Smash Stands in Solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement

Smash unites people from all walks of life—we at Smashboards fully support the Black Lives Matter movement. We take racism very seriously, and in no way, shape or form do we condone it. It has no place in (or out) of our community, and we do our best to reprimand it on the site. We are anti-racist. This is a safe space for Black people and other People of Color, and we hope that, together, we can help better our world through understanding and compassion.

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is vocal in the fight against systemic racism, unequal justice under law, and police brutality not just in the United States, but across the world. The Movement's recent momentum was triggered by a series of killings of unarmed Black people, culminating with the murder of George Floyd.

Smash figureheads and related organizations across the board have spoken out in solidarity with the BLM movement:

Not even sure what to say at this point.
It's so sad to see what's going on in the US right now.

I hope some real change happens this time, it's not a single second to early.

Stay strong everyone and remember#BlackLivesMatter

— Adam Lindgren (@ArmadaUGS) June 1, 2020

I don't know how to express myself during these times. Maybe it's because I grew up learning to be quiet about it.

At the very least, I'm happy I can use gaming to support something I care so much about.

I will be entering this tournament tomorrow for charity#BlackLivesMatter https://t.co/xZLUv1lEEO

— Tempo🌩️| Axe (@TempoAxe) June 1, 2020

If you black in America anything can and will be used against you.

— Brandon Collier (@YungWaff) May 29, 2020

#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/vekKba2UXL

— D1 (@xD1x) May 30, 2020

I need to figure out a way to not let this negativity set me back when I've been making such good progress with my mental health. But right now, as a black man in America absolutely nothing feels safe or secure.

— PAR | TKbreezy 🎙️ (@TKbreezy) May 31, 2020

I physically cringe when I see “All Lives Matter” as a comment to so many of these videos.

Educate yourselves.
This is for George Floyd.
Countless others who were killed.

Reform needs to happen.
Systemic racism needs to end.

Unfollow me if you want.#BlackLivesMatter always

— hungrybox (@LiquidHbox) June 1, 2020

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I am donating my winnings from last night pic.twitter.com/ftYzGjGgDH

— LG Tweek (@TweekSsb) May 31, 2020

Being Black in America is a crime that carries a life sentence until they decide your time is up, yup.

— EE »★« (@EEvisu) June 1, 2020

It doesn't matter how much you donate.
All that matters is getting the word out and giving what you can.

Please feel free to link any other donation links and petitions below. Do your research, educate yourselves.https://t.co/CKiW7fAZmt pic.twitter.com/VZdXwgntTT

— jacob alpharad 🌙✨ (@Alpharad) May 29, 2020

#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/LFxWRuH9W0

— VGBC (@VGBootCamp) June 4, 2020

Stop. Listen. Learn. Support.#BlackLivesMatter

— Panda (@PandaGlobal) May 30, 2020

#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/wOvXXYK6AW

— Pokémon (@Pokemon) June 3, 2020

pic.twitter.com/AtDyFQsmsX

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 3, 2020

Staying true to its grassroots nature, the Smash community has risen to the task of holding fundraisers and organizing charity tournaments for the BLM movement. For example, Journie Ma-Johnson raised $2000 for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund while reading The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness on stream, Nairoby "Nairo" Quezada and his streaming audience raised $16,000 for Reclaim the Block, and Panda Global's "First to 15" battle between Eric "ESAM" Lew and Ezra "Samsora" Morris raised $16,500 for various BLM-supported charities.

On June 1st, there were Super Smash Bros. Melee East and West Coast Netplay charity events, organized by Nico "Ryobeat" Rodriguez. Participants included Joseph "Mang0" Marquez, Johnny "S2J" Kim, Cody "iBDW" Schwab, Justin "Plup" McGrath, Sasha "Magi" Sullivan, and Kalindi "KJH" Henderson, and the event raised over $35,000 for an assortment of charities. There was a kindred event held for European players on June 6th, which had entrants spanning across the continent and ended up raising several thousand dollars of its own. Similar online charity tournaments for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and P+ are scheduled for June 13-15, and there are sure to be even more like them in the works. Scratch that Smash itch for a good cause!

You can find other ways to help with Black Lives Matter's causes here. Let's remember that this should not be a moment, but a movement.

