Discussion: McKinney, Tamir Rice And The Liability Of Playing While Black

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Discussion for article #237252

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Being a kid is (or should be) one of our society’s most privileged positions, and there are few privileges of childhood more meaningful than the opportunity to play without worries, to enjoy a summer day on its own relaxed terms. This childhood luxury is becoming painfully, unmistakably intertwined with white privilege.

Thank you. The level of over-reaction and force being used by the police is insane, and it is being directed at African American kids in a way that will cause problems for a long time.

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I am still amazed and bewildered by the lack of national fervor over the murder (my words) by police of Tamir Rice.
I saw the video, and there is no world where what they did should have resulted in anything other than criminal charges.

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Agreed. To be honest, it seems unavoidably clear to me that if Rice looked like one of my boys, this story would still be a national news headliner today (not that he would have been shot in that case, but you know what I mean).

Thanks,
Ben

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Yeah, playing while black is a capital offense for racists.

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The police officer did not point his gun and two young men, which would have been bad enough. He pointed at two children.

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In the accompanying picture with this article it shows two white dudes standing around that never got a single order shouted at them or were threatened, let alone man handled. The big fat guy was even pushing kids around to protect the crazed cop, when he should’ve been holding the cop back.
The gutless cop chose a young girl, the easiest and most vulnerable target to display his supposed authority upon. Of course some of the boys would want to help her as she was being thrown around and hurt, that is only natural. The cop egged them on which gave him reason enough to pull out his gun because he couldn’t handle the situation that he created and because he got to live out his fantasies.
If one of those kids had a toy gun or anything that resembled one, it would likely have been Tamir Rice all over again.
This is a white with too much authority problem and a huge lack of consequence. The right lesson from this is the cop being prosecuted and proven wrong, because he was. The kids need that and our nation needs that.

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The McKinney video, if shot in black and white, could have been taken fifty, sixty or seventy years ago. I’m not what has to happen to make this fascist and racist behavior stop.

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As the article points out, Ohio is an Open Carry state. There should have been NO criminal charges, NO 2-second interval between arriving and shooting – NOTHING except a quiet arrival and quiet observation by the two cops.

How long would it have taken for them to ascertain that it was a child holding a toy, and for them to stand down? A minute? Or to call dispatch and get the name of the 911 caller for an interview…because it was clear Tamir Rice wasn’t even shooting birds or squirrels with that gun, right? Did the cops ever find bird or squirrel bodies lying about?

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The big fat guy actually put his nasty crotch up against the back of Dajerria Becton’s head as she was sitting up, just before cop Casebolt forced her face down into the grass.

He should be prosecuted for sexual assault.

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You are right about Ohio being an open carry state, yet Tamir Rice AND John Crawford were killed for holding weapons. How in the hell does that happen in a state where you can open carry? The answer is simple- be the wrong color. If you see the video from the Beavercreek Wal-Mart, the police shot John Crawford as quickly as they shot Tamir Rice.

I would think that the NRA would have been S C R E A M I N G about the deaths of two people being killed BECAUSE they were holding weapons in an Open Carry State. We got nothing from the NRA. I believe it is because the people involved in those two cases were the people the NRA is telling it’s members to be scared of- they were the reasons people need to be able to buy whatever and carry whenever and wherever they please.

I am glad to see Rice’s family is using an Ohio law to go to court and request a judge take action.

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Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC interviewed the teenager who was one of the two who’d approached Dajerria Becton, to tell her they’d call her mom (and whom the cop assumed were threats to HIM). http://on.msnbc.com/1JIzkuS

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Yeah, the whole thing definitely had a sleazy sexual feel to it. He sure as hell didn’t grab those two hefty white women that caused the whole thing.