The Barack Obama review/critique thread

[V.V.V.V.V.]

I originally stated it and I agree with it; really doesn't garner national attention. Dumb incident is dumb.

 

[King Richard]

Racist blacks is racist.

 

[Einherjar86]

I originally stated it and I agree with it; really doesn't garner national attention. Dumb incident is dumb.

Then I agree with you too.

Incidental racism is incidental.

 

[skeptik]

How is accusing somebody of racially profiling you an act of racism? Assuming that somebody else is racist is racist?

 

[genocide roach]

yes
~gR~

 

[skeptik]

That's a joke, right?

 

[genocide roach]

yeah, mostly.
~gR~

 

[Einherjar86]

I don't think accusing someone of racially profiling is racist, but I think it perpetuates another stereotype (that of the racist white police officer). Someone might argue that, because minorities assume they're being targeted, it suggests a kind of racial profiling on the part of the minorities involved.

 

[genocide roach]

Someone might argue that, because minorities assume they're being targeted, it suggests a kind of racial profiling on the part of the minorities involved.

indeed. and i think anyone would have a hard time denying this. im sure someone here will try though
~gR~

 

[Blind Guardian]

Well not that there isn't a basis for them to believe so, from everything that has happened to minorities in the Usa.

 

[Einherjar86]

Yes, but we're trying to move past that. The way people act about things like this, we never will. It's just as much the fault of those who accuse people of being racist as it is of those who actually are racist.

 

[Matt]

The Gates arrest was pretty much brought upon Gates himself. If he had not immediately assumed he was being targeted racially he most likely he would not have been arrested for disorderly conduct. Instead he chose to overreact and was subsequently arrested.

 

[Blind Guardian]

Yes, but we're trying to move past that. The way people act about things like this, we never will. It's just as much the fault of those who accuse people of being racist as it is of those who actually are racist.

Yes I agree, that's the way it should be, but even where I live there's similar issues between minorities and us/society/police/you name it, and we don't have even nearly as sensitive of a background with this as you guys have, so in your case that feels like more of a utopia than something that will actually happen. And that people feel that way is understandable in some way I think, even if it's wrong.

 

[skeptik]

There are a group of black people who are more likely to feel as though they're being unfairly targeted because they're more sensitive to racial discrimination. Blaming racism partially on victims of racism sounds fairly ridiculous. You can't blame somebody for feeling that he might be unfairly targeted if the society in which he lives produces these feelings in him. Racial profiling persists, as does racism, and as a black Harvard professor attuned to the urban minority experience, I think Gates was perfectly reasonable in his feeling that he may be targeted, and at least partially reasonable in his admittedly excessive lashing out. You have to be able to approach the situation through his eyes. Nobody here on this forum has known what it's like to feel as though they've been persecuted by authorities because they were black. The problem is not that people are accusing others of being racist, it's that these people live in a society in which this paranoiac feeling of being victimized not only persists, but thrives, and causes these people to feel as though they're victimized even when they're not.

 

[genocide roach]

did he not realize that he was seen trying to force his way into the house? i think its a reasonable deduction for an average passer-by that someone might be trying to break in. was it a mistake, sure. but gates refused to see the situation from that point of view. instead he makes the automatic leap to racism.

a man as accomplished as him shouldnt fall victim to paranoia, dodens... he's obviously a capable professor and thinker. why is it that he couldnt stop to think "hey, i can see how someone might have thought someone other than myself was trying to get in my house"?

it seems pretty logical to me
~gR~

 

[The Ozzman]

Dodens Grav: Hero to race traitors everywhere

 

[skeptik]

Dodens Grav: Hero to race traitors everywhere

What the fuck does this even mean? Go pop some pills.

did he not realize that he was seen trying to force his way into the house? i think its a reasonable deduction for an average passer-by that someone might be trying to break in. was it a mistake, sure. but gates refused to see the situation from that point of view. instead he makes the automatic leap to racism.

a man as accomplished as him shouldnt fall victim to paranoia, dodens... he's obviously a capable professor and thinker. why is it that he couldnt stop to think "hey, i can see how someone might have thought someone other than myself was trying to get in my house"?

