Posts by Hisclarkness

246

Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i agree with people who say all lives matter.

i think blm is a racist group.

if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..

Hisclarkness

Here’s one more statistic about the number of deaths while in police custody in the US compared to Australia and the UK:

Last year, 1,348 in the US died AFTER being taken into police custody. That’s 12 per every 100K arrests.

Australia had 21 people die. That’s 5 for every 100K arrests.

The UK had 13 people. That’s 2 per 100k arrests.

Why such the disparity? We are not talking about the people dying while police are in pursuit. We are talking about after they are already in custody. This is a police brutality issue.

246

Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i agree with people who say all lives matter.

i think blm is a racist group.

if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..

Hisclarkness

Simon, here are my statistics:

Go to the FBI website and look at their latest data.

Here are some highlights:

5025 black people were arrested last year for murder. It is important to note that this is the number of arrests; this number doesn’t show if a person was arrested multiple times or if that person was later proven not guilty. But let’s just go with this number.

There were 9468 murders committed last year. So black people committed approximately 53% of the murders. That looks bad.

The FBI website says that there were approximately 47 million black people in the US last year. That’s around 13% of the population. But if only 5023 black people were arrested (assuming they were all different people) then that means that only 0.010% of black people are murderers.

If I compare that same data to white people, then only 0.0050% of white people are murderers.

If you add up all the crime arrests and not just murder and crunch the same data, then the numbers will show that 94.6% of black people are law abiding citizens compared to 95.8% of white people. Those numbers are not far off from one another at all.

Crime is related to poverty. What about those statistics?

Go to the Bureau of Justice website and look at their data. Here are some highlights:

poor Hispanics (25.3 per 1,000) had lower rates of violence compared to poor whites (46.4 per 1,000) and poor blacks (43.4 per 1,000)
Poor persons living in urban areas (43.9 per 1,000) had violent victimization rates similar to poor persons living in rural areas (38.8 per 1,000)
Poor urban blacks (51.3 per 1,000) had rates of violence similar to poor urban whites (56.4 per 1,000)
Violence against persons in poor (51%) and low income (50%) households was more likely to be reported to the police than violence against persons in mid-(43%) and high-income (45%) households.

So according to statistics black crime in poor and urban areas is similar to white crime in those same areas.

Other highlights:

“Black on black” is 63% while “white on white” crime is 56%.

Again, the numbers are not terribly far off from one another. But why is “black on black” crime even a thing? Why don’t we ever talk about “white on white” crime?

Go back to the FBI website data.

Black on black murder rate is 89%

White on white murder rate is 81%

To even bring up black on black crime as if that’s something black people don’t care about is careless and disingenuous. Just because you don’t see everything black people do to address black on black crime, does that mean the efforts don’t exist?

This is a statistic from the US Partnership on Mobility and Poverty: the average white person lives in an area that is 75% white and 8% percent black.

So how do you presume to know that no one is addressing the “black on black” crime?

A recent peer review study showed that black people have the highest rate of community service at 52.9% compared to white people at 41.9%.

The latest charitable giving as a share of median family wealth data shows that black people give 8% compared to white people at 2%.

Why are these numbers important? Do a quick google search on the number of black lives matter protests. Now google the number of “stop the violence” rallies.

I believe the data will show that black people DO in fact care about black on black crime in their communities. Black people commit more time and money to the crime happening in their communities than white people. There are hundreds of black fraternities, sororities, church groups, mentoring organizations, after school programs, community centers, athletic teams, science clubs, music groups, and even FISH FRIES dedicated to stopping violence in black communities. However, this should not be an issue to be brought up to deflect from the OP of this thread.

So after reading all this data showing that rates are pretty similar across the board and that black people actually invest MORE time and money towards solving these issues, why do people still insist with the perception that black men are more dangerous than white men??

246

Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i agree with people who say all lives matter.

i think blm is a racist group.

if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..

Hisclarkness

Pete Zahut,

Im sorry for all of the negative experiences you’ve faced. You are correct. Those things should not have happened to you.

I’ve said my peace on the issue. I don’t wish to argue with anyone online. I hope this discussion can continue on in productive ways.

246

Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i agree with people who say all lives matter.

i think blm is a racist group.

if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..

Hisclarkness

Simon said:

” Don't tell people they are racist for not wanting to be victims. Blame the people who do the victimizing that people like you defend and excuse rather than identify and condemn.”

