I think Chauvin is a bully and a murderer but not a racist

@NCCindy But that shouldn't matter. Doing drugs doesn't mean the state should execute you. Running from a guy with a gun because you are legitimately scared of the police sounds like a normal human behavior, and does not carry the death penalty. We tried not resisting, and they still killed us. Some of us just can't keep waiting for "reform" and just run instead. Better chances for some.

@Lexiluv Lex, don't... You know where this goes. You're not going to change anyone's minds on here.

@NCCindy Doing drugs does not deserve a death sentence. Chauvin got a much fairer trial than George Floyd did.

@Lexiluv I agree that doing drugs should not get you executed.

And ... yes, I won't deny that there are a handful of biased police, but for the most part, they're just trying to do their job. In the city I live in, roughly half the police force are members of a minority group.

If you don't want to encounter the police, obey the law !!!

@NCCindy was the black army lieutenant that got a gun pulled on him by the police obeying the law or not? It's really easy to try to reduce legitimate concerns of racial bias in the police to just "obey the law and you won't get in trouble" when it goes far beyond thay

@somedude15 "Chauvin got a much fairer trial than George Floyd did." Because George Floyd got no trial at all. Just executed. Even if Chauvin gets put on death row, he's STILL got a trial. "If you don't want to encounter the police..." Maybe don't be Black? 🙄

@NCCindy You don’t get it, you really, really don’t. From a place of privilege, it all looks much more simple than it is.

@somedude15 My brother’s a retired patrolman (20 years) and he was pulled out of his car and thrown across the hood for being in a neighborhood where he was judged “suspicious”. And when he tried to [b]tell[/b] them he was a peace officer, they told him to “shut tf up” (he knew better than to just reach into his pocket for his badge). One of them finally let him produce it. They never did tell him why they’d stopped him, although he pretty much figured it out. And a lot of black police officers have had similar experiences while in civilian clothes.

@bijouxbroussard I left a comment about that too. When a black person holds a gun they assume they're criminals. But when a white person straps a military grade rifle to their back in public, they say they're just gun enthusiasts. You can't win with them. And the worst part is, these people don't even realize they're being racist.

@bijouxbroussard I really do believe racism was exactly what went behind George Floyd's killing. I can tell you I was eye witness to how police handled a very intoxicated and belligerent family member in my neighborhood. I am certain he could have been shot with the way he was acting. Instead, the cops talked him down so to speak and they never even pulled out handcuffs. These guys cared and it makes me sad that all the George Floyds of the world don't get the same treatment. A lot of these people need help, not incarceration.

@somedude15 It is an example of how pervasive racism is, the way people try to excuse it or find a reason for it [b]not[/b] being what it clearly is. And so the racial divide will continue, unfortunately. 😞