I definitely see a lot of support for #BlackLivesMatter RIGHT NOW but my question for all these big companies and influencers showing support is how long? Don't just talk about it for a week and feel like you accomplished anything. Really BE about it.

— PAR | TKbreezy 🎙️ (@TKbreezy) June 3, 2020

Author's Note: It's heartening to see the Smash community come together and support the cause. It's important that we acknowledge the darker sides of our community, though, so. If you’re comfortable, I encourage you to share your experiences with racism and prejudice both in and out of the Smash scene below in the comments. We, as a community, need to be aware so that we can be better.

Times are tough for everyone, but if you're searching for information regarding specifically Black mental health, you might find this thread helpful.

 

Not everyone shoots at the target. Many just sit idly by or worse reap the benefits of not being black. How dare they. How dare anyone sleep at night knowing full well that in this country if you're black you are NOT free to enjoy the same life, liberty and pursuit as happiness as a white person.

You seem to forget there are more than two races (I am Asian-American, and confused where you fit me in this), and that black and white people marry and have kids.

 

Any personal example of seeing police brutality?

I haven't actually seen an example of it in person, but I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse, tbh. All the examples I've seen were from recorded footage. But I'm kinda half-hoping I don't see any real-life police brutality because that would be traumatizing to see, which is made worse by that innate empathy I mentioned.

 

I haven't actually seen an example of it in person, but I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse, tbh. All the examples I've seen were from recorded footage. But I'm kinda half-hoping I don't see any real-life police brutality because that would be traumatizing to see, which is made worse by that innate empathy I mentioned.

Agreed.

 

I wish that people could just ignore race, if politicians stopped talking about it (racism) would possibly reduce or fade away quickly. I live in a very mixed race area, my best friend is black (and is also against the riots), and racism in nonexistent in my life. I pray for people to forget about race, and for any victims of racism.
This is my last post on this, I'd like to focus on other things that aren't political.

 

It means why mention FOX

How bout specifying that to begin with so nobody has to go through this rabbit hole?

You can find the reason why I brought up Fox in the very post I mentioned it. Some people, like you, are equating defund the police with abolish the police. I said Fox is one of the groups doing it, you disagreed and I gave you proof with a video example. Quoting me without a reply whatsoever is wasting people's time; there's no discussion to be had from it.

 

You seem to forget there are more than two races (I am Asian-American, and confused where you fit me in this), and that black and white people marry and have kids.

As I said

"[Black Lives Matters] is three words that represent the understanding that African Americans have been uniquely targeted throughout this country's history."

If you're unsure what I mean just Google Slavery in America. There really is no comparison even to Asians (I'm ABC myself) who have had it pretty rough as do many other immigrants and minorities heck the Native Americans for sure continue to have basic quality of life problems due to systemic institutions, to say nothing about Muslims or Mexicans... The point isn't to diminish their need for justice. The point is that BLM addresses how the descendents of America's ex-slaves are treated.

And interracial marriage is great! It's the racists who consider others beneath them.

 

You completely missed my point by an overwhelming amount. I’m sayings it’s MORE of an American issue with guns. Nowhere at any point do I ever say it’s exclusive to guns, nor do I say they are the only factor in it. What I’m trying to tell you is that due to the widespread amount of firearms carried by civilians in the USA, you will find gun deaths are a lot more common as an example, even outside of police shootings. Nowhere at any point do I ever say “police brutality doesn’t happen in x country”, nor “guns are the only problem involved for police brutality”. Especially when it involves police brutality with firearms carried by the person/people being confronted by officers, or the officers themselves.

Get my points right and read carefully before you accuse me of false ****. And the people who liked that post. Smdh

I openly acknowledged how George Floyd died in a previous post, and that was with the officer’s knee dug into the back of his neck for nine straight minutes with the full force of the officer’s weight behind it. That is clear police brutality.

Krankin's post said it was just American to which I stated was not the case, you butted in screaming talking about America and only America when I said it was worldwide, or was I meant to interpret "It's pretty much an American issue" as "It's worldwide"? That post never mentioned any specific deaths, just that America has more gun related deaths, as that was the post that I got an alert for, that's the only one I checked out, I didn't see your original post as it was a large ass post and I make it a personal policy to ignore anything that unironically screams 'virtue signaling'. Granted your previous post never actually mentioned Floyd or his death, so I'm not sure how I was supposed to learn your thoughts on that. I can't 'get the facts' when they're not there but rather screams of how not wanting these deaths is a 'virtue signaling religion'

 

Can't believe some of the things I read here. Like it or not, if you're nitpicking this issue, you're a racist. And no, being racist doesn't just mean saying the n-word.

