People say democracy represents freedom, but where's my freedom from idiot voters?

[SYZ]

I have read extensively on George Floyd's accidental killing in the immediate aftermath of the event.

So have I Dexta, but the fact that I wasn't at "ground zero", so to speak,
means that as a distant commentator (like you in the UK) I have none of
the intimate feelings of the American community that obviously did or does.

The three national societies, United Kingdom, United States, and Australia
have undeniably different social standards, laws, and jurisprudential laws
and ethics.  Dare I say our societal "norms" are also different.

I am an expert on the topic, basically.

Well, you might like to believe so, but to assert that claim, you need to tell us
why in particular—bearing in mind that it obviously overrides many highly
knowledgable American-based commentators' and political jurists' expertise.

The Minneapolis Police Department banned all forms of neck restraints and chokeholds weeks after Floyd’s deathNeck kneeling is/was an authorised pacification technique according to the Minneapolis state police handbook...

Yes it was, from 2012.  Two-thirds of the 428 people it was used on were
African-Americans.  Considering that only 19% of the Minneapolis population
was black obviously points to a confirmed racist element in the Floyd scenario.

BTW, the 2016 police killing of Anthony "Tony" Allen Timpa had nothing to do
with racism, or democratic rights or the lack thereof.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Jesus christ dude. I wonder, did you post on the original Richarddawkins.net board? I know I did. My father...oh my father. A musician, depressed...is there anything worse than growing up with a depressed father as a lad? Possibly; a homicidal one.

Not "possibly", he was a Kluxxer. Helped nail windows and door shut when a black family dared to move into our wide-spot-in-the-road farm town. They burned that house to ground. Sheriff didn't find any evidence it was occupied. Of course. I took a beating every June, when a Klavern was held in our 2.5 garage. I got a beating and didn't have to attend that meeting. Navy doctors, seeing my x-rays later in life, asked if I had been in a grain silo explosion. I just shrugged.

The day we buried him I returned to the cemetery just after dark. Relieved myself on his grave. A voice came from behind me. "Is it true he was a Kluxxer?" "You gotta pee?" "Sir, I sure do!" "Step up, my man, step up and be known."

Oh, and I was an admin on the RDF forum. And on Rationalia.com.

[Dexta]

Jesus christ dude. I wonder, did you post on the original Richarddawkins.net board? I know I did. My father...oh my father. A musician, depressed...is there anything worse than growing up with a depressed father as a lad? Possibly; a homicidal one.

Not "possibly", he was a Kluxxer. Helped nail windows and door shut when a black family dared to move into our wide-spot-in-the-road farm town. They burned that house to ground. Sheriff didn't find any evidence it was occupied. Of course. I took a beating every June, when a Klavern was held in our 2.5 garage. I got a beating and didn't have to attend that meeting. Navy doctors, seeing my x-rays later in life, asked if I had been in a grain silo explosion. I just shrugged.

The day we buried him I returned to the cemetery just after dark. Relieved myself on his grave. A voice came from behind me. "Is it true he was a Kluxxer?" "You gotta pee?" "Sir, I sure do!" "Step up, my man, step up and be known."

Oh, and I was an admin on the RDF forum. And on Rationalia.com.

What can I say. There are indeed some violent racist shitbags in the world. I think they are rare and decreasing however, thank goodness. Most everybody I meet despises racism...literally every single poster on these boards, for example. I don't know what...there are some very primitive parts of America, middle class England hasn't a clue about. Maybe I do indeed know virtually nothing of America...I hope that's not true though, I like to think we're all the same, more or less...perhaps I'm naïve...or over optimistic.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

There are indeed some violent racist shitbags in the world. I think they are rare and decreasing however, thank goodness.

Want to visit my relatives? There's a klavern somewhere in Arkansas every weekend. And the Klan can still post "Nigger! Don't let the Sun shine on your head in this town."

[SYZ]

Want to visit my relatives? There's a klavern somewhere in Arkansas every weekend. And the Klan can still post "Nigger! Don't let the Sun shine on your head in this town."

During the Vietnam War, klaverns were established on some
Asian US military bases, often tolerated by military authorities.   

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Want to visit my relatives? There's a klavern somewhere in Arkansas every weekend. And the Klan can still post "Nigger! Don't let the Sun shine on your head in this town."

During the Vietnam War, klaverns were established on some
Asian US military bases, often tolerated by military authorities.   

Yep, and they thought I was a prime recruit. "Legacy" they called it. I made a list of the guys who tried to recruit me. Let them know there was more than one copy. Didn't get bothered again.

[Szuchow]

To be fair one does not need to visit USA or know member of minority from there to see the US issues.

True, of course, but people who live in America will see these individual cases in our news that may or may not be reported overseas, giving us a fuller picture of the problem.

I used to work at a fast-food joint that a local, largely Hispanic car club would use as a turnaround point on their cruise nights. I personally witnessed physical abuse by the cops with no physical instigation from the club members on several occasions. You can't get that from reading anodyne studies from afar. Guys are just sitting there, suddenly yanked out of their convertibles and being sharked by four or five cops.

Of course. Hands on knowledge is something that book or articles can't give and merely living somewhere will give one fuller picture of events if one pays attention to what happens.

[Thumpalumpacus]

True, of course, but people who live in America will see these individual cases in our news that may or may not be reported overseas, giving us a fuller picture of the problem.

I used to work at a fast-food joint that a local, largely Hispanic car club would use as a turnaround point on their cruise nights. I personally witnessed physical abuse by the cops with no physical instigation from the club members on several occasions. You can't get that from reading anodyne studies from afar. Guys are just sitting there, suddenly yanked out of their convertibles and being sharked by four or five cops.

Of course. Hands on knowledge is something that book or articles can't give and merely living somewhere will give one fuller picture of events if one pays attention to what happens.

Right. And I want to make it clear that I am not denigrating studies from afar, or statistical analyses, because I do understand that personal experience is only that -- personal experience and nothing more. Anecdotes are not evidence.

I just think that proximity to the problem tends to refine one's thinking about it, y'know?

[Szuchow]

Of course. Hands on knowledge is something that book or articles can't give and merely living somewhere will give one fuller picture of events if one pays attention to what happens.

Right. And I want to make it clear that I am not denigrating studies from afar, or statistical analyses, because I do understand that personal experience is only that -- personal experience and nothing more. Anecdotes are not evidence.

I just think that proximity to the problem tends to refine one's thinking about it, y'know?

I get this. It is one thing to be aware of something and another to have personal experience. One thing complements other.