From Bill Cummings, CT Post:
The Bridgeport protesters were peaceful, beginning their march to the police station after prayer and reflection at the Mounty Aery Baptist Church on Frank Street. The procession was led by three men playing bongos, while marchers behind carried a large sign proclaiming “Black Lives Matter.” They moved onto Main Street and gathered at the police station entrance.
Police in patrol cars protected the marchers as they moved down the street, closing the roadway for a brief period of time.“Black lives matter,” the crowd shouted in unison. That was followed with chants of “There is no excuse for systems of abuse” and “No justice. No peace.”
Speakers called for more community policing, less militarization of police officers, and a kinder approach to minority suspects.
Full story here.
If you’re white, don’t look to your friends of color for answers today. If you haven’t already grappled with the extent to which our criminal justice system, from the police to prosecutors to prisons, treats black people differently than they treat you, today is not the day to start reaching out. If you’re eager to learn, talk to other white people who have been engaged in this work, as one of their primary roles as allies is to lessen the burden people of color have for the education process around issues of justice. Now also is a good time to do some independent reading and research. If data moves you, read Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, which catalogues the extent to which the American criminal justice system disproportionately, and unjustly, punishes black people. Once you’ve spent some time educating yourself, then you should have some conversations with friends of color, but you should spend most of the time listening to them.
Dylan Noble.
If you’re white and had the honor of sitting directly behind Donald Day at Mount Aery Church yesterday, then you would be … me! I made a great new friend in Donald yesterday! Glad to meet you and your bride, Donald! Joining you in the work.–Doug Davidoff
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Death in Black and White
Michael Eric Dyson
JULY 7, 2016
We all can see the same videos. But you insist that the camera doesn’t tell the whole story. Of course you’re right, but you don’t really want to see or hear that story.
At birth, you are given a pair of binoculars that see black life from a distance, never with the texture of intimacy. Those binoculars are privilege; they are status, regardless of your class. In fact the greatest privilege that exists is for white folk to get stopped by a cop and not end up dead when the encounter is over.
Those binoculars are also stories, bad stories, biased stories, harmful stories, about how black people are lazy, or dumb, or slick, or immoral, people who can’t be helped by the best schools or even God himself. These beliefs don’t make it into contemporary books, or into most classrooms. But they are passed down, informally, from one white mind to the next.
The problem is you do not want to know anything different from what you think you know. Your knowledge of black life, of the hardships we face, yes, those we sometimes create, those we most often endure, don’t concern you much. You think we have been handed everything because we have fought your selfish insistence that the world, all of it–all its resources, all its riches, all its bounty, all its grace–should be yours first, and foremost, and if there’s anything left, why then we can have some, but only if we ask politely and behave gratefully.
So you demand the Supreme Court give you back what was taken from you: more space in college classrooms that you dominate; better access to jobs in fire departments and police forces that you control. All the while your resentment builds, and your slow hate gathers steam. Your whiteness has become a burden too heavy for you to carry, so you outsource it to a vile political figure who amplifies your most detestable private thoughts.
Ron, it was an honor to meet you yesterday. A perfect example of white privilege in this NYT piece. Despite the comments following from Mr. Fardy (is he serious?), I understand I live in white privilege and my work as an antiracist is to minimize it, call my attention to it in myself and others, and understand how it oppresses. I can drive it from parts of my life. I cannot end it. It is too entrenched. My mission is to be cognizant and see it.
I write this sitting at a breakfast diner next to two white mid-40s jerks trying to explain to each other how they see no white racism in America; it’s all a fiction, no such thing as racism. Lordy, Lordy!
The new acceptable racism. Same diner. Town adjoining Bridgeport. This morning, about 7am. After the “what, me racist?” jerks leave, another white guy comes in. Sits in the other end of the diner from the rest of us. Tells the waitress, “Well honey, pretty soon we’re getting to have to label the sides here. This side for ‘[Name of Neighborhood bordering Bridgeport].’ That side for ‘Ghetto.'”
I never met this guy.
But I know his name.
It’s “Jim.”
You know: “Jim Crow.”
I heard he might be dead. But not quite. Not today.
Pure and utter bullshit made up by the king of bullshit. Davidoff, I do believe your other story about the black detective.
I am white and I am PROUD. You two guys are black racists now and have always been black racists.
I was born with binoculars that see blacks as lesser human beings. That is total bullshit. Blacks are born with the same binoculars and see the world as it is.
It’s people like you two who keep the racial divide alive.
The people in that march were lucky they weren’t shot also? I suggest you look at the interview of the black women shot in the leg and ask her about the cops that covered her and her son with their bodies. You two along with the Rev Bennett are full of it.
And what do you say to a white person in yesterday’s events?
I say this is a sham and if you have a guilty conscience shame on you. Black lives matter if it’s a white cop shooting a black person even if it is justified. The leaders of Black lives matter are getting rich but nobody including you has mentioned the innocent people shot by blacks all across the country. Nobody said anything about the four-year-old in the Bronx randomly shot by a gang banger so don’t give me that crap black lives matter when you should be saying select black lives matter.
There was only one white person there? Nice to see you made the events about you.
Found in CT post comment section:
Yes please protest the career criminal Alton Sterling who was a registered sex offender, abuser of women, had a 46 page arrest record and was carrying an illegal hand gun at the time he was shot. Black Lies Matter will treat him like the 2nd coming of Christ without all the facts being known as usual because it gives them excuses to have a total lack of respect for themselves, law enforcement and their community.
Even if true, was that a reason to shoot him? If he were white, would you have the next police officer shoot him utterly without due process? What are you suggesting be the legal process officers go through? Shoot to kill any objectionable person? Is your hate and fear getting in front of your regard for American constitutional rights and the rule of law? I fear it is, if I may say so.
Listen, you liberal shithead, I have no fear. I worked the tough areas of this city for a total of 20 years, 9 of them without a gun.
Why not wait until the investigation is complete? Maybe the cop was not wrong. You have no idea what you are talking about.
If you know the history of Newt, well this statement says it all for me.
www .nydailynews.com/news/politics/gingrich-white-people-don-understand-black-america-article-1.2704761
I am sure it does. Newt is an idiot.
As some 350-400 marchers came up Congress St. from Main chanting to join about 50 gathered in front of 300 Congress Street, Police HQ people waited for the drums to stop and talks to begin.
But the drums maintained a steady background as Kate Rivera introduced Kevin Muhammad who forcefully asked for unity by all in the community. When people ask, “What do we do now?” he listed a number of solutions, and said we must pursue ALL of them. He closed with advice that included “Know Your Enemy and Know Yourself.” Knowledge of only one subject will not advance your goal. Harold Dimbo, retired Bridgeport PD never killed anyone in his 27 years of duty. Still working to keep youth and the community safer with LONGEVITY, he is an advocate of community policing.
Kate Rivera had a turn to speak and as a white woman who has a daughter of color she expressed her fear for her child. We must see color and know the history of color. We must understand the differences if we are to live together. It is not the responsibility of the oppressed to teach about the problem, but rather for those who get it, to be teachers to others who are deaf, blind or ignorant to the story.
Co-Pastor Kenny Hickman-Maynard of Bethel AME and part of CONNECT, talked about CONNECT meeting with all Bridgeport Mayoral candidates last year and the agreement by Ganim to a number of demands. (From my own perspective, some of the things agreed to are not necessary, affordable or getting done, but that is another story, for another day.)
