"Taylor's Death: A grim reminder for us all

[bullets]

who blamed black people??

 

[\S/JcDc\S/]

That was quite well written. Good read.

 

[Excel]

And that?

Also when you're talking about making guns illegal... you're talking every. You made it about every.

Every handgun would be illegal; but theres noway every handgun would be off the street and no shootings would happen. what I meant was youd never prevent it from happening; theyd always be some just out there unaccounted for.

 

[thedeadite]

I'll never fully understand the mentality of the "need" for handguns (and assault weapons, though I know that's not part of this discussion at all) in society. Like was said before, they are designed for no other purpose but to kill.
I always hear people using excuses like, "I need it to defend my home" etc..and I guess if it helps them sleep at night, that's a legitimate reason to them. Personally though I don't see the connection.
I've never owned a gun, and have lived in some pretty horrid areas in my life and never found the use for one either.
Maybe I'm just "lucky" or something.
I also wonder why guns bought for "protection" end up killing the people they are trying to protect, more than being used to "defend" themselves.

 

[Aristotle]

who blamed black people??

This guy:

There's a reason I call them the Black KKK. The pain, the fear and the destruction are all the same.

Someone who loved Sean Taylor is crying right now. The life they knew has been destroyed, an 18-month-old baby lost her father, and, if you're a black man living in America, you've been reminded once again that your life is in constant jeopardy of violent death.

The Black KKK claimed another victim, a high-profile professional football player with a checkered past this time.

No, we don't know for certain the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death. I could very well be proven wrong for engaging in this sort of aggressive speculation. But it's no different than if you saw a fat man fall to the ground clutching his chest. You'd assume a heart attack, and you'd know, no matter the cause, the man needed to lose weight.

Well, when shots are fired and a black man hits the pavement, there's every statistical reason to believe another black man pulled the trigger. That's not some negative, unfair stereotype. It's a reality we've been living with, tolerating and rationalizing for far too long.

When the traditional, white KKK lynched, terrorized and intimidated black folks at a slower rate than its modern-day dark-skinned replacement, at least we had the good sense to be outraged and in no mood to contemplate rationalizations or be fooled by distractions. Our new millennium strategy is to pray the Black KKK goes away or ignores us. How's that working?

About as well as the attempt to shift attention away from this uniquely African-American crisis by focusing on an alleged injustice the white media allegedly perpetrated against Sean Taylor.

Within hours of his death, there was a story circulating that members of the black press were complaining that news outlets were disrespecting Taylor's victimhood by reporting on his troubled past

No disrespect to Taylor, but he controlled the way he would be remembered by the way he lived. His immature, undisciplined behavior with his employer, his run-ins with law enforcement, which included allegedly threatening a man with a loaded gun, and the fact a vehicle he owned was once sprayed with bullets are all pertinent details when you've been murdered.

Marcellus Wiley, a former NFL player, made the radio circuit Wednesday, singing the tune that athletes are targets. That was his explanation for the murders of Taylor and Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams and the armed robberies of NBA players Antoine Walker and Eddy Curry.

Really?

Let's cut through the bull(manure) and deal with reality. Black men are targets of black men. Period. Go check the coroner's office and talk with a police detective. These bullets aren't checking W-2s.

Rather than whine about white folks' insensitivity or reserve a special place of sorrow for rich athletes, we'd be better served mustering the kind of outrage and courage it took in the 1950s and 1960s to stop the white KKK from hanging black men from trees.

But we don't want to deal with ourselves. We take great joy in prescribing medicine to cure the hate in other people's hearts. Meanwhile, our self-hatred, on full display for the world to see, remains untreated, undiagnosed and unrepentant.

Our self-hatred has been set to music and reinforced by a pervasive culture that promotes a crab-in-barrel mentality.

You're damn straight I blame hip hop for playing a role in the genocide of American black men. When your leading causes of death and dysfunction are murder, ignorance and incarceration, there's no reason to give a free pass to a culture that celebrates murder, ignorance and incarceration. Of course there are other catalysts, but until we recapture the minds of black youth, convince them that it's not OK to "super man dat ho" and end any and every dispute by "cocking on your *****," nothing will change.

Does a Soulja Boy want an education?

HBO did a fascinating documentary on Little Rock Central High School, the Arkansas school that required the National Guard so that nine black kids could attend in the 1950s. Fifty years later, the school is one of the nation's best in terms of funding and educational opportunities. It's 60 percent black and located in a poor black community.

Watch the documentary and ask yourself why nine poor kids in the '50s risked their lives to get a good education and a thousand poor black kids today ignore the opportunity that is served to them on a platter.

Blame drugs, blame Ronald Reagan, blame George Bush, blame it on the rain or whatever. There's only one group of people who can change the rotten, anti-education, pro-violence culture our kids have adopted. We have to do it. According to reports, Sean Taylor had difficulty breaking free from the unsavory characters he associated with during his youth.

