# General Discussion > Opinions >  Is Maju a Political Extremist?

## Fire Haired14

Reading some of Maju's comments regarding politics, leaves me confused. How could such an intelligent person believe in this stuff? He thinks Americans are faciest raciest who are enslaving black men with Prison. Where in the Ferguson case is there racism? Any intelligent person without an agenda could see there's none. He speaks of revolution, etc.

http://forwhatwearetheywillbe.blogsp...=1417698753999

----------


## Aberdeen

> Reading some of Maju's comments regarding politics, leaves me confused. How could such an intelligent person believe in this stuff? He thinks Americans are faciest raciest who are enslaving black men with Prison. Where in the Ferguson case is there racism? Any intelligent person without an agenda could see there's none. He speaks of revolution, etc.
> 
> http://forwhatwearetheywillbe.blogsp...=1417698753999


The U.S. is in fact a two party system that is controlled by the rich, rather than being a multiparty democracy, which may explain why the U.S. has the most income inequity and the second least social mobility in the developed world. And the income inequity and lack of social mobility in the U.S. disproportionally affects certain groups, particularly blacks. And black people in the U.S. are approximately three times more likely to be sent to prison than white people. And some of the police in Ferguson (not including the officer who shot the young black man) were found to be members of the KKK, which is a racist organization. All of those facts appear to support Maju's ideas to some extent, whether or not one agrees with all his conclusions.

----------


## Melancon

> Reading some of Maju's comments regarding politics, leaves me confused. How could such an intelligent person believe in this stuff? He thinks Americans are faciest raciest who are enslaving black men with Prison. Where in the Ferguson case is there racism? Any intelligent person without an agenda could see there's none. He speaks of revolution, etc.
> 
> http://forwhatwearetheywillbe.blogsp...=1417698753999


Haha for a while I thought you were talking about a Basque anthropologist.  :Laughing:

----------


## Fire Haired14

> And some of the police in Ferguson (not including the officer who shot the young black man) were found to be members of the KKK, which is a racist organization. All of those facts appear to support Maju's ideas to some extent, whether or not one agrees with all his conclusions.


\

Where is there evidence of racism in the murder of Micheal Brown? I've been called a cracker, I've had relatives jumped, threatened, etc. because they're white. Racism in America goes both ways. Police and the law are raciest at times towards black people, but Brown's murder is not an example. The racism in this case comes from the biased American media and the protesters. 




> And the income inequity and lack of social mobility in the U.S. disproportionally affects certain groups, particularly blacks. And black people in the U.S. are approximately three times more likely to be sent to prison than white people.


Most black men in prison put themselves there!!! The way America is run is no excuse for that. African-Americans stay disproportionately poor not just because of past miss treatment, but because of modern crime, laziness, and dependence on the government. Do you put any blame on the citizens if they're not doing well? What type of parent would you be blaming yourself for all your child's mistakes? 

Are my parents and aunts and uncles bad people for working their ass's off to be where they are today? America is not unequal economically because a class system. If you want to be successful you can usually find a way with hard work. 

Where in the Ferguson case is there evidence of racism? There is not sometype of conspiracy towards young black men. They grow up in an obsessive thug culture, and this is he main reason so many go to prison.

----------


## Melancon

Ah, upon further observation it seems that you actually ARE talking about Maju. Oh my gosh. 

This is a very upsetting stance from Maju; as he is usually a pretty intelligent blogger. 

I guess Europeans do not understand the politics of what is happening in the USA. They believe there is racial oppression; when in reality it is usually an agenda that is blown out of proportion; usually by people with a Leftist agenda. I know Black people in real-life who don't even believe Michael Brown of Ferguson was innocent.

----------


## Fire Haired14

> Ah, upon further observation it seems that you actually ARE talking about Maju. Oh my gosh. 
> 
> This is a very upsetting stance from Maju; as he is usually a pretty intelligent blogger. 
> 
> I guess Europeans do not understand the politics of what is happening in the USA. They believe there is racial oppression; when in reality it is usually an agenda that is blown out of proportion; usually by people with a Leftist agenda. I know Black people in real-life who don't even believe Michael Brown of Ferguson was innocent.