So not fully supporting literally all relevant current events, including black people being killed or having their lives ruined in riots, means you hate black people? Makes sense to me.

 

Well tbh I don't know you well enough to call you a racist and the post I'm quoting doesn't make me suspicious so right now I'll say so far so good. As for your rundown throw white supremacist and undercover cops in the mix and you got the gist of the free-for-all.

One problem is that racism isn't clear cut. Gwen went into detail about that so I'll move to my next response.

From my understanding, defund the police is getting equated with abolish the police. What defund is supposed to mean is to cut their budgets considerably; they're very militarized and they have leftover military equipment while a lot of other programs like education and public services budgets have shriveled up, all while the cops get increased funding. These other programs with slashed budgets improve society and reduce poverty; less poverty, less crime overall, so give them more money to invest in society. Cops are more of an investment for prisons. Abolish the police could mean remove them entirely or overhaul the institution for public safety to step in depending on who you ask.

There's definitely people saying they wanna get rid of police entirely when they say defund and people like FOX fearmongering about it. But a good way to look at defund is this: they've defunded education and we still have teachers, defunding police means we still have cops. They'll be less militarized as a result.

Its not “fear mongering“ though, numerous people on the “defund the police” side have also called for complete abolition of it as well.

 

Its not “fear mongering“ though, numerous people on the “defund the police” side have also called for complete abolition of it as well.

Yknow what's funny? In the exact same post you quoted I also said:

There's definitely people saying they wanna get rid of police entirely when they say defund and people like FOX fearmongering about it. But a good way to look at defund is this: they've defunded education and we still have teachers, defunding police means we still have cops. They'll be less militarized as a result.

Fox focusing strictly on the "When I say defund I mean abolish" crowd and going around asking people if they wanna keep the police or defund them is fearmongering. They're not making a distinction, and framing everyone who wants it defunded as people who want the cops gone.

 

Yknow what's funny? In the exact same post you quoted I also said:


Fox focusing strictly on the "When I say defund I mean abolish" crowd and going around asking people if they wanna keep the police or defund them is fearmongering. They're not making a distinction, and framing everyone who wants it defunded as people who want the cops gone.

Ever heard of the phrase, “If you give a mouse a cookie”?

When it comes to stuff like this, usually one thing leads to another. If police does get defunded, they will very likely move the goal post very slowly until the movement turns into “completely abolish the police”. In fact, with big outlets like the New York Times already calling for complete abolition, and the Minneapolis City Council voting to abolish their police, I’d argue we are already getting to that stage.

 

Ever heard of the phrase, “If you give a mouse a cookie”?

When it comes to stuff like this, usually one thing leads to another. If police does get defunded, they will very likely move the goal post very slowly until the movement turns into “completely abolish the police”. In fact, with big outlets like the New York Times already calling for complete abolition, and the Minneapolis City Council voting to abolish their police, I’d argue we are already getting to that stage.

Idk man, education and healthcare got defunded but they still exist

 

Idk man, education and healthcare got defunded but they still exist

I’ve never seen anyone say “abolish education and healthcare!” like I have seen many say for the police within the past few weeks.

 

I’ve never seen anyone say “abolish education and healthcare!” like I have seen many say for the police within the past few weeks.

So? You're fine with defunding as long as it's not fully abolished for healthcare and education but you've shown that you think defunding the police at all is an absolute nono

 

So? You're fine with defunding as long as it's not fully abolished for healthcare and education but you've shown that you think defunding the police at all is an absolute nono

????

But, that wasn’t the point I was making? My point was that there isn’t an active movement to completely get rid of those two? You don’t see mobs of people on Twitter begging to get rid of education or healthcare?

Listen, I’d be more than happy to be wrong. But given the current state of things, I’m remaining skeptical until otherwise.

 

????

But, that wasn’t the point I was making? My point was that there isn’t an active movement to completely get rid of those two? You don’t see mobs of people on Twitter begging to get rid of education or healthcare?

Listen, I’d be more than happy to be wrong. But given the current state of things, I’m remaining skeptical until otherwise.

In that case I want your thoughts on the people who for decades have been campaining to completely abolish abortion clinics, I've seen more of those throughout the years than people demanding abolishment of the police, though again, I think it's weird you seem to be fine with how teachers have to buy school supplies but think that the NYPD, the 33rd most expensive military team on the planet, shouldn't lose a single penny because you saw some tweets

 

Ever heard of the phrase, “If you give a mouse a cookie”?

When it comes to stuff like this, usually one thing leads to another. If police does get defunded, they will very likely move the goal post very slowly until the movement turns into “completely abolish the police”. In fact, with big outlets like the New York Times already calling for complete abolition, and the Minneapolis City Council voting to abolish their police, I’d argue we are already getting to that stage.

What's your angle then? Is the police force fine as is in your eyes? Cuz right now they face next to no accountability, massive budgets, the inability for people in some states to look up a cop's record, the freedom for a cop to move to any department after getting fired from another, and to murder with impunity. Not to mention known white supremacist groups getting hired as cops, and a widespread culture that prevents "good" cops from taking action against bad cops, cops currently using tear gas (which is a war crime) and targeting medical supplies (which is a war crime). So is this what you're fine with?

After the death of Floyd, Rayshard Brooks was shot dead in Georgia. Before Brooks, 2 men in California were lynched near a public building after it was made illegal and the police ruled it a suicide. They're giving the world even more proof that the way things currently are isn't working.

You mention Minneapolis's abolishment of police but left out they're actually disbanding their police force and intend to set up a public safety commission. According to one of Minneapolis's councilmen, they intend to invest in public safety that has cultural competency and mental health training, de-escalation and conflict resolution. They're not gonna just end their police force and call it a day, they're also planning to invest in public and social programs, which helps cut down on crime as well.

 

What's your angle then? Is the police force fine as is in your eyes? Cuz right now they face next to no accountability, massive budgets, the inability for people in some states to look up a cop's record, the freedom for a cop to move to any department after getting fired from another, and to murder with impunity. Not to mention known white supremacist groups getting hired as cops, and a widespread culture that prevents "good" cops from taking action against bad cops, cops currently using tear gas (which is a war crime) and targeting medical supplies (which is a war crime). So is this what you're fine with?

After the death of Floyd, Rayshard Brooks was shot dead in Georgia. Before Brooks, 2 men in California were lynched near a public building after it was made illegal and the police ruled it a suicide. They're giving the world even more proof that the way things currently are isn't working.

You mention Minneapolis's abolishment of police but left out they're actually disbanding their police force and intend to set up a public safety commission. According to one of Minneapolis's councilmen, they intend to invest in public safety that has cultural competency and mental health training, de-escalation and conflict resolution. They're not gonna just end their police force and call it a day, they're also planning to invest in public and social programs, which helps cut down on crime as well.

Want to know what else is a “war crime”? Looting businesses that had nothing to do with the situation, which btw includes black owned ones. Burning down buildings for no reason. Attacking business owners who are doing nothing but defending their stores against looters (Look up what happened to David Dorn if you haven’t already). In the cities where this violence broke out, do you really think these people are going to be greeted with sunshine and rainbows?

And you mention Rayshard Brooks, but he actively fought the officers because he was on parole, and ran away with their taser and shot it at them. Tasers are classified as a deadly weapon in Georgia btw. I get what happened was horrible, but the way you phrased it, you heavily implied that he was 100% innocent in that situation.

 

Want to know what else is a “war crime”? Looting businesses that had nothing to do with the situation, which btw includes black owned ones. Burning down buildings for no reason. Attacking business owners who are doing nothing but defending their stores against looters (Look up what happened to David Dorn if you haven’t already). In the cities where this violence broke out, do you really think these people are going to be greeted with sunshine and rainbows?

And you mention Rayshard Brooks, but he actively fought the officers because he was on parole, and ran away with their taser and shot it at them. Tasers are classified as a deadly weapon in Georgia btw. I get what happened was horrible, but the way you phrased it, you heavily implied that he was 100% innocent in that situation.

