For those who have somehow avoided the news coverage, on August 9th 2014 a white cop, Officer Darren Wilson murdered Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18 year old. Since Michael’s murder there has been increasing unrest in Ferguson, which I blame on law enforcement’s mishandling of both the crime and the protests. Wikipedia (not the most credible source, I know) has a timeline full of more credible links. There is also abundant coverage at The Guardian, NBC News,CBC, and VICE, just to link a few.
The latest insult to the personhood of black people came when the grand jury failed to indict Darren Wilson, who we should remember murdered an unarmed 18 year old. If that shouldn’t automatically go to a trial, I don’t know what should.
Depending on which news coverage you’ve seen, you may have been told all sorts of ridiculous bullshit about Michael Brown’s murder. This masterpost addresses many of the lies told about Michael Brown and Darren Wilson.
The lie that makes me the most angry is that Michael Brown’s murder was not about race. Michael was walking to his grandmother’s house with a friend. Eric Frein, on the other hand, was captured alive with only minor injuries after killing a cop and leading police on a 48 day manhunt. Using only those two sentences, I’m sure you can guess who was black and who was white. There is not a chance in hell a black cop killer would have lived a second longer than it took the officers hunting him to get a clear shot.
If you would like to do something to help, the Ferguson Defense Fund, St Louis Area Foodbank, and Ferguson Library could all use your donations. There are also many non-financial things you can do as a white person – I’m assuming that most of my audience is white, given how white the kink community is.
Given that this is a kink blog and I’m white, some of you may be wondering why I’m ranting about cops murdering black people. It’s my duty as a decent human being to use the platform I have to speak out against injustice. I think we also have a duty as kinky people to understand how power can be hideously misused and to make sure we use ours responsibly.
The “expert” CNN used? A fraudster. http://dailycaller.com/2014/11/29/cnn-investigates-michael-brown-autopsy-assistant-now-after-months-of-using-him-as-an-expert/#disqus_thread
Why do people celebrate a bully, a theif, a person who we know committed at least 2 crimes, one a felony, minutes before his death. Not saying he deserved to die but be is the wrong spokes person for police brutality. I hate the police almost as much as you obviously do so I’m not taking up for them. But give all the facts if you want to convince people otherwise you look silly.
Here’s a suggestion: When you write something like “Not saying he deserved to die, but…” then pause and take a moment to ponder what you’re about to write. That seems like an opening line up there with “I’m not a racist but…” or ‘I’m not a sexist but…”. Pretty much anything that comes after that is not going to end well.
If you think he deserved to be shot then say so. That at least would be consistent. But there’s not some middle ground here where police get to kill anyone who is not an exemplary leader of the community. If shooting assholes was allowed then blog commenters would certainly be a lot thinner on the ground.
-paltego
you were too busy in your psychoanalysis of what I said to even address your blatant omission of some very important FACTS.
That is excellent advice, as well as an excellent point.
This isn’t response to Carl, who is in no way worth the trouble. This comment is for people who think Carl might have some sort of point but might be able to see reason.
First of all, Carl has two problems. He’s a racist, and he doesn’t have the balls to admit it. Instead he hides behind statements like
Like paltego said above, once you put the word “but” in a sentence like that, you are in fact saying everything before the but is true. Tacking the phrase “Not saying he deserved to die” on the front of a racist statement does not magically make what you’re saying not racist.
Carl says Michael Brown was a thief, but the owner of the store disputes that claim. Also, (and yes, I’m taking my talking points directly from the Ferguson masterpost linked in my post above), WE DON’T EXECUTE PEOPLE FOR PETTY THEFT. I do not give a flying fuck at a rolling donut if Michael Brown somehow stole the entire contents of that convenience store, WE STILL DO NOT EXECUTE PEOPLE FOR THEFT.
Saying that Michael is the wrong spokesperson for police brutality is also racist bullshit. Am I supposed to wait for the perfect victim before I’m allowed to say it’s not okay for cops to murder black people whenever they feel like it?
The idea that there can be a correct spokesperson for anti-black police brutality is simply not true in a racist society. There is literally nothing black people can do to be good enough when we white people decide that they’re threatening because they’re black. It is not black people’s job to prove that they deserve to live by being perfect every single second of their lives, and implying otherwise is despicable.
Finally, assuming I hate cops is a pretty serious reading comprehension fail. I don’t hate cops, I hate racism and police brutality.
What do you think would happen if all the police in your neighbourhood/town/city took a week off work.
If there is an assault/burglary/arson/murder in your area – do you call in the local priest ?
Darren Wilson made an expensive mistake. He had to make a decision and he got it wrong . Havent you ever made a mistake ?
If Wilson had been black ,would that be ok ?
