Hawks forcing fans to choose sides. Not cool.

[jayu70]

I guess the entire NBA and now The Brewers are forcing the Fans hands....games postponed.
NBA games might also be postponed tomorrow.

[jayu70]

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[jayu70]

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[shakes0]

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Totally, totally inappropriate given the intel we have at the moment on the incident. You can't know what the guy is going to pull out of that car window. .

Hmm, it's almost as if maybe there was something the 3 cops could've done to de-escalate the situation BEFORE the guy got all the way to his car door. Maybe that one cop who was following him from 3 feet away with his gun pointed at the guy's back could've done something other than what appeared to be a slow game of duck duck goose?

There's no choice here. Simply, things need to change with the way police do business and, more importantly, societies warped ideas of what is acceptable in terms of deadly force being used by cops.


That said, in the 3 months of protesting, rioting and looting I've yet to hear any ideas coming from BLM or their supporters in terms of how exactly to address these issue.

[kg01]

That said, in the 3 months of protesting, rioting and looting I've yet to hear any ideas coming from BLM or their supporters in terms of how exactly to address these issue.

This is a fair criticism, I think. My problem is that it has nothing to do with some new organization. There's nothing new about what's happening other than they're all on camera now and folks have decided to say something.

A major problem in my community (the black community) is a lack of unity, which is probably why there hasn't been a clear, definitive message regarding what we/they want. All we can agree on is that we're tired of having to deal with it all, which is why the frustration is bubbling out of control.

When I've talked to my white brothers/sisters about these feelings, it's hard for them to comprehend. They usually fall into the whats and whys of each individual situation and can't understand why we rush to the support of an ex-con or a felon getting caught up in a situation. Well, the reality is it could very easily be me having a discussion with a cop that escalates.

I've always had the utmost respect for that profession because it's perhaps the most difficult job in the world. They basically have to deal with people at their worst all the time. I get it. But, at the same time, I fear them the way most people fear criminals. I have a sense that (a) I don't know what they're gonna decide to do at any given time and (b) I know that, whatever they decide to do, they will be supported 100% and I'm instantly guilty until proven innocent.

That's what I've witnessed in my lifetime. So, what's the "fix"? Simply having the same respect for us (black people) that you have for everyone else will go a long way to diffusing these situations.

Where the "lives matter" thing comes from is the idea that, if you think this person's life matters, maybe you approach the situation not already 'on 10' ready to fight. Maybe you decide to show empathy. Maybe you don't instantly take everything personal. Maybe you don't just assume that, because this other idiot criminal reminds you of the person you're dealing with, that means this next person is just as unworthy of your respect.

Just my random thoughts. It's really emotional because, for me, these aren't just stories to pick apart.

[_s_t_u_r_t_]

Stating the obvious, there's a larger context and so much more we could conceivably discuss here. But I feel it's such a wide, broad and deep topic, it's easy to get nothing accomplished and get lost in a sea of unproductive dialogue--and, with that, just cause more frustration and/or animosity--to the degree that discussion ebbs and flows and sways away from the somewhat-precise original topic.

It all is meaningful to me because I'm a Christian White man with many Black friends--co-workers and former co-workers, students and former students, and church family. There is an older Black woman who I've often referred to as my third grandmother, she was such a mentor and supporter to me at one point in my career. For a time, I worked at a historically-Black college, and if we lived in a society where it was as-okay to "identify" as a different race as it is to "identify" as a different sex, perhaps I would have long ago demanded of people that they regard me as Black (... only half-kidding about that). Some of the greatest influences on me growing up were Black adults, including one who arguably is responsible for, thankfully, pushing me away from an education and career track that today I know I would have regretted. For the most part, the Blacks in my life are and have been exceptionally patient and enduring and charitable and positive--people it's easy to admire, and want to be like.

That to say, it hurts me emotionally to think that any of them might feel I am or have been callous or cold to their experiences and perceptions. They deserve my best effort to be responsive and to be respectful to their perspectives, and to engage them as equals in conversations about police brutality, about profiling, about racial slurs, about racial prejudices, about the use of protest and and all the other subtopics under the "race" topic that get discussed. So, that's what prompted me earlier this summer to reach out to several of them, about 10, to attempt to learn from them what they wish more of their White friends like me really understood better. We're still having those conversations.

So... I'm really interested in what kg has just said. I'm going to chew on some of his words, I really am. I'm instantly moved to incorporate some of his words into the next FB message exchange the group has, to gain their reactions and feedback. I'm a White guy, and I really do want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. I want to be a bridge, not a wall. I want to seek first to understand, and then be understood. We're not necessarily all going to come to complete agreement, but we can at least pursue such strong understanding that we are in a stronger position to get to agreement eventually.

And/but my interest in this topic in this space is mainly on just this Kenosha situation and the Hawks corporate response, which obviously I consider to be egregiously irresponsible in view of the information that even now, and especially then, was/is available from which to pass judgment.

Hindsight later on may affirm that their judgment was correct, but the same can be said that hindsight may affirm that it's proven incorrect.

That's the problem.

There is value in patience. There is danger in rushing to judgment, all the more so when mobs are so easily torch-lit, and have little if any evident concern for how their actions affect the lives and livelihoods of others and neighborhoods of others--even those of their own race.

So, forgive me that I'm laser-focused in this environment on the issues raised by what I can only consider immature, irresponsible decision-making in the State Farm Arena offices. This was divisive. This served no purpose--what, as-if someone in Kenosha WI was going to say, "Hey! These Atlanta Hawks fans are upset. We can't sweep this under the rug now!"... as-if.

And now, if you're a cynic, this was as much marketing ploy as anything else, and if you accept that, then it's also pretty demeaning... using a crisis to warm up to a group you intend to make money from. Then again, when your head coach has been among the more prolific NBA voices on the general racism topic, it also wouldn't surprise that two things can be true at the same time--it's both sincere, and the marketing people see it as a win-win.

But to my point, none of that justifies it as anything but premature to say what they said when they said it.

And for those of us who authentically want us all to get along and want us to be that society that MLK dreamed openly about, the Hawks decision to lurch to call upon Hawks fans to pick a side on the case--implicitly the one that assumes police were in the wrong--and precisely, to presume that no one in Kenosha would take action w/o us Hawks fans demanding it... it's maddening... it's irrational... it's completely counterproductive. We need maturity right now. We need unifying messaging right now. We need less emotion, more stable, intelligent, respectful-to-all... to all... thought and attitudes right now.