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Let's have the conversation about race
CNN ^ | August 26, 2013 | Ruben Navarrette

Posted on 08/26/2013 2:32:05 PM PDT by neverdem

Americans are told we need to have a national conversation in which we talk about race.

And yet, when we have horrific crimes with white victims where the alleged perpetrators are African-American or Latino, we're told that we can't talk about race.

This isn't true when the roles are reversed. If the victims are African-American or Latino, and the alleged perpetrator is white, we talk about race until our throats go dry.

Confused? Join the club.

If Americans don't understand it, how are we to explain any of this to the grieving family of Christopher Lane, a 22-year-old college baseball player from Melborne, Australia, who was recently gunned down while jogging in a neighborhood a world away -- Duncan, Oklahoma?

According to police, the evidence suggests that the shooting was not premeditated and random. It could have been part of a gang initiation, according to a theory floated by the father of a boy who the three teenagers allegedly tried to recruit.

But here's the headline: Prosecutors say that the killing was not about race, despite the fact that one alleged assailant left a long cyber trail on social media where he talked about hating "woods" (derogatory slang for white people) and glorified guns and violence.

"At this point, the evidence does not support the theory that Christopher Lane was targeted based upon his race or nationality," said District Attorney Jason Hicks.

As ghoulish as it sounds, it may be that the three teenagers responsible for the shooting -- 15-year-old James Edwards and 16-year-old Chancey Luna, who have been charged with first-degree murder, and 17-year-old Michael Long, who has been charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder for driving the car -- were simply bored and decided to kill someone. Unfortunately for Lane, who was visiting his...

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: christopherlane
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1 posted on 08/26/2013 2:32:05 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem

Hey, let’s not! Okay? Racism wasn’t really an issue until Barry O came along. Thanks to our man-child President, you can bet a lot more people who never uttered the ‘N-word’ are thinking it today.


2 posted on 08/26/2013 2:34:51 PM PDT by AdaGray (Primary Them All)
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To: neverdem
Updated for the era of 0bama:

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and will bash in the heads of the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. and get no approbation from the President or their community.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice EBT cards and bastard babies.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but and not by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. and beat them to a pulp on school buses.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley politician shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low exactly the same height by law, the rough places will be made plain like Detroit, and the crooked places will be made straight like Chicago, and the glory of the Lord The One shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

3 posted on 08/26/2013 2:37:23 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie (No bombs for Al Qaeda in Syria!)
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To: neverdem

4 posted on 08/26/2013 2:38:07 PM PDT by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: neverdem

0bama is a racist, proved by the fact he will NEVER call out the black community for its horrific acts of racist violence.


5 posted on 08/26/2013 2:38:39 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie (No bombs for Al Qaeda in Syria!)
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To: neverdem
CNN ? ?
6 posted on 08/26/2013 2:38:43 PM PDT by tomkat
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To: neverdem

Between the conservative media and Eric Holder, who is the coward about race discussion now?


7 posted on 08/26/2013 2:39:55 PM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: neverdem

Navarette usually writes sensible columns. This is one of them.


8 posted on 08/26/2013 2:41:18 PM PDT by Gumdrop
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To: neverdem
If Americans don't understand it, how are we to explain any of this to the grieving family of Christopher Lane, a 22-year-old college baseball player from Melborne, Australia, who was recently gunned down while jogging in a neighborhood a world away -- Duncan, Oklahoma?

Confused? Not really. The contradiction arises because we allow the stupidest (intellectually, morally, or in some cases both), most evil people not only to participate in policy discussion, but in fact to set the assumptions and vocabulary. The result is hardly surprising or confusing, except why anyone would allow such a thing in the first place.

9 posted on 08/26/2013 2:41:38 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: neverdem

No, let’s have a talk about culture.


10 posted on 08/26/2013 2:42:09 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: neverdem
Here's my contribution in a nutshell...neither I nor *any* of my ancestors were involved in slavery in *any* way,nor were they involved in the KKK or any other similar organization.I can prove this claim with birth certificates (American and European) as well as census records and other documents.

Therefore I accept no responsibility whatsoever for any injustices that some people here may have experienced.

11 posted on 08/26/2013 2:42:14 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (If Obama Had A City It Would Look Like Detroit)
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To: neverdem

Sick of the race crap and how everyone has a label put on them. Sick of it.


12 posted on 08/26/2013 2:43:21 PM PDT by funfan
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To: neverdem

Bttt


13 posted on 08/26/2013 2:43:55 PM PDT by digger48
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To: neverdem

14 posted on 08/26/2013 2:44:17 PM PDT by Hotlanta Mike ("Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish - too much handling will spoil it." Lao Tzu)
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To: neverdem

These “conversations about race” tend to become lectures about how guilty we should all feel about historical stuff we, and in most cases our forefathers, had no control over. They do more harm than good.

Perhaps the best way to overcome racism is to overcome the stereotypical behavior that leads to racism.

I think what passes for “racism” today is simply a foreseeable reaction to gangsta culture, and that reaction can be provoked by members of any race. When people dress and behave in a way designed to provoke fear, they provoke fear. When people dress and behave in a way to provoke shock or disgust, they get shunned.


15 posted on 08/26/2013 2:44:50 PM PDT by keats5 (Not all of us are hypnotized.)
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To: Gay State Conservative
Here's my contribution in a nutshell...neither I nor *any* of my ancestors were involved in slavery in *any* way,nor were they involved in the KKK or any other similar organization.

Don't come from a Democrat family, then?

16 posted on 08/26/2013 2:45:34 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: neverdem

No, lets have a conversation about character and the values that Americans are expected to hold and support. This like personal responsibility, respecting the law, not stealing, or murdering, or robbing, or raping or attacking others.

Lets start with that conversation before we move on to other things like working for a living, supporting your family, getting an education to better yourself, protecting others and setting an example for your friends and family.

After that, we can move on to things that really don’t matter like the color of a person’s skin.


17 posted on 08/26/2013 2:46:16 PM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: Uncle Miltie

Excellent and brilliant!


18 posted on 08/26/2013 2:47:12 PM PDT by freedumb2003 (In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. (Yogi Berra))
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To: dfwgator
No, let’s have a talk about culture.

That would actually be a "meaningful" conversation.
19 posted on 08/26/2013 2:47:13 PM PDT by Sopater (Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? - Matthew 20:15a)
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To: neverdem
...it may be that the three teenagers responsible for the shooting... were simply bored and decided to kill someone.

I imagine some profiling was involved. Although it may not have involved the victim's skin color, it certainly involved looking for someone who was not in a position to fight back (i.e. shot in the back).
20 posted on 08/26/2013 2:49:49 PM PDT by Sopater (Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? - Matthew 20:15a)
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