Sounds like a deflection. What's your angle? Are you completely fine with the way things are in regards to police brutality? Cuz right now they face next to no accountability, massive budgets, the inability for people in some states to look up a cop's record, the freedom for a cop to move to any department after getting fired from another, and to murder with impunity. Not to mention known white supremacist groups getting hired as cops, and a widespread culture that prevents "good" cops from taking action against bad cops, cops currently using tear gas (which is a war crime) and targeting medical supplies (which is a war crime). If that sounds familiar to you it's because you sidestepped it to go on to a what about the looters rant.

BTW, who's looting? We got confirmed cases of people from all over the political spectrum starting riots, from undercover cops, leftwing anarchists, BLM, white supremacist groups, disenfranchised neighbors, out-of-towners, scumbags and people who wanna start problems with no affiliation. Thanks to the free-for-all we've got, nobody can pin this on one group, but we can point to what caused it: police brutality, which atm you seem to be fine with. So if you're fine with the brutality why are criticizing what it results in?

Now we move onto Brooks, which sounds eerily similar to "He was no angel". He actively cooperated with the cops despite being drunk, as best as he could at least. It's extremely tragic because unlike in Floyd's case the cops weren't malicious and were courteous, they were doing their job, but the end result is adding fuel to the fire. I can't condemn the cops here and in hindsight I would love for this to have been handled differently. I sympathize with them because this happened at the exact worst time, when the wrong types of cops have been rampant, and these 2 from the footage weren't bad cops, they had the patience of a saint. Brooks was running away when he got shot, which is where people take issue. Since I was vague in regards to Brooks, this paragraph is addressing that.

What do you say about the 2 men lynched in Cali? Will you sidestep that too?

 

Sounds like a deflection. What's your angle? Are you completely fine with the way things are in regards to police brutality? Cuz right now they face next to no accountability, massive budgets, the inability for people in some states to look up a cop's record, the freedom for a cop to move to any department after getting fired from another, and to murder with impunity. Not to mention known white supremacist groups getting hired as cops, and a widespread culture that prevents "good" cops from taking action against bad cops, cops currently using tear gas (which is a war crime) and targeting medical supplies (which is a war crime). If that sounds familiar to you it's because you sidestepped it to go on to a what about the looters rant.

BTW, who's looting? We got confirmed cases of people from all over the political spectrum starting riots, from undercover cops, leftwing anarchists, BLM, white supremacist groups, disenfranchised neighbors, out-of-towners, scumbags and people who wanna start problems with no affiliation. Thanks to the free-for-all we've got, nobody can pin this on one group, but we can point to what caused it: police brutality, which atm you seem to be fine with. So if you're fine with the brutality why are criticizing what it results in?

Now we move onto Brooks, which sounds eerily similar to "He was no angel". He actively cooperated with the cops despite being drunk, as best as he could at least. It's extremely tragic because unlike in Floyd's case the cops weren't malicious and were courteous, they were doing their job, but the end result is adding fuel to the fire. I can't condemn the cops here and in hindsight I would love for this to have been handled differently. I sympathize with them because this happened at the exact worst time, when the wrong types of cops have been rampant, and these 2 from the footage weren't bad cops, they had the patience of a saint. Brooks was running away when he got shot, which is where people take issue. Since I was vague in regards to Brooks, this paragraph is addressing that.

What do you say about the 2 men lynched in Cali? Will you sidestep that too?

Listen, this is my last response, because I’m honestly tired of debating people about this.

Everyone is against police brutality. There should be absolutely no question about it, literally everyone left and right condemned what happened to Floyd. I’m all for abolishing unions, and I’m all for taking measures that prevent senseless brutality happening to all citizens, black or white. But abolishing police entirely? Which is usually also pushed when people push for defunding the police? That is where I take issue.

As for the alleged lynchings, its horrible regardless of whether or not it was a suicide or lynching. But if its proved to be the latter, I’ll be more than happy to condemn it alongside everyone else.

 

Listen, this is my last response, because I’m honestly tired of debating people about this.

Everyone is against police brutality. There should be absolutely no question about it, literally everyone left and right condemned what happened to Floyd. I’m all for abolishing unions, and I’m all for taking measures that prevent senseless brutality happening to all citizens, black or white. But abolishing police entirely? Which is usually also pushed when people push for defunding the police? That is where I take issue.

As for the alleged lynchings, its horrible regardless of whether or not it was a suicide or lynching. But if its proved to be the latter, I’ll be more than happy to condemn it alongside everyone else.

