S**t is going down in Baltimore

@captain_batman_ftw: yeah, jade 15 and its about time the cops stop fuccing around

I will say that oppression leads to aggression. I can't say I like the idea of this occurring, but I can't say it's surprising. When you see your own people being killed, it's kind of frightening, especially when done by people meant to protect them.

And for those saying this proves why black people are justifiably profiled more, just take a look at the 2011 Stanley Cup. At least these riots have a somewhat reasonable beginning. That Stanley Cup was just savagery and stupidity to the highest degree.

Heh.

What I say to the riots: ABOUT TIME

For all of the sports riots allegories, do those ppl destroy their own neighborhoods and then complain about the economic downturn?

@gjgp27: No, instead they assault and brutalize one another ( and police men) over the results of a sport. While I agree the rioters shouldn't be destroying local businesses, the causes of the riot make sense. They are sick of watching their own people be brutalized and killed unjustly.

So, while the Baltimore and Ferguson riots started with (IMO) just causes and escalated with a loss of perspective by many of the rioters (mind you, there are still people calling for the end of this riot), the 2011 Vancouver riots caused more damage, injured more people, and had no actual valid justification to begin with.

So, if we should look down on one of these riots, it would definitely be the Vancouver riots.

http://thefourthestate.co/2015/04/breaking-freddy-gray-had-spine-surgery-just-one-week-before-arrest/

http://pastebin.com/rPuDdxRh

dindu muffins

The people who really want change will protest peacefully. This isn't a matter of black vs white, riots traditionally mobilises criminal elements.

http://patriotnewswire.com/2015/04/graphic-image-rioting-baltimore-thug-posts-image-of-his-victim-on-facebook/

some of them are out for blood

In those sports riots, people do get injured, businesses still get destroyed, and millions of dollars worth of damage adds up. The same thing that's happening in Baltimore as we speak. Whether or not anyone complains about economic downturn is besides the point, so you can stop trying to justify sports riots. Thanks.

You know what I don't understand about all this? We live in a new century, a new time. I know that African-Americans feel like they are unjustifiably attacked. But that means it's justifiable for them to loot, rob, burn things, STOP firefighters from putting out fires that could take other people's lives? That's not justifiable. That is ignorance. That is a bunch of children who see an opportunity to make idiots out of themselves. African Americans are not the only people who get killed by cops. But they are the ones causing a bigger problem over something that should be handled in a more peaceful manner. I am by no means saying his death was deserved. I am with people that it was unjust and mysterious.

Cops today are corrupt and power hungry. Not all of them but more than we'd care to admit. If our police officers can not follow they rules they are sworn to uphold why are they still there? I've seen countless stories over the past year or so where cops are killing people and animals for no reason. Where cops themselves are robbing businesses, they are supposed to protect, raping women just because they can. Our law enforcement system is failing us as a whole, they are failing themselves, the laws, and the rights they take an oath to protect. It is sad to see it takes something of this magnitude for people to see how unjust and unfair law enforcement is. It's time we did something about this.

We no longer live in a world where the white man oppresses the black man. We no longer live in a world where African Americans have to bow down and take the fate that is handed to them. Everyone has their destiny. Their own life. What you choose to do with it is your prerogative. The only oppression I see now is the one where people can not let go of the past. Let go and free yourself from the stigmas and the stereotypes. Stop making this into a race war, Because that is exactly what it is. And it is not just African Americans who fuel the fire, white people do it too. We all need to let go and see everyone for what they are People, human beings, man, woman, and child. We are all the same no matter the color of our skin. Strip that away and we all look the same.

I am sorry if this offends anyone. That was not and is not my intention. just an opinion.

@oblivionknight:

And for those saying this proves why black people are justifiably profiled more, just take a look at the 2011 Stanley Cup. At least these riots have a somewhat reasonable beginning. That Stanley Cup was just savagery and stupidity to the highest degree.

You don't see people try and justify sports riots.

Hahaha.

