People are Individuals - recent shootings

gp2.0

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 12:02 pm

I'm just devastated by the news this week and our failure, both as a society and as individuals, to recognize each human being as an individual.

Black people were shot to death, not for committing a crime or doing anything wrong, but because police officers looked at a black person and failed to see the individual, they made assumptions, lumping one black person in with all black people as a whole, that resulted in shooting innocent people for no reason.

Police officers were shot to death, not for committing a crime or doing something wrong, but because citizens looked at police officers and didn't see the individual, again making assumptions, lumping one police officer in with all police officers as a whole, which resulted in shooting innocent police officers for no reason.

There are no easy solutions but it's just so devastating to me that across the board, the failure to keep an open mind, to treat people as individuals, to judge people based on who they are instead of what they look like, can lead to so many lost innocent lives.

PinkFridge

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 2:35 pm

The cop shootings were so tragic. Each loss was a world. I don't have to elaborate.
But beyond that, it shifted the focus from the 2 shootings, especially the second one, which might have been a game changer in this whole sorry black lives matter chapter.

gold21

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 3:59 pm

I believe the officer that shot one of the black men was a minority himself, hispanic I believe

I really dont think he shot him because he was black, I think he shot him most likely cuz he was a good guy but poorly trained, but yes, there is definitely a possibility is that he was a bad cop, a criminal. Anyway, a gun should be a last resort. There should be other options for police officers to use if they feel afraid or threatened. But I really dont think he shot him because he was black.

Maya

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 4:08 pm

I read an interesting article which claimed that the police force in London is not armed, and that can be because the population is not armed either. I think that's what our country should aspire to, an end to the use of guns.

It's all so upsetting.

shoshanim999

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 4:08 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

What exactly is black lives matter?

Maya

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 4:24 pm

gold21 wrote:

I strongly disagree.

shoshanim999

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 4:26 pm

Maya wrote:

A movement to raise awareness about race relations.

Raise awareness??? Black have to stop slaughtering blacks. Lets start raising awareness about that. The leading cause of death among young black males is....being murdered by other black males. Over 4000 black on black murders last year alone. It is a tragedy when a police officer kills an unarmed man but lets plz focus our attention on the real problem and its not the police. When a black male leaves his residence his biggest fear should be that he will be murdered by another black. Cops killed around 400 people last year. Many were justified and surely some weren't. But lets not compare the gigantic problem of blacks killing each other with the issue of cops killing innocent blacks.

Maya

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 4:39 pm

shoshanim999 wrote:

Black crime is one issue, and black and white relations is an entirely different issue. I fail to see why we can't focus on both.

I'm coming to realize that as white religious people, we are very much unaware and ignorant of the struggles and issues of race relations, and it's often beyond our comprehension. We can certainly shelter ourselves from that if we want to, but we shouldn't deny that it's a huge problem in America.

shoshanim999

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 4:40 pm

I was reading this morning that the celebrity Drake said that after watching the video he is genuinely afraid for himself, his family and friends. Is he serious? The biggest threat to black people is other black people and it's not even close. Where is the outrage about the black on black crime? Why aren't there marches and protests about this? Do blacks really care about black lives? I certainly don't think so.

Maya

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 4:46 pm

shoshanim999 wrote:

Again, this comment is testimony to your ignorance about how black people in this country live.

Maya

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 4:51 pm

shoshanim999 wrote:

I don't claim to know it all....please explain and educate me.

Oh, it seemed you had it all figured out, with your posts about black crime, and blaming only black people for all their troubles.

Educate yourself by reading relevant books on the topic.

gold21

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 5:04 pm

Maya wrote:

An unarmed police force, in an era of terrorist threats and terrorism, is not a safe idea.

octopus

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 5:12 pm

Maya wrote:

Trace it back to the revolutionary war, and the birth of the USA, but one of the most basic tenets that this country has been built on is the right to bear arms. If you don't like that, then why don't you move to London? Confused

wondergirl

Fri, Jul 08 2016, 5:21 pm

Maya wrote:

Do you actually feel safe in America and believe that the cops cant or wont kill you because you are "white"? Because more white people are killed by cops in America yet you only hear about black people being killed (by cops). Why do you think that is? How come you don't fight police brutality in general, instead of just police brutality against black people? What is it about your skin color that makes you feel like you are safe from being shot or mistreated by cops?