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from the "All-lives-matter."-President-Obama dept.
Snipers in Dallas: [5] Cops Dead; [6] More Cops Wounded
The Atlantic reports:
Two gunmen shot eleven police officers in Dallas, Texas [at 8:58 PM July 7], killing at least four of them.
[...] At a Thursday night press conference, Dallas Police Department Chief David Brown said [...] officers had one of the suspects "cornered", but did not offer further details.
"Tonight, it appears that two snipers shot ten police officers from elevated positions during the protest/rally", Brown said in an initial statement. "Three officers are deceased, two are in surgery, and three are in critical condition. An intensive search for suspect is currently underway." The police department later said an eleventh officer had also been injured and a fourth officer had been killed.
[...] The shootings occurred during a protest against police killings earlier this week in Louisiana and Minnesota. Hundreds rallied in downtown Dallas, near the corner of Main Street and Lamar Street. Local news footage captured what sounds like several gunshots being fired, and the crowd scattering.
[...] No motive has yet been established and it's unclear whether the shooting was related to the protest.
The New York Times just broke the story about the latest in the police killings of black men. It seems the tide has been turned. [Five] Dallas police officers were killed tonight at a protest in that city over these shootings.
I am not surprised, nor am I particularly shocked. No doubt there will be more to come on this topic as the evening progresses. Hopefully something good comes out of this, but I am inclined to doubt it.
takyon: Some more details: One suspect was killed by an explosion intentionally caused by a police robot. He reportedly told a negotiator that he was upset about Black Lives Matter, the recent police shootings, and wanted to kill white people, especially police officers. He said he was not affiliated with any groups and acted alone. Other suspects have been arrested, and a "person of interest" (often identified as a suspect by the news media) was arrested early in the night after he was photographed with his unloaded AR-15. He handed his weapon to an officer shortly after the shootings, and later turned himself into the police for questioning.
President Obama spoke about the shootings shortly after arriving in Poland for a NATO conference. In part, he mentioned that, "When people say 'black lives matter,' that doesn't mean blue lives don't matter, it just means all lives matter — but right now the big concern is the fact that the data shows black folks are more vulnerable to these kinds of incidents [...] This isn't a matter of us comparing the value of lives. This is recognizing that there is a particular burden that is being placed on a group of our fellow citizens. And we should care about that. And we can't dismiss it. We can't dismiss it."
(Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Saturday July 09 2016, @03:54AM
If one wants the word racist to have some actual meaning one shouldn't use it for petty stuff that could easily be imaginary offenses caused by the reader rather than the speaker. Reserve allegations of racism for use against people who kill or seriously harm people due to their skin color and racial group, or who seriously advocate the same (not satire, "trolling", or devil's advocates).
Otherwise the word racism will remain meaningless and continue to cover up and encourage actual racism.
Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Saturday July 09 2016, @04:48AM
From OP:
Gangbangers are not known for sniping, or, for that matter, being able to hit jack shit with any accuracy to speak of.
Note the unfounded assumption that this guy was a gangbanger. Military service points to basic firearms training, as others have pointed out. She was questioning his technical skill with a firearm based on a clearly prejudiced assumption.
From you:
Reserve allegations of racism for use against people who kill or seriously harm people due to their skin color and racial group, or who seriously advocate the same (not satire, "trolling", or devil's advocates).
I'm going to disregard this advice and continue using a dictionary definition of that word. You're conflating violence with racism somehow. Prejudice based on race is enough to qualify you as racist (there are other ways of qualifying, of course).
(Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Saturday July 09 2016, @06:14AM
Thing is though that by using the word for fairly trivial stuff like someone reaching an unfounded conclusion or two or simply venting in a politically incorrect manner one makes it at first into nothing but a petty insult without much substance, then into an annoyance, and further into a badge of pride as people get tired of all the people constantly telling everyone else that they're being racist when at least initially they weren't adherents of racial supremacy. This has already happened as far as many people are concerned and each day both the number and intensity grows, literally driving people into hatred and violence against them.
As for your quotes what's often referred to as spray & pray isn't racist and the assumption depends on your interpretation; it is you who assume. You might be correct but it's not at all as clear as you think. "Gangbangers" isn't racist either but a colloquialism for gang members (which might be of any race).
Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Saturday July 09 2016, @05:56PM
I'm not doublespeaking around the fact that assuming a black man is a gang member without any clear evidence is racial prejudice in the context of our culture. When political shooters are white, we don't label them gangbangers. This was clear flamebaitery on the part of OP. I wasn't even trying to discuss the definition of racism, I was just trying to make it clear that I was avoiding the issue because I was more interested in another part of the discussion and that this avoidance shouldn't be taken as tacit agreement with OP on the topic. I'm going to continue using dictionary definitions of the word "racism," but I guess you can keep piling new politically-motivated definitions on top. It would be less ambiguous if you used a new variable, like $RACISM (pronounced "dollar-racism"), so as to avoid confusing it with the already overloaded term "racism," but you can do whatever. I'm definitely going to keep calling racial prejudice racism, even if there is no explicit supremacy or violence involved.