What news are you sick of hearing?

[Katty]

On 7/24/2018 at 11:26 PM, Tortuga said:

Anything about Roseanne Barr...

I hate any news, in general, that paints people as racist when their comment or action had nothing to do with race at all. I feel like saying "that's racist" is a very low and underhanded way of silencing someone

[Tortuga]

21 minutes ago, Katty said:

I hate any news, in general, that paints people as racist when their comment or action had nothing to do with race at all. I feel like saying "that's racist" is a very low and underhanded way of silencing someone

Agreed, too many times the media tries to turn situations into racial situations. However Rosanna Barrs joke was definitely in bad taste.

[Cushi]

2 hours ago, Katty said:

I hate any news, in general, that paints people as racist when their comment or action had nothing to do with race at all. I feel like saying "that's racist" is a very low and underhanded way of silencing someone

I think it’s easier to feel this way when you don’t make up a minority group that’s constantly battling bias and racial discrimination. When you have to deal with these things on a daily basis, you tend to see things like these differently. The case with Roseanne Barr is an exception because we have no way of knowing whether or not she really knew the woman she was talking about was black or not but the Starbucks situation is a good example of what I’m talking about.

 

It’s unique because a witness said that a white woman had entered the Starbucks minutes before the men were arrested and was given the bathroom code even though she didn’t buy anything... but the two black men were denied a bathroom code because they didn’t make a purchase. This same witness said the Starbucks manager never even asked the men to leave before calling the police. Also, during the incident, another person in the Starbucks, who I’m sure wasn’t black, said that they had been in the store for a couple of hours without buying anything and were not hassled. I highly doubt that this would have happened had the two men been white.

 

When I read stuff like this I can’t help but think about how people are constantly calling the police on black people for the dumbest things. There’s stories and viral videos all over the internet. There’s a viral video of a woman who called the police on some black men for barbecuing in a park because she said they weren’t supposed to be using a charcoal grill. There’s another where a woman called the police on a 8 year old black girl for selling water across from a ball park. She said that she didn’t have a vendors permit. All she was trying to do was raise enough money to go to Disneyland. One black guy had the cops called on him because he was sitting near a pool in the sun at his apartments. Even after showing his key fob, they asked him to give his address and kicked him out when he refused. One guy called the police on a black woman at CVS because he said she was trying to use a fake coupon. He was so upset he was shaking. The coupon was later proven to be real. Or how about the one where some men on a golf course called the police on some black women because they said they were “golfing too slow.”

 

I can relate to this because I too have had the cops called on me for ridiculous reasons. Far too many to count. I’ve had people call the police on me for jaywalking. One time when I was taking a drug test for a job, I went outside with a styrofoam cup and was drinking water so I could take a urine test and the police showed up 2 times within 20 minutes because someone or some people said I was panhandling. I’ve had the cops called on me numerous times just for walking in a “nice neighborhood.” One time a guy even ran in his house, got a shotgun, hopped in his truck while on the phone with the police and followed me because I was lost looking for a friend in a white neighborhood. When the police arrived, the sheriff told me I didn’t belong in the neighborhood and asked me to leave. 

 

I could give you so many examples and tell you so many stories. The point I’m trying to make is that what happened at Starbucks is the kind of thing that happens to black people all the time. It’s not always the media making it out be racist. Sometimes it is. 

I just love how nowadays cell phone cameras are capturing all the stuff we have been saying for years. Black people speak up about this stuff all the time, but we are constantly told that we are being “too sensitive” or “exaggerating.” 

We aren’t. Implicit bias is real, and we have to deal with it everyday.

[Katty]

Just now, Brother Jack said:

I think it’s easier to feel this way when you don’t make up a minority group that’s constantly battling bias and racial discrimination. When you have to deal with these things on a daily basis, you tend to see things like these differently. The case with Roseanne Barr is an exception because we have no way of knowing whether or not she really knew the woman she was talking about was black or not but the Starbucks situation is a good example of what I’m talking about.

 

It’s unique because a witness said that a white woman had entered the Starbucks minutes before the men were arrested and was given the bathroom code even though she didn’t buy anything... but the two black men were denied a bathroom code because they didn’t make a purchase. This same witness said the Starbucks manager never even asked the men to leave before calling the police. Also, during the incident, another person in the Starbucks, who I’m sure wasn’t black, said that they had been in the store for a couple of hours without buying anything and were not hassled. I highly doubt that this would have happened had the two men been white.

