OPINIONATED RANT AHEAD:

Holy. Crap. This is getting out of hand. How many cities are going to be burned down because of a case of a "white cop / black man"? Freddy Gray is the latest black person the media is obsessing over that has died due to the actions (in this case, lack thereof) of white cops. Now Baltimore, Maryland has plunged into Hell, because of protests gone out of control, protests originally aimed at police brutality against the black community. Protests are fine. That is a U.S. citizen's given right. Burning down buildings, injuring cops, completely destroying their cars? This is not protesting. This is being an idiot. Certain black people want to be treated with respect, and then they go out and do this crap!? Those individuals are a disgrace to the black community. They give the black community a bad name, yet they are receiving praise by some for sticking it to the white man! As of right now, I haven't even seen proof come out on this case to show this was an act of racism! Why do people do this? Why is the President already considering this racist without evidence? Why is he not trying to bring this country closer together?

I'm sorry. I don't usually like to discuss politics, but I really needed to blow off some steam. Well, what do you guys think? Is the racial divide ever going to close? Is the U.S. ever going to get better in this topic? Are these rioters in the right? Or is MLK rolling over in his grave?

its stupid
but in australia we let them wreck houses and then give (native people) some more. It is almost impossible to strike a happy balance

the police in america (as a system, not even gonna try to argue about individuals) is corrupt and racist. and they work in the context of violence. that is how they do their job. i don't like the idea that it has come to violent solutions to solve our problems, but it's hard to see any other way. peaceful protests go on for a few weeks, the media gets bored, and then nothing changes. it happens over and over again.

and think of it this way. the violence that is happening now and in the past over this issue was created by the police. they are the ones that murder black people in cold blood and get away with it, over and over. if the police don't want violence then a good start would be to stop murdering people in the first place.

i'm white, and i shouldn't pretend to know anything about black peoples' condition, but i do feel strongly about it. if i could afford to, i would go and join the protests in baltimore.

Thank God the people of Boston were more reasonable last month after the fatal police shooting. Obviously very different circumstances given that the police were fired upon first.

Still can't believe there were some idiots complaining about police using deadly force after one of their own was shot point blank in the face

also, to address protesters injuring cops: why do protesters have to follow different rules than the police? the police can injure protesters with tear gas, batons, rubber bullets, concussion grenades, etc. but you're gonna wag your finger at protesters throwing rocks at the police? no it's not right, but to speak up about the protesters without proportionally raising your voice about the police is really skewed.

Oh, there are racist cops and other cops that shouldn't be cops. That is a sure thing, and something should be done about that. But I watch the news, and I see these protests about police brutality towards black people. I would be down in Baltimore right now, if they weren't protesting the violence towards the black community specifically. More whites are killed than blacks by police. Is this particular case racist? There's a possibility, but no evidence shows or denies it. I would love to protest police violence in general, but I would not have anything to do with what's going on in Baltimore right now. And while I say that police violence overall is an issue, if you don't do sh*t, you won't get hit. There is plenty of stupidity from both the police force, and the citizens the vast majority of police are sworn to protect. These riots are not helping the black community.

Edited 4/29/2015 00:47:03

yes, but you are asking people to be mindless robots when you say that. of course everyone knows that cops have guns and can kill you and you shouldn't piss them off, but people are people, they lose their cool, they get their dignity crushed, and it shouldn't be a death sentence when they do. a lot of these protests are about people that were unarmed and not committing violent crimes, and they did not possess the tools to murder as easily as the police. these situations were completely lopsided in favor of the police and the protests escalated after the police were found not guilty.

you could say it's classist instead of racist, but that just moves the racism up the ladder to our political and economic system, but the protests are still valid. i'm with you on stopping police brutality in general, but to me that is the surface problem, and the real problem is a lot deeper and harder to fix.

in my opinion the real villains in all of this are the prosecutors. when a cop is accused of a crime and goes on trial, the prosecutor is supposed to be working towards their conviction. this usually doesn't happen because prosecutors work closely with the police and are even sometimes called the "top cop". 99% of their work is getting convictions for criminals that the police have apprehended. and yet, they are expected to be unbiased and work towards the conviction of a cop that is most likely a friend and close colleague. this needs to change in order for the police to be held accountable when they break the law. if this doesn't change, nothing changes, no matter how many riots happen.

The police use those listed because of out of control, violent rioters. Don't call rioters "protesters." There is a big difference. Police don't need to use tear gas and rubber bullets on people peacefully speaking their mind.

If by "mindless robot" you mean "someone who follows the law," then yes, I do want people to be just that. I understand people lose their cool, but if they break the law in doing so, they need to answer for it, but they shouldn't need to at gunpoint, which is where the brutality of cops comes back into play. Also, in this particular case of Freddy Gray, he was running from police, a very common thing nowadays, and was tackled to the ground. He was injured in the process, but until anything else comes out, that in itself is Freddy's fault. The police should be punished accordingly for not administering aid to him before shipping him off. A lot of these cases could be rigged, you are right about that, but none of us have any evidence proving that. Even if we did, that still does not justify going out and destroying your own city.

Nothing new, has been happening every "protest". Just look! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJf5Uut2L1g

Protests are a great way for the unemployed/losers/scum to vandalise things (and have a chance to get away with it).

Edited 4/29/2015 02:06:10

Most of the problem stems from the fact that Americans have become utterly obsessed with race. Everything becomes a race issue. If someone commits a transgression against someone of another race, people automatically assume racism. (It's not like two people of different races can have an honest dispute that doesn't involve petty racism, right?)

The media really helps fan the flames on these issues as they do with everything. Anytime a black person is shot by a white cop the media takes it up to eleven and tries to make people think it can't be anything other than racism. Perhaps the police would of shot anyone, regardless of race, in these situations? Now I'm not saying cops can't be racist, but this "all white cops are racists" stereotype is getting exaggerated terribly too far.

I've also noticed a lot of hypocrisy among Americans in general regarding the level of force police should use. If the police do their job and stop riots people whine that the police are violent and too militarized. If the police tone it down people get mad and whine about how the police aren't doing their jobs. It's a no win situation for law enforcement.

also, to address protesters injuring cops: why do protesters have to follow different rules than the police? the police can injure protesters with tear gas, batons, rubber bullets, concussion grenades, etc. but you're gonna wag your finger at protesters throwing rocks at the police? no it's not right, but to speak up about the protesters without proportionally raising your voice about the police is really skewed.

Here's the main flaw with this whole argument: The police would not be a factor in the first place if the protesters weren't breaking laws. Cops are given special authority for a reason. What do you think they should do when buildings are burning and rocks are being thrown? Ask the people nicely to stop?

if you don't do sh*t, you won't get hit.

This is so true. Don't be breaking laws and putting yourself in situations where the police might feel threatened and they probably won't bother you.

Honestly, North Korea and America need to have a police exchange programme - have the DPRK police come to America.

The riots would be stopped in a minute.

Omigod look at those racists

vandilizing is fun!
(sarcasm)

We had some amazing riots in England a few years ago... people were giving away free armani, louis vitton and lacoste for months after. It was sick.

Well, the blacks do not have riots, riots who makes this especially poor blacks who want to fight the regime.
They can not say that all white cops are racist, whether it was about 5 suspected cases of racist police, can not exclude a country with 300 million people, that's ridiculous.
Communications just want to make ratings they have an interest incite everyone

Ok, did I just read Hebrew or is Israel's education system just crap?

He can't seem to find a proper translator, so all his english sounds like garbage

believe what you want kids, but unless your a black person, your attempt to downplay the racism sounds a little...racist