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anObscurity t1_j683223 wrote

The act was heinous but the cops are charged with murder already and they were all black which doesn’t fit the previous narrative. There’s not as big a draw for people as there was with George Floyd.

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Pbpopcorn t1_j686zry wrote

The pandemic is “over” so to speak, so people are out and about on Friday nights now (restaurants, bars, social gatherings, etc). I think since lots of people were bored at home in 2020 and spent all their time glued to the news/doom scrolling, more people participated in the protests. I bet if there hadn’t been a pandemic the George Floyd protests wouldn’t have been as big -it gave people an excuse to gather when gatherings were essentially banned. Not sure why I’m being downvoted and I don’t care lol

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throws_rocks_at_cars t1_j68c80s wrote

I agree that a significant portion of the energy of the 2020 ones came from disquiet over the lockdowns, even if people denied it since it wasn’t the ostensible reason for them.

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ImJackieNoff t1_j68lr9n wrote

In the early summer of 2020, there was nothing to do because everything was shut down. The weather across the country was really amazing (warm, not hot, low humidity). It was an election year with half the country pissed off about Trump being President and at the prospect of 4 more years of him. The media actively encouraged people to protest. Those confluence of factors lead to what we had at that time.

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bigredpancake1 t1_j69pq6m wrote

^^ I’m positive the George Floyd protests wouldn’t have been nearly as big if Covid hadn’t happened

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EWC_2015 t1_j696a77 wrote

>I bet if there hadn’t been a pandemic the George Floyd protests wouldn’t have been as big -it gave people an excuse to gather when gatherings were essentially banned.

I found myself wondering if this was true in the aftermath when things had "quieted down" so to speak. I was expecting similar events last night given just how BAD this case is, but it was surprisingly quiet. NBC reported it as "protests erupt" across the country and the shots they showed of Memphis, Boston, and NYC had remarkably small crowds.

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Westiemom666 t1_j6bh61g wrote

I think the opposite. A lot of people who would've protested didn't, because of the virus. Releasing the video after criminal charges were already announced made a big difference.

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Pbpopcorn t1_j6blecd wrote

I don’t think so. Anecdotally but I knew people who were afraid to go outside/gather because of covid but made an exception just for George Floyd protests, including one of my immunocompromised friends. It was as if it was dangerous to go to central park because of covid unless it was for BLM (before people knew outdoor spread was minimal)

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averageuhbear t1_j68tvrg wrote

I think your framing is half-correct, but I feel it's a little deeper than boredom and doom scrolling. The pandemic was a real shock to the system, and change messes with our wiring, created an environment of fear, etc. I think Trump played a role as well.

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Westiemom666 t1_j6bg7v0 wrote

The cops were charged before the video was released, it made a difference.

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sternfan1523 t1_j6fav2l wrote

It’s 100% this lol it’s so obvious most of the energy was from people having nothing else to do and going a bit crazy. There would have been protests but not to nearly the level.

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AbazabaYouMyOnlyFren t1_j68fu8e wrote

The previous narrative was that officials drag their feet when it comes to consequences.

It's not like black cops really get a pass for the same bullshit.

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brickmaj t1_j68hmsv wrote

And it’s cold out. If this happened in the summer the response would be very different

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Carmilla31 t1_j68scji wrote

It was 40 degrees. It wasnt that cold to explain why it was that quiet.

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iv2892 t1_j68wub1 wrote

It was around 35 degrees and it was chilly last night . Not extremely cold, specially for nyc . But that is very different than being in the 70s or low 80s by late may /early June

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Mrmilkymilkster t1_j69n2uv wrote

Nah, cause it was freezing out when the first mass protests happened after Eric Garner.

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Westiemom666 t1_j6bmt60 wrote

Because, that cop wasn't charged (still hasn't been) or even fired when the video of his murder was released. He wasn't fired until years later. Their arrests preceded the video and that made a big difference

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Mrmilkymilkster t1_j6bn0be wrote

Big difference between the two videos. And the dude was fired. You seem confused.