I was very careful NOT to call anybody racist. In fact, I said that EVERYBODY has implicit bias and that we have to work together to eradicate unfounded biases. I also explicitly said that this is NOT about making white people fell guilty about being white or about something that happened in the past that no one can control.

Simon, you always want to talk about statistics. I have so many statistics that I could cite but I have a feeling that I could flood this forum with statistics and that it really wouldn’t change anything that much because people want to believe what they want to believe.

This is the problem. We keep talking past each other and no one is trying to listen to what the other has to say.

246

Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i agree with people who say all lives matter.

i think blm is a racist group.

if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..

Hisclarkness

Pete Zahut said:

“ Did I deny your experience or the experiences of millions of people of color? If you read my post again you’ll see that all I did was relate my own experiences with injustices and unfairness as a white man. You decided that I was denying your experiences, all by your self.”

If someone comes to you in grief and says that there mom just died, it would be insensitive to respond with, “so what! My mom died too and you don’t see me crying and grieving like you are!”

In general you don’t respond to someone’s grievance by recounting your own. It’s called empathy. You might not have denied my experience but you effectively invalidated and deflected it.

Peter Zahut said:

“ Thats exactly what you’re doing when you call an entire race of people that you don’t even know, privileged « across the board regardless of their personal circumstances. Isn’t it the height of racism to paint an entire race of people with the same broad brush?”

You are confusing racism with prejudice and bias. I believe the word privilege is throwing some people off here but if you read my explanation I don’t believe it is a hard concept to grasp. And I have acknowledged multiple times that bias exists in everyone regardless of race.

Saying that IN GENERAL (which I believe I said) white people don’t have to deal with daily negative assumptions based on their race that can impact directly impact their ability to succeed economically is not a racist statement. It’s just a fact.

If a white person says that black people have more melanin in their skin and therefore enjoy a bit (A BIT, lol) more tolerance towards sunburn, skin disease, and skin cancer, that is not a racist statement. You have stated a fact.

246

Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i agree with people who say all lives matter.

i think blm is a racist group.

if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..

Hisclarkness

Pete Zahut said:

“ Do you think it's helpful to tell someone who did every kind of unpleasant job and struggled to get everything he got, that he's privileged? Especially when there are so many people of color who are doing well and wouldn't stoop to doing any kind of unpleasant job themselves?”

White privilege has nothing to do with your background, your education, or your wealth. Nobody is saying that white people don’t struggle or have problems. White privilege has to do with implicit bias and how you are perceived by others. IN GENERAL (because of course there are always outlying examples) a white person can walk down the street without someone assuming they are a thug, or a criminal, or uneducated, or a danger or a threat.

Pete Zahut said:

“ How awful....someone chose a poorly though out way of complimenting you.”

I mentioned that such comments do not affect my ability to work hard and succeed in life. Yet, it is this attitude, even at the smallest levels that continues to seep into overall mentalities and continuously feed on the stereotypes. And frankly, no stereotypes are good, even if they seem complimentary on the surface because it is lumping you into a group rather than letting you be judged as an individual.

Pete Zahut said:

“ Can't tell you how many times as grown man black people have told me that I dance pretty well for a WHITE BOY? You're kinda cute for a WHITE BOY ?? I didn't think White people liked spicy food.”

You’re right. It’s the same thing but towards you. The difference, however, is that it is white people who GENERALLY control the decision makings at the top . When they bring those implicit biases (oftentimes unintentionally) it contributes to a system of structured bias. How many times can white people say that they’ve been the only white person in any given space? Yes, I am aware that they are MANY white people who live in predominantly black neighborhoods or who use to go to a predominantly black Kingdom Hall, etc. I am speaking ON THE WHOLE. Most white people have never been in that situation. People of color face those environments on a daily basis.

Pete Zahut said:

“ I'm blonde haired blue eyed Brad Pitt lookin baby faced male and I can't tell you how many times women have crossed an empty street when they've seen me coming toward them. How many women have pulled their children in close when I got on an elevator with them. How many times I've been doing the speed limit and pulled over by a white police officer simply because I was in a sporty car and was young. I had a tail light burned out and was afraid I'd get a ticket so I immediately went into an auto parts store to get a bulb. I went outside and began changing my tail light and two police cars suddenly surrounded me and demanded my I.D and wanted to know what I was doing. I got annoyed with them and one of them lunged toward me but fortunately his partner pulled him back otherwise I'd have had my ass kicked. Another time I was driving through my JW friends neighborhood at night and the cops pulled me over because there had been a robbery and they wanted to know what I was doing in that neighborhood.”

