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John Legend oscar speech was ignorant and insulting to slaves

posted 10 years ago by FrankUnderwood2016
45 replies | jump to latest

At the end of the day, the entire legal system and justice system isn't out to get the black man, this statement is ridiculous.. There may be some individuals in positions of power who are, but he basically suggests that these black men that are incarcerated are innocent of their crimes, which the grand majority aren't...once you start to believe something that crazy then society and law have no value. He thinks his statement is a step in the right direction and part of a movement but he isn't part of the solution but part of the problem. Blaming society and justice for incarcerating people convicted of crimes and bringing up slavery and comparing the horror those people went through to people being fed and housed who have been convicted of committing crimes is actually insulting to people who suffered under slavery and very ignorant...

[–] FrankUnderwood2016 10 years ago

prison is prison, and regardless of race people are put there based on THEIR crimes. Slaves are abducted and sold into a life of hard labor with no pay and horrible treatment for doing nothing wrong... OH YEAH thats totally the same... it really bothers me people saying stuff like this because its just so ignorant and uneducated... especially a black man making that kind of comparison, it shows a lack of respect and understanding for those who where slaves

[–] littlegeorgie 10 years ago

So basically there's no longer any such thing as institutionalized racism...is that about it???

No man lies so boldly as the man who is indignant.

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[–] FrankUnderwood2016 10 years ago

If I'm the troll you speak of then you are so ignorant you can't realize how important this topic is to address, my argument is solid and those who can't see its legitimacy just don't want too.... or maybe your just John Legend and starting to realize how much of an insult what you said was and how ignorant of person you truly are.

[–] JosiahSilas 10 years ago

It's not that people in prisons didn't commit a crime, but that black communities are losing the resources and opportunities to keep them out of prisons. Good paying jobs are relocating and schools are underfunded.

It reminds me of Precious when the mom is telling her to forget about school and get on food stamps. You don't have to be an evil person to teach your kid that, you just live in a place where food stamps seems like a more direct and guaranteed means of getting resources because your schools suck and you don't have money for college.

Our country shouldn't be creating those environments.

----
with every new discovery, there is risk

[–] olliebivins53 10 years ago

Correct. In the South police forces evolved from slave patrols. But this bit of history is probably falling on the deaf ears of the op.

[–] FrankUnderwood2016 10 years ago

first of all, I don't need to attach a quote, watch the speech then tell me everything I touch on isn't included. Secondly, "the south police forces have evolved into slave patrols" WHAT ARE YOU EVEN SAYING, deaf ears???? NO!! It isn't all some conspiracy, the president is BLACK! the last year Best Picture was about slavery! Im guessing you say this because of incidents like Ferguson? Like I said there may be people who have power with their own agendas but honestly.... now you are insulting anyone from the south by claiming this kind of nonsense... this is truly delusional!! KKK morphing into police departments??? are you trying to sound ignorant?

[–] olliebivins53 10 years ago

Read history about the origins of the modern American police force.

You seem to becoming unhinged. Chill.

[–] olliebivins53 10 years ago

http://www.plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/brief-history-slavery-and-origins-american-policing

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[–] blackalaureate 10 years ago

first of all, I don't need to attach a quote,

yes you do. all you're doing is paraphrasing what you think he said.

Secondly, "the south police forces have evolved into slave patrols"

they did. there are many major cities that have connections between their police departments and the klan. google it.

the president is BLACK!

so?

the last year Best Picture was about slavery!

so?

Im guessing you say this because of incidents like Ferguson?

ferguson isn't special. that kind of thing happens all over the country.

"Please disabuse yourself of the notion that my purpose on earth is to tuck ignorance in at night."

[–] UTmovieguy 10 years ago

You hypocrite. You tell him to provide quotes, to stop paraphrasing, yet you go on and do the same thing. So typical of self righteous liberals, you try to hold others accountable to a certain rule, then ignore that rule yourself.

[–] Hancockenstein 10 years ago

doesn't really matter what spawned the police force if it isn't largely and systematically biased towards black people today, which the OP believes. dwelling on it wouldn't do any good.

