Are You Showing Support for Black Lives Matter in Second Life?

[Luna Bliss]

6 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

12 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Have you tried digestive enzymes?  I heard they work wonders.

Oh, you haven't tried them out yourself and just relaying hearsay? Always best to share from one's own experience when trying to promote something others may benefit from.

 You need the digestive enzyme of introspection.  The Blacks can't do all the work in helping you know yourself, making it easier for you to digest reality. Have you ever gone on a serious introspective mission to evaluate how you might have benefitted in your life via being a White person?  It can be quite an eye opener.  As introspective as I tend to be, the deeper I went into the past the more I discovered just how my life most likely would have been different had I been a Black person, and not in a good way.   But I have a strong suspicion you would not be willing to do such work.

Edited June 14, 2020 by Luna Bliss

[Beth Macbain]

JFC... I need to remember that I have certain people blocked for a reason.

Selene, I’m so sorry for that hateful display of ignorance. 

[Selene Gregoire]

There are none so blind as those who refuse to see even when the truth is right in front of their eyes.

Europe invaded the Americas, not the other way around, but my ancestors didn't have the right to repel invaders because Europe decided it wanted what didn't belong to them? Complete and utter bullcrap.

[Selene Gregoire]

5 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

JFC... I need to remember that I have certain people blocked for a reason.

Selene, I’m so sorry for that hateful display of ignorance. 

You aren't the one that should be apologizing.

[Luna Bliss]

My own little story of 'white privilege'...

My mom had a pretty good job, so she managed to acquire a little nest egg that, upon her death, was passed on to my siblings and myself.  Her company discriminated against Blacks in hiring practices, so only Whites were able to work in her higher-paying department.
So after she died, I took part of my inheritance and had a room addition built on my cottage, with a lovely built-in desk I'm typing at and enjoying right this moment. Because my family is White we have benefitted from this 'white privilege' that was denied to Blacks.

Edited June 14, 2020 by Luna Bliss

[Luna Bliss]

Another little story of 'white privilege'....

It is well known in the Social Sciences that people more often help those they identify with, and this is true for teachers in school.

I bet I benefitted from the caring and help of a few of those teachers more easily because I was White, and so this helped my self-esteem and ability to learn, which I profited from later in life.  White privilege.

Now of course, not all teachers would blatantly discriminate against Blacks, but it's more common than we think because so much of our behavior comes from our unconscious, conditioned mind.  On average we simply care about, and give more attention to, those who are more like us.

Edited June 14, 2020 by Luna Bliss

[Drake1 Nightfire]

44 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

I see nothing in her quoted response that says she is racist, only her opinion that the white privilege accusations are offensive and will just make matters worse. That I would agree with because many making the accusations seem to have little clue on how to convey the message, whether true or not, in a way that is relatable and easy to digest.

I dont believe i said that what she posted was racist.. I said SHE was racist. That is also not my MIL commenting.. that is her sister in law. Trust me, my MIL is racist. Her neighbor is asian and has a white wife, she lets their oldest son mow her grass and pays him with a hearty thank you.. She actually thinks that is an acceptable form of gratitude for manual labor, yet will pay her own grandson who does a halfass job of mowing the lawn $50. I took the poor kid aside and told him to stop helping unless she started paying him. I also tore into her for treating him like some sort of less than human laborer. 

[Luna Bliss]

9 hours ago, RavynHunter said:

21 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

Well look at it this way. If you get a cop who gets off on power too much, who likes to make sure people knows he's boss, then just by having this attitude demonstrates he believes in a kind of hierarchy where he is king and lords it over others, right?  He would be the one who views society in 'levels of worth' where the top people are better than the bottom ones. He would be the one to take on the societal brainwashing that says Blacks are less than Whites and more likely to be criminals.
In other words, you can't really separate one of the power-hungry, corrupt cops from an overtly racist one.

Signed,
Mom (with 3 cats sleeping on my lap vying for attention)

Correct. I agree. But we are limiting this person's bias, for lack of a better term, to just blacks. T

Since 2003, Minneapolis has paid out $45 million in police misconduct, yet the problem persisted. Why? Again, it is policy, what is behavior and actions are allowed.

