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 Post subject: Race in America
 Post Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 4:48 pm 
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Joined: Mon Sep 23, 2002 12:00 am
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Website: http://kitoba.com
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As a forty-year old black American, I've never personally felt more alarmed by the state of race relations in this country. Although I've lived through very racially divisive times before --Rodney King and OJ --this feels different. On the one side, there's a sizable portion of the white electorate that, in the face of a black President and changing demographics, feels threatened as never before. On the other side, you have repeated documented evidence of unjustified levels of force used disproportionately against black citizens, as followed up by unprecedented attacks on the police force. Then add Trump doing his best to stir the pot by casting aspersions directly on the president, and it seemingly all adds up to a powder keg ready to explode.

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 Post subject: Re: Race in America
 Post Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 5:21 am 
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...that sounds pretty bad.

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 Post subject: Re: Race in America
 Post Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:02 am 
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I think in a weird way, all of this might be a symptom of things getting better over the long run. The moderates have ditched the Republican party and what's left has basically become the party of white grievance. They're angry people threatened by change, but that means things are changing. It's disturbing for sure, and I don't know how long it's going to take them to get it out of their system. I'm seriously worried that racist crazies have gained control over one of only two major political parties in America, the world's only superpower.

As for the police brutality problem, I think that's actually been going on ages, it's just on video now, and people are talking about it. I mean, the 80s and 90s are when all this Tough On Crime/War On Drugs stuff started and people are finally noticing that it's counterproductive and cruel and disproportionately unfair to black people.

The bright spot is that reforming the prison-industrial complex is something that people from both parties can agree on. The conservative side is actually split - the authoritarians among them are still going "So? The thugs deserve it", but the more libertarian wing is genuinely disturbed by abuse of police power, unreasonable search and seizure, civil forfeiture, and the practice of shaking down (usually defenceless poor) citizens for fines in lieu of collecting enough taxes to run your government.

So it's scary, but there's a silver lining. Hang in there, man.

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