Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
7 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
I hold myself up to the judgment of this group regarding this accusation (Original Post) stevenleser Apr 2016 OP
Okay, is this the same problem with people not understanding what a generalization is? betsuni Apr 2016 #1
I think that's pretty much it. I thought the article was fair whatever folks think of the premise. stevenleser Apr 2016 #3
My husband had a student in his college writing class radical noodle Apr 2016 #2
This message was self-deleted by its author imari362 Apr 2016 #4
my 2 pennies steve2470 Apr 2016 #5
Depends on your motives. If Bill O'Reilly wrote that, knowing what a racist Jackie Wilson Said Apr 2016 #6
No ... I do not think you are racist for holding that opinion ... 1StrongBlackMan Apr 2016 #7

betsuni

(25,596 posts)
1. Okay, is this the same problem with people not understanding what a generalization is?
Thu Apr 7, 2016, 11:59 PM
Apr 2016

Or pretending to? It's impossible to discuss human behavior without it. More alarums and excursions about nothing.

 

stevenleser

(32,886 posts)
3. I think that's pretty much it. I thought the article was fair whatever folks think of the premise.
Fri Apr 8, 2016, 12:39 AM
Apr 2016

I think some white folks who don't really understand the black community's complex relationship with law enforcement assume that it's all a one sided opinion. It's not.

radical noodle

(8,010 posts)
2. My husband had a student in his college writing class
Fri Apr 8, 2016, 12:08 AM
Apr 2016

Someone she and her family knew came in their home and murdered her brother and shot her mother while she watched as a child. As the scene unfolded, she was taken across the street to a neighbor's house. They warned her not to tell the police who did it. There seemed to have been two reasons for this. One appeared to have been a certain loyalty to someone in the community. The other was that they were afraid of retaliation if she identified them. She wrote about this event in an essay for the class, including the part about being afraid to tell the police and how it tore her apart. She was only about 8 years old at the time, and it was heart breaking. Sometimes there are no easy choices.

White folks cover up for their criminals all the time but in a different way. Look at the Affluenza kid in Texas. Not only did his parents defend him after he killed what... 4 people? In addition the judge gave him a pass and sentenced him to probation. We all know that if he had been a black kid that he would have been in jail for life and he would be lucky not to be on death row.

I'm not speaking for this group at all, since I am new here and I don't feel qualified to do so. But while we might agree that "no snitching" may be the wrong approach for law enforcement purposes, I think one must ask if they have good reasons for it and how often it really happens.

Response to stevenleser (Original post)

steve2470

(37,457 posts)
5. my 2 pennies
Fri Apr 8, 2016, 02:58 AM
Apr 2016

I'm a white guy, so I'm not who you're seeking feedback from. I do, however, have some experience with the "no snitching" rule.

I used to work in a state prison. The code amongst prisoners is "no snitching". Why ? For pure survival reasons. If a prisoner were to go to the correctional officers and "snitch" on another prisoner, fairly soon the snitch would get "stitches". The other reason is that the prisoners hated the prison authority, along with some of the correctional officers. They had some respect and even liking for the officers who tried hard to be fair and not overbearing. However, there STILL was no snitching even to those officers.

Unfortunately, most of law enforcement have made themselves the enemy of the PoC community. So, there might be a dynamic in play of the community protecting their own, if that rule does exist.

For the record: In the state prison, the no snitching rule was across all racial and ethnic lines. Also, I have absolutely no idea if there is a "no snitching" rule in play in the PoC community. To be fair, in the white community in some circles there is a no snitching rule. I've seen it in action in my younger days. I no longer associate with those people.

tl;dr: No, I don't think you're racist. You're to be admired for regularly going into the bellies of the RW beasts and doing battle.

Jackie Wilson Said

(4,176 posts)
6. Depends on your motives. If Bill O'Reilly wrote that, knowing what a racist
Fri Apr 8, 2016, 11:32 AM
Apr 2016

he is, I would know his motives are not to help the African American community or whoever. And I would see it as very racist.

Knowing what little I know of you, what little I have read on just this message board, I dont think you could be more different from O'Reilly or assholes like him.

 

1StrongBlackMan

(31,849 posts)
7. No ... I do not think you are racist for holding that opinion ...
Fri Apr 8, 2016, 01:14 PM
Apr 2016

I do, however, also, think in forming your opinion you lack an understanding on how and why the "code" came about ... It was never a matter of loyalty; but rather, a distrust of law enforcement.

Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»African American»I hold myself up to the j...