 

When I read stuff like this I can’t help but think about how people are constantly calling the police on black people for the dumbest things. There’s stories and viral videos all over the internet. There’s a viral video of a woman who called the police on some black men for barbecuing in a park because she said they weren’t supposed to be using a charcoal grill. There’s another where a woman called the police on a 8 year old black girl for selling water across from a ball park. She said that she didn’t have a vendors permit. All she was trying to do was raise enough money to go to Disneyland. One black guy had the cops called on him because he was sitting near a pool in the sun at his apartments. Even after showing his key fob, they asked him to give his address and kicked him out when he refused. One guy called the police on a black woman at CVS because he said she was trying to use a fake coupon. He was so upset he was shaking. The coupon was later proven to be real. Or how about the one where some men on a golf course called the police on some black women because they said they were “golfing too slow.”

 

I can relate to this because I too have had the cops called on me for ridiculous reasons. Far too many to count. I’ve had people call the police on me for jaywalking. One time when I was taking a drug test for a job, I went outside with a styrofoam cup and was drinking water so I could take a urine test and the police showed up 2 times within 20 minutes because someone or some people said I was panhandling. I’ve had the cops called on me numerous times just for walking in a “nice neighborhood.” One time a guy even ran in his house, got a shotgun, hopped in his truck while on the phone with the police and followed me because I was lost looking for a friend in a white neighborhood. When the police arrived, the sheriff told me I didn’t belong in the neighborhood and asked me to leave. 

 

I could give you so many examples and tell you so many stories. The point I’m trying to make is that what happened at Starbucks is the kind of thing that happens to black people all the time. It’s not always the media making it out be racist. Sometimes it is. 

I just love how nowadays cell phone cameras are capturing all the stuff we have been saying for years. Black people speak up about this stuff all the time, but we are constantly told that we are being “too sensitive” or “exaggerating.” 

We aren’t. Implicit bias is real, and we have to deal with it everyday.

But the lady Rosanne Barr was addressing was not black, at least from what I saw.

 

Sorry you went through all this, tho. It's very sad. I don't think true discrimination gets addressed well enough.

 

I'm not saying that every story that's about racial discrimination is false, but that that everything gets pinned to race even if the motivation of an action had nothing to do with it; I think in the end, it makes things worse for blacks as well as whites, because actual cases of discrimination get treated less seriously as a result.

Edited August 6, 2018 by Katty

[Katty]

Also, I apologize if I said anything potentially offensive. I grew up in a city that was very racially diverse. I've seen people of different races be the recipient of discrimination at various times. It can be a very harrowing experience. I do have opinions on things like this, but I also know that the way the world does things is wrong and unbalanced. 

 

[Cushi]

50 minutes ago, Katty said:

But the lady Rosanne Barr was addressing was not black, at least from what I saw.

 

Sorry you went through all this, tho. It's very sad. I don't think true discrimination gets addressed well enough.

 

I'm not saying that every story that's about racial discrimination is false, but that that everything gets pinned to race even if the motivation of an action had nothing to do with it; I think in the end, it makes things worse for blacks as well as whites, because actual cases of discrimination get treated less seriously as a result.

The lady Roseanne was addressing is black. Or at least she would be considered that by society. She is of black, white and Native American ancestry, but mostly black and white. I see what you are saying. 

 

Edit: I just saw online that said she found out she was 49% European, 45% African and 5% Native American on a tv show.

Edited August 6, 2018 by Brother Jack

[Cushi]

44 minutes ago, Katty said:

Also, I apologize if I said anything potentially offensive. I grew up in a city that was very racially diverse. I've seen people of different races be the recipient of discrimination at various times. It can be a very harrowing experience. I do have opinions on things like this, but I also know that the way the world does things is wrong and unbalanced. 

 

Apology accepted 🙂

[Hope]

2 hours ago, Brother Jack said:

The lady Roseanne was addressing is black. Or at least she would be considered that by society. She is of black, white and Native American ancestry, but mostly black and white. I see what you are saying. 

 

Edit: I just saw online that said she found out she was 49% European, 45% African and 5% Native American on a tv show.

Yes.  But she considers herself a Black woman.  Using monkeys/apes to slur Black people is a common thing.. Roseanne knows that very well. She was reprehensible.

 

Excellent comment, Jack. I'm so sorry for your experiences; it's infuriating and so unfair. My brothers and son have had police run-ins for NO reasons... except for being Brown men (our mother is White, my son's father is Black/Filipino).

 

These experiences are rarely exaggerated and I'm sick of them needing to be told. 😬

[Katty]

 

Again it's not that I don't think that discrimination against minorities is not very common. From my own experience, growing up in the city of the infamous danziger bridge incident, I would be blind to not see that racial discrimination is very common in this world.