I totally agree. Micheal Brown wasn't innocent; he threatened a store owner to give him cigerates and beat up a cop. The only case where he may have not been in the wrong is if officer Wilson shouldn't have shot him several times.

----------


## bicicleur

> Ah, upon further observation it seems that you actually ARE talking about Maju. Oh my gosh. 
> 
> This is a very upsetting stance from Maju; as he is usually a pretty intelligent blogger. 
> 
> I guess Europeans do not understand the politics of what is happening in the USA. They believe there is racial oppression; when in reality it is usually an agenda that is blown out of proportion; usually by people with a Leftist agenda. I know Black people in real-life who don't even believe Michael Brown of Ferguson was innocent.


why would you think Europeans don't understand this ?
the same happens in Europe
if you're not politicaly correct, you're a racist

----------


## Melancon

> why would you think Europeans don't understand this ?
> the same happens in Europe
> if you're not politicaly correct, you're a racist


I understand that. No worries there - you guys just seem to have it worse over there than we do.

----------


## Angela

It can be true both that there was nothing racist in the killing of Michael Brown, and that there was some racism in the Ferguson Police Department. Indeed, both of those things have been proven to be true. 

Had the media not rushed to judgment based on the statement of a friend of Brown's who had been with him and participated in the theft at a local store, and had not the Attorney General rushed in and endorsed that story without knowing all the facts, that whole unfortunate affair might not have happened. Even _had_ the shooting not been totally justified, there is no justification for burning down the homes and businesses in your own community. Brown's father should have been indicted for incitement to riot. 

That doesn't mean that minority people get the same kind of treatment in the criminal justice system that white people get....That just isn't true. Some of that is because minority people are disproportionately more likely to have to rely on legal aid. (That disparity also affects poorer or less educated whites. You can see it every day.) However, some of that is because white dominated juries react differently to black criminals than to white criminals, even if unconsciously, and white police and prosecutors, especially in certain areas, are more likely to believe the worst when the suspect is a member of a minority community. There's no doubt about it. In the case of jury selection, that's why you try to get different juries for different cases.

It has to be added that while there is still residual racism, it's indisputably true, in my opinion, that the breakdown of the black family is at the root of many of the social problems in predominantly lower income minority communities. It's just sometimes easier to blame others than to look inward for causes, just as it's easier to assume that there is no racism, rather than admitting it might still exist.

Pardon the expression, but it's not a black or white issue.

Maju should perhaps save the editorializing for issues like the treatment of immigrants in Europe, a subject about which perhaps he is better informed...or perhaps not.

At any rate, unless a country has the same percentages of uneducated, unskilled people raised in dysfunctional homes in communities ravaged by drugs as does the US, comparisons are useless.

----------


## Fire Haired14

Sorry, Aberdeen for the uncalled for hostilness in my last post.

----------


## Fire Haired14

> That doesn't mean that minority people get the same kind of treatment in the criminal justice system that white people get....That just isn't true. Some of that is because minority people are disproportionately more likely to have to rely on legal aid. (That disparity also affects poorer or less educated whites. You can see it every day.) However, some of that is because white dominated juries react differently to black criminals than to white criminals, even if unconsciously, and white police and prosecutors, especially in certain areas, are more likely to believe the worst when the suspect is a member of a minority community. There's no doubt about it. In the case of jury selection, that's why you try to get different juries for different cases.
> 
> It has to be added that while there is still residual racism, it's indisputably true, in my opinion, that the breakdown of the black family is at the root of many of the social problems in predominantly lower income minority communities. It's just sometimes easier to blame others than to look inward for causes, just as it's easier to assume that there is no racism, rather than admitting it might still exist.


A typical non-Urban white person seeing an urban Black person or Latino is going to have thug running through their mind. I've talked to non-Urban white people, and they have this impression that American cities are like war-zones and all minorities are criminals. Sometimes this is because of racism and sometimes it's simply because they don't know(like how people assume Australia has kangaroos everywhere). Police sometimes have these same sentiments or are just plain mean(to all people) and or raciest. 

And I agree again that although there are non-black influences for why so many are in prison, but it's mostly from problems in their own community which can be reduced.