100% understood. My perspective is that defund should mean a huge reduction of budget and not outright abolishing it, but the distinction is getting muddled by every group on the political spectrum. I'm for a revamping of how policing is handled, but not getting rid of them entirely as that will create worse problems.

 

So not fully supporting literally all relevant current events, including black people being killed or having their lives ruined in riots, means you hate black people? Makes sense to me.

I think it's more don't mindlessly equate damaging or looting material objects with taking actual lives. If we actually cared about black business or the poor, we wouldn't be having this conversation now in the first place and these communities wouldn't be in dire poverty. Crime is in direct correlation with poverty and these types of crimes could be reduced significantly by eliminating poverty, not increasing policing.

The looting and property destruction is separate from the protests. Just because they are happening at the same time doesn't mean they are directly correlated by one another. It's more so the looters are taking advantage of the distraction. Not that I'm going to shed a tear if Walmart or Target get looted either. They are multi-billion dollar franchises that can very easily cover their losses. And they got those billions by exploiting these communities through tax evasion and wage slavery. As far as I'm concerned, this is karma and not even proportionate to the looting done by these corporations.

You can be opposed to destruction and looting on principle, but attempting to denigrate or delegitimize the movement by associating it with a much smaller group of rioters is cause for concern about your intentions. It's not like BLM started with these protests or only focuses on police brutality. There's a much broader message about the ignorance and callousness of society towards the plight of black communities. And the reduction of black lives to the level of Walmart goods is part of that callousness. Goods can be replaced, buildings can be repaired. Lives cannot.

And you mention Rayshard Brooks, but he actively fought the officers because he was on parole, and ran away with their taser and shot it at them. Tasers are classified as a deadly weapon in Georgia btw. I get what happened was horrible, but the way you phrased it, you heavily implied that he was 100% innocent in that situation.

Whether he was "innocent" or not, use of force is still regulated by law. There are nuances and a few exceptions that vary by state, but the vast majority of use of force laws are centered around imminent threat. That means your life has to be in mortal danger at that moment and it will be forfeit if you don't immediately take drastic action. Having already fired the taser which can't be used multiple times and was fleeing the scene is by definition not an imminent threat.

Those laws apply to law enforcement as well, not just civilians. Even if someone pointed a gun at you moments before, if they start running away, you are legally barred from shooting at them. And killing them in this situation would be murder.

But abolishing police entirely? Which is usually also pushed when people push for defunding the police? That is where I take issue.

Abolition of the police doesn't mean abolishing the concept of police, it means dissolving the city police. It usually goes in hand with rolling them into the county force, which can patrol anywhere in the county, which includes the city. Doing that busts the union, increases the number of officers without actually hiring anymore, and greatly reduces the cost to the city, of which can then be put towards crime prevention such as community investment, mental healthcare, education, etc.

You'll still have the police, just hopefully not ones that are heavily militarized, immune from accountability, and operate like state sanctioned cartels.

 

Well yes. When it comes to racism you're either for it or against it. BLM is more now than just slogans or stances. It's three words that represent the understanding that African Americans have been uniquely targeted throughout this country's history. Every. Last. One. Has a target on their back (in the eyes of the enemy). Who is the enemy? Anyone who even briefly allows themselves to look at a black person and think I'm Better Than You.

Not everyone shoots at the target. Many just sit idly by or worse reap the benefits of not being black. How dare they. How dare anyone sleep at night knowing full well that in this country if you're black you are NOT free to enjoy the same life, liberty and pursuit as happiness as a white person.

BLM is not just about police either. It's about all the reasons that target is there and the discussion we're having by marching in protest, is simple. Get that target gone or face the consequences. And that's how it needs to be. This isn't some random uprising or isolated incident. This is an entire population who's had enough because the stink of it is everywhere and it just can't be ignored any more.

You do realize white people statistically are more likely to be killed by cops or be poor? And that 50% of violent crimes are committed by 12-13% of the population? This alarming crime statistic could very well be why you see som many black men incarcerated, and why the single black motherhood rate rose by around 60% since the 1970s. Also this whole movement has been nothing but violent. Last night, rioters and anarchists representing BLM, flying the slogan no less, tried setting up another autonomous zone around the mayor’s house in Portland. The CHAZ is now acting like the mob, demanding payments from business owners, and demanding papers of all things showing where they’re from. And this is coming from the mayor of Portland himself. What they claim to be against is what they’re doing.

