Quote:Didn't want to ignore this topic as it is a fireball of a speaking point for elections 2016.


I am gonna say something really politically incorrect here: I don't see it as blacks vs cops. I do not. I see it as perceived poor (and much more likely to commit criminal acts - especially violent crimes) vs cops. I bet poor white trash are treated like blacks by police. Maybe?


Also- and it really takes a leap here - as a black male I see many others frustrated that nothing really changed for lower income people - even after 8 years of a black president. Barrack didn't roll through the projects handing out corporate jobs and paying off our credit cards like some expected. And that is frustrating b/c there may be no hope after all.


Also, gone is the excuse that blacks can't accomplish the same as whites because having a black man rise up to POTUS twice takes it away. I can complain that my race has been systematically oppressed, and that your grandfather got a job that mine couldn't, and went to better schools that were 100% off-limits to mine, so yours had many better opportunities than mine to set up your dad with wealth so his kids could succeed even further... But a black man was elected 2x to the highest office in the land.


Gone are the excuses, and that is frustrating. And I think those frustrations are manifesting rapidly into reactions. And here we are.

It is definitely a class issue and that's been pointed out on this board several times in the past months. In general do blacks get 'looked at' or deemed more suspect than whites? Sure, and it's sad. But when it comes down to criminal behavior I have seen the poor white folks get treated just as badly as poor black folks. 

 

I was working construction for Habitat for Humanity in Jacksonville when Obama became POTUS. This means I worked daily with homebuyers who were doing their sweat equity which is a requirement to get a house. It is a fact that most people in Duval County who qualify for Habitat houses, or even apply to be considered, are black. When he won all of the homebuyers were ecstatic because finally one of 'them' was in the House. One guy even told me going forward there is no excuse for the black man anymore. Of course, things didn't go as smoothly with Obama as many thought it would and the excuses came back. 

 

The thing is, and this is important, Obama was not one of them. He may have the same basic skin tone, but he's not one of them. He's never lived the life they have. Few if any of our elected officials have lived like the majority of the people they represent. And that's where we all go wrong. We honestly think these people represent us and have our interests in mind which we also know is not true. And still we get upset when they don't do what we expect them to do as representatives of the people. 

 

Hillary Clinton is not for the democratic people. She is for herself. Period. Neither is Donald Trump for the republican people. He is definitely for himself. Period. They are both the epitome of white privilege yet are trying to cater to all of us little people to get in the House. Everything in this country is about class but groups of people, white and black, want to make it about race because that is much more divisive. And that's what they want. Because united we stand, divided we fall. 

---