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Westiemom666 t1_j6bnon4 wrote

He was fired five years later.

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Mrmilkymilkster t1_j6bnyl1 wrote

Correct. After that officer pleaded with garner for 12 minutes to go peacefully (watch the full video), garner still refused. Never should have been fired

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Westiemom666 t1_j6bo96c wrote

I've seen the video and disagree, he used a banned chokehold.

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Westiemom666 t1_j6bog2x wrote

That of course, wasn't as brutal as this murder or George Floyd's. The bar has been lowered, what seemed brutal in 2014 is less so compared to the more recent cases.

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Mrmilkymilkster t1_j6bp1l5 wrote

You can disagree all you want, the Garner situation is absolutely nothing like Floyd or the current situation. That’s a simple fact. That choke hold was about as lethal as a toddler w a water gun.

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Westiemom666 t1_j6bp5wy wrote

Cause if death: manslaughter

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Mrmilkymilkster t1_j6bpd04 wrote

No, cause of death was heart failure brought on by intense physical struggle after decades of health neglect. No one forced Garner to be morbidly obese and refuse lawful orders for 12 minutes.

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Westiemom666 t1_j6bpozh wrote

You should tell the city medical examiner that: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Eric_Garner

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Mrmilkymilkster t1_j6bpsc8 wrote

I don’t need to. Manslaughter just means it wasn’t by natural means. And clearly deciding to fight the police isn’t by natural means.

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Westiemom666 t1_j6bq0i4 wrote

He died from the officer's compression of his neck. I didn't write out his death certificate, it is what it is. Over and out, blessed be.

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Mrmilkymilkster t1_j6bqi63 wrote

After he refused to comply with lawful ordersfor 12 whole minutes. He absolutely did not die from that compression to his neck, he was breathing and talking after that half assed “choke hold” was enacted. There’s an entire video for you to watch. The guy was morbidly obese and decided to fight the cops after being asked nicely for 12 ENTIRE MINUTES TO COMPLY. Unfortunately his heart failed him. No one wanted him to die. It sucked. But he had no reason to not comply with lawful orders for 12 minutes. Sorry dude. God bless.

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Big-Figure-8184 t1_j68rgn8 wrote

>which doesn’t fit the previous narrative

The previous (and still current narrative) is that the system is racist. This 100% fist the "narrative" (aka reality).

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Guypussy t1_j6965c4 wrote

Don’t worry, outlets like NYT and WaPo wasted no time shoveling the narrative that despite their skin color those five black cops could very well have been moved to mercilessly beat that young black man because of the almost certainly racist white cops they work with.

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Big-Figure-8184 t1_j69777p wrote

Why do so many people describe reality as being a "narrative?"

If nothing else it's super hivemindy that so many people speak in the same jargon.

Anyway, this is not the "narrative" busting gotcha y'all seem to think it is. Everyone all along has been saying the issue is systemic racism, not individual racist people. When the system is racist the color of the people acting on behalf of the racist system doesn't matter.

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cranberryskittle t1_j69r1j0 wrote

Those are Kafkaesque mental gymnastics.

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Big-Figure-8184 t1_j69rfda wrote

It’s pretty simple and linear, actually. Skin color doesn’t matter for those acting in support of a racist system, they are still acting in support of a racist system.

All this illustrates is you don’t understand systemic racism.

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quaid31 t1_j6dedko wrote

The chief of police at Memphis is a black woman. Is she part of the racist system as well?

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Big-Figure-8184 t1_j6dpz8n wrote

Another person raising their hand to show they just don't understand systemic racism, and, seemingly, proudly don't want to make any attempt to understand.

When people say the American policing system is racist they are speaking about law enforcement as a whole, our entire system. One Black women in a position of power, even if she is stridently anti-racist, isn't going to address that.

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quaid31 t1_j6f17z6 wrote

Thanks for sharing your assumptions about me. Have a good night.