Rev Anthony Bennet, an original Connect co-chair told the gathered, “Don’t say, ain’t nobody doing nothing. You may be doing nothing, but people are.” People in New Haven, Hartford and many places. Time to be doing something.
Congressman Jim Himes was present and listened. Also present were State Senators for Bridgeport, Ed Gomes and Marilyn Moore. (Must have missed their competitors in the upcoming August 9 primary, though there was also a Puerto Rican Day parade in the City.)
Do I understand the conditions of ‘privilege’ I have enjoyed because of where, when and into what bloodline and culture I was born and parented? Do I know the similar stories of others in the community and the extent of privilege they live? Do I know about parenting and being a good neighbor? Time will tell.
John Marshall Lee, that’s good reporting. I did see you but I was standing next to Senator Moore. You mention Kate Rivera, she stays down the street from me and she is someone who truly cares. John, I think you will agree the rally was not about hate or anything against the police but we are tired of seeing our young black men killed by those who are there to serve and protect.
John Marshall Lee, it was nice you were at the rally and it was also nice to meet Doug Davidoff. Donald Day introduced me to Doug who met him earlier at Mt. Aery and he seem to be a person who has a concern about what is going on.
WE ALL NEED TO MEET, FACE TO FACE, SHAKE HANDS, TALK EYE TO EYE.
Ron, it is not the cops you should be tired of seeing kill your young black men. It is other young black men who are killing young black men. There were 6,095 black homicide deaths in 2014 of the 14,249 we had in the US.
Police involved shootings
RACE
White 494
Black 258
Hispanic 172
Other 38
Unknown 28
www .washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings/
From 1980 through 2008, 84 percent of white victims were killed by whites and 93 percent of black victims were killed by blacks.
www .politifact.com/florida/article/2015/may/21/updated-look-statistics-black-black-murders/
Again, the news-ertainment industry is blowing something completely out of proportion. The videos that have gotten so much attention do not show anything. One is just the guy’s girlfriend testifying to the camera. In the other the perpetrator is completely obscured from the shoulders down. Watch that video with your hand covering the right-hand third of the screen. Then you will notice how little it actually shows.
Society looks at the police as the only group with the power, the weapons and the ability to kill and no questions asked. Nobody has that kind of power as a organization so when they go afoul of the law who calls them on their acts? Other police officers who see something say nothing. Blacks who kill other blacks and are caught by the police will do serious jail time but not a police officer. If blacks are killing people then they need to pay the price for taking someone’s life and the same should be true for the police.
What about gangs? OR, are you unfamiliar with ‘snitches get stitches?’
Which gang, the Mafia, the Hell’s Angels, the Aryan Nation, Skinheads, Neo-Nazi and the old standby the KKK which terrorized blacks all over the South burning and killing all in the name of god and the white race.
Who says the same is not true for police? If anything the same is truer for police. 1- The cop can lose his job for failure to follow departmental policies. 2- The cop can be prosecuted for local, state and/or federal crimes. 3- The cop can be charged with civil rights violations even if he was found innocent of a crime. 4- The cop can face civil court (sued) penalties even if he was found innocent of legal and civil rights violations.
Thank you Ron, for the positive comment. You know I make an effort to listen, to observe, to connect and report. We live our lives with objectives and goals in mind, put our gifts and talents to practical use as we are called, and hopefully serve as good parents, good neighbors, and provide new ways to fuller justice for all. Time will tell.
Excellent report, JML.
My own impressions published here (do not have to be a member of Facebook to read them):
www .facebook.com/notes/douglass-taft-davidoff/blacklivesmatter-worship-march-and-rally-delivers-its-civil-rights-message-in-we/1148741875183413
My impressions of media coverage in Connecticut Post, Hartford Courant, and News 12 Connecticut published here, in which I conclude News 12 Connecticut provided the best coverage with one major caveat noted:
www .facebook.com/notes/douglass-taft-davidoff/whose-reporting-for-bridgeports-blacklivesmatter-events-was-best-with-a-caveat-n/1148933631830904
Day and Ron, were you born and raised on welfare? These are your binocular eyes. You equate white with privilege. Money is privilege. If you’re poor and white, where’s the privilege? Ron, your racism exists in exactly what you are preaching to us. You can’t see poor white people’s struggles because you’re black. Do you think Will Smith or and other very rich black person’s children will be able to truly understand poor black struggles? The black experience will vary as well as the white experience. I have acknowledged black struggles because they were my neighbors; most had more financial wealth than I. You’re racist because you don’t see levels of white or black, you don’t see that you and Day are privilege blacks. You had full careers on City Government, got pensions. I bet you and Day own a home. Isn’t that white privilege in itself? Are you really going to say your black experience is the same as the black person living in a homeless shelter or renting a studio apartment? You are black privilege? Open your eyes to see it. Not as privileged as Will Smith but more privileged than the black person on welfare. But I think you and Day know it, though.
Robert Teixeira,
White man won’t trade with Chris Rock.
youtu.be/0k_kIpxfWxA
Maybe this Chris Rock video would be more appropriate.
www .youtube.com/watch?v=uj0mtxXEGE8
BOE SPY, thank you for the comic relief. Chris Rock is hilarious and Kevin Hart is even funnier. This week has been very sad across the board. These peaceful protests are great but not sure they do anything.
Now a word to Donald Day and Ron Mackey. I would only say I am glad I do not think you are spokesmen for the Black Community. I as well as most people I know who are white are very disturbed and upset about these racist moments. It is always just a few. Just a few cops, just a few whites, just a few blacks that just always seem to incite violence. Watching it on TV is so sickening. There just isn’t an answer for any of this. I am tired of listening to people blame the blacks for their ills and I am sick of blacks blaming the whites for keeping them down. It is shocking to me that in 2016 we are still having serious problems with race. The sad truth is we are. We need to face the facts. Black people are definitely more times than not the victims of racial profiling, abuse and longer jail times. On the one hand people still think black people are the majority on welfare. They are not! There are so many social programs that could improve the lives of many and those who need it most are unaware. Joblessness among black youth and males are the highest in the nation. Minimum wage is not an incentive to get off welfare. Teachers in the school system do not reflect the community they teach. There are so many problems to address, where does one start? Empathy would be a place to start, acknowledging the obvious and stop being ignorant to make like there isn’t a racist problem and divide in this country. The last guy who was shot, his girlfriend live streaming the entire event had shown a cold and disgusting officer detached and sociopathic not even acknowledging a child was witnessing the entire event. I, like most of America, was disgusted and ashamed of the treatment of the victim, the girlfriend and child. I want justice. I want this cop named and imprisoned. I am as mad as hell and I don’t care if the guy was any other minority. These cops need a better psychological test before they enter the police force and better training. End of story!!!
Steve, who is the spokesman for whites in Bridgeport or Connecticut or America?
BOE, Castile was doing what Chris Rock said to do in your video. According to the live stream he was a gun owner with a permit to carry. He told the officer he had a gun and permit to carry. This cop is either a Hell-bound cold murder, or an ill-trained frightened stereotype of a black man with a gun. Y’all are racist when you fail to look both ways when you cross the street. Like most experience there are levels to racism.
Do you have a video of that? The only video I saw was his girlfriend telling the audience what he did. What if she were mistaken or lying? She is not an impartial witness.
So we do not really know WHAT happened. I prefer to reserve judgement on both cases until trial. Where all the facts can come out.
I said according to the video. One thing is for sure, the cop knew he had a gun when he shot him. I believe the gun was legal and he did have a permit for it. I didn’t hear otherwise in the news. Look in the mirror, you passed judgement on her. Read your statements again. Look at your positions.
