I think in comparison to a city like Los Angeles it is minuscule. After the Rodney King beating, we had riots and looting up here in Canada. And honestly, it was for no good reason. When a young black person gets shot in the black community of Toronto (even this is rarity) people from that community generally don't help the police find the shooters. We did have a rough summer a number of years back when David Miller was the Mayor. It was called: The summer of the gun. Jamaican gangs were killing each other over drug turf.
Thank you for the information and interpretation. From my admittedly casual observations of Canada over the years, I'm inclined to agree with your assessment.
I'd just make one observation: "in comparison" is pretty meaningless. Your problems are your problems, and the fact somebody else has it worse isn't really relevant. If it was, nobody in the U.S. or Canada would have anything to complain about at all, since the poorest and most wretched North American lives like a king compared to two-thirds of the world's population.
I am aghast when I see something like what happened with this innocent guy being shot when reaching for his wallet. I am equally disgusted by the criminal behavior that taints the law enforcement that work in these regions. There are plenty of hard working descent black people in the USA, but when people justify gang violence and refuse to cooperate with police they do themselves a great disservice.
One of the persistent themes of the criticism of the cops is that they tend to be shielded when they do wrong. Little or no penalty, DAs no-billing their cases, special privileges before grand juries, and even different legal standards for their conduct. Bad cops are rarely punished. And by "bad cops," I mean the ones that are caught red-handed.
My initial reaction when I saw the news footage of the President talking about the shooting of unarmed blacks, I thought, What the hell were these cops thinking? Perhaps that is where the answers really lie. If you could crack that, analyze it and then use it as a teaching tool for other cops, there might be a few less unwarranted killings.
Training and discipline. I know a few cops who are veterans, and they are, to a man, appalled at how slackass the training and discipline is for cops.
In the same stream of thought, if community leaders would start distancing themselves from violence and working with police to keep youths from ending up in gangs and showing some leadership there would probably be less people, civilian and police, killed. Sensationalist leaders like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton do zero for the black community, except widen the division.
Certainly true, but I'd remind you that JJ and Big Al get all the press because they are attention *****s. The black community is jam-packed with preachers, civic leaders, community organizers (hah!), and yes, cops who are struggling to make a difference every day. Mayors, city councilors, and chiefs of police are besieged by black community leaders every single day, begging for more jobs, better schools, more money, and even (ironically) more cops.
Young people need a role model (not a basketball or football star), but a mother and father to show them what is right and what is wrong. You can come from poor circumstances and not fall into the trappings of criminal behavior. My father was a career criminal and served time for armed robbery, kidnapping and attempted murder. My mother got us out of those circumstances, ended up marrying a man who showed us how to be men.
The black community needs more of that.
Everybody needs more of that, but you're right, poor and minority communities need it more. Your media probably didn't show that the day after the Baltimore riot, the Ravens NFL team fanned out through the city, using their fame (and their sheer physical impressiveness) to talk to the young people. It's a large part of the reason there wasn't a second night of riots. Search "Ray Lewis Baltimore riots" on YouTube to see his impassioned appeal to black youth for calm.
But I'll tell you what. I don't think I know a single black man (and I know a couple of dozen) who isn't "fathering" three or four kids besides his own. So, yeah, we always need more, but it ain't like the guys aren't stepping up.
Frankly, the men on the rez when I was a kid didn't do half as much, nor even a quarter.
I don't get your point.
9/11 was a peaceful day for a flight for many people. Are you trying to say that all the passengers on those flights were responsible for what happened?
No, I think he's trying to say that everybody lining the road when JFK was shot is responsible, because that was a peaceful occasion too.
