African American
Related: About this forumI'm starting a countdown on how long it takes for the DOJ and Admin to do something on Tamir Rice.
Last edited Tue Dec 29, 2015, 12:19 PM - Edit history (2)
I'm a long time Obama supporter (precinct captain in '07/'08 and phone banker/ neighborhood canvassing/voter registration in '11/'12) but come on already, something proactive has to be done on all these police shootings of innocent, unarmed African Americans.
For God's sake, we have a black, democratic president and nothing seems to get done, and in most cases, even addressed. It's like there's almost always just silence.
Number23
(24,544 posts)But the idea that because we have a black president and black AG that this country's 400 year history of deep, all encompassing racism will go away or even get shoved aside for a while is naive.
But there is no denying that having POC in these positions has done a huge amount of good. Holder's Dept of Justice did a lot of work on voter laws, Obama has done alot to raise awareness (though not too much else, much to his chagrin) on gun control, the massive discrepancies in prison sentencing and education for black people. And I'm not entirely sure that it's a coincidence that BLM took hold on his watch.
These are all great, progressive steps in the right direction. But as this verdict and countless others show, we still have a very long way to go.
brush
(53,833 posts)to get the public and Congress behind getting more positive results on these shootings.
No one with any sense is expecting racism to magically go away because we have a black president and black attorney general but I want lobbying from the administration towards congress to get bills passed to hold killer cops responsible for their murders and do-nothing DAs responsible for letting killer cops off the hook.
And ditto with the DOJ.
I mean LBJ worked with civil rights leaders and congress to get things done in the civil rights era that has had long-lasting and positive impacts, much of which has survived the repugs attempts to roll them back.
I expect and want that that kind of fervor and dedication to accomplish meaningful results from this administration that will have effective results on stopping killer cops and do-nothing DAs long into the future. IMO that should be a priority.
I mean the Tamir Rice shooting and non-indictment should be the last straw, a kick in the ass to spur demonstrative action, and not some quiet, behind-the scenes, minor maneuverings that the public is hardly aware of.
JI7
(89,262 posts)they are elected to office by people who hate Obama.
brush
(53,833 posts)JI7
(89,262 posts)He is doing what he can but he isn't a dictator and it ignores the real problem to think him or any president alone can fix it.
brush
(53,833 posts)I'm advocating for the president to go public from his "bully pulpit", as only the president can do, to rally the people to get behind proactive moves to help solve this issue that is literally killing innocent, unarmed black people.
Just a nod from the president towards the Black Lives Matter movement could a generate a tremendous spur of positive public opinion towards the movement, which in turn can get more and more people involved on all fronts from legal help to funding help to more people in the streets to more media coverage to louder and louder appeals for Congress to bring forward bills to address/fix SCOTUS's gutting of civil rights laws to DA's complicit in allowing killer cops to walk I mean help build a movement. And being aware that movements happen over time long term commitment for long term results.
Martin and Malcolm certainly weren't expecting over night results.
JI7
(89,262 posts)brush
(53,833 posts)from his unique and powerful position towards a problem that is killing us.
JI7
(89,262 posts)brush
(53,833 posts)No one with any sense is expecting the president to do it alone, but anything he can do from his powerful position goes a long way to influence the public to rally and perhaps influence their representatives on local, state and national levels to be proactive in trying to stop killer cops from murdering unarmed African Americans.
Of course it's not an overnight fix, nothing in "the struggle" is.
Number23
(24,544 posts)have done nothing to "rally" back.
Martin and Malcolm were not politicians. I hear everything that you are saying and I sincerely share your frustrations. But this is not something the president can fix. Only the American people can do this.
Cha
(297,515 posts)Its not just Fergusonheres how the system protects police.
snip//
Chapter 563 of the Missouri Revised Statutes grants a lot of discretion to officers of the law to wield deadly force, to the horror of many observers swooping in to the Ferguson story. The statute authorizes deadly force in effecting an arrest or in preventing an escape from custody if the officer reasonably believes it is necessary in order to to effect the arrest and also reasonably believes that the person to be arrested has committed or attempted to commit a felony or may otherwise endanger life or inflict serious physical injury unless arrested without delay.
But this law is not an outlier, and is fully in sync with Supreme Court jurisprudence. The legal standard authorizing deadly force is something called objective reasonableness.