Case in point, out of the 20 largest US cities paying the most in litigation for police misconduct, 17 are Democrat controlled. Seventeen. Why is this? Failed Democratic policies is why. 

This is not a white, black only problem. It is a problem that includes all kinds of abuse, towards all kinds of people, all races, sex, and ages. It is a small minority of officers, but that small minority is still too many. If we, as a society, concentrate solely on white vs black, we will lose. 

Tighten up policies, align them with the rule of law and the Constitution. Get rid of those with issues that are counter to societies laws and decency, and don't hire them in the first place. Hold the governing authority over these law enforcement agencies accountable to their failed policies and pandering.

You can't stop a runaway train by uncoupling the caboose, you have to address what's pulling the train, the locomotive.

I never said ONLY Blacks would be targeted by our fictional power-hungry cop -- he would tend to target any individual or group he can get away with, including whichever demographics he himself might fall into. But typically we heap abuse the most on those individuals/groups we consider at the bottom in our hierarchical (classified according to various criteria into successive levels or layers) society, and so People Of Color (who have, in our society, been seen as 'less than' whites, and who we see as more guilty of crimes and misconduct), would bear the brunt of abuse. It is simply more socially acceptable to dominate those society deems as less worthy and so any abusive person would typically gravitate there first, or the most, because he/she could easily get away with the abuse due to those in the 'lower' positions in society having less power to fight back. So it really is a racial issue as well as a power one, because we as a society placed People Of Color on the bottom rung, beginning with slavery, and we are still having trouble accepting them as true equals in our society.

I think you need to get away from assessing more surface factors and go to the root of the cause if you want to propose a solution. When I tried to educate you on tests which prove the truths contained in the above paragraph, you said they were too general and not for you. But you must examine these experiments in the Social Sciences (Sociology and Psychology) to get a clear grasp of the root causes of oppression and power abuse within society. Our unconscious mind guides much of our behavior, and no amount of patching over on the surface via changes in rules will have a lasting or significant effect unless root causes are addressed.

Switching from Democrat to Republican policies would be one of those surface patches, a changing of rules, that would do very little. The effects of some sort of sensitivity training would have some, but minimal, effect.  The only solution would be to test those applying for police work to identify a power-hungry type of cop who gets a big ego-charge from dominating others, from the get-go. Weed this kind of person out from the very beginning. While we all categorize our world and too easily assign worth to the various categories of people the same way a power-hungry cop does, only some do this to the extreme and feel a need to punish those on the 'lower levels'. It is a pathology that could easily be identified as tests for authoritarian types of personalities already exist. 

Edited June 14, 2020 by Luna Bliss

[Beth Macbain]

23 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

You aren't the one that should be apologizing.

Yeah, but my fellow white people keep horrifying me and somebody needs to apologize for them.

[Luna Bliss]

Just now, Beth Macbain said:

Yeah, but my fellow white people keep horrifying me and somebody needs to apologize for them.

It is horrifying. Sometimes I feel like I've entered an episode of the Twilight Zone when reading certain forums these days.

[JanuarySwan]

Sorry, I'm getting on my soap box for a minute and it isn't related to any current posts as I have not read the current posts and I'm not a great speaker nor writer, so read it if you want too.

I just wanted to say that the issue with BLM really hit home when someone mentioned "scapegoating".  I think it was Luna.

I have come to realize the issue here may very well be scapegoating.  My older sister has talked with me about the issues of demoralizing and dehumanizing that society falls into in order to artificially prop itself up and make it look better than.  

Another thread has popped up on this forum that I feel is also attempting to demoralize, dehumanize and scapegoat others.

What I wanted to say is:  I thought we overcame many of these prejudices towards what may be considered marginalized people; however, society seems to just revert right back into it's scapegoating trip and I don't know why and I don't know what to do about it.  

Why does society revere the marginalization of people and keep reverting back into the same pit?  

I think we need to look at the issue of scapegoating.  

Okay, off my soap box now.  