BB

@billy_batson: I see nothing funny about that statement. Laugh it up. I could care less. But if someone tells you that you cant do something why would you sit back and take it. Why not do it to prove them wrong? Just a thought.

They don't have to, seeing as sports riots won't get 1/1000th the press exposure that civil unrest will. Or about 1/1000,000 the references to "animals".

See my problem isn't that anyone is trying to justify anything, but rather that we have far too many people pretending that they don't know what violent emotional outbursts are and then they go on to pretend that people rioting are trying to make some sort of statement or solve some sort of problem when it is obvious that when you get a mob of any size and said mob gets upset, the results are often the same and it has never mattered what the cause was or whom the mob is made up of. But you know, people have to be ignorant or it has to be because they're poor...anything but human nature.

it gets ugly

really ugly

We are still living in that world, as far as I'm concerned.

In America? How so?

Watch MSNBC and see the light!!!!

Yes, in America. Just because slavery ended hundreds of years ago and the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 (by an openly-racist President that never gave a damn about Black people) doesn't mean that society is fair to Black people (and most certainly isn't). Institutionalized racism is a form of oppression. It's the reason why most Black communities are poverty-stricken, with things like drug dealing and gang violence being the direct result of the harsh conditions placed on those communities. It's the reason why the unemployment rate is higher among Blacks than all other races. It is the reason why White people benefit from societal and economic advantages that are beyond what Blacks and other minorities regularly experience, regardless of whether or not it is obvious to anyone. It is the reason why the media portrays Black people in a negative light. The Baltimore riots, for example. Rioters are violent, a bunch of thugs, a bunch of animals. But, let White folks riots over sports like they have been doing for over twenty years. They aren't viewed as violent or thuggish by the media, but as something less demeaning, while hurting innocent people, attacking the police, and destroying millions of dollars worth of property, just like those in Baltimore are doing.

Granted, there are numerous Black folks that are successful in spite of all of this. However, they don't speak for the majority, which is pretty overwhelming. This isn't a complaint or anything. This is the truth. 100% real.

@darkday:

but rather that we have far too many people pretending that they don't know what violent emotional outbursts are and then they go on to pretend that people rioting are trying to make some sort of statement or solve some sort of problem when it is obvious that when you get a mob of any size and said mob gets upset, the results are often the same and it has never mattered what the cause was or whom the mob is made up of. But you know, people have to be ignorant or it has to be because they're poor...anything but human nature.

I should point out that those that participate in sports riots tend to make up some of the most violent and aggressive people in society. We know why they start.

CNN host Wolf Blitzer seemed determined to make the focus of his Tuesday interview with Deray McKesson about the amount of trouble protesters had caused in Baltimore, but the community organizer managed to turn the tables on the veteran journalist.

“You want peaceful protests, right?” Blitzer began his interview by asking McKesson.

“Yes,” McKesson replied, after being momentarily taken aback by the obvious nature of the question. “Remember, the people that have been violent since August have been the police. When you think about the 300 people that have been killed this year alone. Like that is violence.”

McKesson agreed that the property damage in Baltimore on Monday night was unfortunate, but he urged Blitzer to remember that there had been “many days of peaceful protests here in Baltimore City and places all around the country.”

“But at least 15 police officers have been hurt, 200 arrests, 144 vehicle fires — these are statistics,” Blitzer countered, robotically reading a police press release. “There’s no excuse for that kind of violence, right?”

“Yeah, and there’s no excuse for the seven people that the Baltimore City Police Department has killed in the last year either, right?” McKesson shot back.

“We’re not making comparisons,” Blitzer stuttered. “Obviously, we don’t want anybody hurt. But I just want to hear you say that there should be peaceful protests, not violent protests in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King.”

“Yeah, there’s should be peaceful protests,” the community organizer replied. “And I don’t have to condone it to understand it, right? The pain that people feel is real.”

“And you are making a comparison,” McKesson added. “You are suggesting this idea that broken windows are worse than broken spines, right?”