Aren’t you the one always going on about Second Amendment rights? Why are you doubting this man’s right to own and carry a gun? Things that make you go HMMMMMMMMM!
Like I said, we do not really know WHAT happened. I prefer to reserve judgement on both cases until trial. When all the facts can come out. The defense does not have to try its case in the media. I am not judging her any more than you are. Not taking her word as gospel is just the same as taking her word for gospel. The Second Amendment gives you the right to carry a gun. That right comes with some degree of responsibility and danger. The Second Amendment does not give you the right to attempt to pull that gun on a cop. If this guy was carrying and went for his wallet the cop could have (easily) mistaken that movement for grabbing for the gun. You just do not know.
It would seem as if YOU have already tried, convicted and judged the cop from a video narrative from the man’s girlfriend. Are you firmly under the impression this young police officer woke up that morning and set out to shoot a human being?
In the video the cop repeats, several times, ‘I told him not to reach for it.’ If he was told to be still and continued to reach and got shot, he was resisting and reaching for a fire arm.
Things that make you go HMMMMMMMMM!
You can’t deny the racial component, I believe her more than him based on what I saw and was told on the news. That’s humanism when you eliminate any bias. Like you said the cop told him not to reach for the gun. How did he know he had a gun? I have no reason to assume the girl was lying. When the cop made that statement to her “audience,” who do you think he was talking to when he said “I told him not to reach for it.” It was a direct statement to the girl after she told her “Audience” he told the cop he had a gun and a permit for it. I stand by my original assumption on the officer’s state of mind. I’m not looking for a lynching if it was a bad judgment call by an officer. I prefer steep financial reparations for ill-trained personal, higher quality of the officers, and body cameras so we know if it was preventable or justified.
Like the Second Amendment, being a cop comes with some degree of responsibility and danger. I don’t think shoot first and ask questions later because someone has a gun on them. We have this thing called the Second Amendment, maybe you heard of it. It allows US citizens to bear arms. Things that make you go HMMM, you’re a racist.
She was recording the event for YouTube and it was the cop making statements to her audience? You are in a car and your ‘other’ gets shot. The first thing you do is whip out your celly and start making a movie? But it was the cop with the ulterior motive.
I guess it does not matter since you have already tried and convicted the cop based on the testimony of one witness. And I am the racist.
BTW: you do not know the cop knew he had a gun. She said the cop was informed of the gun. We never heard that. You are accepting everything she told her audience and immediately discounting EVERYTHING the cop says. But hey. Whatever.
There are only two eyewitnesses as to what happened, she and the cop. I put quotation marks over “audience,” that was your word. For the sake of argument let’s call the video “evidence.” Why she was motivated to pull out her phone is irrelevant for the most part, it’s evidence of what she said took place. If the cop didn’t think he had a gun then why did he shoot him? I didn’t judge the cop, people are innocent until proven guilty under the constitution. My past statements were based on the evidence I have seen. I made two assumptions, one of innocence and guilt by the cop. I’ll go back to one of your statements about the cops. He didn’t wake up thinking he was going to kill a suspect. I agreed with that assumption. I said if according to the evidence he was a legal gun owner with a permit to carry it, he didn’t wake up thinking he’s going to kill a cop. I said if he is a legal gun owner and had a permit to carry, her “video” gives her credibility. I would think if the gun were illegal and he didn’t have a gun permit, her video would be discredited and we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I made no judgment on the cop, my assumption leaned toward the evidence.
The video is not evidence since it does not show the event. The video does not show any part of the event. Just the aftermath. The only evidence in the video are the claims made by the girl and the excited utterance of the cop. I believe the cop as his statements seem less planned and contrived. I am sure you will also object to the jury’s findings.
I never made comments on the Sterling shooting. The news is not really saying much on it. I want to give you my assumption though. I think there’s been a deeper anger brewing between the community and police. Like a volcano before it erupts. This one is a lot more complicated. I do think it was avoidable. I don’t know how dangerous the neighborhood is from a cop’s perspective. Any person with a gun is a danger to cops in their line of work. I will refer back to the Second Amendment statement. I don’t like the concept of the cop’s body camera’s story.
So how did both of these OIB bigots get white jobs in the first place?
How many white Firemen were members of the Firebird Society?
Lennie takes my shit down. LG, you should change the name to THE DAILY BIGOT!
The better question would be how did they promoted by taking promotional exams against white firefighters.
Ron, does it matter? What I’m trying to comprehend is how being a black multi-millionaire worse than being a poor white person. According to your Chris Rock theory on being black, even if a black person became Chief of The Fire Department no white man would want to trade places with him. Can you tell me what level of success a black man can achieve and a white man would trade places with? I’m not sure what’s your angle with blacks against whites. That Chris Rock says it all. Reality, facts will not be a part of conversation. I’m out.
Robert, so you don’t understand the point Chris Rock was talking about? So you’re not black, then what are you?
Enlighten me. What’s the point?
If I missed the point on what it means to be black, I asked what was the point Chris Rock was making about being black. If you truly want to help blacks, whites need to know what you want them to understand about how blacks feel. What was your point about Chris Rock?
“Silence Falls” as Mackey crawls back under his rock.
www .youtube.com/watch?v=jzN3yJXlWrg
Robert Teixeira, if you don’t understand then I would suggest you attend a black church one Sunday and listen and feel the spirit of those there to worship.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) had some surprising words on race Friday, after a tragic week that saw the murder of policemen in Dallas and police slayings of black men in Baton Rouge, La., and St. Paul, Minn.
“It took me a long time, and a number of people talking to me through the years to get a sense of this.”
Ron, I went to a black church for two years when I lived in New London. I enjoyed the music part, it made going to church pleasurable. I think they used the same book in St. Theresa. If you can’t answer the question then maybe you should stop preaching.
“Then Peter said to him in reply, “Explain [this] parable to us.” 16 He said to them, “Are even you still without understanding? 17 Do you not realize that everything that enters the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart”
“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Robert, London? And you think going to a black church in London is the same thing as going to a black church in America? The black church in America has always been the center of black lives from slavery until now. It was the black church in America that reaffirmed black lives matter.
Ron, he said “New London.” It’s that town up the coast a ways, next to Groton where the sub base is, about 50 miles this side of Providence.
LMFAO Ron, I said New London CT. Between you and BOE I give my opinion and white racists and black racists are angry with me. Honesty has no place in this forum. Jesus Christ. 🙂
Robert Teixeira, your post doesn’t really address “privilege” in the sense it is being used here. Sure, wealth confers a kind of power, but it is power earned with wealth. (Whether the power is used for good or evil is a discussion for another day.)
Nonetheless, wealth in and of itself is not, by its own essence, a privilege. Race and the color of one’s skin is in the annals of history a matter of privilege. European Americans got it, no matter how humble their circumstances. African Americans don’t got it, no matter how much wealth they accumulate.
What is privilege? It’s my ability to drive from here to Chicago and not worry about being stopped in a small town or a large city because I’m “driving while white.” Meanwhile, a friend in the Midwest, whom I will call “R” (because that’s the initial of his first name), is one of the greatest champions in my life of my career. He is African American and a gifted leader in his profession. He was born in rural Pennsylvania, served in Navy ROTC while in college, and has made many hundreds of thousands of dollars. He deserves his wealth and his accomplishments are many and real. But if he drives from his Midwestern home to here, he might well be stopped because he is “driving while black.” That he faces this threat where I do not is my white privilege. And his black oppression. Need I remind you a traffic stop like this–a traffic stop I am unlikely to even experience–could cost him his life?