----------


## epoch

I don't care about political opinions. CERTAINLY not modern leftism, which has all the marks of a cult. But rest assured, I hold no love libertarians, old fashioned socialists and Ayn Rand believers either. Actually, some of these show ever more cult behaviour. 

The solution is simple. Simply subtract the bias from message, and ignore the idiotic cult behaviour.

----------


## epoch

> I've talked to non-Urban white people, and they have this impression that American cities are like war-zones and all minorities are criminals. Sometimes this is because of racism and sometimes it's simply because they don't know(like how people assume Australia has kangaroos everywhere). Police sometimes have these same sentiments or are just plain mean(to all people) and or raciest.


Maybe it is because minority subcultures cherish that image: (Gangster) Rap culture for instance.

----------


## bicicleur

IMO racism is the belief that your own genetic group is superior to all others
there are also religious people who think nonbelievers are inferior people, I think that is just the same

now the word 'racism' is abused to often to designate something else : distrust of another etnical group you don't know
for humans to survive it was vital to know who they could trust and who not, so this distrust is a very natural reflex
it is a feeling you can't forbid by law, allthough I guess some politicians would like to do just that ; if you would do so, I'm sure it will backfire in the long run, it will even create proper racism
we should take away prejudices that certainly exist, and certainly law inforcement should be trained to avoid prejudice 
on the other hand trust has to be earned, and riots such like in Ferguson certainly won't help, it only confirms a picture that allready exists

if Maju sees a colonial racist system then I think he is very prejudiced himself, but there is nothng I can do about that

----------


## Aberdeen

> Sorry, Aberdeen for the uncalled for hostilness in my last post.


That's okay. I don't take anything you say seriously anyway.

While it's true that the analysis that Maju provided on such a serious and complex issue was both inflammatory and simplistic, your response does seem to me to support the idea that racism in America is so engrained that many people often don't even realize that their comments are racially loaded. I think Angela has critiqued the issue in a much more balanced manner than either you or Maju did.

----------


## Fire Haired14

> That's okay. I don't take anything you say seriously anyway.
> 
> While it's true that the analysis that Maju provided on such a serious and complex issue was both inflammatory and simplistic, your response does seem to me to support the idea that racism in America is so engrained that many people often don't even realize that their comments are racially loaded. I think Angela has critiqued the issue in a much more balanced manner than either you or Maju did.


If I'm making racially loaded comments I want to know about it. I think of myself as not raciest, that's all I know. If I am it's unconscious, which I think is the case for alot of people. I'll work on how I word things, come across, and think about things. How was my response to you racially loaded? Angela said basically the same thing as me, but i guess in a more articulate way. There's racism in Police towards minorities, but there isn't much evidence in the Brown murder. Also, the way African-American society operates is more so the cause of so many in prison than racism in law enforcement is.

----------


## Angela

In my professional life I've had to deal with people from all racial, ethnic, religious and socio-economic levels, and at the end of the day the similarities are what stand out to me, the common humanity, not the differences. It's when you don't know people from other groups on a personal level that all these stereotypes flourish. That said, people have histories, both personal and particular to their group, and given certain situations, emotions will get in the way and prevent them from seeing things clearly and objectively. That goes for both sides. It doesn't help when people with agendas from all sides of the political spectrum step in and inflame situations by spouting some talking points without even knowing the facts. Calmer, more rational heads need to prevail. 

People in rural areas do indeed tend to view urban areas as a war zone. When I moved to New York City my family and friends were horrified. The reality is that in years of living there the only problem I ever had was some young kid trying to lift my bag in Grand Central Station. He didn't get it.:) Of course, it pays to stay out of certain neighborhoods after dark. Meanwhile, friends of mine packed it in and went to live the bucolic life in Idaho and found out that there is rampant meth addiction and trafficking there, and the concomitant rise in crime. It's not always greener in the next field.

----------


## Angela

> If I'm making racially loaded comments I want to know about it. I think of myself as not raciest, that's all I know. If I am it's unconscious, which I think is the case for alot of people. I'll work on how I word things, come across, and think about things. How was my response to you racially loaded? Angela said basically the same thing as me, but i guess in a more articulate way. There's racism in Police towards minorities, but there isn't much evidence in the Brown murder. Also, the way African-American society operates is more so the cause of so many in prison than racism in law enforcement is.


