Like I said before, it is confirmation bias at work. A black person killed by a white cop is national news. A white person being killed isn’t. Most of us get our news from national sources so it seems like it’s only black people cops are unjustly killing. Seeing that makes more people feel that racism is a big problem which leads to them being interested in hearing about it which leads to the news covering it more which leads to more people feeling like racism is a big problem which leads to… It’s a reinforcing cycle.
The more cynical side to me says that it’s an easy solution to a complex problem. Instead of having to deal with the complex issues of class, guns, crime, culture of violence, incarceration rates we can just fix racism and everything will be better. That’s not true, but it’s easy to see why it’s an attractive option to leaders.
The realllllllllllly cynical side to me looks at movements like BLM and sees a lot of demands for money. Whether that be through funding diversity programs, giving preference to minorities in hiring, or creating positions that a minority candidate will almost certainly fill. Then there’s the more direct money making by people like Al Sharpton who has made millions off racism.
This makes it incredibly easy to ignore the possibility that some racism, whether systemic or by individuals, might actually be involved.
I’m incredibly hesitant to dismiss the reports of most black people about how they are treated – in all of American history, whenever there was a difference of average opinion between black Americans and white Americans on some issue of how black people were being treated, black people were literally always right. It would take an enormous amount of data for me to believe that this was suddenly different and black people were suddenly less honest, trustworthy, and perceptive about their own experiences now than in the past.
The countries long, rich history of racial conflict is why, on top of the fact that there has been a greater emphasis on social pushes with the popularity of social media, these days. But none of the underlying issues are in any way new.
As to your link, maybe you can start a thread about it and see if people have similar attitudes towards civilian vs police conduct:
*"According to the Fresno police department’s explanation of the shooting, officers were investigating reports of man carrying a rifle at around 3.20pm when they spotted Noble driving in a pickup truck and pulled him over at a Chevron gas station.
The department claimed that Noble repeatedly refused to show his hands, said he “hated his life”, and eventually advanced toward the officers, who fired four bullets at him. Police chief Jerry Dyer told the Guardian last week that the officers believed Noble had a firearm, but that police later discovered he had no weapon on him or in his vehicle."*
You think there is a difference. These issues don’t exist in isolation, because you find it more convenient to cope with them that way. The historical context lends a direct answer to your question (which is much more than 30 years old, given we have generations of people still alive from the civil rights era).
You realize the italicized text is a direct quote from the article you posted, right? Your response is revealing.
I don’t believe you have any basis for this claim, beyond than the general fact that black people have historically faced discrimination in the US.
It would take an enormous amount of data for me to believe that any group is able to (collectively) accurately assess how well they’re being treated as compared to other groups.
It’s an opinion and a value judgment. Do you disagree? If so, on what issues, historically, related to society’s treatment of black people, do you think that the majority of black people have been wrong about?
No, it’s not. It’s a factual statement, and one for which you have zero basis.
I don’t have any more basis for an opinion on this than you have. So I’m refraining from staking a definitive position.
Crucial points I don’t have any facts about include:
[ul]
[li]Precisely what black people historically thought about how they were being treated.[/li][li]Precisely what white people historically thought about how black people were being treated.[/li][li]How close the truth was to either of the above.[/li][/ul]
Without any factual basis for an opinion on the historical question, my assumption is, as previously stated, that it would take an enormous amount of data for me to believe that any group is able to (collectively) accurately assess how well they’re being treated as compared to other groups.
I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree about whether the thing I said was an opinion or a factual statement.
In my opinion it was an opinion.
I have pretty strong opinions on all three of those, based on writings of both blacks and whites contemporary to various major issues of the day (slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, Civil Rights, etc.). I guess you don’t.