This is a crux of “Black Lives Matter.” Yes, all lives matter. But my life, thanks to white privilege, is not as much daily at risk. So we focus where the risk to life is.
I have African American relatives in my extended family who are nieces and nephews, as well as cousins. They have been trained since they could understand race how to cope with police stops, how to submit, how to behave. That I have never felt a strong need to specifically train my own children, now in their 20s, in such matters is my white privilege, and their white privilege, too–and with this, white privilege and black oppression now enters another generation in America, a new generation of perniciousness.
Whether this story has to do with wealth or the lack of it is simply immaterial. Some of the whites in the story are wealthy, some are not. Some of the blacks in this story have wealth, and some do not. It’s immaterial.
If the world of racism confounds you, then study oppression and white privilege. When you do, everything falls into place and you see what you must do.
Have you ever been pulled over? I have, where was my white privilege? Having a drivers license is a privilege in itself. I didn’t have the privilege of having father growing up. He tells me though I should never argue with the police. You won’t win and it’s just and extra charge. The world is dangerous place. Ask any black person, your cousins, they are free, if they want to leave and go back the Africa. Do you think blacks are safer and better off in the Congo where the state is run by blacks? You teach your kids to look both way when crossing, don’t text and drive. There are dangers in the world. Poisonous words affect black ears just as much as white ears. Blacks die of drowning, texting while driving. Are you going to blame the white CEO of Apple? It about problems and fixing them. Do your cousins have to get up and give their seat on bus, or not allowed in a business because they’re black? Maybe in certain country clubs, but they are not letting my white ass in either.
Andy, you said nothing about the record of the two white police who shot Alton Sterling and the number of times they were reported for abusive behavior. The March today wasn’t about casting blame, it was about the continued murder of blacks at the hands of white police for no other reason than being black. My post isn’t for you, it’s for white people who have a moral consciousness that obviously exceeds yours. It’s like if someone is trying to sell you a very nice pair of shoes that are size 7 when you wear a size 10, it ain’t for you!
Don, it would be a commendable effort if you were focusing your efforts in a direction that could make a difference. From the data below: 6K black homicides in 2014, 258 blacks shot by cops. Even assuming that all 258 shootings were murder it is still only 4.3% of the blacks shot dead in 2014.
There were 6,095 black homicide deaths in 2014 of the 14,249 we had in the US.
Police involved shootings
RACE
White 494
Black 258
Hispanic 172
Other 38
Unknown 28
www .washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings/
Those numbers have no meaning until you use the ratio by each group population. Let’s not forget the police are suppose to serve and protect, serve and protect. Would you post a few videos of white males being shot by the police?
You know Mackey, you really are a phony. You know whites being shot by cops is not NEWS. You know the slaughter of blacks by other blacks is really not reported because they don’t matter to other blacks like that phony group black lives matter. This group does not want to talk about black on black murders and neither do you and your running mate. I will say it again, how many murders have been by cops in the last five years? How many have been by whites and how many were black, how many minorities were killed?
That is correct. Blacks represent about 13% of the population. If a cop was, randomly, shooting out the window you would expect ~1 of 10 people shot to be black. Blacks commit 30% of the crimes in this country. If the police would tend to shoot who they interact with you would expect 30% of the people shot by the police to be black. From the numbers above: 990 police shootings, 258 were black. That is 26%. That is a little lower than what you would expect. If you commit 30% of the crime the police shoot you 30% of the time.
You can google that, Ron. Here are 1,450,000 results of white people being shot by the police.
www .google.com/search?q=white+guy+shot+by+police&num=50&newwindow=1&espv=2&rlz=1C1AFAB_enUS495US495&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjbqJeXr-rNAhVIXh4KHSzbDFcQ_AUICCgB&biw=1292&bih=683
Day, I think you’re helping the whites by continuing to keep black minds captive. Make them strong in body (anger), weak in mind (facts). I think Ron posted this video and a manual on how whites use blacks against blacks to keep them suppressed.
www .youtube.com/watch?v=eE4eU1wJZFo
Bullshit.
Sorry Day, the white man said it’s not true. 🙂 I’m out, fellas. See you in the next Mayoral campaign. Play nice. Bam, I’m out. 🙂
We may have differences. What is MOST important is to get more and more people involved in GOVERNANCE in the city of Bridgeport. For too long we have seen indifference and inaction from the people of the City of Bridgeport. Through social media we can start to interact and communicate to each other. The next step is to get away from simply making statements in Facebook and to get into the face of public/elected officials. For too long we have become passive and stayed in the comfort of our homes and looked at computer screens. It’s time to get OUT again.
Day, it’s obvious they don’t have a bad record or you would have put it on the blog in flashing lights. I have a moral conscience but I don’t have an excuse-laden conscience like you. BTW, where is the march for black people killed by black or minority people? All the murders in Bridgeport were done by minorities and all the fatalities were minority with one exception. Here is the difference between me and you, a cop white or black pulls me over, I obey his orders. That same cop pulls you over and he gets a ration of racial shit from you.
Not true, Andy. Here’s an example of a black man pulled over who most definitely did not spew “a ration of racial shit.”
I know this example firsthand. In a certain New England town I am not at liberty to name but it is real, I swear it to God, an African American detective working for a town I shall call “A” decides to stop and have a Subway sandwich at dinnertime. The town the detective from Town A decides to stop in is called Town S.
The Town A detective is on loan to the FBI, working undercover on a regional drug interdiction program. He is driving an unmarked car owned by the FBI. Its plates are real, but they are not registered on the state license and registration computers because it’s better if they are not traceable to the FBI. The African American detective has a long gun on the seat next to him. He eats the sub sandwich while waiting to find out if he needs to go out for more undercover work that night or if he can drive home to his family. He chews the sandwich as night falls and he waits for instructions from the team leader.
Suddenly, two police cruisers from Town S block the detective’s car fore and aft. He cannot move. The uniformed officers from the Town S police force approach him. He is an African American undercover officer dressed in street clothes in a car that will not come up on the Town A unformed officers’ cruiser on-board computers. He has a major big gun beside him, and his other weapon is … his submarine sandwich. He has a badge from the police department of Town A buried inside his undercover street clothes. What should he do?
The uniforms tell him they received a report of “a suspicious stranger” loitering in the Subway parking lot. He needs to move on, get out of town, they tell him. They have not yet noticed the gun.
Does the detective acquiesce, play the oppressed black man, and move away? Or does he show his badge, hope they recognize him as a colleague, tell them they are all on the same team, and insist on staying?
He decides to show the badge. The uniformed officers realize their error. The detective says with as much authority as he can muster: “Your cars are blocking me in.” The uniforms back away. He ultimately drives home.
His wife dresses him down for not playing it safe and acquiescing.
“Before you found your badge, you might have been dead,” she screams.
Next day, the detective tells the Chief of Police of Town A–his chief–what happened. Town A Police Chief angrily telephones his colleague, the Chief of Police in Town S. He lets the Chief of Town S really have it. Chief A rips Chief S a new one, a giant new one. If he screamed much louder, no telephone would have been needed to cover the many miles separating Town A from Town S.
The chief in Town A, who is someone I am friendly with, insists on restorative justice. He demands a meeting with the two uniformed officers and chief of Town S. A few days later, in the office of the Town S Police Department, the two uniformed officers and the chief from Town S meet the Chief from Town A and his detective, the man whose life is on the line interdicting drugs on behalf of the entire region of metropolitan police. The detective is also the only black man in the room. The two uniformed officers apologize, and God-damned well should have. The chief of Town S apologizes, he God-damned well should have. Chief S says it will never happen again. He promises to redouble efforts to avoid racial profiling, which is the root cause of the sudden posse foisted on the detective from Town A.
