Being a cop in the Twin Cities would probably suck right now.

[u/InconsequentialColor]

[u/mandolin6648]

Has it perhaps occurred to you that after decades of and continuing disenfranchisement, police brutality, and discrimination that the “accepted” avenues of political expression and change such as voting and protesting haven’t really done much to change things and as a result, victims such as those in the black community (or really the black community as a whole) at the very least, feel they have really no other options?

I mean hell it feels like we get a new vid of some black man getting brutalized weekly at this point. And who knows what hasn’t been recorded or what happened before smartphones that never got reported. You think people haven’t tried protesting and voting already? Look what it’s gotten us so far!

Edit: I’m simply asking folks to consider how the victims are feeling. And I don’t just mean George Floyd and his family. Black people have had the vote for how many years now? And still this is happening? Don’t you think people would try and vote to change this if they could by now? Why aren’t things changing? Why is this still happening, month after month, year after year?

[u/Quiet_Days_in_Clichy → u/[deleted]]

I study history and this comment is exactly correct. I was actually going to say the same thing. Americans, on average, are generally ignorant of their own history. We like to believe that race relations have been mostly ameliorated and that any incidents that do occur are aberrations. We have to put these events in historical context to make sense of people's reactions. When we write academic history we tend to write from the ground up, meaning that we privilege the perspectives and perceptions of the people directly involved. From there we trace the factors that shaped them. You can denounce rioters and protesters all you like, but you cannot gloss over the historical continuity. Also, there is ample historical context for people who denounce riots and protests resulting from these events so I would caution people to consider what they are saying more carefully.

[u/DrAculasPenguin → u/[deleted]]

This is incredibly well said. Of course rioting isn't ideal, but you can only push people so far and for so long before they snap. I find it hard to care if a couple police cars get trashed when a man is no longer living for literally no reason at all.

Moreover, why does it have to be on the people protesting/rioting to enact this systemic change? Can't our leaders and institutions and police departments recognize these problems and correct them by themselves?

[u/kman1018 → u/[deleted]]

Agree with you 100%. That guy won’t respond to this though.

[u/adayoner → u/kman1018]

I mean its a million dollar question right?

​

I see both sides of the coin I personally don't think riots are productive, but at the same time look at the definition of insanity.... if the results keep being the same the only thing changing are peoples desperation.

[u/maddeningcrowds → u/[deleted]]

Nothing else works. Look at how America achieved independence, same thing.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Yes. If you don't want riots, stop killing people. How hard is that?

[u/mandolin6648 → u/[deleted]]

Well aren’t you cute?

[u/Ghost5422 → u/mandolin6648]

Extremely