Plus I think you’re sensationalizing the disparity between races. Can you point out where exactly black people are not enjoying the same life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness under the United States law? There will always be pros and cons in life based on culture, race, sexual orientation, etc. I can think of a few that do grant equal, and even preferential treatment: affirmative action for workplace hires, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is completely illegal to discriminate against race, and now illegal to discriminate and fire people based on sexual orientation, which is huge for transgenders and people who like the same sex. And that ruling happened just this week.

As for this being an uprising people are sick of, where’s the rallying for white people being shot and killed? The FBI tracks deaths by officers since 2015. They’re predominantly white. I’m a mixed Native American and Irish. What about the brutality a much smaller minority suffers, or the alcoholism that leads to about 50% of our deaths? The media tried to make a martyr of George Floyd and succeeded. They’re sensationalizing this with known companies and organizations. I support the underlying cause of anti-racism, but saying BLM is what matters right now is false. They’re an anarchist group. If you support them, then you support violence for getting a message across. They’re no different from ANTIFA in that regard. They act like a domestic terrorist organization. I would look to Dr. King as a more idealized symbol for what BLM SHOULD be, rather than using an ex-convict who was killed by cop for anti-racism.

 

You do realize white people statistically are more likely to be killed by cops or be poor? And that 50% of violent crimes are committed by 12-13% of the population?

(this made me think of the statistics quote towards the beginning)

That first part seems to depend entirely on what statistics you use (statistics can be manipulated to support the conclusion that someone's trying to reach, or at least taken out of context to do that), and that second part seems misleading. (among other things, violent crime covers a lot of ground, from robbery or aggravated assault to mass shootings, and I can't find sources for any of these statistics, so it's hard to tell what it's based on)

 

That and white people outnumber everyone else individually though when you add mixed people or all minorities together it's a more fair analysis.

As for how blacks can't enjoy the same rights as whites? Simple. Take any black family who wants to live in a place like, Omaha, Nebraska. Maybe work takes them there. Who knows. Point is good luck living in a racism free environment! Back in 08 they actually passed a resolution to segregate their three secondary schools into white, latino and black. It's being fought by the NAACP.

MLK had a dream but the reality is far closer to what Huey P. Newton sought to achieve. Blacks defending themselves against people in uniform using their authority to subjugate them. Peaceful protest is great. But they've been ambushed by police. There's a video of a child getting maced. People have lost eyes and and **** because of non lethal tactics being used incorrectly (rubber bullets are not safe to fire at people's heads). And not every protester carries BLM signs. And not every BLM supporter is some pseudo terrorist. Your version of the facts are exactly what a Trump supporter would say. In fact I'm gonna actually pose the issue thusly... MAGA supporters are on the wrong end of this struggle and BLM is the antithesis of it. When Trump is finally gone from office then maybe the damage he's done can start to heal. But if he wins in November it's gonna be a bloody 4 years.

 

After the death of Floyd, Rayshard Brooks was shot dead in Georgia.

I'm sorry, but I had to step back in here. Rayshard Brooks had one mean rap sheet, and actively fought cops during a routine arrest, (normal if you are sleeping drunk in a Wendy's line) He also pointed a Taser at a cop (classified as a lethal weapon in Georgia). If someone pointed a lethal weapon at me, I would most definitely shoot them. Chauvin was a bad cop, but the man who shot Brooks was not a racist or a bad cop.

 

Great now I'm back in the mix.

BUFF MY PUFF . I recommend reading the rest of how my conversation with Nanami went.

 

Zoa . I'd like to address your 13/50 point. Tell us what you're getting at; do you find the over policing of black communities justified, and that any excessive force is necessary? Are you in support of this?

You brought up 13/50 multiple times but didn't mention where black crime often takes place: in poor urban areas aka ghettos. What's causing those areas to be poor? What outside factors prevent these communities from developing economically? Redlining is one factor. When communities have high poverty and little opportunity outside of crime, gangs form, and 55% of black homicides are gang related. Most black crime comes from gangs, and gangs usually form from socioeconomic factors. When Italians and Irish were limited to ghettos and had little economic oppurtunity roughly 100 years back, they formed their own gangs. You know about the mafia during prohibition. As someone with Irish ancestors you'd know that about them too, assuming they were in America around this time. The sign NINA (No Irish Need Apply) hung on many businesses that were looking to hire people. Problem is they were looking to hire white people, and back then Irish and Italians weren't considered white, so they had little opportunity and a poor neighborhood. Guess what they formed?