The chief from Town A accepts the apology. I heard this story from the chief of Town A. I believe it to be true.
Andy, these two ignorant and racially motivated cops from Town S–and I owe the chief of Town A a lot, including a pledge to not name the towns involved–nearly hauled a fellow cop into a paddy wagon if the detective had done as his wife, and probably his mother, had trained him to do–acquiesce. It is what his wife wished he had done.
But he showed his badge and risked they would not believe him, or be frightened of the gun, or be frightened of the plates that didn’t come up on their computers. That’s a lot of risk. In Falcon Heights this week, we found out what might happened to a black man dressed in street clothes who admits to having a weapon in the car. Would the uniforms from Town A have believed a black man who said he was a detective working undercover for an FBI-sponsored task force? After Falcon Heights, what would you have done?
This story has been shared a few times. The jury is out on whether the detective acted for his own personal safety correctly. There is no right answer. The point is: A white detective from Town A stopping in Town S to eat a Subway sandwich while waiting to find out if he would be catching bad guys that night or going home to his wife would not worry about other cops blocking him in and urging him more or less to get out of town because he was reported to be “a stranger.” He would not have been asked to get out of town.
What do you think of this story, Andy? Could it happen to you? If not, why not? The answer is: you are not policing while black.
This is why #BlackLivesMatter.
Even black New England police detective lives matter. Their #BlackLivesMatter, just as much.
This story is current. It happened in New England about three years ago. What do you think? What would you do? And if you are white, can you imagine feeling this fear and this quandary?
I have been shot at, spit on, called every name you can think of, and have still moved forward. When I was a fire marshal I was refused service at a black restaurant in a black neighborhood. I have seen it all and I have lived it all. I have given mouth to mouth to many blacks having heart attacks and this was before we had modern equipment. I also started a senior 1-15 little league that featured black and Hispanic kids. I have walked the walk and if you or others on this blog feel guilty that’s your problem because I don’t feel guilty about anything.
While it’s certainly true blacks kill other blacks 93% of the time and whites kill whites 84% of the time, so where is the mantra white on white crime? Why is that conveniently not talked about in the media nor has a phrase been invented to address that phenomenon when in just raw numbers whites kill more whites than blacks kill blacks just based on the fact that whites comprise 65% of America’s population?
What you need to understand is what you say about me or think about me doesn’t and will never define me as a man. I am not nor have I ever been anti-white, but I am unapologetically pro black and that’s how I’ll continue to live my life. This movement isn’t about us against them, it’s a movement steeped in blacks and whites and young and old working together for a better America for us all. What happens to a people when they stop believing, stop hoping, stop trusting a concerted effort toward improvement will bear fruit?
There is no uproar over white on white crime because the average person is not very likely to have their life impacted by crime. Most whites realize it is a waste of time to occupy more than a few moments of your day on that issue. If you want to be successful, avoid these distractions and occupy your time with issues that matter.
The overriding issue in all of this tragic American turmoil is Americans are killing each other because of an ugly part of our history that just doesn’t want to go away.
The ambient anger, suspicion and fear Americans have of each other because of superficial physical differences, minor cultural differences (especially religion) and, increasingly, economic differences is what is driving much of the police-involved violence at the forefront of American consciousness and political activity and discourse during this period in American history.
It must be realized the regression of the American economic condition in the context of a growing–inexorably–wealth disparity between classes describable, in practical terms, as a huge poor/working poor class and a miniscule, absurdly wealthy class (separated by a shredded, shrinking, numerical minority middle class) is the catalyst for the latest bout of ugly, sickening, American-on-American violence.
The ready availability of guns in our society is the main factor in guaranteeing fatal results in the acting out of our displaced anger, hatred and prejudices.
When the economy was improving for all Americans for shorts periods in the latter decades of the last century, this type of violence was on the wane, and most of the violence was confined to battles between drug gang members and between police and drug gang members (with some violence between drug dealers and hapless/inept customers). But again, the drug-related violence had its basis in an economy that failed to afford real opportunity to an underclass with few viable options. That situation hasn’t changed.
But it is the socioeconomic decay and the stresses it is exacting on the members of the (growing) underclass and law enforcement that underlies the fear and panic that has resulted in overreaction by the police and subsequent violent acting-out by members of the oppressed community. The “oppressed community,” in this context, is the black community, which continues to be relegated to the fringes of American society because of the lingering effects of history in the context of the dominance of American politics by a racist-tinged, plutocratic oligarchy (and their promotion of the grotesque, widening, deepening wealth divide and American poverty).
As long as the economic divide sustains and exacerbates the racial/cultural divide in our society–in the context of plentiful guns–the increasing stresses within our society and on law enforcement will cause violent interactions to continue and increase between the police and underclass, especially where an underlying racist history supports suspicion, fear and hatred between law enforcement and the segment of America including the minority community. (Tensions between the white community and people of color will also continue to increase and resonate in conjunction with this situation.)
My main point here is economic injustice and abundant guns provide the perfect storm for the perpetuation of racial antagonism and unpredictable interaction between law enforcement and the minority community.
When the middle class in America was in a mode of expansion and inclusiveness, fatal interactions between law enforcement and all civilians were on the wane.
At a basic level, it’s all about economics and the heightened possibility of fatal, two-way interactions between law enforcement and the underclass–lots of guns (especially with regard, but not limited to, the historical targets/victims of our society).
When our country returns to a focus on economic/social justice and adopts rational regulation of the availability of firearm to the general public, we’ll start making progress toward racial/societal harmony and reliable, sane police/community relations. Not before.
Unfortunately, this present election cycle will, in all probability, not yield leadership that will make real economic/social progress, nor any meaningful progress in curbing the proliferation of lethal weapons in our society. We’re likely to see poverty and violence continue to increase in America for the indefinite future if we see either of the major party plutocrat-demagogues elected in November.
Major context setting, Jeff. Thanks much.
Jeff, the overriding issue in all this tragic American turmoil is these cops were afraid for their lives. It is just conjecture the color of the suspect had anything to do with the outcome. In your theory the police would be part of a huge poor/working poor class. It is true that crime and violence increases during tough economic times. Are the fatal, two-way interactions between law enforcement and the underclass caused by the police or the perpetrator? The important distinction being, do the cops want to murder people or do the people need to be educated on how to interact with the police?
But yes. This foolhardy distraction is taking a majority of the population away from the real problems that plague most people. As with two of the city unions in the news lately, pay is going down, work days are getting longer and bills are going up. We can only hope Trump will be able to reverse this trend.
When is the march for the sixteen people killed in Chicago last weekend? Oh, they were not killed by police. Never mind.
It will be interesting to learn the facts of these incidents rather than seeing the contrived social media spin that is portrayed as news.
Regarding the comments by Day and Mackey, I agree with Andy Fardy.
Tom White, you have shown your true color. No surprise.
The largest racial group, whites commit the majority of crimes in America. In particular, whites are responsible for the vast majority of violent crimes. With respect to aggravated assault, whites led blacks 2-1 in arrests; in forcible-rape cases, whites led all racial and ethnic groups by more than 2-1. And in larceny theft, whites led blacks, again, more than 2-1.
Given this mathematical truth, would anyone encourage African Americans to begin shooting suspicious white males in their neighborhoods for fear they’ll be raped, assaulted or murdered?
