The term thug

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

carl stokes got it right..

http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2015/04/baltimore_councilman_to_cnn_host_just_call_them_ni_ers.html

Sure, there's definitely dehumanisation at work there. Not understanding what Baltimore is like (a city with serious problems predating these riots by decades) and who the people living there actually are and why they are doing what they doing is a barrier to any kind of empathy.

There are reasons for this, they just might not be reasons people at large understand or are willing to entertain. It's just easier to write it off out of hand and call the people involved mindless animals. No thought required.

The president using racially charged words is cynical. It's clearly aimed as an olive branch to the middle class. Silly.

[decocker 7,198]

Sure, there's definitely dehumanisation at work there. Not understanding what Baltimore is like (a city with serious problems predating these riots by decades) and who the people living there actually are and why they are doing what they doing is a barrier to any kind of empathy.

There are reasons for this, they just might not be reasons people at large understand or are willing to entertain. It's just easier to write it off out of hand and call the people involved mindless animals. No thought required.

The president using racially charged words is cynical. It's clearly aimed as an olive branch to the middle class. Silly.

i think it's more than silly, i think it's gross. so much misinformation out there about what occurred and he just jumped right in to help peddle it.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

i think it's more than silly, i think it's gross. so much misinformation out there about what occurred and he just jumped right in to help peddle it.

I agree, but I think it's something any President would have done. I always find it dishonest when emotionally or politically loaded words are chosen to deliberately provoke an emotional reaction.

[CowBoE 429]

I noticed after Obama used the term 'thug' there has been a debate about the notion that thug = n*word. I think this probably started back during the Zimmerman case.

I find it curious how a hindi word could have been appropriated as such in just a few years.

Certainly those were bunch of thugs that were burning down innocent folks' business,

but Obama completely failed to mentioned that clearly there are thugs on the other side too!

And it's becoming more and more clear that, America has serious police brutality

going on with lots of systematic cover ups.

I have no sympathy towards bunch of punks that get in trouble with the law,

and then resisting police order when they are stopped/questioned,

but there is a clear line in enforcing the law vs. using unnecessary and inhumane deadly force.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

anytime someone uses a term to dehumanize another human being, especially when the conversation is concerning basic human rights, they are in the wrong. end of story.

obama has been showing how willing he is to placate the right, that's why he used the term. "LOOK GUYS I CAN BE AS DIVISIVE AS YOU!"

The wonderful examples of humanity about whom Obama was speaking have no concern for the human rights of others. I think it's quite silly to keep pretending otherwise.

Yes there are legitimate people who have legitimate complaints but the majority of destruction and looting is taking place for no other reason than the perpetrators are 'insert favorite epithet here.'

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

That's dismissive. I think it's better to at least try to understand the mindset of these people, even if you don't agree with it.

[decocker 7,198]

The wonderful examples of humanity about whom Obama was speaking have no concern for the human rights of others. I think it's quite silly to keep pretending otherwise.

Yes there are legitimate people who have legitimate complaints but the majority of destruction and looting is taking place for no other reason than the perpetrators are 'insert favorite epithet here.'

like society cares in the slightest for the poor, no-future, teens in baltimore. who cares about their human rights and how do they know that anyone cares? if you've nothing to lose, chaos holds a lot of possibility.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

like society cares in the slightest for the poor, no-future, teens in baltimore. who cares about their human rights and how do they know that anyone cares? if you've nothing to lose, chaos holds a lot of possibility.

While that might be true for some of the people who are doing the rioting, looting and other related activities, it's quite possible to recognize that the behavior is abhorrent. It's as unacceptable and inexcusable as the real instances of police brutality and socioeconomic unfairness of the average poverty stricken citizens of Baltimore experience.

I'm not excusing or dismissing that this specific case is a great example of the horrific excesses of some police officers. Unlike the'Hands up, don't shoot' malarkey of the previous excuse for rioting this incident seems a fairly clear basis of protesting.

None of the above makes what certain individuals, thugs per Obama, correct in their response. Truth be told, like Ferguson, like Seattle on May Day, like the Rodney King riots, many of the worst actors are simply outsider ner do wells who enjoy destruction and looting and mayhem.

[decocker 7,198]

While that might be true for some of the people who are doing the rioting, looting and other related activities, it's quite possible to recognize that the behavior is abhorrent. It's as unacceptable and inexcusable as the real instances of police brutality and socioeconomic unfairness of the average poverty stricken citizens of Baltimore experience.

I'm not excusing or dismissing that this specific case is a great example of the horrific excesses of some police officers. Unlike the'Hands up, don't shoot' malarkey of the previous excuse for rioting this incident seems a fairly clear basis of protesting.

None of the above makes what certain individuals, thugs per Obama, correct in their response. Truth be told, like Ferguson, like Seattle on May Day, like the Rodney King riots, many of the worst actors are simply outsider ner do wells who enjoy destruction and looting and mayhem.

so what's to be done? it just seems ridiculous to me for anyone who does not live in baltimore, ferguson, or just anyone who is not directly affected by police/community interactions in these areas, to finger point and tell a bunch of angry nihilistic teens to be civil and protest properly. i don't think in situations such as these that riots can be avoided. a riot is a symptom of a much bigger, angrier problem.

most people who go to protests are schooled on how to effectively do so. there are rules to this sort of thing. there are protestors who have faith in merely protesting, there are others who firmly believe civil disobedience & protesting are the only means of effecting change (personally i don't believe civil disobedience is really possible from the over-policed anyway), and there are those who are so filled with rage, immaturity, hopelessness and raw energy that they will take any opportunity to destroy as much as they can. this last sort normally don't care if they live or die anyway and honestly they don't realistically have much purpose on this planet and they know it.

