Silent Hill

Denying systemic racism is perpetuating racism even if you aren't a racist. To me, blaming disparities and unequal outcomes on racism, without supporting facts/evidence/research, is what perpetuates racial divide.

Of course not. It was an example. An example of what exactly? An example that other races bring more to the table than a group of white people, just because of their skin color? Diverse minds are important, not skin color - skin color doesn't determine thought process. How does your example sound when reversed? "I'd rather have a diverse team capable of making dynamic decisions than a team of 5 minority guys who were all trained the same way and have the same mindset. " So you want to discuss how just some parts but not the whole? Then how can you get an accurate viewpoint? Everything needs to be considered and Californication is right about this. When I am discussing Affirmative Action and the response is "well police harass minorities more...", then I'm not going to go down that deflection path. Instead of staying on topic on Affirmative Action and how it relates to drop out rates, he wanted to shift to legacy wealth and police harassment. If he were to provide some type of research on how those things actually impact college drop out rates, then maybe we'd have a discussion. Otherwise it just seems like bait to keep bickering until the end of time. Yes they are. Silent Hill is denying systemic racism. He's literally in the comments right here denying what you say no one is denying, lol. I definitely have admitted that I don't personally see how systemic racism exists today. Not sure how that equates to me denying white people have it "easier", though I think its the cultural differences that provide the disparities between races. I've given plenty of statistics and studies to show why I think culture/class is more oppressive than the "system". (ie. disparities between the same race, but different cultural backgrounds - black american vs. black immigrant)

Every couple days you pop your head in here and repeat racist talking points. I could set a watch by you. Still waiting...

So what you are saying is ya got nothing except those tired ass, lazy, racist talking points. Please show me where I said anything racist...

First off, white people have higher acceptance rates all else being equal. White people have had hundreds of years of preferential treatment to build intergenerational wealth that makes attending college more likely. White people don't get harassed by the police the same why minorities do and receive less punishment went sentenced as a whole, if someone is convicted of some crimes they are prevented from getting some grants for school. I can't keep discussing this if you're going to start going down a rabbit hole of racism affecting college drop-out rates. We'll be here for days. Blame whatever you want, but include Affirmative Action on that list for setting up underachieving students for failure.

Minority students are more likely to come from houses that have less wealth then white students because of structural racism. When a student has to worry about things like how they are going to pay for college, how they are going to eat, how their family's will pay the rent if they are not working they are more likely to drop out of college I can see how class can have an effect like that, but that affects all races. My entire point was how Affirmative Action can have a negative impact on minority students. If two students (one white and one black) both came from the same class background, but the black student has a lower academic ability (compared to the white student) and was accepted due to Affirmative Action, would their drop out be due to their class or due to their lower academic ability? PS: There is a shitload of academic grants for minorities to help address the class issue.

I think your premise is wrong from the beginning because you don't understand what affirmative action is and you don't understand how much easier white people as a whole have it. I clearly do understand what Affirmative Action is and why it was implemented to begin with. Read that link I posted to understand why Affirmative Action can and does hurt minority students (and non-minority students). In your opinion, why does white people having it "easier as a whole" cause a disparity in college drop out rates in other races?

Lol. Feelings of inadequcy? You come up with some off the wall stuff. It couldn't be that they face more obstacles than their white counterparts as a whole. You don't think being accepted into a college that you're not academically prepared for causes feelings of inadequacy? You think those students are thrilled that they were accepted into a college that is teaching things beyond their current level? They were set up for a tough path from the jump, all in the name of "equality". I'd love to hear what obstacles minority students have that their white counterparts don't when attending the same college. Specifically obstacles that impact their rate of graduation.

Give this a read to see how Affirmative Action can be/is actually detrimental to minorities: https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/the-painful-truth-about-affirmative-action/263122/

Where are you seeing white students being favored over minorities for college acceptance today? If anything, it's the other way around due to Affirmative Action.

Certainly there are multiple factors, but Affirmative Action is definitely one of them. You have students being accepted into schools based on their skin color, even though they don't necessarily have the academic skills that put them on par with the majority of accepted students. It leads to overwhelming curriculum, exam failures and feelings of inadequacy that leads them to drop out.

I understand the benefits of a diverse workforce, but I really hope you're not implying that all "white guys" have the same training background and thought process because of their skin color. Like somehow having white skin compromises your ability to think dynamically.

Moving Out seems like a great MP game, similar to Overcooked.

What happens with Affirmative Action is two prospective students apply for Cal Poly and the minority will be accepted due to their race, even with lower (even unqualified) academic ability, leaving a non-minority without acceptance, even with higher academic ability. It's also part of the reason why college drop-out rates are higher for minorities as well. If equality of opportunity is the goal, then Affirmative Action should be abolished.

I understood it as a figure of speech lol but now you're debating the 99.9% Yeah, of course that was my intention but here we are...

You have not provided any data that proves your claim that 99.9% of people "will be fine". I'm not sure how you'd quantify in numbers whether someone is fine or not regardless. The best data is probably from surveys, like the one I mentioned BJS doing. Sure, it doesn't claim exactly what I said, but the data does show that a vast majority do not result in unwarranted police force and a vast majority of police "behaved properly". So while it can be researched further for more granular data, what I provided does lean in favor of my thoughts instead of mass inappropriate police behavior/force, which I assume is your claim.