it seems pretty logical to me
~gR~

How the hell would he realize that he was seen trying to force his way into the house? Are you not intelligent enough to realize that Gates' knowledge of the situation at the time was only limited to his own experience? As far as he was aware, nothing that he did should have caused suspicion. He got home after a trip to China, couldn't get his god damn fucking front door open, which would piss anybody off, and had to go in through the back of the house. Then several minutes later, a cop comes up to his house and tells him he's investigating a break in. It doesn't matter how intelligent you are, you can still be susceptible to feeling as though you're being treated unfairly. He's a Harvard professor that lives near the school. You would think that people would know him, including the police officers who patrol the neighborhood. You're being incredibly unfair implying that he's somehow unintelligent because he felt that he was being racially profiled. Once again, you're a white man living in Colorado. You're not a black man living in Cambridge. You don't have his shared life experiences, nor his racial history, nor his sensitivity toward such issues. If you want minorities to stop feeling that they're constantly being victimized unfairly, then the first step toward this is to work toward ending unfair victimization of minorities. The former can only come about as a product of the latter, and at that only gradually.

 

[The Ozzman]

I was being facetious

 

[genocide roach]

How the hell would he realize that he was seen trying to force his way into the house? Are you not intelligent enough to realize that Gates' knowledge of the situation at the time was only limited to his own experience? As far as he was aware, nothing that he did should have caused suspicion. He got home after a trip to China, couldn't get his god damn fucking front door open, which would piss anybody off, and had to go in through the back of the house. Then several minutes later, a cop comes up to his house and tells him he's investigating a break in. It doesn't matter how intelligent you are, you can still be susceptible to feeling as though you're being treated unfairly. He's a Harvard professor that lives near the school. You would think that people would know him, including the police officers who patrol the neighborhood. You're being incredibly unfair implying that he's somehow unintelligent because he felt that he was being racially profiled. Once again, you're a white man living in Colorado. You're not a black man living in Cambridge. You don't have his shared life experiences, nor his racial history, nor his sensitivity toward such issues. If you want minorities to stop feeling that they're constantly being victimized unfairly, then the first step toward this is to work toward ending unfair victimization of minorities. The former can only come about as a product of the latter, and at that only gradually.

im not saying he's stupid, i'm saying he was irrational. he was trying to force his way into his house. it doesnt matter what the reason was, thats what he was doing. his door was jammed, that sucks. but it was dark and the neighbor obviously couldnt see the guys face. it was just a couple guys trying to force the door open. not that he needs to know someone saw to make this deduction. its a simple and honest mistake. something, i think, a smart person might take into consideration when the cops came.
~gR~

 

[King Richard]

How the hell would he realize that he was seen trying to force his way into the house? Are you not intelligent enough to realize that Gates' knowledge of the situation at the time was only limited to his own experience? As far as he was aware, nothing that he did should have caused suspicion. He got home after a trip to China, couldn't get his god damn fucking front door open, which would piss anybody off, and had to go in through the back of the house. Then several minutes later, a cop comes up to his house and tells him he's investigating a break in. It doesn't matter how intelligent you are, you can still be susceptible to feeling as though you're being treated unfairly. He's a Harvard professor that lives near the school. You would think that people would know him, including the police officers who patrol the neighborhood. You're being incredibly unfair implying that he's somehow unintelligent because he felt that he was being racially profiled. Once again, you're a white man living in Colorado. You're not a black man living in Cambridge. You don't have his shared life experiences, nor his racial history, nor his sensitivity toward such issues. If you want minorities to stop feeling that they're constantly being victimized unfairly, then the first step toward this is to work toward ending unfair victimization of minorities. The former can only come about as a product of the latter, and at that only gradually.

Jesus christ monkey balls, could you be any more of an apologist?

You're not a dumb guy, but you have to be seriously fucked in the head to think that trying to bust down a door in broad daylight wouldn't raise suspicion. And even more fucked in the head to claim that what's his nuts was unaware of the perception people might get from his actions.

Also, I'm not sure if you listned to the 911 calls, but the dumb bitch who called it in thought he was a Mexican. I'm not sure about the relevancy of this fact aside from it being hilarious.