This alarming crime statistic could very well be why you see som many black men incarcerated, and why the single black motherhood rate rose by around 60% since the 1970s.

You bringing up the 70s is interesting, but where's the historical context? President Nixon specifically made it his goal to lock up as many blacks, hippies and activists as he could, because their activism interfered with his policies. John Ehrlichman, a top Nixon aide admitted that Nixon's war on drugs was meant to do this. He said:

Spoiler: Ehrlichman's Quote

We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.

That answers your question about black people not enjoying the same life, liberty and pursuit of happiness under US law, as it's well-known that blacks got targeted heavily due to the Wars on Drugs and later the 1994 Crime Bill. Poor communities turn to crime and form gangs, and one of the most profitable business for a gang is drug dealing, which is one reason why the mafia was so powerful. Blacks nowadays get arrested for weed more than whites despite both groups smoking it at similar rates. And then there's the knowledge that the government purposely flooded black communities with cocaine in the 80s, which strengthened drug dealers and gangs, increasing criminality.

Sadly I'm only focusing on your 13/50 point, cuz if I address the rest I run the risk of a TL;DR. You're throwing out a statistic that implies black people as a whole are more prone to violent crime, which is usually used by hate groups to justify why blacks should be imprisoned or exterminated, and why police brutality on them specifically should be ignored ("what about whites killed by cops?"). Are you aware of that? 13/50 without context ignores that most of it comes from poor disenfranchised communities that form gangs to survive, which thrive on the Black Market and drugs primarily. You can reduce that statistic by investing in those communities to prevent poverty and dismantle outside factors like redlining, more than ostensibly. Throwing 13/50 into the discussion to rebut police brutality implies some hideously bigoted views. Do you hold these?

 

BUFF MY PUFF . I recommend reading the rest of how my conversation with Nanami went.

I read it, not taking sides as you both made valid points. I was just pointing out the inaccuracy in basically saying Rayshard Brooks was murdered by a bad racist cop. NO you didn't use the words, but its the tone.

 

There's no systemic racism in America. In fact, black people are being treated better than white people in some cases. Ever heard of affirmative action? The Seattle autonomous zone? The Seattle situation in particular is counter productive, because we have just devolved back into segregation. Even if there was systemic racism, the BLM movement isn't going to change the minds of the government. "Man, look at all of those people walking with signs. We should end racism."

The BLM movement is counter productive in another way. They are destroying black businesses and treating black cops just as poorly as white ones.

I think black lives matter, just like every other life. However, I don't support the movement in the slightest.

If you want to have a discussion on this topic DM me on Discord: CF | BigBubbaTee#6193

 

I read it, not taking sides as you both made valid points. I was just pointing out the inaccuracy in basically saying Rayshard Brooks was murdered by a bad racist cop. NO you didn't use the words, but its the tone.

I clarified what I said regarding Brooks:

Now we move onto Brooks, which sounds eerily similar to "He was no angel". He actively cooperated with the cops despite being drunk, as best as he could at least. It's extremely tragic because unlike in Floyd's case the cops weren't malicious and were courteous, they were doing their job, but the end result is adding fuel to the fire. I can't condemn the cops here and in hindsight I would love for this to have been handled differently. I sympathize with them because this happened at the exact worst time, when the wrong types of cops have been rampant, and these 2 from the footage weren't bad cops, they had the patience of a saint. Brooks was running away when he got shot, which is where people take issue. Since I was vague in regards to Brooks, this paragraph is addressing that.

Our latest convo looks pointless because I already addressed what you said before you said it.

 

I think it's more don't mindlessly equate damaging or looting material objects with taking actual lives.

I said people killed in riots though, which has happened. David Dorn, Italia Kelly, etc.

 

I said people killed in riots though, which has happened. David Dorn, Italia Kelly, etc.

Really sucks that people lost their lives in riots. Could have been prevented if the 4 officers were arrested a lot sooner.

 

I said people killed in riots though, which has happened. David Dorn, Italia Kelly, etc.

I was referring to the person you were quoting. They were complaining about people nitpicking those things earlier in the topic and you took that a bit out of context. I was clarifying that context.