. That's not right.

And absolutely agreed. There is a solution for whatever problem we have in the States. We just don't do it because most people are bigots. And American society enables these fools.

It's the 21st century and it's absurd we're still struggling with sexism, racism, etc.

@rey @Are0h I learned in my late teens/early 20s you can't (fully) trust the cops. The problem is cops have one tool, arrests (or writing a ticket which is the same thing in effect). When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

@skquinn @rey This is false. Law enforcement have many tools at their disposal. Certain ones are just emphasized over others depending on who is being policed.

We have seem plenty of examples of police de-escalting situations, which they are trained to do.

However, there is rarely a consequence when they resort to violence, especially if the victim is Black.

That's a systemic issue, not a lack of tools. The police are kept this way for a reason.

@Are0h I thought someone did step in and say something? (It didn't do any good, but.)

You're not wrong in general, of course, but that detail has come up in a couple of the write-ups I've read about the incident.

@greyduck Key phrase here is 'say' not 'do'. It's very easy to voice one's displeasure and that's fine. But it didn't stop anything. That's my problem.

Bigots are usually given free reign to do whatever they want even though they are supposed to be the minority.

When white people start putting themselves between racists and us, then I'll be impressed. Until then, it's all window dressing and masturbation.

@Are0h Fair point, yeah.