It seems the media in general and white American society in particular prefer to focus on crime perpetrated by African Americans because it serves as a way to absolve them from the violence, prejudice and institutionalized discrimination engendered for generations against blacks. It offers a buffer against responsibility, a way to shift blame and deflect cause and effect. But the truth, and numbers, tell a different story.
The term “black on black” crime is a destructive, racialized colloquialism that perpetuates an idea that blacks are somehow more prone to violence. This is untrue and fully verifiable by FBI, DOJ and census (pdf) data. Yet the fallacy is so fixed even African Americans have come to believe it.
That is true. Whites do commit the majority of the crime in the US but whites are the majority of the people. The problem is the crime committed by blacks is disproportionate to the size of their population. I.e., 10% of the people are committing 30% of the crime. Slightly more if you limit yourself to looking at violent crimes.
The same disproportion is reflected in the number of blacks in prison and the number of blacks on welfare.
You really get a spike in the statistical average if you look at the poor. More than 90% of the crime is committed by someone living under the poverty line.
You have mis-defined “black on black” crime. It does not connote that blacks are somehow more prone to violence. The term “black on black” crime denotes most crimes committed against blacks are committed by other blacks.
Day, you forgot stats on whites committing crimes at a 2-1 rate over blacks. Cops shoot and kill whites 2-1 over blacks.
Ron posted some facts about William Lynch on how white slaveowners should keep the slave body strong and take the mind. Ron posted something about whites using blacks against blacks. When you post 2-1 stats on whites commit crimes at rate of 2-1 over blacks but fail to post the rate whites are shot by cops at 2-1 over blacks is exactly what Ron posted about William Lynch.
Your destruction racialized colloquial in taking the mind of blacks by misrepresentation and serving “Fardy” white people. If Black Lives Matter focused on something truly affecting the black community and an injustice it should be the disparity in the sentencing between blacks and whites. I think it’s more about money than race, though. If they can sentence blacks long they will but if they have to keep whites longer to keep the wallets, they will. It’s just not a private thing, ask Maria about wanting funding for her schools.
www .youtube.com/watch?v=Z4MtN4ahnEs
www .youtube.com/watch?v=uqIiP_sqJHM
Our legal system is based on ‘paying your debt to society’ and rehabilitation. Our legal system is not based on punishment. Rich people pay their debt to society in cash. OJ would be an example of this. If you were to serve five years, in that time you would have earned $250K. What would the difference be if you serve the five years at a loss of $250K to you and the cost of $900K to the state or just pay $250K? This assumes you have a reasonably good chance of being rehabilitated.
If ‘Black Lives Matter’ focused on something truly affecting the black community, they would focus on heart disease and diabetes. Those two things kill more black people than everything else combined. If you cut the fatalities from these two in half, you would negate all other causes of death in the black community.
You look into those things and form your own group but those who form Black Lives Matter made THEIR decision and cause to fight and not you.
Donald, you are a sick person.
“Racialized colloquialism.” OIB readers learn something new every day. Donald Day must be the modern-day Malcom X.
I prefer to judge someone by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.
What a liar.
Steve Auerbach, friend, I am going to address comments you made earlier in this post. I would have addressed them directly in the thread but for the technology reason your comments were indented so far, the “submit” button fell off the margin in just about every browser I tried in my iPad and laptop. Hence, I reply in the main thread here.
Specifically, I highlight these comments of yours: “I as well as most people I know who are white are very disturbed and upset about these racist moments. It is always just a few. Just a few cops, just a few whites, just a few blacks who just always seem to incite violence. Watching it on TV is so sickening. There just isn’t an answer for any of this. I am tired of listening to people blame the blacks for their ills and I am sick of blacks blaming the whites for keeping them down. It is shocking to me that in 2016 we are still having serious problems with race. The sad truth is we are.”
Steve, I appreciate your concern but it seems like you throw in the towel. This finds you, Steve, in an uncharacteristic lack of optimism, which is one of the finest parts of your personality. You’re down in the dumps here. It’s okay to be worried and concerned. But when we lose the optimism of someone like you, it’s a real loss of energy.
Steve, the answer all around is to recommit to the one tactic, the one approach proven over the last century to move societies, to move government, and to transform people. This is non-violent resistance to oppression and white privilege. The Mahatma Gandhi taught it. Dr. King practiced it and taught it forward. Senator Robert Kennedy adopted it late in life. Had he lived to become president, his presidency could have transformed the American conversation on race and shoved it to a new plane of enlightenment and love. (Or not; we hoped the same for the presidency of Barack Obama.)
This summer, it seems imperative we retrain ourselves in non-violent resistance to oppression and white privilege. Safe spaces for African Americans to explore their pain as the oppressed and their history as the oppressed. They need to discover white sources of support to hold open the black sacred spaces. They need active European American support. This is what Gandhi taught, what King taught, what RFK discovered. This summer, we must re-embrace it anew. It starts with you, Steve. It starts with me, Steve. It starts with us each day. This is the only lesson we can take from these awful two weeks. I do share your concern, but I live in optimism. I stand on the side of love.
www .StandingOnTheSideOfLove.org
You don’t have to pay any attention to what Don Day and Ron Mackey have to say, just read the U.S. Government Report “Our Nation Is Moving Towards Two Societies, One Black, One White–Separate and Unequal.” The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorder. Here we are in 2016 and The Commission’s report was in 1968.
historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6545/
Ron, that post is just an opinion piece. The entire argument is post hoc ergo propter hoc. The result proves the premise. I.e., because whites tend to do well and blacks tend to do poorly, this proves the system is stacked against blacks and toward whites. That is not even true because there are twice as many poor whites as there are poor blacks. The problem is there should by six times as many poor whites.
There is no proof white privilege exists and if it does, white privilege is not responsible for the black condition. Wasn’t Obama supposed to fix all that? The idea something that lifts up one group HAS to keep another down is not true. When Bill Gates got rich, thousands did not become poor. Just the contrary. He made himself rich and many thousands of others as well. Everyone in the US was richer, to some degree, from the expansion of the economy Microsoft caused.
I was pulled over for driving around Seaview Ave in the middle of the night. Was that my white privilege at work or did the cop think I was a white person who was in the wrong neighborhood up to no good? The entire argument is a way of not taking personal responsibility for the way your life turned out.
And whatever you post is fact and not opinion, please. Here’s someone who wants their viewpoint too of some type of value but who cares, you are so scared you can’t give your name, you’re a fake. All you do is lie.
That was opinion. The statistics are fact and the sources are noted.
Boy, this group sure does know how to suck the life out of something good and blow it back out into something it was never meant to be. The march yesterday was to not only send a message, it was for those who need to be surrounded by others who feel the same pain. I am a 21st century mom. My girls are both pure white with blonde hair. The more this thread went on, you guys have turned white privilege into a financial state of mind. Here is white privilege in a nutshell. My daughter likes to play out in the neighborhood with her friends. She likes to wear hoodies, they are the cool attire. I don’t have to worry about what my daughter wears when she leaves the house. I don’t have to worry that she will be profiled. My black friends do. My black friends feel a need to monitor the way their children dress, the way they speak, their body language and where they are going to be hanging out. That’s white privilege. If you don’t get that concept, then stop having this conversation now. Black Lives Matter, All lives matter and black on black crime cannot be lumped into one topic, they are all separate and one does not take away from the other, or it shouldn’t. Police brutality is a subject of its own and then branches off into different topics. Brutality towards blacks, brutality towards all, abuse of power and so on cannot be looked at as one topic. This is what it seems everyone cannot get through their heads. 21st century mom is making an effort at teaching her girls to be colorblind. While it is important and fun to share different aspects of culture, it is important to teach children that culture is not about color. My girls are colorblind, we have such a mixed group of friends it is beautiful and amazing. I don’t even know what culture some of my own friends are because it doesn’t matter at all unless we want to share. Please stop turning the march yesterday into what you want it to be. If you’re confused about its true meaning, ask someone who organized it. There were people of every race at the event and that’s how it should be. Choices are simple, continue to be a part of the problem or make an effort to not be, but don’t take the day away from those who organized, rallied people and actually marched. Walk in peace, OIB.
