Protests in US

Reading through the rest of what he said sounds more like him and what he stood up for.

I can see why Dr. King would make that quote, but it seems to me he would try every other avenue first before even thinking of rioting. I'm not saying people don't have their side that should be aired. I just think it is wrong when people who would have never otherwise known Michael Brown's name, and ever met him to suddenly start violently tearing up the town over something they don't agree with.

The justice system isn't perfect, and there are thousands of people who don't agree with judge's decisions every day. If there were riots for all of them, the world would be doomed.

Seems there's more to the story....and much more that ought to be quoted.

http://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/2014/11/in-ferguson-riots-social-media-corrupts-mlks-message/

Ok, so Dr. King disagreed with rioting as a tactic, but that doesn't make the sentiment wrong.

I've seen a lot of posts on here and other social media from people who want to sit in judgement of people rioting in Ferguson, and none of them have any experience of what it's like to live in a community like that.  They're all from people who have spent their entire lives able to trust the police, and knowing that their government has their best interests at heart.

I'm in the same boat, but I can at least understand how someone who looks different from me and has had less of the opportunities I've had might look at the world in a very different way. 

It's disappointing to see such a lack of empathy.

With all due respect, there's a world of difference between having empathy for a person or a group who are in a situation not of their own making, and empathy for rioters.

I grew up in the southern US when it was a segregated society. I lived near Greensboro, and I saw the sit-down protests at the Woolworth's lunch counter first hand. The calm, stoic faces of those who sat at the counter in the face of and experienced more abuse than you can imagine was unbelievable, and forever etched in my memory.

Would more have been accomplished if a group had stormed Woolworth's and trashed the place along with the rest of Greensboro? I think not.

With all due respect, there's a world of difference between having empathy for a person or a group who are in a situation not of their own making, and empathy for rioters.

They're all human beings, and while I'm sure there are some people rioting because they see a situation they can take advantage of, to say that everyone involved is beyond empathy absolves us of having to examine the situation that led to the riots in the first place.

I grew up in the southern US when it was a segregated society. I lived near Greensboro, and I saw the sit-down protests at the Woolworth's lunch counter first hand. The calm, stoic faces of those who sat at the counter in the face of and experienced more abuse than you can imagine was unbelievable, and forever etched in my memory.

Would more have been accomplished if a group had stormed Woolworth's and trashed the place along with the rest of Greensboro? I think not.

Those Woolworth's protests were 54 years ago.  My guess is the people in Ferguson were hoping there'd have been a little more progress since then.

I really have no other way to say this, than to just say it. I mean nothing racist or evil by it at all. Please keep that in mind as you read.

How can we ever get rid of the black/white divide when it is forever being brought up in rap music, Black History month, the Miss Black America pageant, the fact that a kid steals, is aggressive to a cop, gets shot and it becomes a 'because he was black' issue, etc. Forever holding yourself apart is not the way to let us all become the human race, instead being black or white.

White History month would be considered racist. Black History month is about pride. How long would a Miss White America pageant last? It would be shut down before the first woman sauntered out on the runway. There is nothing wrong with celebrating your ancestry, but not everyone is allowed to. It needs to be across the board.

Not long after the Michael Brown shooting, there was a white boy in very similar circumstances, and very little was said about it. He was considered a naughty kid who paid the consequences for his actions.

Regardless of what neighborhood you come from, what your financial situation, it is up to each individual person to be responsible for his or her actions. My heart goes out to each and every person caught up in this mess. Whatever thought process, moment or whatever it was that led each one to try to fight perceived hatred with violence, it breaks my heart.

In this supposed age of enlightenment, all of this should be far behind us. Slavery was a horrible, horrible part of human history. But it can't be used as crutch when things go wrong. I have heard people say that bad things happen to them because their ancestors were slaves. We are all responsible for our actions. Don't rob a store and find ways to play the 'poor me' role because of what happened hundreds of years ago. Stand proud and make something of yourself. The best way to overcome the past is to make a better future. The same can be said for white people. If you come from generations of poverty, strive for more.

