George Floyd

[Susan Peabody]

This thread is about what is going on since the death of George Floyd. My opinion is simple. Things could have been handled better. It does not matter if he was drunk, belligerent, tall, a criminal etc. There were 4 police men and they could have detained him standing up and taken him to jail. There was no reason to push him on the ground.

If you are watching Fox news, do not post here. Thank you.

Just for the record. My husband and son are black so I have been on the fringes of the black community for 50 years. Discrimination against black men is real. Thank you.

[akdkumar]

I don't want to comment on this as I am from another country.

[Susan Peabody]

Jun 2, 2020 8:07:37 GMT akdkumar said:

I don't want to comment on this as I am from another country.

This is fine. Current events are not the only things happening on this site. Start a thread and tell us what you would like to talk about.

[Susan Peabody]

There is chaos right now but I trust God to make something good come out of all this. I was part of the 60's civil rights movement and this is different because every race and culture is involved. And some police are showing solidarity. This is the first time I have seen this.

The looters are mostly young people. Their lust for material things makes me sad. My granddaughters grew up in the church and were kept busy with social activities. I would like to see us go back to after-school activities like the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. My church has a music program for the youth of Richmond, California. My son was part of many sports teams and this kept him out of trouble even though we lived in a marginal neighborhood.

[Susan Peabody]

I agree with President Obama. The camaraderie between all the different races in the peaceful protests makes me hopeful.

I believe this is the result of integration. When we started integration in 1954 it seemed like it wasn't working. Because the people of that generation didn't want to integrate. But the young protesters today grew up with each other. They like each other. They don't want to see their friends beat up by the police. So no matter what anyone says I have seen change in my lifetime and I'm glad I lived to see this.

[Susan Peabody]

My son and I just had a discussion about what's going on. He's not convinced that change is going to come. But there has been change just not in the area of police brutality. But I see fewer and fewer bad cops. I see black faces on the television and in the movies. I see more women and black politicians. Jim Crow is over. My husband and I were able to go to the movies together. On the other hand, we have a long way to go. My son lives in Vallejo and the police just shot another black man. He was a looter and I don't condone that. But when they shot him five times he was on his knees with his hands in the air. I do not think the punishment of death is appropriate for that crime. It's just property for God's sake. What am I saying. Property is everything to everybody these days. Jesus didn't own any property. Well maybe he owned the communion cup or perhaps he borrowed it.[/quote]

[Susan Peabody]

I just got an email from a dear friend who said there is no discrimination against blacks in this country. My son is African-American and I could tell you many many stories about how he's been discriminated against. But I'll just tell one. When he was a young adult, I dropped him off in front of his apartment. The police pulled me over and I asked what I had done wrong. The white policeman said "ma'am I just want to make sure that black man wasn't bothering you." I told him Karl was my son and that he was no bother. The policeman look shocked and then he gave me a ticket.

I am watching the news. A panel of African American politicians were asked what could white Americans do to help. They all said white people need to accept the fact that they benefit from white privilege and have to give those privileges up.

Al Sharpton says we need more civil rights legislation. I agree with him. They don't always enforce the laws. They often try to change the laws and gut them. But they are always a beginning. Christ broke the law of his time by speaking out in the synagogue. He was a progressive and he is my role model.

To those innocent people who believe white privilege left with affirmative action, you're kidding yourself. The backlash against affirmative action took all the meat off the bone.

[Susan Peabody]

Back in the 80s I was helping UC Berkeley raise funds. So I talked to a lot of alumni. I remember how outraged they were that their sons and daughters weren't allowed to go to UC Berkeley to make room for African Americans. They were just dripping with white privilege and didn't even know it. Most of these people were rich. And that's another flaw in our society. The privileges of the rich over the poor. Christ tried to address all these things. With his story of the Good Samaritan. Overturning the tables of the money-changers. But progress is slow. Christ came to transform the society he lived in at the time. They crucified him. And yet in his final moments he forgave the people that hurt him. This is why I believe in forgiveness. Christ showed me the way.