Nice to see the CT Post picture of Ernie Newton standing fist raised with a black Nazi member of the New Black Panther Party. Ernie’s really distinguishing himself as a person with no moral fiber whatsoever.
Dear Lennie,
Your blog is too important to a sincere discussion of the important issues Bridgeport faces to allow it to get bogged down in out-and-out racism, bigotry and hate. As an author, you surely want more for a Bridgeport discussion than simply to be the home for long-discredited attitudes. No less than The New York Times has recognized the important role you play in Bridgeport. I urge you to live up to that.
I nominate Andrew Fardy and JimFox as trolls. I believe Robert Teixeira should be placed on notice and close watch. On any other blog in which I have participated, they would have been voted off the island a long time ago. Booted off the island, actually.
Troll, as defined by Wikipedia:
“In Internet slang, a troll is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion, often for their own amusement.”
In many other Internet settings, these men would already be declared trolls. Are you somehow convinced these sad people represent a larger view present in Bridgeport? What is your evidence from the experience on OIB, other than their own huge quantity of posts?
These men prevent the serious discussions our city needs. They hold us back. We don’t have time for that. They live in the past. This blog should be about an enlightened future.
I, for one, shall ignore any thread in which they offer input and in which people directly respond to them. They are bullies and they deserve the treatment that time has proven works with bullies: outright disdain and then deprivation of all attention.
Enough is enough. Does anyone agree? They are not worth our time, our attention, or the measly little electrons spent on them. I respect their humanity, but I also pity them. They are small-minded and heartless. Their vision is limited and narrow.
Let us move on. The need is far too great for a higher-level debate.
Let’s stop feeding these trolls.
Wikipedia on trolls:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll
Respectfully submitted,
— DTD
I would add BOE SPY to that list. I have a problem with censorship but there are rules and guidelines Lennie needs to enforce even if I get out of line.
Awww, Ron is afraid of the truth. I only posted facts and statistics.
You are afraid to give your name, coward.
Danger, danger!
Troll Alert!
Ron is being a troll.
I would add Ron and Don to the list.
Why ruin the reputation of trolls?
Oh, now we are going to have censorship? What the mighty Davidoff doesn’t like don’t let on the blog? Davidoff, you are really out of touch with reality. You are a sniveling baby who is afraid of his own shadow. I served my country and paid the price for your freedoms, don’t try to take mine away. You really should go through a self examination to find the obvious.
Davidoff, you don’t like the fact I disagree with white privilege, that is just too darn bad.
Naw, I think it’s the name calling when others disagree with you that causes a few of us to give less credit and respect to what you write.
I don’t care, but thanks.
Jennifer, thank you, that’s exactly what it is, their I might not agree with and that’s okay but the name-calling is different.
Hey Ron, boo hoo.
Doug, by your definition a troll is anyone who does not agree with your viewpoint. I would agree arguments are a lot easier when there is only one side but then you do not have an argument. An argument where only one side is allowed to be represented is called the Democratic Party.
This goes for anyone. As long as you look outward to the cause of your problems you will never find the cause. YOUR problems are ultimately caused by YOU: Your actions, your beliefs, your limitations. It is not white privilege that causes single-parent households, drug dependency, crime, violence, high dropout rates, welfare dependency or any of the other problems that disproportionately plague the black community. Until the community accepts this on a personal level as a personal responsibility, nothing will change. He who gets the most help is he who helps himself.
BOE SPY, Davidoff is a liberal who has just lost a debate with a conservative. He is doing what most liberals do, he wants the conservative banned. He wants only his jaded white privileged responses with other liberals on this blog. Davidoff, that’s not how it works. I am glad you are not reading this.
The more I think about it, the more I realize how racist the idea and term ‘white privilege’ is. That is just a way to marginalize the success of another race. Like, you got to where you are from something other than your personal effort. Let’s take two similar situations.
1- Andy Fardy realized some level of success with the BPFD. The reason for this was white privilege. He wasn’t a ‘real’ firefighter, he succeeded simply because he was white and that offered him some kind of ‘walk’ or advantage.
2- Ron and Don realized some level of success with the BPFD. They were both in the Firebirds club and had affirmative action to depend on. They were not ‘real’ firefighters, they succeeded simply because they were black and were ‘token’ employees to fulfill a racial requirement.
Which, if any, statement is racist? How do the statements differ?
Stay in your lane; if you want to keep kissing Fardy’s ass then go ahead. You have no idea of what you are talking about. Andy Fardy was appointed to be fire inspector and that Affirmative Action, it was given to him. Don and I both took and passed and promoted to be a Pumper Engineer, we both took and got promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and Don took and passed the Captain and placed second and was .50 from number 1st and all of this was done through civil service test and not Affirmative Action but I have no problem with Affirmative Action. Coward, use your real name, who are you scared of?
No point bonus for minorities or BPT (dog whistle) residents?
And stop trolling before you get banned.
Paging Lennie G.
Mackey, you have no idea what you are talking about. There were two fire inspector jobs posted for 0 days. Dave Rentz and I were the only two who applied. We then had to pass a 26-week fire marshals course. You and Day were promoted because the testing structure was changed from written to oral. Oral tests are easy to manipulate. Think about how you made LT.
Those exams were a mix of both oral and written and you took no test to get into that position. The Pumper Engineer exam was harder than the Lieutenant exam because of the formulas and math in order to supply the proper amout of water plus we had to actually perform the duties on the vehicle to show you knew what you were doing and Don and I both passed and became Pumper Engineers. Did you ever pass that exam? We both passed the Lieutenant exam and placed 10th on that list and Don passed the Captain exam placing second, not bad for two black guys.
Ron, you missed the point. It is a hypothetical question. The point was to compare the idea of white privilege with affirmative action. Two systems by which people get advanced based on ethnicity rather than ability.
Doug, what did I do? I don’t know how important OIB is to Bridgeport but you’re on it. You have trolled on everybody’s comments on this blog page. The only original post was to troll Steve. You weren’t just trolling for Steve you were CALL ME ISHMAEL. LMAO. Talking about calling the kettle black. Ron and Day, is this phrase racist? If you guys want to be apprehensive of a white person, I nominate Doug. The white man who stalked you in church, told you how much he honors you, and talks about his white privilege. I would trust Fardy before Doug. Things that really make you HMMM! What the?
Robert, stalked? This what you call being blind. Doug said he was sitting behind Don in church and he didn’t know who Don was. Robert, you should try going to Mt. Aery or any other black church just one time. You’ll be with people who are there to worship and to hear the word of God. You get a chance to with others who are not like you. I had the pleasure of meeting Doug at the rally when he was introduced to me. Robert, no stalking was done.