You are missing the point. You are just guessing a random ass percentage, but stating it as fact. I never stated a percentage of anything. I never said "this number is a fact", so I have nothing to prove. I don't have to provide evidence of anything. You are stating 99.9% "will be fine" with no actual data to back up that claim. It's a fake number created by you to serve your own opinion. You rightfully asked for data, so I shared some. But I can see at this point, data isn't really your concern as much as dismissing what I say is.

If it's so horseshit, feel free to hit me with evidence that more than .1% of routine traffic stops end with unjustified police force. Here's some data from BJS on traffic stops (2015) "Residents’ perceptions of police behavior: The vast majority (95%) of drivers who experienced a traffic stop indicated that police gave a reason for the stop. The primary reason police gave for pulling over a driver was speeding (41%). Most drivers stopped for speeding said the stop was legitimate (91%) and that police behaved properly (95%)." From the same data collection, here's overall police interactions (not just traffic stops) "Non-fatal threat or use of force by police: Two percent of U.S. residents who had contact with police experienced threats or use of force" ^(even this statistic is around "threats" too, not just actual use of force. Plus, that use of force could have very well been justified, or unjustified) So even if we can get down to the most granular detail, I'd be surprised if more than 1% of all routine traffic stops end with unjustified police force. But again, feel free to throw your stats in the ring.

I'm pretty sure that piece of advice (in addition to whatever personal experiences he had) was also referencing this viral video: If that's all he said in the article, then I'd be inclined to agree. But when you actually read his full statement along with the context of his article, there's a big difference between exercising your 5th amendment, and just flat out not cooperating with police because of the notion that all of them are up to no good and aiming to make you a statistic. That's a complete BS generalization and that's why the actual point of the article is undermined, in my opinion. Don't answer to cops if you don't want to, but if you answer their questions with truthful statements, 99.9% of the time, you'll be just fine. And you'll be doing your part to keep positive moral between police and citizens. Also, "how to survive a traffic stop" is comical to me. Every traffic stop is a life or death situation /s

Great article. It'll be dismissed as nonsense by some here unfortunately. It's an interesting article from his point of view and across his experience in whichever precinct in CA. But ultimately I don't care for the way it was written. I can understand if everything that he personally did or witness has caused him to swing on the extreme opposite side (of abolishing police) but the generalizations are incredibly toxic for anyone who reads this and falls in line. (Plus, I wonder why more ex-cops don't speak up or push for abolishing the entire police force if these scenarios are as common as he's stating) We can all agree that there are complete shit and evil cops, but I still strongly believe they're the minority. I don't see comments like this helping anyone: "If you take nothing else away from this essay, I want you to tattoo this onto your brain forever: if a police officer is telling you something, it is probably a lie designed to gain your compliance. Do not talk to cops and never, ever believe them. Do not “try to be helpful” with cops. Do not assume they are trying to catch someone else instead of you. Do not assume what they are doing is “important” or even legal. Under no circumstances assume any police officer is acting in good faith. Also, and this is important, do not talk to cops. I just remembered something, do not talk to cops. Checking my notes real quick, something jumped out at me: Do not fucking talk to cops. Ever." ^That's really going to help bring police and the communities together..... In case you're interested, here's another ex-cop's perspective. Just as valid as the one who wrote the aforementioned article:

Would you theorize on why? I think it's primarily a cultural issue, personally, and I've seen some pretty compelling supporting data. (especially around the household structure) - Gangs, violence, racism, misogyny, drugs, anti-police, etc. are commonly referenced in popular cultural media, especially rap music. - Extremely high percentage of single mother households (~75%)* - High School/College dropout rates (plus the lack of challenging curriculum in a lot of inner city schools since they have to cater to the lowest common denominator) - Certain Government Assistance Programs (those who abuse/embrace it) *Statistically, you're far more likely to be in poverty, jail and to drop out of school if you come from a single parent household. ^I tend to believe strongly in this because I was raised by a single mother who had me at the age of 16. I was fortunate enough to have my Grandparents help raise me early on but by the time High School rolled around, I wasn't on a great path. Drinking, drugs, and ended up dropping out of High School as a Junior (though I was intended to skip 3rd grade and was in an Enrichment program during Elementary School - totally threw that path away) My Dad was around (he was 17 when I was born) but he remarried when I was 5 and had two stepchildren (2 year old twins). Combine that with him living in another city, not on speaking terms with my Mom and working second shift, I didn't spend much time with him. I opted to stop seeing that side of my family between the age of 16-19 while continuing down the wrong path. Luckily when I reconnected with my Dad, he helped me understand the ignorance in how I was living. I ended up getting my GED at 20, got a full-time job and 14 years later, I'm married with two kids and I've worked hard enough to have my wife stay at home. I was lucky enough to do the right thing, but many others don't reach that turning point.

Totally agree. I wish the push was to allow visibility into the allocation of police funding, and potentially add more funding, assuming there's a valid gap when it comes to mental health, recruitment strategies and training.

lol "consider alternatives". This shit is depressing.

So black people have more police interaction because they commit more crime? Generally, yes. Especially violent crime.

Ditto.