[Susan Peabody]

Someone just posted on my Facebook page asking the question "Aren't young people risking their lives going to a protest during this epidemic. In my opinion George Floyd died the way he did to wake up the world. There are some things worth dying for. Our young people are risking their lives for this cause. If people don't wake up to this systemic problem, they are part of the problem.

[Susan Peabody]

People keep asking me why this case is different from the other murders of black men and women. It is because people really believe it's okay to shoot a criminal. So when they see a black person gunned down, even in the back, they just assume he was a criminal and the police we're issuing justice i.e. the death penalty.

But in the case of George Floyd, he was handcuffed on the ground. For eight agonizing moments the policeman kept his knee on his neck. He called out for his mother. He knew he was dying. He was terrified. He tried to communicate to the policeman that he couldn't breathe.

Now when you watch the video, a look at the face of the cop who did this. All of this is why this case is different I hope it turns into legislation. We've made a lot of progress in this country. But when it comes to the abuse of power by policemen we still have a long way to go

[Susan Peabody]

People keep asking my me questions. Somebody wants to know if I've ever experienced reverse racism. Let me explain that there's no such thing as Reverse Racism.

Racism refers to institutionalized prejudice. The laws have been changed. The laws become a systemic problem. The prejudice has become legal. It has embedded itself in the very fabric of society. Parents tell their children to obey the law. And the law says it's okay to shoot an unarmed black man.

On occasion, I have been confronted buy a black person. Or I guess I should say African-American. For a moment I was the face of white America. They needed to say something. So I listened. If someone had just let me out of jail, and I was an innocent victim, I would be angry too.

We have to change the law. We have to change people's minds. It's a slow process. But I have faith in God regarding these things.

[Susan Peabody]

My friends are asking me why I'm so emotional about all this. I guess it's because what happened to George Floyd happened to my son in 1993. He was a freshman at UC Berkeley. The only difference was he did not die. But he was in the hospital for a couple days. His crime was drinking a beer in public on his 21st birthday outside his dorm room. I'm going to try to calm down, I'm getting a headache.

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[Susan Peabody]

I grew up in a small town where we trusted the police. If a child got in trouble he was escorted home to his parents not arrested and booked.

My son's first arrest was when he was 8 years old. As the years passed he got arrested again and again four little things like obstructing traffic and arguing with the police about it. His car had broken down.

I always took the side of the police. I kept telling Karl he was instigating all this trouble. He was bringing it on himself.

Today, when I put it all together and am honest with myself, I can see the misbehavior of the police.

I read a study that said the police treat large black men differently because deep down they're afraid of them. My son is 6 foot 6 the same height as George Floyd.

So this is been a wake-up call for me even though I've been in the black community for 50 years.

There's a demonstration near my house today. I wish I had the stamina to march with them.

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[Susan Peabody]

I have started to come down today. I was inspired by the bill created by the Congressional Black Caucus. It's really a new beginning in this new Civil Rights Movement.

I've had some healthy discussions with my son. We had a long talk about how I handled his arrest when he was 8 years old for trespassing on a white person's lawn who thought he was there to steal something. He says I spanked him instead of understanding what was really going on.

So I apologized for being an ignorant white woman trying to raise a black child. Even in a liberal town like Berkeley there were problems.

My son says it's harder to be interracial than to be either white or black.

In case I didn't mention this before, the movie that depicts what mothers of black children go through is "American Son. " It really helped Karl understand why I'm always asking him if he is home safe.

[Susan Peabody]

Today they shot another black man in the. He said asleep in his car in a drive-thru and Wendy's. The police were called and by the time they got there he had pulled into the parking place.

They tried to arrest him. He resisted and ran off. The shot him in the back because he had taken one of the tasers belonging to the police.

The police are obsessed with getting someone to the jail once they decide to arrest them. If he is innocent before proven guilty why not let him go. Why does someone have to die rather than get away.

This is not how they treat white people . . .

Here's an example of white privilege which people don't want to believe still exists but it does. I was blocking traffic in the drive through at Burger Kind because I was arguing with the cashier. She called the police they came and asked me politely to move over

Then they asked me if I was ok and maybe I should go home. They ended with "Have a good day."

I was treated fairly because I wasn't black. Racism is real. White privilege is real.