As I said above, I don't mean anything racist or black/white by any of this. I am simply saying I feel it is time to stop holding ourselves in the black/white categories the world can't seem to get past, and move forward.

I think you need to learn about white privilege.

I really have no other way to say this, than to just say it. I mean nothing racist or evil by it at all. Please keep that in mind as you read.

How can we ever get rid of the black/white divide when it is forever being brought up in rap music, Black History month, the Miss Black America pageant, the fact that a kid steals, is aggressive to a cop, gets shot and it becomes a 'because he was black' issue, etc. Forever holding yourself apart is not the way to let us all become the human race, instead being black or white.

White History month would be considered racist. Black History month is about pride. How long would a Miss White America pageant last? It would be shut down before the first woman sauntered out on the runway. There is nothing wrong with celebrating your ancestry, but not everyone is allowed to. It needs to be across the board.

Not long after the Michael Brown shooting, there was a white boy in very similar circumstances, and very little was said about it. He was considered a naughty kid who paid the consequences for his actions.

Regardless of what neighborhood you come from, what your financial situation, it is up to each individual person to be responsible for his or her actions. My heart goes out to each and every person caught up in this mess. Whatever thought process, moment or whatever it was that led each one to try to fight perceived hatred with violence, it breaks my heart.

In this supposed age of enlightenment, all of this should be far behind us. Slavery was a horrible, horrible part of human history. But it can't be used as crutch when things go wrong. I have heard people say that bad things happen to them because their ancestors were slaves. We are all responsible for our actions. Don't rob a store and find ways to play the 'poor me' role because of what happened hundreds of years ago. Stand proud and make something of yourself. The best way to overcome the past is to make a better future. The same can be said for white people. If you come from generations of poverty, strive for more.

As I said above, I don't mean anything racist or black/white by any of this. I am simply saying I feel it is time to stop holding ourselves in the black/white categories the world can't seem to get past, and move forward.

I think you're missing the point here. The race discussion keeps coming up because racism and white privilege is still very real and absolutely permeates American society. That's why this keeps coming up. Because systematic racism still exists. Pretending it doesn't doesn't make it go away. It just makes the problem worse by invalidating the everyday experiences of black Americans.

Just like we didn't achieve gender equality when women got the vote, we didn't enter a post racial society when they desegregated schools and water fountains and buses.

I don't mean anything hostile in my tone here, so I hope it doesn't come across that way.

I see the problem as coming from both sides. Yes, white privilege does exist. Yes, what I said exists. There are no easy answers, there is no one person or group with sole blame.

I'm not pretending racism doesn't exist. I am well aware it does, and I am well aware it sucks. Plain and simple, it is crap. There is no need for it and no one is better than anyone else.

What I am saying is both sides have blame and both sides need to work together. Both sides have the majority wishing for all of this never ending push and pull to end. Not every white person is racist or privileged. Not every black person feels all whites hate them.

I see the problem as coming from both sides. Yes, white privilege does exist. Yes, what I said exists. There are no easy answers, there is no one person or group with sole blame.

I'm not pretending racism doesn't exist. I am well aware it does, and I am well aware it sucks. Plain and simple, it is crap. There is no need for it and no one is better than anyone else.

What I am saying is both sides have blame and both sides need to work together. Both sides have the majority wishing for all of this never ending push and pull to end. Not every white person is racist or privileged. Not every black person feels all whites hate them.

You don't seem to be taking history into account in your opinion of race relations.  As vadio pointed out, segregation existed in the US, recently enough that people still alive can remember it.  More recent discrimination than that made sure that black people didn't get shown houses in white areas when they were looking for places to live, or get offered good jobs, or get to go to good universities, or get any of a hundred other opportunities that you and I take for granted.  It's because of that history that we're in the situation we're in now.

You also seem to think that all that's over now, and everyone is past racism.  I'm sure it feels that way for you, but I'm also sure it doesn't feel that way to a young black man when a police officer is looking at him when he's walking down the street.  You don't seem to be able to understand that, or empathize with another person's experience that's different from yours.

