General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJust a friendly reminder.
Last edited Mon Apr 27, 2015, 09:38 PM - Edit history (1)
Since some people have apparently just discovered the situation in Baltimore (much as they just discovered the situation in Ferguson when someone set fire to a car, or they just discovered the situation in Sanford when a fistfight broke out) i want to give a friendly reminder of comparative value.
A storefront is not worth more than a black person's life.
A honda civic is not worth more than a black person's life
A pair of sneakers is not worth more than a black person's life.
A flat-screen TV is not worth more than a black person's life
An iPhone is not worth more than a black person's life.
A window is not worth more than a black person's life.
In fact, no bit of merchandise. No bit of property, no item or inanimate object, is worth more than anyone's life. I emphasize black lives, because these seem to be the ones most often forgotten in the panic over the destruction of, say, a roadsign or a dumpster being set on fire.
Now, thank you, most DU'ers do realize this fact, that items are not greater than people, in any conceivable case. you pass the minimum standard, and on the internet, that does count for something.
But for those of you who haven't noticed until just now? Those of you who have only just found cause to be outraged because someone busted a CVs outlet? you ARE saying that you value a pane of glass and some Flintstones vitamins more than you value the life of a black man who damn near had his head torn off. You display this by the sheer disparity of where you display your anger.
Maybe you're just not thinking about it. Maybe you're just led along by the media, which has a pretty bad habit of focusing 24/7 coverage on a McDonalds having a window broken, and no coverage on the fact that a town has a systemic problem of racial abuses perpetrated by the very people who are supposed to be protecting that community. That is forgivable, we're all basically just a variety of ground-dwelling mammal, mistakes happen, and now you are thinking about it and know better.
But for those of you who very honestly and for-true believe that any number of black lives are expendable, if the option B is extra work for the glazier business in town. That's abhorrent, and shame on you.
In either case... please stop.
Thank you.
Autumn
(45,120 posts)Recommended
MineralMan
(146,345 posts)ms liberty
(8,620 posts)Throd
(7,208 posts)I haven't seen anybody here express what you seem to be angry about.
Vattel
(9,289 posts)SoLeftIAmRight
(4,883 posts)Lex
(34,108 posts)says a lot.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)Same with a burning car, truck, store, dumpster.
Plus media personalities are chosen for their looks, not their insight. The broadcast media cannot do "in depth" anything because everything must fit into a 30 second slot.
LovingA2andMI
(7,006 posts)passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)Beautiful post. Thank you!
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)they thoroughly deserve it fyi.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)of Freddie Gray, the man killed in police custody.
shaayecanaan
(6,068 posts)but sometimes the only instrument a people have. If it were not for the threat of civil disorder the establishment wouldn't give a toss about people dying in police custody.
project_bluebook
(411 posts)Just look what happened to the Occupy movement, corporate law enforcement rounded them up and the corporate court system punished them. Peaceful protest no longer works.
hanon
(8 posts)very thoughtful