 

What I distrust is not that so much as how the news presents it. Mainstream news has become increasingly politicized. In some situations only one side of the story is told, and in other situations, it's reported accurately but I get the general impression that someone's negative experience is being exploited to push a political agenda. I think the way the news looks to manipulate the masses by exploiting this infuriates me just as much as the instance of discrimination.

 

 

Edited August 6, 2018 by Katty

[carlos]

I can't stand news about cruelty towards animals. Friends concerned with animal welfare often send horrible stories with disgusting pictures, and I know they do it to raise awareness, but I can't stand looking at them. I sincerely prefer not to see or know those things since I can't do anything about it.

[Cushi]

11 hours ago, Brother Jack said:

Or how about the one where some men on a golf course called the police on some black women because they said they were “golfing too slow.”

I meant to say that the ones who called the police were the golf course owners, not just ordinary men on a golf course.

[Cushi]

7 hours ago, Hope said:

Yes.  But she considers herself a Black woman.  Using monkeys/apes to slur Black people is a common thing.. Roseanne knows that very well. She was reprehensible.

 

Excellent comment, Jack. I'm so sorry for your experiences; it's infuriating and so unfair. My brothers and son have had police run-ins for NO reasons... except for being Brown men (our mother is White, my son's father is Black/Filipino).

 

These experiences are rarely exaggerated and I'm sick of them needing to be told. 😬

Yeah, they say that every black man has a police story. I have too many to count... unfortunately, until Satan is removed, there will always be racism, along with injustice, poverty and crime.

Edited August 6, 2018 by Brother Jack

[Tortuga]

4 minutes ago, Brother Jack said:

Yeah, they say that every black man has a police story.

True, I believe every race or color is discriminated against somewhere some time and we see a lot of discrimination against blacks here in the US.

I agree with Katty that the media seems to fan the flames of discrimination by trying to turn non-racial situations into racial situations, then suddenly social opinion and social media are supporting a cause that should never have existed, it rationalizes a persons wrong conduct and creates more divisions. 

 

It's refreshing to be with brothers and sisters of all races and colors, no one keeps track of how many friends from one race get called on at the WT study, no one makes an issue of the color of someone that is reproved or the color of someone that receives special privileges. Jehovah views us as individuals by our heart, not by our skin.

 

So back on topic..

I am sick of hearing of any discrimination in the news and I'm sick of the news trying to turn a non-discrimination situation into a discrimination situation just to get more viewers...  

[Loopy]

1 hour ago, carlos said:

I can't stand news about cruelty towards animals. Friends concerned with animal welfare often send horrible stories with disgusting pictures, and I know they do it to raise awareness, but I can't stand looking at them. I sincerely prefer not to see or know those things since I can't do anything about it.

 

O I agree with you, Br. Carlos wholeheartedly. 

 

There’s a commercial about the Humane Society here that naturally is about donating so they can help abused, unwanted animals. I can’t watch it cause they just want to reach people’s emotions. They do a good job of it too. 

 

The first time I saw the pictures of the animals just make me so sad. I now flip the channel or FF the recorded show. 

 

I keep thinking when Jehovah is this going to stop? 

[Hope]

5 hours ago, Katty said:

 

Again it's not that I don't think that discrimination against minorities is not very common. From my own experience, growing up in the city of the infamous danziger bridge incident, I would be blind to not see that racial discrimination is very common in this world.

 

What I distrust is not that so much as how the news presents it. Mainstream news has become increasingly politicized. In some situations only one side of the story is told, and in other situations, it's reported accurately but I get the general impression that someone's negative experience is being exploited to push a political agenda. I think the way the news looks to manipulate the masses by exploiting this infuriates me just as much as the instance of discrimination.

 

 

 

For what it's worth, unless the media featured some of these incidents throughout history, civil rights laws would've taken much longer to enact. People had to *see* the abuse, the dogs and fire hoses, the lynchings ... on their televisions, photos in their papers to really get changes made. Abuse to minorities happened for hundreds of years prior, but with no pictures, radio, it was easier to ignore. 

 

I don't believe the desire for human rights, decency, respect, safety, equality are bad agendas of anyone. If people are upset by what they see, well.. they should be.  I'm so grateful to know Jehovah will put an end to these horrible things and the people who perpetrate them.  

 

I'm also grateful these abuses are being caught on camera now.

[Tortuga]

7 minutes ago, Hope said:

I'm also grateful these abuses are being caught on camera now

As Katty said, it's unfortunate that some people and media use this to further their own agenda, whether its getting more viewers or just causing chaos. 

To hopefully sum it up, I think we are all sick of seeing what Satan is doing and the twist he puts any effort to correct things. Everything in his system is contaminated no matter how noble it could have been.