Fire Haired, 

I've read the Grand Jury report, or most of it, anyway, and there was no racism in the killing of Michael Brown. Numerous witnesses came forward who substantiated the police officer's account.The forensics evidence was also unambiguous. The Attorney General's later report came to the same conclusion. There was no "Hands up, don't shoot." That was a lie, although most news outlets have yet to admit it and apologize for their coverage. What happened is that a young man pushed around a store owner, stole from him, and when a police officer who had heard a report of the incident saw him walking down the center of the road with the cigars in his hands and asked him to halt so he could speak to him, the young man walked to the police car, reached in, attacked the officer, and tried to take the policeman's gun. When he ran off, the policeman followed, as is standard procedure. Instead of halting when called, the young man charged the officer. I can tell you that shooting a suspect in that kind of situation is normally handled within the police department and with the prosecutor's office overseeing it, and is never normally even brought before a grand jury. The only reason it ever went to a grand jury in the first place is because of street agitation. Politicians and "community" leaders then gave that community hope that there would be an indictment. That's what caused the riots. As far as I'm concerned, the Attorney General bears some responsibility for that.

As to why there are so many more blacks than whites incarcerated in our prisons, there are many factors. Higher poverty in the African American community is one factor, and so is the break up of the family, with too many young people being raised by single mothers who may have drug issues themselves. Michael Brown's mother has been arrested subsequently for theft, intimidation and assault. His step-father, who was inciting the riot, has a long rap sheet. Is it any wonder her son reacted to law enforcement in the way he did? My son isn't black, but I can assure you I drummed it into his head that when approached by the police you say yes sir, and no sir, and you don't make any threatening moves. If you think there was something amiss in the encounter you handle it later in the appropriate way. Does rap music help the situation? No, in my opinion it doesn't; it reinforces it. 

However, if you are a well to do middle class white kid who gets caught committing a crime, and your parents hire a good attorney, and get you into therapy or a drug rehabilitation program, and witnesses come forward as to what a great young man you've always been, and what a good student you are, the outcome will be very different than if you are a kid from the projects with a legal aid lawyer on his first case, no father, a single mother who can't even get to your court appearances, and no one who knows how to ask the right questions, or who can even figure out how the system works.There have been numerous studies that show, for example, that even when the crimes are very similar, black defendants wind up on death row much more often than white defendants. It's just the way it is, but it's not the way that it should be. 

Oh, that's one of the reasons I am against the death penalty, btw.

----------


## LeBrok

I see racial situation in US the way Angela described. 

I agree that Michael Brown is the worst poster boy for anti-racial movement. His death has nothing to do with racism.

Where were the anti racist movements and street protests (so active with every black person death) when non-black police officers are executed over racial hatred? One fatal in New York few months ago and the other very recent in Ferguson, fortunately they survived this time.


On a positive note, I know quite few brown people here in Calgary, Canada, which is probably more than statistical average, considering population mix. If not the colour of skin, I wouldn't even guess from behavior that they are not white. All work, study and have proper families and friends, good and valued citizens.

On not very positive note, there is a small Somali community, first and second generation emigrants, which have subsistence input into local criminal news of gang shootings, revenge killing, and other criminal activities.

----------


## Fire Haired14

Check out this article from CNN about Ferguson. This should be in the opinion section.

Here's quote from the article, that I can't believe.




> Ferguson had become another landmark moment in America's civil rights movement.


http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/06/us/fer...ons/index.html

In the video when they show a white-man running for office the narrator says "He isn't what he looks like", and goes on about him protesting because of Brown's murder, etc. This is horrible!!! It assumes Brown was murdered because of racism and that if someone's white it's likely they don't think there was racism, and are therefore raciest. I'm flaborgasted. Am I in a movie of some apocalyptic future?

70% of people in Ferguson being black and most of their cops and council members being white, is surprising. I'm not going to assume the reason has to do with racism though. It could.

----------

