Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

calimary

(90,722 posts)
18. Welcome to DU, RoccoRyg!
Sun Dec 7, 2014, 09:16 PM
Dec 2014

Last edited Sun Dec 7, 2014, 09:47 PM - Edit history (1)

Glad you're here! It must be awfully frustrating for you to have to deal with that wall of willful ignorance and apathy - and disconnect. And you're clearly not alone. This whole country is afflicted along those lines.

Sometimes I feel hopeful, and other times... well... not so much, I'm afraid. This has lingered and lingered and lingered and lingered - Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was back in the mid-1800s. And how far have we come, really? We are STILL fighting this shit. Lo these many, Many, MANY years later. Sometimes I just shake my head in near despair for our country. WHEN are we gonna grow up and snap out of this? And get OVER it? And move beyond it? And RISE ABOVE IT???? WHEN? Will that ever even happen?

I was so hopeful about the election of Barack Obama as President. I so badly hoped that it meant we HAD grown up and matured a little, and gotten past a lot of the bad times and prejudices. I so ardently hoped it meant that America had finally evolved just a wee bit more, that all that old racist shit was finally being put solidly behind us.

But the forces against growth and enlightenment and evolution are so damn powerful. People literally cling to this shit. I'm so disappointed and discouraged with my fellow Americans sometimes! Why can't we grow up? Sometimes I wonder if it means we all have to wait til that racist older white generation dies off. But it looks as though there are multitudes of younger ones coming up after them, MORE than willing to take their places and keep the old shit alive.

When I see what our President has to deal with - worse treatment than I can remember ANY President having to deal with (and I'm 61 now), it just seems almost like another version of what Michael Brown was confronted with, and Eric Garner had to deal with, and Trayvon Martin had to deal with, and the list just seems endless. Who will it be tomorrow or next week? Because I don't see it abetting anytime soon, especially when you consider there is NO deterrent force or protocol in place to make sure this does NOT happen again. What kind of deterrent is in the back of the minds of our police? What is the motivation NOT to shoot first and ask questions later? When they know they won't be held accountable and that prosecutors will have their backs regardless, WHERE is the motivation to change or try to prevent any of this?

So VERY Frustrating and disappointing.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Documentation from a former cop - they're violent because they know they can get away with it. Jim__ Dec 2014 #1
I watched Dirty Harry Magnum Force last night and how prophetically fitting it is today. Dont call me Shirley Dec 2014 #2
I watched Serpico about a week ago. I remember seeing him in an inteview a while ago sabrina 1 Dec 2014 #3
I read Serpico many years ago, and watched the movie. That's when I knew I am a liberal. Dont call me Shirley Dec 2014 #4
Which is why good cops are rare as hen's teeth 99th_Monkey Dec 2014 #9
I fear that it's human nature, that when too much power combines with lack of accountability Flatulo Dec 2014 #28
Serpico had an article over at Politico... ReRe Dec 2014 #31
Thanks, I didn't see it but will do a search. I thought of him sabrina 1 Dec 2014 #36
You know a society is in trouble when a lot of the people in jail are more upstanding.. BlueJazz Dec 2014 #5
Given how the 'system' works (or doesn't work is more like it) 99th_Monkey Dec 2014 #10
As a former cop, Curtis Dec 2014 #6
Thank you for doing what you could 99th_Monkey Dec 2014 #11
Thanks Curtis Dec 2014 #24
A former cop, confiming everything we already knew about cops. 99Forever Dec 2014 #7
Ain't that the truth. 99th_Monkey Dec 2014 #13
I wish cops could live in the neighborhoods they police RufusTFirefly Dec 2014 #8
I agree. LuvNewcastle Dec 2014 #20
Last Thanksgiving... RoccoRyg Dec 2014 #12
Maybe after Christmas dinner, the whole fam. can watch Serpico (the movie -1973) 99th_Monkey Dec 2014 #14
Maybe New Year's Eve..... daleanime Dec 2014 #15
+10 nt 99th_Monkey Dec 2014 #16
It would definitely be... ReRe Dec 2014 #32
Welcome to DU, RoccoRyg! calimary Dec 2014 #18
+100 nt 99th_Monkey Dec 2014 #22
We have a ways to go calimary RoccoRyg Dec 2014 #23
Seems like the deeply racist main carer goal is to be a cop SummerSnow Dec 2014 #17
The sad thing about that is - I don't see how it's any other way. calimary Dec 2014 #19
Well, he suggests two things, not one. And another should be body cameras. randome Dec 2014 #21
True dat. 99th_Monkey Dec 2014 #26
Charles Barclay, are you out there? nt kelliekat44 Dec 2014 #25
Really... ReRe Dec 2014 #33
First five comments to the article Prophet 451 Dec 2014 #27
A former college roommate later became a cop in Pittsburgh Orrex Dec 2014 #29
, blkmusclmachine Dec 2014 #30
K&R ReRe Dec 2014 #34
when i was a kid, one my next door neighbors heaven05 Dec 2014 #35
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Being a cop showed me jus...»Reply #18