People frequently ask “What is White Privilege?” They had immigrant parents, ethnic minorities, who were poor and downtrodden. Who were discriminated against for being Irish, German, Jewish, Spanish, French and what not. It was hard for them, but they persevered. They got through it, they got on with it.
“Why exactly should we give *Special Privileges* to black people” they ask? (Or for that matter to Native Americans, or perhaps Latinos, Asian or LGBTQ persons?)
What makes them so special? What difference does it make? Why should they be singled out? Where is my privilege? I don’t see any.
Well…
The sad truth of the answer to that question is something they probably won’t accept or admit. The answer is White Supremacy. The answer is White Power. It's White Privilege, which is the presumption of innocence, the presumption of virtue, the presumption of righteousness that is often granted to White people — but not to people of color. The point is that some people get treated with kid gloves, the greatest of care, the greatest of deference — some people don’t.
Case in Point: The House Sergeant At Arms — who is a black man — says that the Police response to the attack on the Capitol would have been more forceful — and potentially far more deadly — if the “crowd had been black.”
Really? No shit, Sherlock.
It’s a statement that came from his J6 transcripts.
“I’m African-American. Child of the Sixties. I think it would have been a vastly different response if those were African Americans trying to breach the Capitol,” Walker told the panel in his April testimony.
“I think the response would have been different, a lot more heavy-handed response to, I think there would have been a lot more bloodshed,” Walker said. “You know, as a law enforcement officer, there were — I saw enough to where I would have probably been using deadly force.”
The rioters that day were predominantly white. Not only was there a stunning lack of law enforcement and military officials protecting the Capitol on that day, but the officials who were present largely played defensive roles and even, in some cases, allowed rioters access to the building, standing by while they ransacked the place (largely to protect themselves from mob violence).
In his testimony, Walker compared the police response to the white Capitol rioters to the police response to Black racial justice protesters following the police murder of Black Minneapolis resident George Floyd. In the latter case, police used tear gas and less lethal munitions (like bean bag rounds), made arrests, and took sometimes actions that escalated the protests into uprisings.
Walker also said that the lack of law enforcement officers on January 6, 2021 was surprising because anyone could have predicted that the congressional certification of then-President-elect Joe Biden's victory was going to be chaotic, especially since Trump and his followers had planned to converge on the Capitol that day under false pretenses of voter fraud.
"I'm an intelligence officer ... to me, the intelligence was there that this was going to be a big deal," he said. "You don't need intelligence. I mean, everybody knew that people were directed to come there by the president."
Yeah, man.
We know.
Really we do.
Large-scale protests over the death of George Floyd erupted for a second day on Saturday in D.C., with clashes between law enforcement and protesters escalating dramatically as the night went on.
Lafayette Park and other areas around the White House were the main flashpoint as the day’s peaceful protests turned chaotic, prompting the Park Police to mobilize the D.C. National Guard Saturday evening.
At least one car was set on fire. Some demonstrators smashed windows on the facade of the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute. Fireworks went off on multiple occasions. Police and Secret Service pushed protesters back as the crowd moved again and again toward Lafayette Park, repeatedly using chemical sprays. As the night turned into the early morning, stores in several neighborhoods were looted.
D.C. Fire and EMS said they transported seven people to the hospital, though a spokesperson could not immediately say how many were protesters or law enforcement. The D.C. Police Union said that at least one of its members was hospitalized after getting hit by a rock.
Seriously.
This is what America is. This is what it’s been for centuries.
Here is Michael Fanone explaining exactly why Capitol Police didn’t use deadly force against the attacking crowd.
Fanone: A Police officer may only use deadly force when they believe their life or the life of another individual is in jeopardy. That being said, you are accountable for every round that you fire from your weapon. In a situation where you have individuals who are in such close proximity — I may identify, as I did when I was out in the crowd, individuals who I beleive pose a deadly threat to me and I was authorized to use deadly force against them — that being said, had I drawn my people, it's mostly likely that it would have been stripped away from me.
Probably used against me.
And if I did get off several rounds, even aiming at my intended target, whose to say that I wouldn’t hit another individual?
While you say “yes, they were part of an insurrectionist mob”, it still doesn't mean that each and every one of them posed a deadly threat to me, or other officers.
They may have been commiting crimes, but they were not commiting crimes that rose to the level of having deadly force used against them.
The crowd beat this man to within an inch of his life. He was repeatedly tased. He suffered a concussion, he suffered a heart attack. And listen to him. He was still able to make a nuanced and frankly gracious decision not to use deadly force even with his own life, and the lives of other officers literally on the line.
The difference is the benefit of the doubt. The accused are presumed — innocent — until proven guilty. Police are only supposed to use deadly force when someone’s life is literally on the line. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. That’s how it’s supposed to go down. That’s the kind of justice that the rich get, that frequently white people get. But it’s not how the justice system works for people of color.
No. We get shit like this:
And this:
And this.
And, of course, this:
White and Black people use and sell drugs at similar rates — however, police stop and search black and brown people at a rate that is more than twice as high a white people. Even when they actually find fewer drugs on black people — they still stop them and search them more often. This bias repeats itself in the courts where the disparity shifts to 5 to 1 for prosecutions and 7 to 1 for sentencing.
The overwhelming increase in incarceration, attributed to the drug war, has disproportionately impacted Black communities. In 2011, Blacks were incarcerated at a dramatically higher rate than Whites (5–7 times) and accounted for almost half of all prisoners incarcerated with a sentence of more than one year for a drug-related offense (Carson and Sabol 2012). Accordingly, researchers and policy analysts have sought to understand both the causes and effects of the nation’s war on drugs and its implications for racial equality (Ghandoosh 2015; Travis, Western, & Redburn 2014; Alexander, 2012; Drucker 2013; Mauer 2006). They have explored racial bias in the criminal justice system and criminal justice outcomes, including police practices, arrest rates, convictions, sentence lengths, diversionary opportunities, and community supervision; judicial policies and laws such as precedent-setting court cases and mandatory minimum sentences; and media trends and their influence on public opinion. This literature demonstrates greater likelihood of Black involvement in the criminal justice system through policing practices and sentencing policies for drug-related crime, differences in sentencing practices and case processing, and the heightened disadvantage Blacks face once they are removed from their communities, and upon return, as labeled felons and drug offenders.
Police assume that black people are dangerous. A deadly threat. Apparently, so do Lawyers, Judges and Juries. Even when they have their hands up. Even when they’re on the ground and handcuffed already. Even when they’re sleeping and the police just broke down their door. Somehow — they must have caused their own deaths.
And yet, a mass murderer like Dylan Roof gets treated to Burger King? I mean, look at him, he’s a nice boy right? He had only just killed 9 people in cold blood. Pffft. No biggie right?
They assume black people are angry.
Now what, pray tell, could they have to be angry about?
I wonder...
Being on the top of the rec list — on this? That’s weird. :Shrug: