In both your story, Miriam, and Carl’s, I think I’d have to add that perhaps
their experiences, experiences of which we know little or nothing, led them to
develop ideas we might find repugnant…particularly in your story, Miriam, where
the young woman started out in a very different place from where she ended up,
undoubtedly at least in part influenced by what she witnessed first hand every
day in that hospital. We might not like the conclusions she drew, the position
to which she gravitated, but it was apparently neither solely nor predominately
prejudice, bigotry or ignorance that led her in that direction. Her experiences
played some, perhaps even a large role, I would posit.
As for cops, that one is more difficult…and less linear...
Alice
On Nov 30, 2015, at 3:41 PM, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I think I have a slightly different view. People come into contact with
others, with folks who are different from them, and they bring to these
contacts, their own individual personalities, weaknesses, strengths, biases,
and personal experience. And in addition, how they view the folks who are
different, is also influenced by their peers, by the norms of the groups to
which they belong. When I was very young, in high school and college, I had a
friend whom I met because she volunteered her time in the children's
recreation program at the Lighthouse. At that point, I think I was teaching
guitar and autoharp to children and teenagers in the program. My friend,
Barbara, was an attractive, warm young woman who attended the High School of
Music and Art in Manhattan. Like me, she loved folk music, and she had
progressive ideas. Barbara remained a friend for many years. Although she was
a secular Jew, she married a young man who was an Orthodox Jew. She attended
nursing school and began working as a nurse in a public hospital in the
maternity ward. After her marriage, Barbar and Ed attempted to have a baby,
but without success. Barbara became more and more frustrated about her
infertility. As time passed, she began to talk about her patients at the
hospital, most of whom were poor women of color, with contempt. She was so
angry at them because they seemed to become pregnant so easily and, from her
point of view, so irresponsibly. Ed and Barbara adopted a baby girl and moved
to the suburbs and her negative attitudes toward poor people hardened. So
many of the negative attitudes toward poor people of color that white people
have, arise from the white people's individual issues and their lack of day
to day intimate personal contact with black people. I remember a party that
my older daughter attended when she was , I think, in tenth grade. This was a
racially integrated party. The kids all knew each other well as did their
parents. But many of the parents, both black and white, had been reluctant to
allow their children to attend. I was probably the only parent who didn't
have to be talked into allowing my kid to go to the party. The party was
fine. Nothing exceptional happened at it. But it was the last racially
integrated party that was held. And we're talking about families of the same
socio economic and educational levels who lived in a close knit community. My
point is that the structure of our whole society militates against a natural
human understanding between white people and black people, particularly when
the black people are poor and live in segregated neighborhoods.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2015 1:05 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Shooting by Chicago cop stirs protests
The police know full well whom they serve. But you know the old saying,
"Boys will be boys". And so from time to time, in their exuberance, one or
two step so far beyond the boundaries that even the protective silence of
their fellow officers can't save them. But for the most part, Cops learn
quickly who they can rough up and who they must treat with gentle kid gloves.
Over the years I've seen a number of decent young men and women go into a
career in Law Enforcement.
Over the years they all became cynical and prejudiced toward the homeless and
the Lower Class.
Since police are put in place to protect the interests of the Ruling Class,
the only way to change the way law enforcement is being carried out, is to
send the Ruling Class packing.
Carl Jarvis
On 11/30/15, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://socialistaction.org/shooting-by-chicago-cop-stirs-protests/
Shooting by Chicago cop stirs protests
Published November 29, 2015. | By Socialist Action.
Protesters march during a protest for 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who
was fatally shot and killed in October 2014 in Chicago. Chicago police
Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015, with
first-degree murder in the killing. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty) Protesters
march during a protest for 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was
fatally shot and killed in October 2014 in Chicago. Chicago police
Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015, with
first-degree murder in the killing. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
By ADAM SHILS
— CHICAGO — On Oct. 20, 2014, Laquan McDonald, 17, was fatally shot by
Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke. McDonald, who had been
suspected of stealing car radios, was only armed with a knife.
The police car dash-cam video shows McDonald some yards from the
police officers and not moving toward them when Van Dyke opens fire.
Although McDonald has fallen to the ground and appears to be
incapacitated by the first shot, the officer fires 15 more times. Van
Dyke had to be stopped by other police officers from reloading at the end of
the volley.
Over a year after the shooting, on Nov. 24, 2015, Van Dyke was charged
with first-degree murder—the same day that the dash-cam video was
finally released.
All this occurs in the context of the post-Ferguson attention to the
shooting of African Americans by police officers and the growth of the
Black Lives Matter movement. Demonstrations, mainly of young people,
started immediately after the video was made public. As protesters
wove through the streets, the chant rang out: “Sixteen shots!”
Protesters have expressed outrage that it took 13 months after the
killing to indict Van Dyke. He was allowed to draw a salary during the
entire period.
Over the past several days, attention has focused on the possibility
that the police intentionally erased footage from a security camera at
a Burger King near the site of McDonald’s shooting. While the angle of
the camera would not have shown the actual killing, it would have
shown the events beforehand and, perhaps more importantly, police
activity in the minutes after the shooting. In addition, the Burger
King manager has charged that the FBI seized the video recorder,
including all of its surveillance footage.
On “Black Friday”, Nov. 27, the Rev. Jesse Jackson called for a
demonstration in the Michigan Avenue “Magnificent Mile” shopping area.
Despite rain and high winds, perhaps 1000 to 1300 people took part.
The march was predominantly African American, and much of the
traditional Black leadership of Chicago supported the march. Both
Bobby Rush and Danny Davis, long-term elected officials, were
prominent, as was mayoral contender Chuy Garcia.
At the assembly point, the Rev. Jackson raised the demand that an
independent prosecutor be assigned to the case, as well as federal
intervention. “Who knew what about the tape,” he asked, “When, and who
covered it up?”
Before the march even began, a contingent of perhaps 100 t0 200
people, carrying the traditional red, black, and green flags of the
Black nationalist movement, split away. The main demonstration then
marched north through the Michigan Avenue shopping area. The march
ended at Water Tower Place, where a rally was to be held. Jackson and
the other speakers faced considerable heckling from the breakaway
contingent. In a confrontation, the platform’s sound system was
disabled. This led to Jackson and his entourage leaving the demonstration.
After some of the shops on Michigan Avenue had closed their doors to
protesters who were trying to get out of the rain, some demonstrators,
in groups of 10 to 20 people, linked their arms and began to block the
shop entrances. These blockades continued for several hours. While
there was a large police presence, there were only a small number of arrests.
One group of about 20 continued a blockade of Macy’s into the evening.
On Saturday, Nov. 28, three considerably smaller demonstrations took
place. One was at City Hall and one on Cottage Grove Avenue, with some
limited blockading of Michigan Avenue shops.
Photo: Chicago protesters take to the streets on Nov. 24. Paul Beaty /
AP
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Posted in Actions & Protest, Black Liberation, Civil Liberties, Police
& FBI. | Tagged Black Lives Matter, Chicago, cops, Laquan McDonald, police.
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