If Wilson had been black and his victim white would you expect to see the same level of demonstration/marches/riots by the white community (there are poor unemployed homeless white people as well_)
This isn’t about one killing. The issues of inequality and inequity in society will always exist while there is competition for desirable resources (a living wage/ a job /a decent home /education) and the problems wont be solved by setting a car on fire or going on one march. There isn’t a quick fix. The people who really protest spend their whole lives working for the good of others.- of whatever colour
Again with the reading comprehension. I don’t hate cops, I hate racism and police brutality. I never said there should be no law enforcement, I said cops shouldn’t get to murder whoever they want and experience no consequences for it.
No, he murdered an unarmed 18 year old. That’s not just a mistake, and it’s part of a terrible pattern. 1 black man is killed every 28 hours and you’re telling me Michael’s murder was an isolated mistake?
For those following along, racist fuckheads have this weird hardon for questioning whether racist hate crimes would be okay if they were committed by people of the same race as the victim. Uh, no, hurting people is not cool no matter what the respective races of the victim and perpetrator are. If Darren Wilson were black, he wouldn’t have gotten away without so much as a slap on the wrist.
Again with the weird obsession with the idea that switching races around somehow makes killing okay. If Wilson were black and his victim were white, Michael would be alive. Cops may get away with all sorts of shit, but there is no fucking way even a black cop would get away with murdering a white man. And even if Mr Hypothetical black cop decided to commit suicide by justice system and murder an unarmed white man, that would actually be an isolated incident and there wouldn’t be any protests. Why? Because white people, even poor white people, don’t get harassed, beaten, and murdered by the police until they are forced to fight back.
Really, there are poor unemployed homeless white people too? I HAD NO IDEA BECAUSE I AM A COMPLETE FUCKING MORON WHO HAS NEVER LEFT MY HOUSE, WATCHED THE NEWS, OR INTERACTED WITH ANOTHER HUMAN BEING IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. Of course there are poor white people you miserable asshole. Their lives would suck more if they were black.
Racists always have to have a justification for being racists, don’t they. No, it’s not about competition for resources. If magical aliens came down from the sky tomorrow and taught us to build replicators that ran on sunlight and carpet lint and produced everything that everyone could possibly need, racism would still exist. Look at all the rich racists out there. They do have everything they could possibly need and somehow they still find time to behave like complete shits.
This is the one thing Steve is right about. There is no quick fix that will magically teach everyone that black people are in fact people. This blog post and my racist bashing in the comments is one tiny tiny piece of the fight to teach people that black people should have basic human rights.
“For those who have somehow avoided the news coverage, on August 9th 2014 a white cop, Officer Darren Wilson [justifiably killed in self defense] Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18 year old [who had just robbed a convenience store and assaulted the owner, and who was assaulting Officer Wilson and attempting to take his weapon]. Since Michael’s [justifiable self defense killing] there has been increasing unrest in Ferguson, which I blame on [irresponsible media outlets seeking to inflame tensions and the Democrat Party’s efforts to capitalize on the incident to increase midterm election turnout, which appear to have deservedly backfired].”
…
“The lie that makes me the most angry is that Michael Brown’s murder [was] about race. Michael was [assaulting and attempting to kill a police officer investigating a felony]. Eric Frein, on the other hand, was captured alive with only minor injuries after killing a cop and leading police on a 48 day manhunt, [after he obeyed commands of arresting officers and surrendered to law enforcement without a fight: http://6abc.com/news/us-marshal-describes-moment-eric-frein-was-captured/373904/ ] . Using only those two sentences, I’m sure you can guess who [resisted arrest and tried to kill police and who did not]. There is not a chance in hell a black cop killer would have lived a second longer than it took the officers hunting him to get a clear shot. [Except for any of these people, to name only a few, who were all captured alive: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronell_Wilson , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assata_Shakur , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundiata_Acoli , http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Philly-Jury-Deliberates-Over-Cop-Killers-Fate–72600097.html ] ”
FIxed that for ya.
How on earth do you even get there? Oh right, you’re a racist sack of shit. If Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown in self-defense, shouldn’t he have any injuries whatsoever? I mean, he said that Michael punched him twice in the face, and clearly a cop would never lie. For those reading along, since YesExceptNo is clearly a lost cause, here are some photos of Darren Wilson’s “injuries.” That’s not a man who took two full force punches from a large man. At worst, that’s someone who took a couple of smacks from a grumpy five year old. Given that he lied about being hit in the face, I simply can’t believe any of his other testimony.
And how do you suppose the cops who captured Eric Frein were able to see him as non-threatening? Could it possibly have anything to do with Eric being white? Not in racist-ville, apparently, but out here in the real world there is nothing black people can possibly do to be seen as non-threatening by racist police officers. Again, 1 black man is killed every 28 hours and you’re telling me that that’s okay because you can cherry pick a few examples of black killers being arrested alive?
To the surprise of absolutely no one, I’m going to have to moderate comments on this post more heavily than usual. If you must be loudly and obviously racist, try to at least be different from the racists who have already commented or your comments will be deleted. My blog is not a democracy, I have no obligation to host comments that aren’t worth the hard drive space they take up.
Thank you for this.
You’re welcome 🙂