Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know this has been asked a dozen times before, but I still don’t understand the answer. What am I, as a suburban white person with no power or influence to do? If I saw something I would certainly speak up. Posting on social media seems empty and hollow. Protesting doesn’t seem useful. I vote for Democrats.

Everyone keeps saying unaffected people need to do something. What?

Stop voting Dem of course. See the massive increase in murders of minorities their policies have brought us.

Anonymous wrote:I know this has been asked a dozen times before, but I still don’t understand the answer. What am I, as a suburban white person with no power or influence to do? If I saw something I would certainly speak up. Posting on social media seems empty and hollow. Protesting doesn’t seem useful. I vote for Democrats.

Everyone keeps saying unaffected people need to do something. What?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Start reading. Start understanding just what white privilege is, how white supremacy is baked into the cake of America. Listen to black people talk about their experiences without getting defensive. Support black owned businesses and restaurants. Don’t center yourself. I’m tired and listening to the eerie silence (but blessed) in my curfewed neighborhood, so I’ll just say, of all things, Estee Laundry had a great post on this today.

I’m sure our friendly white supremacist posters will helpfully tell me I’m speaking gibberish, and I still consider myself a neophyte about this, but it’s up to us to change things. It’s not up to black people to fix the power structure they didn’t build and still have no comparative power in. If you and I have no influence or power, statistically speaking we still have more than the average black citizen.

Yes, get to work. If you have kids you should really be doing what you can to learn about racism in America--its been part of our country since the beginning and we need to do our part to eradicate it. Here are some books to help: White Fragility by DiAngelo, So

If you have kids make sure you buys books about people of color. If you don't know where to start look up books by Jason Reynolds, Kwame Alexander, Kekla Magoon, Jacqueline Woodson, and Angie Thomas. My kids (and I) have enjoyed their books.
Books that might help you, How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi as well as his book Stamped From The Beginning are both excellent (for kids or you try Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi). So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo is incredibly helpful. Michael Eric Dyson's Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America. Dyson wrote the foreward to White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo which is excellent and I think a must read for white people. Another helpful book for white people who are ready to do something constructive is Waking Up White by Debby Irving.

Explore your own implicit or unconscious bias at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/education.html

I would also say seek out Black Media and voices. Twitter makes that easier these days. Support Black institutions like historically black colleges and universities, black businesses, black writers. Those are some things you can do to start. Above all as you do this, be humble, be curious, be willing to challenge yourself and be uncomfortable. That is where real growth happens. Thank you for caring. If you do the work, you will never regret it.

Suppose she has already done this. Suppose she has already read the literature, the studies. Supposed she owns the implicit bias in herself. And now she wants to do something active. Something to make things better. Besides vote, is there nothing she can do besides sit and feel good that she has educated herself?

As Malcolm X said to an earnest white woman in Spike Lee’s film, “Nothing.”

Stop making it all about you, even when you’re “trying to help.” Thinking that it’s your fight or you have anything to contribute is arrogant white privilege in and of it itself. That you cannot see that is ironic and troubling.

Fine. I'll just sit home then.

Donate money. Donate time to organizations that help underserved and hurting communities. Not that hard to figure out. Are you willing?

I used to give to the Southern Poverty law center until they were revealed to be a scan. Would the AME church maybe be a good alternative?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obama is asking us to contact our mayors and ask them to examine their police force’s use of force statements. If we, all of us, who care, who don’t want our black citizens slaughtered with impunity call and make this a priority, we can demilitarize our police. And that will be better for everyone.

#8cantwait

Is it possible for them also to be able to charge police officers quicker? I don't understand how a man gets handcuffed and killed less than 30 minute after just entering a store with a possible fake bill happens when a police officer suspected of killing someone takes days to process.

Anonymous wrote:Obama is asking us to contact our mayors and ask them to examine their police force’s use of force statements. If we, all of us, who care, who don’t want our black citizens slaughtered with impunity call and make this a priority, we can demilitarize our police. And that will be better for everyone.

#8cantwait

Anonymous wrote:

I think most posters on here are beyond the age of typical law enforcement recruitment. My younger sister is one BTW and I’ve seen her become pretty hardened over the years. Hard to have a serious conversation with her about all this. It usually descends into her ranting about how police officers risk their lives every day and the media only focuses on the bad things, etc.

Maybe, if you would listen to what she is saying you could have a "serious" conversation.

Yes, there is police brutality. But, it is hard to focus on that when you are beating your brains out trying to help people at risk to yourself.

Minneapolis police has had problems for many years. They have a Dem mayor, a Dem governor, a Dem city council, and an African American Chief of Police. They have had police shootings of African Americans and an African American policeman shot and killed a white woman. The latter is in jail--but, it took over a year to charge him. There were no riots over her death.

What happened to Floyd was awful, horrific, disturbing beyond words. But, you need to look to the people running the show in Minnesota--not riot all over the US. And, especially, this is the fault of Chauvin and, likely, his posse.