Comment by SpicyLemonZest
5 years ago
Vague and menacing threats are admittedly thuggish behavior, but I think it's hard to argue that it's more thuggish than burning down a police station.
5 years ago
Vague and menacing threats are admittedly thuggish behavior, but I think it's hard to argue that it's more thuggish than burning down a police station.
I believe there’s a suitable MLK speech in which it explains property violence in response to human violence is an attempt to push the majority to action using loss of property when it is clear loss of life means nothing.
Given that it’s clear literal loss of life meant very little to people but property damage gets multiple multiple news coverage and POTUS coverage etc etc. it’s hard to consider burning down a police station when the police killed someone on camera to be completely improper. All attempts to appeal peacefully to the people who are supposed to deliver justice have failed, and in fact, those who are supposed to deliver justice have done the unjust thing...
If the protesters decide it's your neighborhood that needs to be burned down next, would you be okay with that?
I think I’d be upset that this happened, but I’d lie the blame on the feet of the original people in authority who decided not to investigate and bring into custody someone who had killed a man on camera while people were begging him for mercy.
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If the cops decide to murder your spouse via a knee to the throat, would you be okay with that?
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Well of course it isn't "more thuggish." The use of "thug" was done on purpose. It is a known racist dog whistle. Trump's racist followers know exactly what he means when he says "These THUGS are..." They replace that with the n word. It's just as a society we don't allow them to say the n word any more, so they've replaced it with a myriad of dog whistles.
What I'm saying is that, in their minds, every single person in that mob is a "thug," and everything they're doing is (in your words) "thuggish."
But the mob of white folks in Charlottesville? Nothing thuggish there. That's just white folks protesting against being oppressed by minorities.
I would call any group of people who burns down a police station, or breaks into a Target and starts stealing stuff, thuggish. The mob of white folks in Charlottesville did not, as far as I know, do these things.
Yeah, they only murdered a black person. That's not nearly as bad as burning a building.
/s for those who can't see that I'm responding to someone who has been trolling this thread hard
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The previous president used “thug” to describe Baltimore rioters. Would you consider that racially charged?
https://historymusings.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/full-text-ob...
I didn’t vote for Trump, but it’s clear he’s referring to individuals and groups that are destroying areas of Minneapolis.
Yes. Yes I would. I wouldn't be surprised if that speech was written by a white person who doesn't understand the meaning behind it. I guarantee Obama fully understands how that term is an epithet.
https://www.google.com/search?q=history+of+thug+as+a+race+wh...
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When I think of thugs, I think of premeditated stick ups, protection money rackets, and intimidation.
A riot is dangerous, unpredictable, and unwise (imo), but I wouldn't characterize it as thuggish. It's clear to me the reason that word was used was to appeal to his base, who are eager to put a label on these protestors as a way of dehumanizing them.
https://theconversation.com/thugs-is-a-race-code-word-that-f...
FWIW, even in the most far-right audiences I know of, I don't recall a single instance of people taking issue with the "rioters'" reactions against the police force.
I see a focus on the looting and destruction of private property that is unaffiliated with the police: a Target and an Autozone in particular. If anything, I'm seeing broad support for what's happening with regard to the MLPD.
This is not a simple partisan issue. Not even close.