Plot hole - Aspect of a film that is misunderstood or missed while using your smart phone.

[–] nostairwaydenied 10 years ago

doesn't really matter what spawned the police force if it isn't largely and systematically biased towards black people today

On the evening news:

unarmed teen was shot dead (notice the headline didn't specify the race, it could very well be white)

unarmed black teen was shot dead (every headline has this now on local news)

[–] Hancockenstein 10 years ago

i'm not agreeing with the OP's assessment of the police wherever he's lived if that's what you're saying. i've no clue where that is.

Plot hole - Aspect of a film that is misunderstood or missed while using your smart phone.

[–] AidaClarkfield 9 years ago

"Police kill more whites than blacks, but minority deaths generate more outrage
Analysis contradicts widespread views about racial targets"

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/21/police-kill-more-whites-than-blacks-but-minority-d/?page=all

[–] halomaniac88 10 years ago

What is really ironic is that he is not even full black, his skintone is lighter than most Indian people.

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[–] activista 10 years ago

Uh, he's a black man, dear. Having a light-skin tone dosen't make him white, and that's an ignorant statement that you made anyway, because black people come in all kinds of colors. It also dosen't necessarily mean he's biracial,either. Having slightly light skin (and honestly, Legend is not even that light-skinned compared to other light-skinned black folks I've seen) And the OP is an ignorant fool----every time a black person wants to say something about racism, some white folks (like the OP) throw a damn fit just because THEY don't want to hear anything about it.

I thought the speech was great----only people who have their heads up their a** and have no idea what is going on in this country had a problem with it.

Here's how Common's speech ruffled a lot of feathers on Chinese social media---especially when he mentioned the Hong Kong protestors----they really appreciated the shout-out,apparently:

https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/23/china-hong-kong-protests-common-o scars/

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[–] FrankUnderwood2016 10 years ago

Thats the point though, people in prison have nothing to do with race, THEY COMMITTED CRIMES, and are serving time justly for those actions, again to rephrase comparing the suffering of slaves who where STOLEN or BORN into a life of horrible treatment, based on RACE to CRIMINALS in prison is ignorant and disrespectful... You sir have your head up your a** because you support the audacity to live in one of the best countries in the world, that we are lucky enough to have a legal system and goverment that protects our rights and punishes those who BREAK THE LAW and believe some ultimate conspiracy to place the black man in prison is ridiculous, no one forced these people to be criminals, REGARDLESS OF RACE PEOPLE IN PRISON COMMITTED CRIMES TO BE THERE, PERIOD.

[–] blackalaureate 10 years ago

Thats the point though, people in prison have nothing to do with race,

A new academic study of 58,000 federal criminal cases has found significant disparities in sentencing for blacks and whites arrested for the same crimes. The research led to the conclusion that African-Americans’ jail time was almost 60% longer than white sentences.

THEY COMMITTED CRIMES, and are serving time justly for those actions

http://www.exonerationproject.org/

, again to rephrase comparing the suffering of slaves who where STOLEN or BORN into a life of horrible treatment, based on RACE to CRIMINALS in prison is ignorant and disrespectful

read the constitution.

"Please disabuse yourself of the notion that my purpose on earth is to tuck ignorance in at night."

[–] activista 9 years ago

@frankUnderwood

First of all, I'm a woman, not a man, so don't call me "sir". And, sorry to bust your bubble, but not EVERY person in prison is there because they actually committed a crime. Practically every month on the news there's a story about someone who just got let out of prison after 20 or 30 years when it was finally determined that they did not commit the crime for which they went to prison for. You'd be surprised how many people wind up in jail for crimes they didn't commit, simply because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time, or couldn't afford a lawyer to give them an adequate defense, or didn't have anybody to advocate for them. It's more common than you think. Just on the news today a man convicted of murder 20 years ago (despite the fact that he had more than 10 witnesses who could prove that he wasn't even in the state he lived in around the time the murder took place) was finally released when it was proved that he couldn't have been the one who did it. A young man in Detroit just got out of jail last week after being cleared and declared innocent of four murder charges--he'd already been in jail 9 years. What's messed up about his case is that the real killer had already confessed to the crimes at the time, yet this young man, who was only 14 at the time he was arrested, still wound up behind bars for something he didn't do. Two brothers here in Michigan just got out of jail a couple of years back after serving a 25-year sentence for a murder they didn't commit. Another dude just got out of prison after 50 years for a crime he didn't commit either, after, once again it was proven that he didn't do it.

