Lawmakers ‘must pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act now’, Biden says, amid shock over Sonya Massey death
Joe Biden has called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, moments after shocking police video was released showing an Illinois officer fatally shooting Sonya Massey after she called police fearing a home intruder.
In his first public statement since dropping his bid for re-election, Biden said the shooting of Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, by white Sangamon county sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, in her home in Springfield, after a dispute over a pot of boiling water, “reminds us that all too often Black Americans face fears for their safety in ways many of the rest of us do not”.
Biden, who is recovering from Covid at his home in Delaware, said Massey, “a beloved mother, friend, daughter and young Black woman … should be alive today”.
Fooling?
Pal, when I lived in America briefly, that was the first time in my entire life I heard someone say 'removed,' with sincerity about a black person.. with zero shame.. Just fucking meant it.
Americans treatment of race across the board is fucked. The fact that so many well-meaning people who want a world where race is as important as hair colour, won't stop making race relevant in every conversation...
Middle aged white dude in 'merica here. The amount of legitimate racists who openly identify themselves when I drive my old beat up pickup truck is insane.
We have a real problem that requires we focus on race until we remove racists from power. Well meaning people are just those fighting the issue of racism. You may see it different but we won't fix it by ignoring it.
Fair opinion... But if you actually listen to the racist for 5 seconds they directly use the kinds of rhetoric I'm referring to to legitimise their rhetoric and behaviours.
One can battle racists and racism, without being racist. Unfortunately, there have been many many cases of Americans not understanding that in recent years.
It's probably a loud small group, but your comments suggest that it's still a problem.
From my experience in semi rural America it's 50/50. I drive the old shit truck and hear racist shit from about half the white people I interact with. It's not a loud small group unfortunately. It's a group that stays quiet around brown people or foreign people that only speaks when it feels comfortable thinking it's around other racists. I used to think it was a loud small group. Now, I cannot overstate how unbelievably racist they are.
You are such a fucking idiot. People are talking about it because it IS fucking relevant. When cops are shooting POC at an alarmingly higher rate than others it’s already a fucking issue. Not talking about it is exactly what racist fucks like you want. Take your garbage opinion and shove it up your ass.
Taken what numb nuts? They literally advanced towards her with guns out and put themselves within distance of the boiling water. Did you watch the fucking video? If you did it must be impossible for you to think critically with your brain rotting from all your racist bullshit. Just shut the fuck up already. It’s statistically provable that cops are executing POC at an alarmingly higher rate than others. You cannot argue with facts.
Huh? why would I argue a point that you brought up?
Why try strawman me? to argue with someone else? Goargue with someone else if you want to argue their points.
I watched the video. She brought it entirely upon herself Unfortunately. She literally called 911 and then behaved that way. Probably suicide by cop, but who knows. You can never know that kind of thing.
She picked up a pot of boiling water and said 'i will remake you in the name of jesus/christ.'
Can't remember the exact wording. And that was after all of what she said and did before that moment. Did you watch the footage? You can see her behaviour.
Why do you think her race is more relevant than... Her gender?
Or hair colour? Serious questions. What brings you to her conclusion?
So hang on, you've correctly identified there's a lot of racism in the US, but your solution... Is that we shouldn't bring up race in racially biased situations? We shouldn't call out racism?
She literally picks up a lot of boiling water, says 'i am going to rebuke you in the name of jesus,'
The cop raises his firearm and tells her he will shoot her in the face if she doesn't drop the pot...
She puts it down, gets down to a squat.... And then as the police take a step towards her she reaches up for the pot of boiling water with anger on her face.
This has nothing to do with the race of that woman. Or the cop.
Ignoring race, because you keep bringing it up to excuse shitty Police behavior.
Police closing the distance on someone they see as violent is an escalation of violence. She would very likely be alive today if they didn't choose to make the situation worse by escalating.
Pulling a gun and retreating, then shooting if she advanced, yep shooting is fine. Putting her in a corner and shooting when she flinches thinking she's about to die? That's murder. I don't know how you are too dumb to understand this.
