On 'White Fear Being Weaponized' And How To Respond

[applegrove]

JAMES DOUBEK, SOPHIA BOYD and CHRISTOPHER DEAN HOPKINS at NPR

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/27/614730785/on-white-fear-being-weaponized-and-how-to-respond

"SNIP..........


Are incidents like these, of white people calling the police on black people, more common than in the past, or do we just hear about them more?

"I think that we have to be careful not to say the scale has increased," says Khalil Muhammad, a professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard University. "What has definitely increased is the amount of video evidence, the amount of copy — meaning what journalists are writing around these issues — and even the organizing around trying to do something about it."

He adds, "What we can know for sure is that we are having a national dialogue about it that is much more significant and increased in the number of participants in that dialogue than I've certainly seen in my lifetime."

Muhammad talked with NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro about how cellphone video and President Trump have affected how white and black people interact with police.

............SNIP"

[Chemisse]

1. What he said makes sense to me.

Decent white people have become sensitized to these injustices in recent years, thanks to the highly publicized shootings of unarmed black men. Without the spat of cell phone videos prior to this, we would only have heard the police versions.

The more aware we all are and the more angry we are about it, the more these events make the news. And it has spread to all kinds of injustices, such as the Starbucks incident.

We can hardly think it is a new phenomenon. It's tempting to think it is, as we became aware of the shootings under Obama, when anti-AA sentiment was at fever pitch among certain factions. And this racist sentiment it has been further kindled under Trump.

I can only infer that this has been going on for many many decades. And I can only hope that this new awareness can help build a groundswell of people who won't stand for it any longer.

[Doreen]

2. Whether this has been happening a lot already or

more now we need to continue to fight it and to increase our fight against it.

[tulipsandroses]

3. I think its just being recorded more. Not that its happening more.

I think the fact that its recorded more and we see the horrific assaults and deaths more, make us even more hyper aware which makes us want to record more.
I would like to see people get arrested or cited for abusing 911 instead of police arresting black folks or giving tired excuses of I have to do my job - I mean seriously, wasting the court's time over sitting in Starbucks, bbq in the park, kicking out valid members out of LA Fitness and on and on - these should be considered abuse of 911 and abuse of the courts and fines should be given.

Maybe these folks will think twice before calling 911. To quote Charles M Blow "I’m over being angry abt racism. I’ve moved on the economic vengeance. Racism doesn’t hurt my feeling, but it WILL hurt your pockets!"