@Are0h yeah :<

fwiw if it were two white dudes getting arrested, i'd also be too afraid to intervene. the thing i find troubling is that most white folks don't understand that *summoning the cops is a violent act* ... we're taught from an early age that the police are our friends and that they can solve our problems for us

and then we're shocked -- SHOCKED -- when their solution is to murder the guy who "looked suspicious" because he was armed with an iPhone

@rey The equivalancy is not the same as white people simply aren't arrested at the same rates and it is far less likely the police would be called in that circumstance if they two men were white. And we both know the police are far less likely to resort to violence when it comes to unarmed white people.

I'm not saying every white person should put themselves in harm's way.

But there is very little resistance from white people that think they're 'allies'.

That's a problem.

@Are0h yeah... like honestly i'd probably be in shock if this situation happened *at all* w/ two white guys. i can't even imagine it.

why not? well, i was raised to be racist, to be classist, to be sexist, to be homophobic, to be transphobic. the programming goes deep.

i suspect this wasn't uncommon among my generation, although we never really talk about it. i, for one, am embarrassed by it.

it's just something that parents have the right to inflict upon their children. :<

@rey I get that but most of us are this way in the States, yet a lot of us are able to not be hateful bigots. White America is still making the decision to either not do anything about it or continue. Either results in proliferation of racism.

Being embarrassed just isn't enough. I appreciate the sentiment, but it doesn't really do anything.

Being embarrassed about sexism isn't enough. As a dude, I need to get some skin in the game.

Same with white people and racism.

@Are0h nodnod... i am in no way claiming to be doing enough.

but i'm just sitting here thinking "you know, the hateful bigots are a distraction from the actual problems."

locking our car doors when we can't avoid driving through the "black part of town" is so fucking wrong.

and when a kid is in the car... they notice. (i did, at least.)

(note: these are New Thoughts for me. i appreciate your help in coaxing them out. i'm gonna chew on this...)

@rey If it's one thing I could impart to white people it's that bigots _are_ the actual problem. That is the contingent that is keeping America from moving forward. That's how the majority of white people vote.

If it was just about feelings, I wouldn't care at all. But it isn't. White people are voting against healthcare, infrastructure spending, good schools, etc because they don't want non-whtei people to have them. It's insanity.

And white people need to deal with that.

@Are0h this is also so very very true and we gotta do better at calling it out.

arguing against universal healthcare isn't arguing for a competitive business environment or consumer choice or avoiding bureaucratic morass. it's about making sure that we (wealthy white people) aren't burdened by them (non-weathy, non-white people).

it's not about taxes or free markets or choice. it's about racism. it's about classism. it's about sexism.

it's about being complicit in genocide.

@rey Yeah, that's the whole thing.

I'm anti-racist not because I dislike white people. I'm anti-racist because people shouldn't be suffering based on one groups completely fabricated biases. That's not right.

And absolutely agreed. There is a solution for whatever problem we have in the States. We just don't do it because most people are bigots. And American society enables these fools.

It's the 21st century and it's absurd we're still struggling with sexism, racism, etc.

@rey @Are0h I learned in my late teens/early 20s you can't (fully) trust the cops. The problem is cops have one tool, arrests (or writing a ticket which is the same thing in effect). When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

@skquinn @rey This is false. Law enforcement have many tools at their disposal. Certain ones are just emphasized over others depending on who is being policed.

We have seem plenty of examples of police de-escalting situations, which they are trained to do.

However, there is rarely a consequence when they resort to violence, especially if the victim is Black.

That's a systemic issue, not a lack of tools. The police are kept this way for a reason.