It seems obvious to me that if you threaten to throw boiling water over a cop, and they pull their gun and state they will fence themselves if you try....
Well, you put yourself entirely into her position.
It's either suicide by cop or she was truly dangerous enough to harm innocent people..... Yaknow... Because of the whole teaching for boiling water with anger on her face in an attempt to throw it on innocent people.
Holy shit. Did you watch the tape?
...
She puts it down, gets down to a squat… And then as the police take a step towards her she reaches up for the pot of boiling water with anger on her face.
This is a strangely telling detail for you to have included. You cannot see Sonya Massey's face or movements in the moments leading up to the shots being fired -- Her entire body is obfuscated behind both the kitchen counter and Sean Grayson's body as he steps between Massey and his partner.
Here... I grabbed a screenshot. Look at this moment in movement... You can see her staring at the cop, as she reaches for the boiling water that has been establiched as a weapon at this point in the interaction... She looks fuckin angry to me..
https://imgur.com/a/YHJJ0Wz
I've looked very carefully at the screenshot you linked. Due to the resolution and compression of the video file, the dim lightning, and the very fast motion at the time of the screenshot, Sonya Massey's eyebrows, eyes, and mouth are in no way discernible. How can you arrive at the conclusion that she looks angry?
As I said straight away, You have to watch it in motion. Slo mo ideally.
A large part of that deduction is based on her behaviour, threatening to throw boiling water on innocent people at work, he verbal threat to cause harm to those people, and then her reaching quickly for the boiling water with her head tilted down like that.. combined with what we can make out of her expression in the footage in motion.
Lmao, what a bunch of bullshit. "With anger in her face"
There's like a half second of video that's not covered by the guy's arm (after she squatted, I mean) but the guy here, who's not a racist btw, saw an angry woman trying to kill some cops with some hot water. Literally all you have to do is stay more than 2-3 meters away and nothing will happen to you, but whatever, I guess she got what she deserved.
Also, she said it very dryly, hardly angry or threateningly. And even if she were, in what world is a cop replying with "you'd better not, I'll fucking shoot you in your fucking face" a normal, disarming response?
Look, I agree with you in regular situations. I am frequently frustrated that racism is perpetuated by those claiming to abhor it.
However, you cannot credibly claim that race did not matter in this example.
Leading by example for the next generation by never making race an issue yourself is noble. Refusing to acknowledge naked racism when you encounter it is wrong.
This is the same kind of argument as violence really. Take a lesson from martial arts tradition. Never be try one to bring violence. However, knowing how to defend the weak when violence comes to them is something else.
Could you explain the chain of events that specifically means this cop deserves to lose his job and be called a murdered... Because of those statistics.
Genuinely i think it would be educational if everyone understood that chain of logic..
Okay, so, the world you imagine is that bigoted racists will point to this cop-murder and say "Hey, they said this killing was racist, but it wasn't. That means we need to be more racist?"
I don't think there's much point in explaining it to you again and again so this will be my last time.
The woman clearly gets killed because of her behaviours and if it were a white woman the same thing would have e occurred.
If well meaning people try make it about race, everyone can see what you are trying to do... And it cheapens the whole important discussion around incidents that are racially motivated.
Obviously it matters. It’s just that there’s no better or worse race but we are all different. Ignoring the differences is equally discriminating. We are all equal in human rights but we are not clones.
Not really as hair colour unless hair colour is connected to culture and heritage. Diversity isn’t something to be pursued just because of social justice but it is a genuinely good thing for society and exchange of ideas. Homogeneous societies are stale and uncreative. When many cultures work together they are stronger than all of them separately.
The original phrasing of your comment is bound to evoke such responses, it comes off as a bit culturally blue pilled so to say hence mixed reactions.
If you were a political candidate it could cost you a lot for example but obviously this is just forum. You will just get some scolding and that’s it. Take it as free of charge friendly advice