“And what we know to be true is the police are killing people everywhere. They’re killing people here. Six police officers were involved in the killing of Freddie Gray, and we’re looking for justice there. And that’s real. The violence the police have been inflicting on communities of color has been sustained and deep.”

BB

do you know how stupid you sound? There are many other ways to bring problems to officials rather than rioting and destroying peoples businesses they've worked hard to build and putting people out of jobs. The National Guard shouldn't be called here to protect America from America its just not right. Riots are just a step back in humanity and it makes everyone that has been in such a thing a dumbass. There is a difference between a riot and a protest just encase you go there.

How did this go from Cops vs Black people to White people vs Black people? My God! What is the point of comparing these riots to riots in sports? Obviously the sports riots are going to get less coverage because they are less important than something like police brutality, carelessness and mysteriousness in a particular case. AH MY TEAM LOST vs The cops are killing black people.

Rioting is stupid, especially in reaction to sports. That doesn't mean hey they did it, so hey I guess it's ok if we do it. Again what's the point?

Once again, I'm not advertising rioting as the first social response to perceived injustices. You'd already know that if you read through the full discussion before cherrypicking individual posts. I was answering a question as why such a negative or aggressive action might appeal to people in the area. Though riots make local people look like animals (mostly because of how the media intentionally skews the ratio of peaceful protestors to rioters) it creates a political situation that is impossible to sweep under the rug. After the Baltimore riots are contained you will see a lot more oversight over the case that started this and an investigation into cultural incidents that led up to this.

This. People like to act like everyone in Baltimore decide to just burn and steal sh*t one day without paying any attention to the things that led up to this

Unfortunately the media will always pay more attention to rioters destroying property than peaceful protestors joining hands and waving pickets. It just sells more papers if you give people the negative and underplay the positive.

Dammit Fox

It was brought up because there's obviously a double standard in the reaction to riots. This was mentioned.

Tired of seeing there ppl die?

"Meanwhile, a drive by ensues

People are idiots for protesting. No one's going to find justice for anything by smashing up buildings and looting.

It's beyond moronic.

@gjgp27: more precisely, blacks are tired of seeing other blacks killed by people MEANT to protect them. Cops aren't meant to destroy spines due to brutality and then ignore the damage they caused. Mentioning drivebys as if they're somehow the equivalent of police brutality is downright ignorant.

All the pain and anguish of Freddie Gray's death is clearly evident by all the looting, right? I'm sure all the stuff that's being stolen is really filling that void those dastardly police created.

@oblivionknight: they ain't tired of doing crime though

I ain't saying that they deserve to die, but you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes

@silkyballfro94:

1) If I'm correct, a majority of Baltimore PD is white. It's only natural to see this as oppression of a minority by Whites (even though Baltimore is primarily Black, this doesn't stop the oppression of them.)

2) The point of comparing the two riots is to quiet those that say this is because Blacks are well... Black. This isn't the case. Violence is a universally spoken language and the 2011 Vancouver Stanley cup riots (idk the statistics of those attending, but I think we can all agree a vast majority of Hockey fans are White) show that non-blacks are capable of rioting (so far, it caused more violence and destruction) with less of a justified reason (my people are being oppressed and killed vs my team lost.)

3) The Stanley Cup riot isn't acting as justification for the Baltimore riots, just as a reference point. I wish protesting got the same attention as rioting does, but it doesn't. When your people are being unjustly killed by their supposed protectors, there's a problem. It just so happens this problem is being resolved by violence.

@static_shock: Most poor black communities are poor because of white oppression? Yeah, it's not because most are uneducated (barely passed high school), unemployable (the jobs that they can get are sweeping brooms, no stem training or trade skills such as auto mechanics or craftsman skills), and destroy their own (single mothers raise men and women who repeat the exact same cycle, usually because these mothers won't even admit to their own mistakes). Seriously, are ghettos just filled with doctors, lawyers, film production houses, art districts, musicians (not rappers), business owners, or even marketers?

