DOJ to treat antifa involvement in protests as domestic terrorism

The declaration of an ambiguous domestic resistance to government actions as "Terrorists" is never a good thing. I'd joke about it literally being anti-facists means that we're in a post-modern hellscape, but I'm not really in the mood to be glib right now.

This is a rant, written from a place of hurt and anger, from a white guy. While I don't know what it's like to experience the direct damage of racism, I do know what it's like, as a gay guy, to face widespread societal prejudice and discrimination. Those who've seen my more personal posts on this site know I grew up in a very homophobic area. I understand just how debilitating it can be living in a community that is toxic to your identity. Those feelings are what I'm rooting this comment in, but I don't want to be just another white guy pontificating on race. If I've said anything that's wrong, reaching, or crosses a line, please let me know. I promise I will listen and will not respond with hostility.

I think there's actually a pretty powerful metaphor that we can draw here.

Right now, we are months into an unprecedented disruption of life due to COVID-19. It is an enemy of humanity, and it is killing people indiscriminately. We have had to change the way we live, talk, shop, do our work, and entertain ourselves in order to accommodate this destructive force. People have lost their lives and loved ones. People have suffered. After nearly three months it's clear that everyone is anxious to return to the normal they once loved. We don't want to have to live in fear anymore. We want to be able to do the things we like again. We want to be the drivers of their own ships again, rather than hiding at port during a storm.

These protests are against another enemy of humanity, but this one has been around a lot longer than three months. Racism -- in particular racism as carried out in the form of police brutality -- is killing black people indiscriminately. Black people have had to change the way they live, talk, shop, do their work, and entertain themselves in order to accommodate this destructive force. People have lost their lives and loved ones. People have suffered. And after years it's clear that they are still going unheard in their pleas to have the "normal" that many of us enjoy and, heartbreakingly, that many of them have never had. They don't want to have to live in fear anymore. They want to be able to do the things they like. They want to be the drivers of their own ships, rather than hiding at port during a storm.

We know what we have to do to stop the coronavirus. For all the controversy and missteps, we still watched the world take action against it. The response wasn't perfect, but it still happened. We, as humanity, came together and said that our lives have meaning and are valuable and we want people to be able to continue to live them. Three months ago, for most of the world, the coronavirus was little more than a news item. Now it has fundamentally reshaped everything. In three months.

We also know what we have to do to stop racism, and we would be lucky if our response to it was even a thousandth as quick or unified as it was for COVID. Instead, we're somehow still stuck at the beginning -- the very basics; the absolute lowest level. The idea that the phrase and concept "black lives matter" could even be controversial highlights the depths to which racism is rooted in our society. I know the noise of news and bickering online has dulled this particular point, so I want to make it explicitly: we are at a place where a large section of our country cannot willfully entertain a statement which says that black people have fundamental, innate value. When I say that the phrase shouldn't be controversial, I'm not trying to give a hot take. I genuinely mean that it shouldn't. It should be such an everyday truth that people should be confused why you would even bring it up in the first place -- like saying "water is wet" or "the sun is a star". The idea that black people's lives are meaningful and valuable shouldn't be something we even need to openly and overtly reinforce. It is supposed to be a truth that we hold to be self-evident.

Unfortunately, we know that our national reality falls far short of this ideal. We've certainly made some strides and progress, but we're also continually held back by racism's continued and ongoing prevalence. #BlackLivesMatter is the #StayTheFuckHome of COVID-19. It is the first, very simple step in addressing this sickness and somehow we still haven't made it there. There is much harder work ahead of us. Dismantling the way racism has worked its way into our structures and institutions and expectations is far from easy, but it would be so much easier if everyone could simply agree that it's worth it to even care. This is not too much to ask. And people are fucking tired of asking.

When people say COVID-19 is a hoax, people rightfully dismiss them as ignorant and harmful. Obviously it's not. Obviously people are dying. How can they not understand this? Do you understand how insulting that is to those who have died and those who are on the frontlines fighting it every single day? But when people say racism isn't real or is "over" they're not met with the same dismissals. In fact, they can't be. It's too popular of an idea. Doubting COVID puts you on the fringe, clearly delineating that your influence in society exists at its very edges. Doubting racism, meanwhile, is a coin toss in the US. Heads, it's real and it's a problem; tails, meh. It means that every time it comes up we have to start from square one. Every single time. All while people are still dying and suffering and having their opportunities and agency unfairly cut short simply for who they are. Imagine if, in a year from now, the coronavirus is still ravaging the world and for every person who dies from it we had to continue to justify to a skeptical nation that yes, COVID-19 is real, and yes, that person actually had a right to life. Imagine how backwards, how ignorant that would look. Racism is the virus that has plagued this country since its very inception, in 1776, and we, still, in 2020, cannot even bring ourselves together collectively to admit that it exists, much less what harm it has wrought. How backwards, how ignorant we look.

I'm watching this as a West-EU citizen; I do have a lot of American friends and therefore am pretty involved in what goes on over there.

I guess it's something that was inevitable; tension and unrest has been building up for a while, not just due to rampant racism and police brutality but also covid-19, unemployment soaring and that one orange clown.
Floyd's murder was the last straw; all that frustration has to get out. And it's honestly amazing to see this all across the country, in every major city.

I've spent the last day or so on Twitter sharing info, checking up on people and just generally reading what's going on. It's kept me busy, not doing much else right now. I've never been involved in any of this kind of stuff, the degree of solidarity and support from every angle is amazing to see.