If I go to Mt. Aery church will I see you or Doug there? This is insane. Can you please tell me who I am. 🙂 I’m with people not like me. YOU, you are a racist. You see what you want to see. You asked me to go to a black church to understand black people. I said I went to a black church for two years when I live in New London CT. All you did was see the racist angle in your mind to diminish me.
Robert, are you for real? The American black church came about from slavery and the hurt and pain from that. Blacks were not allowed to learn how to read and write, slaves had their children taken from them, slave owners would rape black female slaves and then make those children slaves.
President Thomas Jefferson fathered children with Sally Hemings, a black slave. George Washington was the first president to own slaves, including while he was president. Zachary Taylor was the last president to own slaves during his presidency, and Ulysses S. Grant was the last president to have owned a slave at some point in his life. Robert, America’s original sin was slavery, it was the law of America, it took the Dred Scott case which gave America separate but equal but America never enforced the equal part for blacks and Plessy vs. Ferguson case in part said blacks had no rights that whites had to pay attention to. Then there was the 1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education which gave America segregation in American schools. So tell me Robert, is that the same history of the black church in London?
“Black-on-black crime” is a loaded term meant to enable racists, cementing the idea in people’s heads the real problem isn’t the judicial system and law enforcement disproportionately targeting black people for arrest/incarceration/lethal force, but black people killing each other. It affirms the erroneous viewpoint everyone has equal opportunity in society, and the only reason black people are so disenfranchised is due to their own behavior.
That’s a sad commentary that is being perpetrated by certain trolls who publish on OIB. David, while I understand and appreciate your point of view on these individuals and their constant namecalling and vitriolic statements, I would think to remove their idiotic repartee would be a mistake and a disservice to every black who reads OIB, because they serve a purpose in helping my people understand racism is alive and well in Bridgeport.
See Ron, this is opinion. Don does not back up any of his statements with statistics. Like this one, ‘law enforcement disproportionately targeting black people for arrest.’ Is there a stat to support that statement? I mean, you cannot just use post hoc ergo propter hoc and say because 30% of the people arrested are black that proves blacks are disproportionately targeted. There is the chance those people committed the crime. Especially since 30% of the people in prison are black. They were arrested and convicted.
At least Don realizes racism is alive and well in Bridgeport. Recognizing the problem is half the battle. Now he just needs to do something about his racist mentality.
Day, coming from you being called a troll is great. You and your running mate Mackey are two of the most vitriolic purveyors of hate on the blog. Davidoff does not know any better, he really has led a sheltered life. I have known you two for over 30 years and you haven’t changed a bit in all those years, still spewing racism. By the way Day your name calling is okay because you are not from the advantaged class. Wow, you never stop, do you?
*** I’M GLAD THE RESIDENTS OF BPT WERE ABLE TO MARCH, PROTEST AND EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS ABOUT ALL THE KILLINGS AND VIOLENCE HAPPENING ACROSS AMERICA WITHOUT ANY MAJOR INCIDENTS BETWEEN THE POLICE AND PROTESTERS IN GENERAL! *** ALL LIVES MATTER, NO? ***
Donald Day spews the most vile, biased and contrived comments and Andy Fardy is criticized for speaking plainly. Day’s comments are examples of the drivel young people are exposed to in social media.
I wouldn’t expect anything less coming from you, White, a person who is so white and who never had a black friend.
BOE, Don and I never received any preference points for any exams we took. The preference points Bridgeport has now are for whites who reside in Bridgeport and also for Hispanics and blacks. Here is the real “dog whistle,” Bridgeport added another portion to the firefighter exam and that’s (CPAT) Candidate Physical Ability Test. Volunteer fire departments that are in suburbs and white. Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford and many other cities do not have the training and facility for people to practice to pass the Physical Ability Test. CPAT is taught at volunteer fire departments. Bridgeport changed their testing process and added CPAT and the result for the last two times it has been used there were no white females to pass CPAT plus the number of Hispanic and blacks dropped to a new low in test results. Those firefighters who are on the Bridgeport Fire Department have never taken and passed CPAT. Bridgeport’s dog whistle is CPAT because 99% of those who have that certification are white.
Hartford had CPAT but did away with it plus in Hartford you must be a resident in order take exams, now you don’t have to stay there after someone gets the job. Hartford benefits from them paying city tax, shopping and doing their business in Hartford and their value of just living the City that pays their salary.
That is a little farfetched. You would think the Firebirds would do more to help minorities pass the exam as they are a group that promotes minorities. They promoted you.
It is up to the applicant to find out what is on the exam and prepare. A BPT person can volunteer in another city. IT seems perfectly reasonable a prospective member of the BPFD should be in some kind of physical shape before getting hired.
I see no economic value to having city workers live in the city. As firefighters work 3 on 2 off they will be in the city most of the time. Many BPT residents shop in Fairfield and Stratford anyway.
Anyway, the question was hypothetical. Swap the names Andy and Ron with Steve and Bubba. That is not the important part of the question.
If the City of Bridgeport cannot provide the facilities and money for CPAT training, how in hell can the Firebird Society do that? A Bridgeport resident cannot go and become a volunteer firefighter. You are one of those whites who can’t believe anything a black person has to say. Why don’t you try to be brave, not for you to be brave as a firefighter or police officer, because we know you can’t do those jobs but be brave and give your real name instead of continuing to be a coward and hiding, be a real man (woman) and show everybody how proud you are of your parents by telling us the name they gave you.
I will remind you the PD has the same type of organization as the Firebirds, they are called the Guardians. Interestingly enough, their leader is a black LT who was allegedly found to have had a black patrolmen post an anti-black letter in the PD. This LT has been suspended with pay for eight months. The investigation has been completed since June. So much for the validity of this organization.
In America’s history at what point did black lives matter? America’s original sin was slavery, it started in 1619 so tell me at what point did America allow black lives matter to happen? Why is it the unborn can matter and people can form organizations to fight to protect the unborn but when blacks say they want to protect black men and form their own organization to fight for what they believe in and not what you believe? Black Lives Matter.
See Ron, that’s what I’m talking about. All you see or want to see is the blackness. I would say not because I’m white-ish. But because it’s the truth, if there was an American original sin it would be the genocide and slaughter and rape and theft of the land of the Indians. I hope you attend Mt. Aery and hear the word. Say hi to Doug for me. 🙂
Robert, that’s sad that you don’t know America history. Google America’s first sin. The native American refused to be slaves and they fought to keep their land but they were killed so their tribes were moved to what was wasteland to live and die. Africans were bought to be slaves and to do all the work the Europeans wouldn’t do for over 350 years and that was the start of America showing blacks they didn’t matter. You and some others just refuse to know or accept black history in America, it’s like hey move on guys. No way because black lives matter, maybe not to you and others but that’s on you.
Ron, you just love to write about history and putting your own spin on things. Let me say this. SLAVERY in any terms is wrong and thousands upon thousands of northerners died fighting against slavery. Has it been a walk in the park for most blacks? No it has not. With people like Day and Mackey it will never get better because if it gets better they’ll have nothing to moan about.
President Obama clearly said it all today in his speech in Dallas Texas. Thank you President Obama for your words to bring America together. I’m out, Robert you, Fardy, White, BOE SPY who ever in hell they are, you guys and girls can talk among yourselves.
Thanks Ron, your contributions were one-sided and generally racist. I will not miss your BS on this blog.
Ron, do not get your panties in a bunch. Study a little more history. The Irish, Chinese, Italians, Jews, Et Al. had a difficult time when they came here. I know, they were not slaves. At least not in name. These groups were able to prosper by focusing on where they wanted to go instead of where they came from. What happened to you?