[Hope]

Hmmm... I guess I don't see an agenda.. but that's okay. We all have different experiences. What's important is not to invalidate them. A lot of times, things *are* that bad and wrong. 😞

 

What's most important is to remain on Jehovah's side of EVERY issue.  Can't go wrong, there

[Greg Dent]

Exactly. I saw a youtube once for white SJW protesting something or other and some Back guys were getting in their face about it. Another Black man articulated very well his thoughts. He said as a Black Man he was 50% more likely to be shot by another black man on his way home from that protest. He was 50% more likely to be assaulting on his way home. He was applauded and he showed that these white SJW group did not have a complaint to complain about. He said I don't have to worry about the white guys he worries about his one race because of how violent and backward they were. Black on black violence is disgusting. Sure there are white bigots out there but there are some of other colours too. They are way more dangerous because they don't see themselves as bigots or racist. Even Black People that perpetuate the crimes against their own race and others don't see the problem they cause because they are blind to it.

 

Its really sad and society at large cannot do anything about it.

[Cushi]

1 hour ago, Greg Dent said:

Exactly. I saw a youtube once for white SJW protesting something or other and some Back guys were getting in their face about it. Another Black man articulated very well his thoughts. He said as a Black Man he was 50% more likely to be shot by another black man on his way home from that protest. He was 50% more likely to be assaulting on his way home. He was applauded and he showed that these white SJW group did not have a complaint to complain about. He said I don't have to worry about the white guys he worries about his one race because of how violent and backward they were. Black on black violence is disgusting. Sure there are white bigots out there but there are some of other colours too. They are way more dangerous because they don't see themselves as bigots or racist. Even Black People that perpetuate the crimes against their own race and others don't see the problem they cause because they are blind to it.

 

Its really sad and society at large cannot do anything about it.

I’m not trying to make this a big issue but how come every time we talk about the issues we face somebody has to bring up problems in the black community, as if to deflect. We weren’t even talking about that. And the main reason we have black on black crime is because of poverty and most blacks in the US are in that boat. Wherever there’s poverty, there’s crime. That goes for any race of people. Blacks are more likely to be violent towards their own race because they live amongst their own race. Also, we’ve been conditioned to hate ourselves. Drugs, weapons and alcohol are brought into black communities to keep the black on black violence going. They bring in these things and then say “look at what these people are doing.” We are denied adequate schooling and opportunities to keep us in poverty. We are denied business loans among other things. I’m more scared of the police than I am of any black person. While it’s true many black people are killed by other blacks, we aren’t the ones who invented things like Ebola, HIV/AIDS and abortion (that was the whole point of planned parenthood. To kill mass numbers of black people) to kill us off in mass numbers. It’s the global system of white supremacy I fear. Not any black person.

Edited August 6, 2018 by Brother Jack

[Hope]

The August WT that we will study in October will be very interesting.  I hope...

 

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/watchtower-study-august-2018/do-not-judge-outward-appearance/

[Ferb]

15 hours ago, Hope said:

For what it's worth, unless the media featured some of these incidents throughout history, civil rights laws would've taken much longer to enact. People had to *see* the abuse, the dogs and fire hoses, the lynchings ... on their televisions, photos in their papers to really get changes made. Abuse to minorities happened for hundreds of years prior, but with no pictures, radio, it was easier to ignore. 

 

I don't believe the desire for human rights, decency, respect, safety, equality are bad agendas of anyone. If people are upset by what they see, well.. they should be.  I'm so grateful to know Jehovah will put an end to these horrible things and the people who perpetrate them.  

 

I'm also grateful these abuses are being caught on camera now.

 

There's a five-minute game (I don't know if it should be called a game actually, you can't exactly win or lose) showing other possible results of this.  It only seems to work with a mouse though, not a touchscreen.

https://ncase.itch.io/wbwwb

[BenJepthah]

I unfriended Facebook years ago and tossed the Tele soon after. I generally find my mood and ability to enjoy life has improved. 

[GeordieGirl]

I'm sick of hearing that the kindergarten in Canberra has taken a dislike to the old boss, so kicked him out and got themselves a new one.  That's 5 changes in 8 years!!!!! 

Edited August 25, 2018 by GeordieGirl

[EccentricM]

"Apes are evolving, they are now using tools and becoming like men!"

 

*Video on the news showcases ape putting a twig where the sun don't shine*

 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2018 by EccentricM

[dove]

On 8/6/2018 at 1:41 PM, Hope said:

The August WT that we will study in October will be very interesting.  I hope...

 

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/watchtower-study-august-2018/do-not-judge-outward-appearance/

Makes me think of the America's Got talent show when Susan Boyle walked out on stage and everyone laughed at her because of her appearance, and then she opened her mouth and began to sing....