I see the problem as coming from both sides. Yes, white privilege does exist. Yes, what I said exists. There are no easy answers, there is no one person or group with sole blame.

I'm not pretending racism doesn't exist. I am well aware it does, and I am well aware it sucks. Plain and simple, it is crap. There is no need for it and no one is better than anyone else.

What I am saying is both sides have blame and both sides need to work together. Both sides have the majority wishing for all of this never ending push and pull to end. Not every white person is racist or privileged. Not every black person feels all whites hate them.

I'll agree with you that not every white person is racist. But every white person DOES benefit from white privilege and has white privilege.  That is precisely why conversations about race need to happen so white people can recognise their privilege and do their best to dismantle it by using their position of privilege to speak out about stuff like this without ever speaking over those who are actually marginalised.

I think my point is being missed. I am well aware of what has happened in the past. I am well aware there are still racists, and that segregation still exists, that white privilege exists. I have even said so. I don't think it is over. I am aware it is alive and refuses to go away.

What I am saying is both sides need to work toward making it stop. If people are still portraying themselves as victims in 2014 because of slavery in the past, of course there are white people who are going to exploit that fact and use it to their advantage. Those who play the victim cause a stigma for everyone else and racists cause a stigma for everyone else.

I can't really say ALL white people benefit from white privilege. There are plenty who are impoverished and treated as lesser in some situations because of it. Granted, they may benefit from it on a very small scale, but not by much.

I empathize with people whose situations are different from mine. I do not invalidate the experience of anyone, black, white, hispanic or anything else. We all have our struggles, we all have our joys, and everyone's experience is different. I don't lump all members of any race together and assume everyone of that particular race is the same. Each individual person has a unique story to tell.

My whole point, and the one no one seems to understand is, we ALL have to work together. Each person must do his or her part, whether big or small steps. I am not saying I am better than anyone, and I am not saying others shouldn't have their say. I am simply saying it takes all of us together to make it happen.

Maybe I am looking at this all wrong, and should accept that I am wrong for thinking everyone needs to work together. Maybe I should accept that is is because of white privilege and nothing will ever be resolved, and bow out of this conversation.

I can't really say ALL white people benefit from white privilege. There are plenty who are impoverished and treated as lesser in some situations because of it. Granted, they may benefit from it on a very small scale, but not by much.

The term "white privilege" means white people have an advantage over non-white people; it has nothing to do with the difference in opportunity between a poor white person and a rich white person.  The poor white person still has an advantage over an equally poor black person. 

What I am saying is both sides need to work toward making it stop. If people are still portraying themselves as victims in 2014 because of slavery in the past, of course there are white people who are going to exploit that fact and use it to their advantage. Those who play the victim cause a stigma for everyone else and racists cause a stigma for everyone else.

All of the people protesting ARE working toward making it stop, and I'd argue that at least some of the people rioting think they are, too.  You may not approve of the methods they've chosen, but I don't see how you or I get to judge how people try to solve their problems, when we're not affected by them.

Agree. Actually, ALL white people DO benefit from white privilege. That's how it works.

Agree. Actually, ALL white people DO benefit from white privilege. That's how it works.

I'm not sure that the discussion isn't a bit derailed when it moves to individual circumstance.

For instance, I have been grappling with the concept of "patriarchy" - that much like racism, there exists a system which puts women at a disadvantage. I have concluded that patriarchy exists....I still don't like the term, because it sounds a bit like the Illuminati or something - this secret cabal of white dudes off at Davos drinking brandy and plotting to keep male housework participation below 50%.

The reality is much worse really....that it is a mind-set embedded in the fabric of society. And while an individual woman can "work the system" for personal benefit, it doesn't change the underlying structure.

/white mansplaining

"The system" by-the-way is called capitalism and its nature demands that one seek advantage - be it over black, female or white trash male. Again, the 1% finds this all amusing.