Re: Walk-out by Congressional staffers in protest of non-indictment

[ellenrr]

Interesting that some headlines say "Congressional staffers" and some say "Black Congressional Staffers".

NPR says spearheaded by Congressional Black Caucus, and including Asians and Hispanics.

Aljazeera says "100 Black Staffers" which apparently is incorrect.

The Gateway Pundit caption under the photo says,
"No white ally staffers were included in the photo."

I wonder: is there not a single white staffer of conscience?

[Kalidurga]

1. One poll I saw said 52% of Americans were okay with the no bill.

Maybe they are all in congress? Or maybe a high percentage of white legislatures are more authoritarian than even the average white person in this country and thus more likely than the average white person to be okay with this.

Just spit balling here.

[ellenrr]

3. If you ask white people only, a much higher percent are ok with the no-bill...

when it comes to issues perceived as "law and order", "crime", fear pops up, and it always becomes really clear how we are two nations.

yeah, maybe people who work for the govt are more compliant. maybe they fear risking their jobs.
but their African-American, Asian and Hispanic counterparts - have even more to risk, because if they lost their job, I think - generally speaking - it would be harder for them to find another.

[daredtowork]

2. It's so great to see a variety of protests

Here in Berkeley we had a high school walk out which was little noticed underneath all the sturm and drang about "masked anarchists".

Also saw an article about medical students walking out: "white coats for black lives matter"

Hopefully the wave keeps on going and keeps on growing!

[ellenrr]

4. yes! I saw a middle-school walked out! I forget where.

and that medical student walk out was far out!

I hope we see
"veterinarians for indictment"
"bowlers for justice"
"tailors protest no-bill"
"octogenarians for Michael Brown"

It's nice to see protest extend beyond the usual suspects.

[marym625]

5. yes, there were some white staffers

But not nearly enough. You can see a few in the really wide shot in this article.

I only know that because of watching it on the news. No article mentions white staffers.

This was put together from 3 minority staffer groups. They may have wanted to do this without white staffers. And frankly, I don't blame them.

http://m.mic.com/articles/106306/powerful-photos-show-congressional-staffers-staging-a-walk-out-to-protest-police-killings

[ellenrr]

6. thanks for the info. Interesting that no article mentions white staffers..

and that apparently they were kept out of the photo.

which makes it look like it is a "race" issue.

The media wants to present all these protests as if it is only Black people protesting, and as if white people don't care, and don't need to take notice.

It makes a big difference when "uninformed" white people see white people are protesting too.
This gives the protests more credibility.
It shouldn't - but it does.
They can identify with the activity.

Like during civil rights, nobody noticed or cared, til some white people started being targeted.

[daredtowork]

7. There are mixed messages on this

When white people do show their support, there is fear that they will forget that the focus is on black issues and that they will try to wrest the megaphone from black leaders. Black movements don't need White Saviors.

But if white support doesn't show up, it looks like that support doesn't exist.

In regard to your last sentence, I wrote a post earlier today about how the unrest in Berkeley might be a case of "until white people started being targeted". West Berkeley has been undergoing gentrification (and being sapped of color) for over a decade. But it's only now that the problem has reached the white residents that there is serious "concern" and "unrest" over gentrification. My conclusion was Berkeley is a place where Black Lives Should Have Mattered Long Ago.

[ellenrr]

8. I agree there are mixed messages, and I try to choose my words carefully...

the 1st ferguson demo I went to was called by college students and I was sad that it was 97% Black. By which I'm saying - I'm sad that there are 30,000 students at this university - only a handful are Black - and apparently very few of the almost 30,000 white students chose to protest.
Maybe bec. they think that Police Brutality doesn't touch them. (mostly it doesn't).
Maybe bec. their mothers never had to have "that talk" with them, where they are told how to behave around police, so as to not lose their lives.
Maybe bec. when they are late coming home, their loved ones are not hoping that they haven't run into law enforcement.

Maybe it is a function of how the event was called - maybe it went out to Black social media groups.
I don't know.
maybe it is true that "today's kids are apathetic".
Even in the case of tuition increase, very few come out.

"Black Lives Should Have Mattered Long Ago"-
well-said. we could say that about so many things.

I remember Vietnam war - as long as poor kids, kids of color were fighting and dying- fine.
it was when they began drafting white college kids that you saw huge opposition to the war.

[marym625]

9. If this was intentional

By the groups that put it together, I'm fine with it. If it was the press, that's not cool.