Plus, why aren't poor whites rioting, or even poor Mexicans? Don't tell me that white privilege crap.

@gjgp27: so what you're trying to say is that, because Blacks are impoverished and oppressed by Whites, Whites have a right to attack and brutalize blacks? I mean, the criminal element THRIVES in horrendous conditions; conditions that blacks are essentially forced to live in? There's a problem there and it doesn't start with Blacks.

@oblivionknight: Dude, did you read anything that I just wrote? I'm literally and blatantly saying that blacks AREN'T oppressed.

I think the cause is blatant violence against people of color, just the ignorance. Where you guys here, Saturday, covering what happened? Saturday, when we had a peaceful protest that was successful, we had 4,000 people come out and demonstrate. Thirty-five of those 4,000 people were arrested. And the media chose to document those 35 cases where people got angry and lashed out violently.But what they didn’t document was that people at the Oriole stadium yelling out racial slurs. They were calling them ‘animal’, ‘porch monkey’, and calling the Caucasians that where in the mix ‘n****r lovers’. All types of things that’s just… it’s 2015. We’ve worked hard to overcome that. So, for that to happen, and the reaction to have happened, it doesn’t justify it. But it needs to be said as well that it’s not one-sided.It’s not just ‘black people getting angry and coming out [and] setting s*** on fire’. This is fueled. They’re inciting this, and there’s no responsibility for the other side of it.”

Gif set of it

http://proletarianrevenge.tumblr.com/post/117588458521/melanie-from-baltimore-laying-down-the-truth-to

BB

@gjgp27: and I'm saying you're wrong.

@oblivionknight: 1) So you think the cops who are mostly white (I'm not even sure how many black people or minorities are cops) are killing blacks on purpose? Like a new mission or something back from the lynching days? Freddie Gray is one case in Baltimore. It's not like everything that has happened to blacks in custody or shooting by a cop has happened in this one city. Yes I know this is terrible what happened to the Gray in custody. But don't you think this is a coincidence and not some massive conspiracy between every police department in America?

2) I'll agree with that. Obviously everyone is capable of violence and most hockey fans are white.

3) I hope it isn't. We don't know what the people actually rioting in Baltimore are actually thinking. Protesting does get the same attention and more. Did MLK ever encourage violence or rioting? No he didn't. He protested peacefully and got things done. His voice was heard. That dude now has a day in the year named after him because of that. Protesting just has to be done right. Yes there is a problem with cops and how they treat people. But the solution shouldn't be violence. MLK is rolling in his grave right now.

@saren: What would Gandhi do?

@static_shock: Have you considered that it might not be a double standard? Maybe it might be something else?

So they want destruction and death huh?

A nicely place nuke will do the trick

Gandhi would tell people to stop paying taxes, to boycott public institutions and refuse to show up for government work. His entire approach was based first on the premise that a government should recognize and honor the fact that it needed its citizens rather than exploit them, and only later became a self-rule movement. If the government treated its citizens in an oppressive manner, then it was for the citizens to remind the government that their need for it was not as great as its need for them. For instance, when the British ruled India you needed a license to make and sell salt and they would charge through the nose for the license. Gandhi marched hundreds of miles and thousands watched as he strolled up to the beach and gathered salt just for symbolic purposes. He was arrested, and people followed his example and gathered salt for themselves, and they were arrested too. That's what Gandhi wanted people to do: commit non-violent victimless crimes and flood the jails and courthouses with so many prisoners that the system would become paralyzed trying to keep up with them all. The non-violent nature of it robbed the state of legitimacy when they tried anything other than non-violent negotiations --- there were marches led by Gandhi's supporters that were attacked and assaulted by British policemen, but they never raised a hand to fight back, and when that got out it only made support for Gandhi's movement that much stronger. Whereas violent approaches, especially if they aren't on the scale of outright war, will simply give legitimacy to the state as people not involved will seek the protection of the state and resent destruction caused by protesters.

@hylian: dude stop trolling.