I also need to mention that I had a change of mindset; before, I mostly ignored the BLM movement; it's not my fight, it's "overseas"(actually it's everywhere), and I got tired of all the spam. I definitely wasn't racist, and definitely was anti-racist, but passive. And being passive isn't enough. Gotta be anti-racist and actually help people out there that are in need, especially if you're in a more (white) privileged position.
Spend your free time compiling information or monitoring police radio and communicating that to others. Donate if you can spare a coin. Talk to friends and make sure they're doing okay. Raise awareness in your own country, and more things like that. Every little bit helps.

That said, there's so outrageously much police brutality, way more than I ever knew. Sure, I knew it was bad, but to see those crowd control teams beating up people across the whole nation? And, so many videos of needless violence, cops aiming at eyes, etc etc? Disgusting.

I hope this'll be an eye opener not to just the US, but also to the rest of the world; racism is everywhere, but it's largely being ignored or people just don't speak up about it. I hope there's (substantial) change. And I hope it won't get to live rounds instead of rubber.

Cincinnati, Ohio police took down the American flag and put up a police flag in its place.

I think we should all commend them for their honesty in making clear where their loyalties lie.

Elsewhere in Ohio, Cleveland police are telling journalists they are not allowed to be downtown.

In suburban Minneapolis, police patrolling a neighborhood with an armored vehicle escort shot at people for filming on their front porch. You can hear the cops shout "light 'em up!"

It's time to start calling this martial law.

Edit: if you want to help out and you're not sure what to do, start by sharing info like this. it's something!

If anyone wants to donate to bail funds, victims or for supply purchases, here's a page with a lot of information on available donation options + other ways to help:

https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

Some of these accept paypal, most are Venmo or Cashapp (US only).

Also check this page for the current most urgent donation goals.

Apparently the Minnesota fund is overwhelmed with support, they urge you to donate to other funds as well.

If you're overseas and non-US like me, it's one of the ways you can help.

I think the American protests are specific to the USA for the most part. It's just the continuation of the old race war we've had on the back burner for a couple of decades. I do note one major difference, however... this time, everyone appears to be on the side of people of color. Historically it was far more black vs white, and that seems to be over. This time our riots have a diversity quota.

Ever look into generational theory before? They say it's been debunked but I'm not so sure. Seems like we're right at the cusp of the institutional failure phase between unraveling and crisis. I wonder if this theory would have benefited from a more fluid presentation that was not so determined to pin down precise motives and timelines.

Damn, my wish got granted in a month!

More seriously though, the modern US police has been under making for at least 50 years since Nixon's war on drugs (which was only a few years after the last major civil rights bill and immediately started by the guy who first figured out how to appeal to Southern segregationists, mind you) and no one truly bothered to stop it, not during Bill Clinton's 2 years, not during Obama's, never during any Republican or any Democrat before those 2 so in the end, they were left no choice.

Yes, small businesses are being hurt
Yes, this completely contrives social distancing
Yes, this is likely doing more harm than good.

But what else is left? Anyone that's decently insensitive and disconnected from this can stay here and be:

BLARE DAT SHIT LOUDA 4 DA ONEZ IN DA BACK YOOOOOO

#FUCKTHAPOLICE

#N.W.A

#RIPGEORGEFLOYD

But those who are directly affected by this have been systematically screwed for the last 50 or so years since Nixon's election in 1968 (which was the year the last major civil rights bill passed so arguably their suffering has been unbroken since the Civil War) so for all it's worth, this really is the last choice they have.

Question for Tildes: Will anything change because of this?

Maybe it's just been too long since America's civil rights movement and its successes. As a millennial I've never personally seen racial matters improve. It feels like things have only gotten worse. We've had moments like this before on smaller scales and nothing ever changes. I expect absolutely nothing to change.

I'm interested in understanding the various ways that people relate to their local police forces and hold them to account. I live in a small suburb of a moderate-sized city - basically surrounded on all sides by that city but governed independently. The mayor is elected every four years and appoints a chief of police. This mayor is accountable to rough 10k people.

I know that part of the "scale" of democratic oversight is baked in to the size of the community, this seems like a flaw to me. If there is an ideal number of people who share authority over their local government and police (whatever that number is), efforts should be made to keep that number relatively consistent. Large cities should either be broken up or restructured so that neighborhoods are electing their local executives (police chiefs?) rather than having them be appointed by the city mayor. Alternatively, citizen oversight boards seem like a viable band-aid but often they are opposed by the FOP and end up acting more as toothless adversaries with little power to enforce their recommendations.

I was looking for information about the BLM movement's demands, curious to know if they have a similar vision for reform - I couldn't really find anything other than what appeared to be some reactionary propaganda. The BLM website has a good summary of their guiding principles but doesn't really list anything concrete as far as demands.

The Omaha bar owner who murdered a protestor isn't being charged at all. The county attorney showed a video which actually makes the situation worse: Gardner (the bar owner) was on his back and fired a shot and then Scurlock (the victim) rushed him to try and disarm him and was killed for it. There's no way there isn't a big fucking riot tonight.

A protester in Omaha was killed last night by a racist bar owner looking to start some shit.

In the meantime, the orange bastard's hiding in a bunker.

Another striking video of a NBC news reporter slamming her papers on the table, looking very tired.

I don't know where else to put this latest viral video that I just saw aired on CNN, but this topic seemed the most appropriate: Jus some unwritten rules my mom makes me follow as a young black man #fyp #blacklivesmatter