Edited June 14, 2020 by JanuarySwan

[Ceka Cianci]

1 hour ago, Dano Seale said:

Example of "we were here first" privilege:
 

It's actually, We still remain..

As much as they tried, We still remain.

Here is a really good one You might find interesting.. It's one of my favorites really..

A Woman Chiricauha warrior named Lozen, One time with her Band led by her brother Victorio, were backed into a canyon by the U.S. military..Lozen knowing from past encounters they wouldn't move on them until morning, took a path out the back side of the canyon into the desert at night..The military advanced and made it into the canyon in late morning early afternoon..

Like Geronimo/Goyahkla, Lozen was a Shaman warrior..With her they were always out of reach from the U.S. military..

Aaaanyways, The U.S. military followed the Bands tracks out into the desert, where the Band had caches of water.. They led the Calvary in circles until they all died of thirst..

Not a shot fired..

Lozen was so in touch with her environment and senses so sharp that she could tell how far the enemy was away from the band, which kept them out of reach from the enemy..

Only when she had to stay back to help with a birth because the woman could not travel anymore, Did they catch up to the band and kill her brother..

That band incorporated with Geronimo's band where Lozen stood on the right side of Geronimo keeping them out of reach.. He gave much credit of their success because of her..

Why am I saying all this?

I don't know, it's just a good tell I guess..

hehehe

 

 

 

[Extrude Ragu]

1 hour ago, Beth Macbain said:

Yeah, but my fellow white people keep horrifying me and somebody needs to apologize for them.

None of us gave you permission to speak on behalf of any us thank you

 

[Luna Bliss]

[Beth Macbain]

21 minutes ago, Extrude Ragu said:

None of us gave you permission to speak on behalf of any us thank you

 

I’m not speaking for you. I’m apologizing for atrocious behavior of people who share my skin color.

Two completely different things.

[Extrude Ragu]

3 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

I’m apologizing for atrocious behavior of people who share my skin color.

My fear for you and others is that you will go through your life apologizing for actions and injustices that you did not commit and you are not responsible for, thusly giving others the ability to control and manipulate you emotionally through guilt and shaming.

I think I get it, you want to make right all the wrongs of the world. But I don't think you can do that when you go around grovelling on behalf of everyone, you can't grow people, help them get out of a tough place if you eternally put yourself in a position where you ask people to look down at you instead of up.

I think that if you want to help people, you need to be strong and get yourself to a high place, lead by example, demonstrate opportunity and then offer your hand to others to help them climb to that high place with you. Charity starts at home

[Beth Macbain]

7 minutes ago, Extrude Ragu said:

Charity starts at home

Er... thanks for the advice, but my entire life is pretty much devoted to charity. I work for one, and my hours aren’t exactly 8-5. Yes, it is a human services charity, and yes, what is going on in the US directly affects our clients in huge ways. No one looks down or up at me. I prefer to look people in the eye. And I’m 50 years old and extremely capable of forging my own path in life, and my ability to look beyond the end of my own nose to feel empathy towards other human beings regardless of my own life experiences is a strength, not a weakness.

What I find so strange is that while a lot of (white) Americans seem to be ready, and want to have these conversations about racism and police brutality, Europeans, Australians, and New Zealanders seem to want to prevent the conversation, and not allow us to recognize the very real problem, and actually start defining and implementing solutions.

What are you so scared of? That you’ll be forced to look at the racism your own countries and stop pretending it doesn’t exist?

[Amina Sopwith]

I slipped into lurk mode and I'm slipping out just to say...Dano, you did not. Surely you did not. Even if that event were relevant (and it isn't), or made the point you think it does (and it doesn't), you could have just posted a link to the Wiki page. 

[Extrude Ragu]

 

5 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

No one looks down or up at me

When you say sorry to others, it's usually because the emotions you are feeling are guilt, maybe embarrassment, and a sense of personal responsibility right?
These are your most vulnerable emotions, they carry weight in your heart. You should only share them with people who you can trust. When you say sorry, you tell people you did something wrong, you tell people that you are open to punishment, reparation because you personally did something wrong. There are people out there who do not have your best interests at heart, who will use your feelings and insecurities to their advantage.

