Minneapolis cop with knee on neck of motionless, moaning man

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So far we have a black man who died from a heart condition, possibly triggered by police arrest.

The officer is being charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Likely, his sentence will be mitigated by 19 years as a police officer and a clean record.

So, at most, he probably he gets 2-4 years for second-degree manslaughter, and does 1-2 years in prison.

I have privilege as a white person because I can do all of these things without thinking twice about it...

I can go birding (#ChristianCooper).
I can go jogging (#AmaudArbery).
I can relax in the comfort of my own home (#BothemSean and #AtatianaJefferson).
I can ask for help after being in a car crash (#JonathanFerrell and #RenishaMcBride).
I can have a cellphone (#StephonClark).
I can leave a party to get to safety (#JordanEdwards).
I can play loud music (#JordanDavis).
I can sell CD's (#AltonSterling).
I can sleep (#AiyanaJones)
I can walk from the corner store (#MikeBrown).
I can play cops and robbers (#TamirRice).
I can go to church (#Charleston9).
I can walk home with Skittles (#TrayvonMartin).
I can hold a hairbrush while leaving my own bachelor party (#SeanBell).
I can party on New Years (#OscarGrant).
I can get a normal traffic ticket (#SandraBland).
I can lawfully carry a weapon (#PhilandoCastile).
I can break down on a public road with car problems (#CoreyJones).
I can shop at Walmart (#JohnCrawford) .
I can have a disabled vehicle (#TerrenceCrutcher).
I can read a book in my own car (#KeithScott).
I can be a 10yr old walking with my grandfather (#CliffordGlover).
I can decorate for a party (#ClaudeReese).
I can ask a cop a question (#RandyEvans).
I can cash a check in peace (#YvonneSmallwood).
I can take out my wallet (#AmadouDiallo).
I can run (#WalterScott).
I can breathe (#EricGarner).
I can live (#FreddieGray).
I CAN BE ARRESTED WITHOUT THE FEAR OF BEING MURDERED. (#GeorgeFloyd)

^ same for me.

In my work, just for being white, I can fix problems for people of color because people In power will respect and listen to me. And they won’t listen to and respect my clients. I can do this by virtue of white privilege.

Are you saying that you never get harassed or ridiculed by minorities for being on the spectrum?

I got harassed by people of all colors for being on the spectrum.

At no point would I ever think it was appropriate to call a black person the n-word.

I have often heard of the words real meaning to be defined as an ignorant person, therefore I would call it a fair use to counter words like ret*d.

The word is clearly descended from the Spanish and Portuguese word for black, negro. I would suggest that attempting to deny this would make one ignorant, but it wouldn't make them who the word has always been aimed at.

Based on contemporary usage one could make the case it's true meaning these days is friend, comrade, compatriot, people etc. When people whine about it's usage in hip-hop and complain that it's a racial slur they seem to ignore the meaning in context; more broadly this is why it's unfair to complain about why some people will use it to refer to their loved ones and friends when other people won't get away with using it. Sorry, generations of white people before us are the reason for that. There's people who might refer to me as their n***a on occassions, but I'm not very comfortable reciprocating unless we're close enough to know that the person uses it with everyone and broadly accepts usage.

Last edited by funeralxempire on 01 Jun 2020, 2:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I am aware of the point you made about it's origin, but I am going with the idea of comedians like Chris rock and Eddie Griffin have both explained in their acts that there is a difference between a black person and a person resembling the N-word. Check out the acts titled "Bring the Pain" by Chris Rock and "You Can Tell 'Em I Said It" by Eddie Griffin. Those performances will give you a better idea of what I am talking about.

It seems the word has a bit of a mixed ancestry, the most obvious one being the latin "Niger" ("black"). But wikipedia also provided this little bit, which I found interesting:

I'm familiar with the bits, and that was the definition often used in dictionaries and similar in the early and mid 1900s. That said, that was part of a dishonest campaign to bury the word's history, so please don't participate in that activity.

They were funny bits but they weren't intended as English lessons. If we're having a serious conversation about this topic it shouldn't use comedians as references.

So wait.

What if a white woman ridiculed you? What would you call her?

What about a white man?

Are there appropriate insult words to justifiably gaslight every group, or is this only for visible minorities?

I'd argue that since that meaning didn't stick that's interesting but not necessarily relevant. It might become more relevant in the future if the most common current usage spreads into 'mainstream' dialects.

Oh, thank Dog! I heard rumblings about someone or other demanding he be charged with first-degree murder, which would have lead to him being acquitted for lack of evidence of premeditation, which would have obvious and predictable results.

Oh sure, more an interesting tidbit than anything. I also once heard an explanation of the full hard-r N-word as having the meaning "one who hates the oppressor" as an explanation as to why some black people use it for each other but take offense when white people do. Though I havent found a source for that claim, so that might have been someones personal interpretation.

Calling someone a derogatory word, while disliking this behavior when aimed at you, is not gaslighting. Gaslighting is denying something you have done, to make someone else question their perception and stop trusting themselves.

Why does the history of a word matter, in this situation? Does the knife's history matter if you're being stabbed to death?

Last time I had a few white women ridiculing me at a job, I turned one woman's crude idea of an IQ test where she asked me to define a sexual slang term and turned her test against her and had a sexual harassment fiesta primarily at her expense and a little fun at the expense of a few others.