Point being, innocent people winding up in jail and doing time happens more often then you think. And,hell,yeah, black people are profiled and targeted more as criminals simply because they are black a good deal of the time---that's a known and accepted fact, and it's been that way since America began. Read The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, and that will explain it to you. Anybody who knows anything about the history of racism and how it operates institution-wise knows that the justice system has a history of being racist toward black people, and still does. Do the research, and don't try to tell black people that this s*** is just all in our heads, and that we're just making s*** up for the hell of it. And only an idiot would think that finally electing a black president just automatically made racism disappear. Get real, please, and get your head our of your a**, where is clearly still is, apparently.

[–] StrontiumAE 10 years ago

What is really ironic is that he is not even full black, his skintone is lighter than most Indian people.

So much stupid in one sentence.

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[–] WinInLife 10 years ago

This entire post is a classic example of what happens when arrogance meets ignorance... Nothing more to say here...

[–] Black_Lies_Matter 10 years ago

In other words, you can't even attempt to refute it. How pathetic.

[–] WinInLife 10 years ago

There's no need. Others have made compelling counter-arguments.

[–] Black_Lies_Matter 10 years ago

Other failed miserably, like you.

[–] littlegeorgie 10 years ago

...in the meantime...

Your sweet little niece Becky has not actually progressed from an addiction to prescription meds to heroin...she's just "having a little trouble finding herself". And nephew Bobby is not really an alcoholic just because he's had three DUI's...he just "likes to 'party' to offset all the stresses of college life".

...And you get to keep telling yourself all those same kinds of little white lies about life being just the same as it's always been.

It ain't!

Wake up!

Your picture of the world is extremely outdated and distorted. Institutional racism is a real concept. And easily provable looking at some of our historical race-based legal statutes. For example: Interracial marriage was legally outlawed in America until 1967. Now try and guess who benefited from those kinds of statutes. (I'll give you a hint: It wasn't black people.) It was and is real!

No man lies so boldly as the man who is indignant.

[–] MrSuave56 10 years ago

Yes there was institutional racism;Jim Crow laws,Black codes,unfair housing laws and practices.That's a tragic part of America's history.Since the late '60s ALL those laws have been abolished.There are no institutions that are legally discriminating.Well what about the difference in time served for various crimes?
My answer is because on average whites can afford better lawyers.As the fact that
judges see on average alot more blacks in his courtroom.There is no conspiracy among the police to round-up blacks that aren't committing crimes.
In closing there is no institutional racism,meaning schools,jobs,transportation,housing and government are prohibited from discriminating against any American!
PS Most states allowed black and white people to marry years before 1967.

[–] littlegeorgie 10 years ago

Textbook irony!

Did you happen to see today's headlines regarding the US Justice Department and the City of Ferguson, MO?

New Orleans and the Justice Department?

Seattle and the JD?

Or how about the astronomical amounts in settlements that the cities of LA and NY have admitted to paying out in recent years as a result of institutional racism carried out by their respective police forces?

Demographics of the 800,000 people stopped in NY's "stop and frisk" program versus the percent of actual arrests?

Comparative sentences between blacks and whites for equal drug crimes? Their comparative incarceration rates for those crimes even though they both use drugs around the same amount?

Redlining ALL over virtually every major city in America?

The demographics of Hollywood versus the state of California?

Wall Street?

Congress?

...and so on...

No man lies so boldly as the man who is indignant.

[–] Black_Lies_Matter 10 years ago

He's clearly nothing more than an ignorant bigot.

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