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Big-Figure-8184 t1_j6ffyeu wrote

No need to assume with what's in your comment.

It's the same as saying "America can't be racist, Obama was president"

Also, the fact you honed in on the first part of my comment, and not the exploration of systemic racism really shows you have no interest in learning.

G'day M'lady

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RayzTheRoof t1_j6gp9nw wrote

Yeah I was just gonna say that people keep writing off shit as a "narrative".

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HeraMyJK t1_j6akiib wrote

The “narrative” is the need for police reform. For decades black and brown people have known that just because they look like you doesn’t mean they won’t kill you just the same.

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Shmup-em-up t1_j68mv5l wrote

According to Hawk Newsome:

“So, even if there are no white people involved, it’s still white supremacy”

They will try to make it fit the narrative.

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WantedFireBlast t1_j69zwui wrote

By that logic, people can't be racist to their own race. That makes no logical sense.

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Big-Figure-8184 t1_j68roqi wrote

again with "narrative"

Whatever, the system is racist. The cops being Black doesn't matter.

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Shmup-em-up t1_j68u8p1 wrote

The “system”. Democrats have for all but 5 years held majority since 1959. You would think they would have fixed that by now.

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Big-Figure-8184 t1_j68uu1g wrote

You seem to think I don't think Democrats are racists, or if Democrats haven't solved a problem therefore the problem doesn't exist. Partisan politics makes idiots out of people.,

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Mammoth_Sprinkles705 t1_j6jytk3 wrote

Redditers definitely think Democrats aren't racist they keep telling everyone to vote for them.

By definition of you voted for Joe Biden are voting to continue to propagate the racist system.

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Big-Figure-8184 t1_j6kbaj1 wrote

They were replying to me, not "redditers:

So they used very bad technique assuming that my beliefs were those of "redditers"

The last part of your comment "by definition" is just dumb. You can think Democrats are racist and vote for them as the lesser of two evils, the least racist of the two racist parties.

Y'all are just bad at logic, it seems (Y'all being you and the OP I replied to)

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Shmup-em-up t1_j68w6ma wrote

Racist is saying even though it’s not white people, it’s white people.

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Big-Figure-8184 t1_j68xoyf wrote

tell me you still don't understand systemic racism without saying you don't understand systemic racism.

At least you gave up your Democrat whataboutism argument, I guess.

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Bma1500 t1_j69qs2k wrote

Now I get it. YOU’RE the victim in all this. We’ll go with that narrative

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apartment-seeker t1_j6feir0 wrote

In Tennessee? In Memphis? Since 1959?

I don't really agree with woke politics or the systemic racism narrative, but, to the extent there are structural problems, Democrats can't just fix them. There isn't some piece of legislation they can just repeal to make the law enforcement system less racist.

I think it's safe to say that police officers have, for many decades, felt they can get away with savagery towards Blacks more easily than against Whites (leaving other races out of the equation for the moment). A lot of the cops committing these offenses might very well be willing to apply their brutality in color-blind fashion, and are just less-deterred when the victim is Black.

But Democrats are political dunces, and White liberals tend to be naive and overtaken by some misguided desire to genuflect for any Black or Hispanic claiming there is racism nowadays, and want to make this about race all the time. It's really about the fact that, legally, police in this country get away with waaaaay too much and have gotten away with way too much for far too long. It's totally inconsistent with the free, rule-of-law society Americans are supposed to believe we have.

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Dantheking94 t1_j6bp6g1 wrote

I’m confused at this supposed narrative. The fact breonna Taylor’s murderers are still free speaks to the fact that because these police officers are black is why Justice happened so quickly. Your memory maybe short but people have a list.

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anObscurity t1_j6crak0 wrote

Don’t get mad at me I’m just explaining to OP why not many people went out, not saying I agree with it

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jeniesque t1_j6bmvwl wrote

The “narrative” is more complex than you think Racism is a big part of it, but also the fact that it’s wrong for officers of the state to murder people with no due process.

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