Again, you are right. In my previous post I didn’t deny the fact that we ALL have implicit biases. I gave an example of an old women who would RIGHTLY take precaution against a younger stronger man. But there’s a difference between that and taking DIFFERENT precautions between a white man and a black man.

And with the police, again you are right. Policing and police brutality are huge issues. You will get no argument from me there. But there are also some racial elements in policing as well. I AM NOT SAYING THAT ALL POLICE ARE RACIST. I’m saying it is a complex issue that is often a COMBINATION police tactics, training, implicit bias, and yes, structural racism.

Pete Zahut said:

“ Just because you don't hear about police injustice to whites doesn't mean it doesn't happen. ”

I never said that. You are right. That would fall under the category of police brutality, which I have already acknowledged. That doesn’t mean that the racial component is not there.

In conclusion, I have not denied your experiences. Please don’t deny my experiences or the experiences of millions of people of color. Nobody is trying to point the finger at anybody. (Again, a general statement. Anybody can find outlying examples to the contrary of anything.) We just need to work together and collectively solve whatever issues we are facing as a society.

246

Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i agree with people who say all lives matter.

i think blm is a racist group.

if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..

Hisclarkness

Long haired girl,

I am sorry for your experience. I truly am. And I don’t blame you for one second for having suspicions based on your experience. This is what we all have developed in us on an evolutionary level in order to survive.

And yet, this is the very thing that we have to root out of ourselves.

You experienced a mugging by two black men. So naturally you are suspicious of black men, especially ones “not so well dressed”.

And yet, black men are NOT inherently more dangerous than white men or asian men or Latino men. You have developed an implicit bias (through no fault of your own!) out of fear for survival.

So what to do?

The next time you are in the presence of a black man and those feelings creep up into your psyche, ask yourself, “Why am I afraid? Has this particular person given me reason for fear or is my fear based purely on my past experience? (Implicit bias)” Work to subdue the unfounded fears and don’t act on them. These are the small steps needed to work towards the bigger steps.

And to be clear: checking your implicit bias and taking proper precautions are two different things. An old feeble lady might take precautions against ANY younger stronger man regardless of race. But the caveat is; does she find herself taking MORE precaution against a black man than a white man? That’s the implicit bias!

246

Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i agree with people who say all lives matter.

i think blm is a racist group.

if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..

Hisclarkness

Thank you, jp1692!

All I want is to have a productive conversation and not have people talking at and past each other.

Lets get facts and work together to solve our issues collectively.

246

Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i agree with people who say all lives matter.

i think blm is a racist group.

if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..

Hisclarkness

It is hard to have a discussion on white privelege because we are talking primarily about perceptions and implicit bias which creep into society through policies and laws and social orders.

I can’t tell you about the many times someone has exclaimed to me, “oh, you speak so well!” which is code for, “oh! I don’t expect a black man to be so articulate! I’m surprised!”

I can’t tell you about the many times a white women has visibly clutched her purse as I joined her in an elevator, or the times I’ve been followed or closely watched in a store, or walked into a luxury department store and not been given the time of day because the salesperson assumed I wasn’t going to buy anything.And before you think it, I am very well dressed and presentable.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard car doors click locked as I pass by them on the sidewalk while they are waiting at the light.

I can’t tell you about the times people have assumed I like listening to rap music. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been greeted by a white person with a “yo, yo ,yo” or “wasSUUP” or any other stereotypical African American vernacular that the person assumed I spoke and tried to fit in an be “cool” with me.

Now, none of these things have to do directly with me working hard and achieving success. I am still able to do that. But the people who carry these perceptions are the same people in the board rooms and in the law chambers. These are the same people who determine whether or not I get that loan or job or whatever.

It is not explicit. It is implicit bias. Implicit bias is something we ALL have. In this case we are talking about implicit bias towards black people based on preconceived stereotypes and history.

246

Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i agree with people who say all lives matter.

i think blm is a racist group.

if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..

Hisclarkness

This issue is not to guilt trip white people. White people should not have to feel guilty about being white. Nor should they have to feel guilty about the past. That is not what this is about. It is about acknowledging that these things happened and are still happening and that they must stop.