More..
http://www.thenation.com/article/why-its-impossible-indict-cop/
I think you should know these laws before you start blaming this on President Obama. He's spoken out so much on this.
The gop congress isn't going to do a damn thing about it. We need much more Democrats in Congress and a Democratic SCOTUS.
brush
(53,833 posts)I think much more can be done.
Cha
(297,515 posts)agreeing with you. No "single payer" is Obama's fault too.. according to them.
brush
(53,833 posts)I'm in his corner on 95% of the issues. This just happens to be one where I think more can be done to raise public indignation on innocent unarmed AAs being killed with impunity by police.
You don't agree with me. That's fine, but IMO the president is the most powerful person in the country and his time is running out. I'd love to see him tackle this issue full on to get more people involved. He's tackled many issues that have benefited all of the people but on this one I've like to see him do more specifically to help the people being targeted by racist cops.
Cha
(297,515 posts)Number23
(24,544 posts)In what way could the president "bully pulpit" Congress into changing state laws to go after cops??
And I'd hardly consider DOJ action "behind the scenes, minor maneuvering."
brush
(53,833 posts)towards an issue in the public which in turn can influence their representatives in Congress.
Presidents have always used it to affect change. At times it has worked.
IMO it's time to "make some noise" about a twelve-year-old" boy playing with a toy gun in the park and getting murdered in two seconds without the cops even bothering to use any discernment in accessing the situation before opening fire and in an OPEN CARRY state no less.
Number23
(24,544 posts)mass shooting in this country and has "lobbied" on gun laws. And it's done nothing.
Obama is not the issue here. The "noise" needs to come from large swaths of the community (not just black folks, ALL Americans should be up in arms about what happened to Tamir Rice) and the changes need to be done in Congress.
Cha
(297,515 posts)agreeing with you here. They think not having Single Payer is Obama's fault, too.
They never listen.
brush
(53,833 posts)He has wisely picked his issues to champion the ACA, getting Bin Ladin, saving the auto idustry and the economy, reducing the debt, equal wages for women, gay rights, just to name a few.
We can agree to disagreed but I think much more needs to be done.
To me with no re-election concerns or mid-term election backlash repercussions, this is the time to go all in on this. Innocent people are getting killed.
Cha
(297,515 posts)possible so far.. it's not over.
JI7
(89,262 posts)Was born here just need the right person to convince them to do the right thing. Because we all know their big concern is for minorities............
Cha
(297,515 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)Gman
(24,780 posts)Basically said after Ferguson that the civil rights violation laws are not good enough. It's a shame.
FarPoint
(12,428 posts)Wanting the Feds to step in....
Cha
(297,515 posts)Ferguson.
snip//
"..They should, but the Supreme Court gutted the civil rights law he violated when he killed Michael Brown."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1187&pid=35501
kwassa
(23,340 posts)Prosecutors control it, and they are the friends of the police. They prevent the case from proceeding to trial.
This makes police unaccountable. For almost anything.
Cha
(297,515 posts)rusty quoin
(6,133 posts)You can slam his sister to the ground and make her watch him die in the back seat. You can discuss how you get out of it while providing no aid to what you consider a 12 y/o animal, and get away with it.
Broken neck on video...12 y/o with toy gun on video...like a second or so...kill him.
The cops are medieval . Heads on pikes? Why not? A broken fucking neck? Why not?
JI7
(89,262 posts)where one person themselves could make a different decision that would turn things around.
Obama has done what he could but to expect or even think Obama or anyone alone could change things ignores the real problem in this country.
Cha
(297,515 posts)daybranch
(1,309 posts)Obama can use it and should. Whether or not he wins now or not is irrelevant. Educating Americans about important issues is part of his job. Refusing to enter a fray because you might lose in the short term is no excuse. It is with knowledge we progress.
Jimmy Carter has continued to use his bully pulpit , telling us what goers on in the middle east, and just recently telling us we are ruled by an oligarchy of the rich. Obama's reticence to speak out is not good.
brush
(53,833 posts)JI7
(89,262 posts)The problem is much deeper and it ignores the real problems to think a president alone can fix it.
brush
(53,833 posts)Cha
(297,515 posts)And, there isn't silence at all.
Ari Melber
✔ ?@AriMelber
As I was explaining on air:
Typically prosecutor argues to G. Jury for why to charge
This prosecutor says he argued for why not to charge.
