dagblog - Comments for "Democrats lose control of presidential event"

The different perspectives

barefooted — Sun, 19 Jul 2015 23:34:38 +0000

In reply to Just finished reading this

The different perspectives regarding the event are, to me, evidenced by the reaction to a statement O'Malley made: Black lives matter. White lives matter. All lives matter.

Seems reasonable enough on its face, but just underneath it hits a core part of the problem. Is it impossible to focus on black lives without qualification? Then again, don't all lives matter?

I had the same reaction.

rmrd0000 — Sun, 19 Jul 2015 23:28:54 +0000

In reply to Just finished reading this

I had the same reaction. These are young black activists. They are largely ignored by politicians and MSM. Heck, they are pushed to the sidelines once President Obama, Al Sharpton, or Cornel West show up. To discuss an issue BlackLivesMatter, ColorOfChange, Dream Defenders, etc are doing what SNCC and CORE did in the past. They are just finding their voice. Sanders and O'Malley showed up for the event, Hillary Clinton did not. These organizations may organize to get people to the polls. Sanders mere presence may have gained votes.

Just finished reading this

wabby — Sun, 19 Jul 2015 23:18:21 +0000

In reply to Democrats lose control of presidential event

Just finished reading this account from Chris Savage at Eclectablog. A different perspective.

Sitting in the middle of this maelstrom was a fascinating experience. I, like many of the others there, was initially irritated by the protestors. I was there to hear the candidates and was frustrated that they weren’t being heard. Even a bit angry, in fact. “These are your allies,” I thought. “Why on earth are you attacking them? Why are you disrupting an event where the people there are sympathetic to your cause?”

Frustration. Anger. Being silenced.

Frustration.

Anger.

Silenced.

Talked over.

Ignored.

Every single one of these emotions that ran through my white privileged brain in the first few moments of the protest until I was slapped across the face with what I was being forced to confront. Every single one of these emotions are felt acutely and painfully every single day by racial minority groups in our country. But, instead of being inconvenienced by not being able to hear a politician speak, they face them in the context of being slaughtered in the streets by the police officers who are tasked to protect them, incarcerated in astonishingly disparate numbers, and blamed for not being able to escape from the prison of poverty that holds far too many of them in bondage.