“This doesn’t mean shit.”
Just read this article by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Time Magazine and he offers another spin, about it not being merely about race; but about class in general. Very intriguing stuff. Not sure If I agree with it, but that’s a very interesting spin on this clusterfuck we are witnessing.
[quote=“Shin_Jr, post:401, topic:170997”]
“This doesn’t mean shit.”
[/quote]To be fair, a velcro patch that says “press” isn’t the same thing as a photo ID press badge; the patch can easily misplaced and picked up by someone else, which is ironic because the reporter ended up losing his photo ID press badge when running from the police. I’m not sure what the press velcro patches are for (I guess ID’ing press from afar?), but clearly it’s not meant for getting past police checkpoints for the press. Not saying that I agree with how the situation was handled, but that’s my take on it. “This [patch] doesn’t mean shit” =/= “You being media doesn’t mean shit”
the police didn’t care. reports say they snatched that shit anyway. others say they fired tear gas anyway. doesn’t matter regardless if you have an id or not.
I’m talking about that specific incident. I’m aware of everything else.
Attempts to smear the victim should be handled with extreme caution - consider the following: does any of the new information regarding Brown justify his execution style murder when he was in fact unarmed? The obvious answer is no.
Everyone in this thread propping up the role race plays in the anger of the workers of Ferguson should definitely reconsider; race politics was immediately brought in via cynical gestures of “unity” by democratic party apologists such as Rep Lewis, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson etc. and they all unanimously urged state intervention by various organizations (FBI by NAACP/Sharpton, Natl. Guard by Lewis) with various justifications ranging from “protecting the right to protest” (Lewis trying to use his experiences during the civil rights movement to push for martial law) to maintaining order (even stated by Obama!). The incident was clearly a murder, and the state and all of the organization which serve the state will do nothing but prevent social opposition from intensifying. This is because the real issue which angers the residents of Ferguson is social inequality; multiple interviews with residents repeatedly confirm the contradictions which they face. People cite the backwardness of militarizing the police force with workers’ tax money, but no money spent on jobs programs, education, infrastructure etc.
What really divides the workers of Ferguson as well as the protesters in NYC - even Israel and Gaza (http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/08/13/palestinians-in-gaza-tweet-their-solidarity-with-ferguson-protesters/) - is class. The financial aristocracy are unable to make any concessions in the current era, therefore their only choice is to forcefully crush social opposition to their policies of inequality and war. Prepare to see much more of this in the future.
It’s maintained that because no one can get any answers out of the government. I’ve been saying this from the jump. That a lot of the protesting would calm down if the community got answers and it’s going on for nearly 2 weeks with no answers. It shouldn’t take almost 2 weeks to get answers in a situation like Ferguson (at least basic answers). If you take what most hear now what do the stealing of the cigars have to do with anything involving the actual incident? The police chief came out and said Darren Wilson did not know anything about the robbery so why release the video when it has nothing to do with the situation?
I still contend that the rioting and looting are the only ways to get something moving in Ferguson. You have the state now involved and Eric Holder having to get involved and still very little from the government. It’s ridiculous that you have three sets of governments involved and still there has been very little movement in the case at all.
As far as it being a race issue I believe it is a race issue at its core (even though most here won’t agree). Most of the stuff that is being done in Ferguson is the same textbook stuff they do in incidents where the victim is black in a majority black neighborhood from the government all the way down to the media. I just find it funny, yet sad though getting Obama to comment on this situation though is like pulling teeth but in less serious situations Obama is out there to the media in a heart beat.
The issue is social inequality. While the black working class generally suffers greater inequality, the entire issue is that of class, and it can only be defended on a class basis. Take for example the fact that the democratic party from Obama to Lewis to Sharpton all called for state intervention against the protesting workers while channeling the frustration of the angry masses into the realm of race politics, which they champion.
Photos of the Canfield truck arrest :
Video from MSNBC’s broadcast capturing the arrests (starts around 4:03):
[quote=“Spirit_Juice, post:404, topic:170997”]
To be fair, this is a free country and you shouldn’t need approval from powerdrunk bros with assault rifles to walk down the street.
To keep up with all the 14 year old Gangstas armed with AKs
To keep up with all the 14 year old Gangstas armed with AKs
Standing still. Now illegal.
Even New York does that.
savages
nelly gets bopped. :lol:
interesting article about how the tear gas used is banned in warfare, but legal for crowd control, despite leading to deaths.