9:38 AM - 28 Dec 2015 1,288 1,288 Retweets
415 415 likes
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/12/28/even-when-we-expected-it-it-still-burns-so-deep/
This from 2014 in the aftermath of the tragedy of Michael Brown being gunned down in the street.
Why the Feds Cant Charge Darren Wilson
They should, but the Supreme Court gutted the civil rights law he violated when he killed Michael Brown.
end snip//
Brown had the right to life itself, too. Wilson took it awayand theres almost nothing the federal government can do about it. The KKK began its reign of terror in 1865. The brutal Selma assault on civil rights protesters occurred in 1965. And in 2014, we still dont have a federal law to protect unarmed black boys from getting gunned down by cops in the street.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/11/will_justice_department_charge_darren_wilson_supreme_court_gutted_civil.html
The Supreme Court and Congress are the enemies of "the right to life" for Black Americans gunned down by cops in the street and elsewhere.
Steve Marmel ?@Marmel
This is exactly what was expected, re; #TamirRice
And that is SOUL-CRUSHINGLY terrible.
9:21 AM - 28 Dec 2015 58 58 Retweets
33 33 likes
RIP Tamir Rice
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/12/28/even-when-we-expected-it-it-still-burns-so-deep/
Why Its Impossible to Indict a Cop
Its not just Fergusonheres how the system protects police.
snip//
SCOTUS and the license to kill
Chapter 563 of the Missouri Revised Statutes grants a lot of discretion to officers of the law to wield deadly force, to the horror of many observers swooping in to the Ferguson story. The statute authorizes deadly force in effecting an arrest or in preventing an escape from custody if the officer reasonably believes it is necessary in order to to effect the arrest and also reasonably believes that the person to be arrested has committed or attempted to commit a felony
or may otherwise endanger life or inflict serious physical injury unless arrested without delay.
But this law is not an outlier, and is fully in sync with Supreme Court jurisprudence. The legal standard authorizing deadly force is something called objective reasonableness.
More..
http://www.thenation.com/article/why-its-impossible-indict-cop/
I think we should go to the source of the problem.. just because we have a Black Democratic President doesn't mean laws will automatically be changed.
brush
(53,833 posts)and build awareness and indignation on this issue which in turn can influence representatives in Congress to start putting forth bills to combat the SCOTUS rulings that allow killer cops to kill without impunity.
Of course it won't happen overnight and the repugs will try to roadblock efforts but that's what the struggle has always been about. You keep banging on the barrier and keep banging and banging on all fronts just as King and Malcolm and Thurgood Marshall did on all fronts, until you beat down the barrier. If we don't it'll always be so.
Since when has the rallying cry of the movement been, "well, we can't do anything about it"?
JI7
(89,262 posts)In state and local govt which you don't seem to want to do anything about.
brush
(53,833 posts)as I certainly wasn't advocating "doing nothing".
I'm asking for doing much more than is being done. I thought that was clear.
We are the ones being killed in the streets by murderous cops who then get off with no punishment.
JI7
(89,262 posts)Cha
(297,515 posts)voice to bring about justice.. I see it all the time.
You just refuse.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Cha
(297,515 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)Cha
(297,515 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)Cha
(297,515 posts)even be bothered to do the research on your own.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... making your case.
By the way, your dissing me is pretty funny considering you never miss an opportunity to defend President Obama even when he's wrong.
Blind loyalty is not an admirable trait.
Cha
(297,515 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)Cha
(297,515 posts)orders from you. If you don't want to know then remain clueless.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... throwing shit on the wall to see what would stick.
Cha
(297,515 posts)I would look it up instead of remaining ignorant. Which I did when I first got on this thread.
And, I actually would help someone out who didn't come in here dissing President Obama the first damn thing without having one freaking, little tiny clue what they were talking about. That turns me right off.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Fact is, you were wrong so you couldn't back up your claim and now your response is to attack me.
That's pretty damned lame.
Here, make you lame claim again and see what the response is ... http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251959132
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)"Yeah, like that'll happen..."
Much as an irrelevant post often happens, adding nothing of substance yet accurately illustrating a dramatic lack of character.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other.
JI7
(89,262 posts)That's where these problems are so deeply rooted.
Do you blame jerry brown for abusive racist cops in California ?