Edited April 30, 2015 by val erie

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

While that might be true for some of the people who are doing the rioting, looting and other related activities, it's quite possible to recognize that the behavior is abhorrent. It's as unacceptable and inexcusable as the real instances of police brutality and socioeconomic unfairness of the average poverty stricken citizens of Baltimore experience.

I'm not excusing or dismissing that this specific case is a great example of the horrific excesses of some police officers. Unlike the'Hands up, don't shoot' malarkey of the previous excuse for rioting this incident seems a fairly clear basis of protesting.

None of the above makes what certain individuals, thugs per Obama, correct in their response. Truth be told, like Ferguson, like Seattle on May Day, like the Rodney King riots, many of the worst actors are simply outsider ner do wells who enjoy destruction and looting and mayhem.

"Riots are the language of the unheard." Dr. Martin Luther King.

What's truly sad is folks are talking about looting and property damage and how it makes them so angry(not you, but the majority of people) yet they have no concept of how it came to this? What about Freddie Gray? The man whose spinal column was broken. Cars and businesses can be rebuilt and replaced. This man is dead, you can't bring him back. And it's not like he's the first. This has been going on for a while. He's just the catalyst that set things off. Things haven't been right in Baltimore for quite some time. But of course, this what it takes for people to pay attention. If you're more mad about a burnt out CVS store than the Freddie Gray, you're priorities aren't in the right place.

Not aimed at you, but you can't be mad about the rioting without looking at the circumstances that led up to it.

[lostinblue 1,989]

"Riots are the language of the unheard." Dr. Martin Luther King.

What's truly sad is folks are talking about looting and property damage and how it makes them so angry(not you, but the majority of people) yet they have no concept of how it came to this? What about Freddie Gray? The man whose spinal column was broken. Cars and businesses can be rebuilt and replaced. This man is dead, you can't bring him back. And it's not like he's the first. This has been going on for a while. He's just the catalyst that set things off. Things haven't been right in Baltimore for quite some time. But of course, this what it takes for people to pay attention. If you're more mad about a burnt out CVS store than the Freddie Gray, you're priorities aren't in the right place.

Not aimed at you, but you can't be mad about the rioting without looking at the circumstances that led up to it.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

"Riots are the language of the unheard." Dr. Martin Luther King.

What's truly sad is folks are talking about looting and property damage and how it makes them so angry(not you, but the majority of people) yet they have no concept of how it came to this? What about Freddie Gray? The man whose spinal column was broken. Cars and businesses can be rebuilt and replaced. This man is dead, you can't bring him back. And it's not like he's the first. This has been going on for a while. He's just the catalyst that set things off. Things haven't been right in Baltimore for quite some time. But of course, this what it takes for people to pay attention. If you're more mad about a burnt out CVS store than the Freddie Gray, you're priorities aren't in the right place.

Not aimed at you, but you can't be mad about the rioting without looking at the circumstances that led up to it.

"It is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard." Dr. MLK

Edited April 30, 2015 by Stay Woke

[decocker 7,198]

"Riots are the language of the unheard." Dr. Martin Luther King.

What's truly sad is folks are talking about looting and property damage and how it makes them so angry(not you, but the majority of people) yet they have no concept of how it came to this? What about Freddie Gray? The man whose spinal column was broken. Cars and businesses can be rebuilt and replaced. This man is dead, you can't bring him back. And it's not like he's the first. This has been going on for a while. He's just the catalyst that set things off. Things haven't been right in Baltimore for quite some time. But of course, this what it takes for people to pay attention. If you're more mad about a burnt out CVS store than the Freddie Gray, you're priorities aren't in the right place.

Not aimed at you, but you can't be mad about the rioting without looking at the circumstances that led up to it.

i have seen this asinine meme all over facebook, everyone knows there is a difference between a protest and riot. what makes you think that people don't know the difference? do you understand that both protests and riots have occurred? BOTH. jesus.

Edited April 30, 2015 by val erie

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

i have seen this asinine meme all over facebook, everyone knows there is a difference between a protest and riot. what makes you think that people don't know the difference? do you understand that both protests and riots have occurred? BOTH. jesus.

You trying to have lost entertain a mildly complex concept?

Surely, you know better.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

"Riots are the language of the unheard." Dr. Martin Luther King.

What's truly sad is folks are talking about looting and property damage and how it makes them so angry(not you, but the majority of people) yet they have no concept of how it came to this? What about Freddie Gray? The man whose spinal column was broken. Cars and businesses can be rebuilt and replaced. This man is dead, you can't bring him back. And it's not like he's the first. This has been going on for a while. He's just the catalyst that set things off. Things haven't been right in Baltimore for quite some time. But of course, this what it takes for people to pay attention. If you're more mad about a burnt out CVS store than the Freddie Gray, you're priorities aren't in the right place.

Not aimed at you, but you can't be mad about the rioting without looking at the circumstances that led up to it.

Why do you think people are rioting?