4 Arrested In FB Video Torturing Of A Mentally Challenged Man

[Brian37]

Actually, I can, and will, comment on any one incident, and limit my scope of conversation as a result, as I please. Look at the scattershot nature of your posting in this thread, and ask yourself how successful your approach is at advancing the discussion and perhaps even changing minds.

You can all you want. I am talking math and logic and averages. You not liking me being blunt about it well, too bad. If minorities or their supporters always tried library language to bring attention to a problem we would still  have slaves. 

No it is not "scattered" FYI. 

Our lives overlap as a society no matter what, no matter what the discussion is about, and OUR government is how we try to resolve issues and make laws. Be the discussion about Religion, or politics or economic views those things overlap and those advocates, no matter the position, have influence on OUR LAWS that we all end up living under. It is impossible to separate those competing ideas from the fact the overlap still ends up as an attempt to influence our government. 

If you rightfully want to treat individuals as such, you can't make it outright that simplistic. Understanding the total averages can and will lead more people to do just that, but right now, our collective climate is still stuck ignoring the roots of our social ills and racial divisions and that still has an affect on us even if we personally want that not to be true, it is.  Blacks understand this, a growing portion of whites are growing to understand this, but we still have a a small minority of far right nuts still managing to convince enough non bigoted whites to get focused on economics to the point without realizing it they ARE being held hostage too. 

It is well intended to want to treat individuals as such. But it can only be done by understanding our past history and current inequality that still exists.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Your bluntness doesn't bother me, Brian. The only thing bothering me about your posts here is that you 're adding more heat than light to the conversation.

Again, you should ask if you want to know what I'm thinking, rather than impute or.project feelings.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

What I don't get is the inequity of the justice system. These four go away for a long time, and rightfully so, but just today I read about a similar incident where the perp goes free because he's coming from an influental family.

Idaho teen football player walks free after sodomizing black disabled teammate with wire hanger

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/12/idaho-te...re-hanger/

Yes, I mentioned this in passing in another thread (but didn't link to it). I don't seem to recall a hue and cry when this story broke just seven months ago. Another part of the inequity, I suppose.

Boru

[Huggy Bear]

How utterly horrible

I'm not very well informed on what difference it makes if something is a hate crime. Does it mean tougher sentencing? If so, why?

I suppose hate crimes can be seen as inciting more violence by example.

The major difference is that a hate crime can be prosecuted federally.

For example; there was a time in Americas history where (especially in the south) one could kill a black person and be acquitted by an all white jury. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 would allow the Federal government to step in if the crime was motivated by the person's race, color, religion or national origin.

Nowadays everything is reverse racism which is nonsense since it equates "name calling" to a system that discriminates based on a person's race, color, religion or national origin...

[Shell B]

Nowadays everything is reverse racism which is nonsense since it equates "name calling" to a system that discriminates based on a person's race, color, religion or national origin...

If I'm understanding you correctly, which I may not be, you're saying calling someone a honky isn't the same as institutional racism. If so, absolutely. Name calling and a system of abuse of minorities is not the same. However, reverse racism (a term I would rather just disappeared, but seems necessary to distinguish between white people being racist and other people being racist) isn't about systematic racism. It's just your everyday racism just like "not reverse" racism is. Perhaps it would be better if there were a different word for racism that is inherent in the system, but there really isn't.

TL;DR racism is not equal to systematic racism, which is to say "reverse" racism is still racism and systematic racism is still a different issue.

Therefore . . . while systematic racism is very bad, the abuse in this video is without a doubt racism and without a doubt very bad. Also, far worse than name calling.

Edited to add: On a side note, this is why I think a "jury of your peers" is a very important part of the judiciary system. Well, one of the reasons why. Carry on.

[Catholic_Lady]

Yeah I don't see the need to have the term reverse racism. Racism is racism.

[Huggy Bear]

Therefore . . . while systematic racism is very bad, the abuse in this video is without a doubt racism and without a doubt very bad. Also, far worse than name calling.

Ahh, but the people in that video are going to get the book thrown at them regardless, hate crime or not. You have people serving life sentences for drug offenses for goodness sake.

[Shell B]

Yeah I don't see the need to have the term reverse racism. Racism is racism.

I use it (and reverse sexism) in very rare cases when I'm dealing with someone who doesn't seem to understand that anyone can be a racist. They think racism can only go one way, which is why you say "reverse." That said, I think it's completely idiotic to have to use it. There are certainly races that are more prone to racism for whatever reason (usually deeply entrenched cultural issues that can be fixed), but that doesn't negate the fact that any damn person can do something racist. Even if my mother and her mother and her mother before her were abused by orange people, it's still racist for me to be a complete asshole to some random, innocent orange person. That's not to say there isn't a possible reason for my sentiment. Fuck, I could go on like this forever. Racism is racism. Period. It's all fucking stupid. Full stop.

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Therefore . . . while systematic racism is very bad, the abuse in this video is without a doubt racism and without a doubt very bad. Also, far worse than name calling.

Ahh, but the people in that video are going to get the book thrown at them regardless, hate crime or not. You have people serving life sentences for drug offenses for goodness sake.

Removing all skin color from the equation for the sake of argument, I think they deserve to have the book thrown at them. If that was a black boy and white kids, I'd feel the same way. I abhor the racism behind the attack, but, to be honest, it's the attack itself that makes me feel this way. It's one thing to have some bizarre racist sentiment in the back of your mind. It's an entirely other thing to kidnap and abuse a person, no matter what your reason. These kids deserve what they get, assuming it is within the law.

On to people serving life sentences for drug offenses. That's fucking ludicrous, and I am well aware that it is disproportionately a black problem, for whatever reason (probably inherent racism, which is bullshit). With the possible exception of peddling very deadly drugs, I don't think jail sentences are necessary at all for drug offenses. You're selling pounds of marijuana? I don't give a fuck, unless you're breaking some other law at the same time. Selling heroin? You should get some time. The only time a life sentence should be involved is if you knowingly cook some drug in a deadly cocktail (i.e. cook meth with rat poison or something). That shit's murder.

To sum up my long-winded response. We have to do something about racism inherent in the system. (Monty Python rip off there, a bit). We also have to do something about isolated violent crimes, whether they involve race or not. I agree this isn't a "bigger picture" problem, but it's going to become one if we don't all address racism of every kind, in every instance. It has no place in our civilization. It needs to be eradicated.

[Edwardo Piet]

Yeah I don't see the need to have the term reverse racism. Racism is racism.

I'm pretty sure in the UK it is just called racism. I've never even heard the term reverse racism before.

Sounds ironically racist in itself if you ask me. Don't all races deserve to be given the same label when they're being racist?

[Catholic_Lady]

Yeah I don't see the need to have the term reverse racism. Racism is racism.

I'm pretty sure in the UK it is just called racism. I've never even heard the term reverse racism before.

Sounds ironically racist in itself if you ask me.  Don't all races deserve to be given the same label when they're being racist?

Exactly.