[Selene Gregoire]

3 hours ago, Beth Macbain said:

Yeah, but my fellow white people keep horrifying me and somebody needs to apologize for them.

Now go walk a mile in my moccasins and you will see. Apologies from other than the source don't mean a whole lot. I do appreciate the thought. It shows what is really in you. And that is a good thing. 

[Extrude Ragu]

30 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

What are you so scared of? That you’ll be forced to look at the racism your own countries and stop pretending it doesn’t exist?

I think it is fair to say that here in the UK, the biggest fear is mob rule. People who seek to control through fear, manipulation and intimidation, instead of through democratic means.

We worked very hard to make sure that everybody in our nation has a right to our say in how our country is managed, which symbols are considered hateful and which we want to celebrate. We have seen what appears to be an attempt at a forceful takeover that has no respect for democracy, and that has spooked the British public.

I have not been following what's going on in the rest of Europe, so I can't comment on that.

 

 

[Beth Macbain]

10 minutes ago, Extrude Ragu said:

When you say sorry to others, it's usually because the emotions you are feeling are guilt, maybe embarrassment, and a sense of personal responsibility right?
These are your most vulnerable emotions, they carry weight in your heart. You should only share them with people who you can trust. When you say sorry, you tell people you did something wrong, you tell people that you are open to punishment, reparation because you personally did something wrong. There are people out there who do not have your best interests at heart, who will use your feelings and insecurities to their advantage.

That is truly a bunch of goofy ass nonsense.

Dano posted something with intent to hurt Selene. He knew it would before he hit that send button. I apologized to Selene because some careless, ignorant jackass went out of his way to hurt her. It was grotesque. I do not apologize for apologizing to her.

1 minute ago, Extrude Ragu said:

We worked very hard to make sure that everybody in our nation has a right to our say in how our country is managed, which symbols are considered hateful and which we want to celebrate.

Careful... you’re spilling your colonialism.

The problem in what you are saying is that there is no “we”... not even a royal one. There are people in the UK who do not feel they we you do - with good reason. Racism is on the rise in the UK. 

[Luna Bliss]

32 minutes ago, Extrude Ragu said:

When you say sorry to others, it's usually because the emotions you are feeling are guilt, maybe embarrassment, and a sense of personal responsibility right?
These are your most vulnerable emotions, they carry weight in your heart. You should only share them with people who you can trust. When you say sorry, you tell people you did something wrong, you tell people that you are open to punishment, reparation because you personally did something wrong. There are people out there who do not have your best interests at heart, who will use your feelings and insecurities to their advantage.

Please look up the meaning of the words 'sorry' and 'sorrow'.  While saying one is 'sorry' can be an admission of guilt it is more often not used to claim responsibility for anything.

It does not mean we feel guilt, it means we're sorry for the pain another experienced.

[Coffee Pancake]

2 hours ago, Extrude Ragu said:

I think it is fair to say that here in the UK, the biggest fear is mob rule. People who seek to control through fear, manipulation and intimidation, instead of through democratic means.

We worked very hard to make sure that everybody in our nation has a right to our say in how our country is managed, which symbols are considered hateful and which we want to celebrate. We have seen what appears to be an attempt at a forceful takeover that has no respect for democracy, and that has spooked the British public.

Ah, the battle cry of a daily mail reading tory, brexit voter.

[JanuarySwan]

1 hour ago, Luna Bliss said:

It's time for the voices of POC to be heard now, as we've been enslaving and abusing POC in this country in one way or the other for over 400 years.  Can you just shut your trap for awhile and let them speak?

Speaking of being heard on this issue, I wanted to ask if there are any official spokespeople who are going to speak on this issue and how and what to do to address a change in the police itself and how it (the police) operates?   Or, are things just going to change state to state possibly?

I also wanted to say, I was speaking to an ex-cop neighbor of mine.  He is retired early from injury.  He was shot on the job.  But, he told me to stay away from the police and to be careful of the police and to stay in as much as possible.  I am pretty much staying in due to C-19 with an occasional outting for food and nothing else and won't be going near any police or anything.  But, I wasn't expecting him to say that.  I thought it was interesting.