The "keepin' it real" mantra of hip hop is in direct defiance to evolution. There's always someone ready to tell you you're selling out if you move away from the immature and dangerous activities you used to do, you're selling out if you speak proper English, embrace education, dress like a grown man, do anything mainstream.

The Black KKK is enforcing the same crippling standards as its parent organization. It wants to keep black men in their place — uneducated, outside the mainstream and six feet deep.

In all likelihood, the Black Klan and its mentality buried Sean Taylor, and any black man or boy reading this could be next.

 

[Excel]

I'll never fully understand the mentality of the "need" for handguns (and assault weapons, though I know that's not part of this discussion at all) in society. Like was said before, they are designed for no other purpose but to kill.
I always hear people using excuses like, "I need it to defend my home" etc..and I guess if it helps them sleep at night, that's a legitimate reason to them. Personally though I don't see the connection.
I've never owned a gun, and have lived in some pretty horrid areas in my life and never found the use for one either.
Maybe I'm just "lucky" or something.
I also wonder why guns bought for "protection" end up killing the people they are trying to protect, more than being used to "defend" themselves.

I can def. see why somebody would want a gun; I am just saying make it a rifle or nothing; because not many people are gonna break into a house with a shotgun stuffed down their pants because they couldnt get a handgun; they either wont have a weapon (therefore not harm you) or (more likely) wont do the burglary at all.

HOWEVER that leavses the crazy assed group of thriller killers out there;hence why I would (and plan to) buy some sort of rifle.

 

[bullets]

i thought you might of been referring to one of our posts, aristotle

 

[Gilpesh]

Every handgun would be illegal; but theres noway every handgun would be off the street and no shootings would happen. what I meant was youd never prevent it from happening; theyd always be some just out there unaccounted for.

Why would ban handguns then if it wouldn't do anything?

 

[Excel]

Why would ban handguns then if it wouldn't do anything?

Getting rid of upwards of 80% of handguns and preventing that number from ever decreasing isnt doing anything

 

[Ghostvirus]

I am with some of you. I don't understand the need for handguns. I mean killing some one with your bare hands is much more thrilling. You can look into their eyes, & soak up there panic, & horror. As they fade into the darkness.

Good Times.

 

[AhabTheArab]

i can sympathize with you trying to get rid of handguns... but its never going to happen. i repeat, never. its a gun, which falls under the second amendment, which will never be repealed, because the people will not allow it. period. constitutional rights are not to be played with, regardless of the 'facts' that say changing them will make them better, people will come out in droves if you threaten something like that.

and i think the article was pretty damn good. and spot on if you ask me... and everyone arguing its wrong is simply bringing up points the article already pointed out... making themselves look illiterate....

oh and its a god damned shame it took two deaths in the NFL for people to finally notice, oh maybe black on black crime is a problem... the media coverage of this single murder is ludicrous. no disrespect intended.

 

[Joker]

omg, a black guy killed a black guy, and it was gang related!...they're the only race who kills within there race!!!!! oh wait...mobsters have been killing each other off by the dozens forever, and they're all white...same with the yakuza...and any other society where there's any crime at all...oh, and WWI, that was all different races on each side...oh wait, no, it was mostly a bunch of white europeans killing each other on a grand scale...

people are going to kill other people, regardless of race, sex, age, etc. If both of them happen to be the same race it's not big deal, just another dead motherf**ker in the wrong place at the wrong god damn time.

 

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

okay, so maybe it's because i'm white, but i never understood the concept of "black on black" crime. they say that like all black people are supposed to live in some kind of harmony.

now i'm not saying that any kind of crime against anybody is okay, but why is it such a big deal when a black man commits a crime, or kills, another black man? what about when a white person does it to another white person? or an asian against another asian?

i understand the struggles that black people have faced in this country, they've gone through more negatives in this country than any single group of people other than native americans who were all but wiped out.

but this notion of "black on black" crime is ridiculous. it has nothing to do with race, OR culture.

i'm sorry, but hip hop did NOT create the atmosphere of violence, and anybody who thinks that hip hop PROMOTES such activity obviously doesn't listen to hip hop. they see some black gang bangers, and a parental advisory label, and jump to conclussions, but have no idea what they are talking about.

 

[AhabTheArab]

how does black on black crime not have anything to do with race?

the numbers have said, clearly, that black males kill other black males at an alarmingly larger rate than any other race. its just a fact. sorry, but it is. hop out of that bubble and join us in the real world.

 

[Joker]

how does black on black crime not have anything to do with race?

the numbers have said, clearly, that black males kill other black males at an alarmingly larger rate than any other race. its just a fact. sorry, but it is. hop out of that bubble and join us in the real world.

FACT: most major us cities are still largely segregated. races tend to live near one another.

FACT: most crime, including murder, takes place in the inner city, lower income section of cities, which are usually mostly populated with minorities.

taking these two things, it quickly becomes relevant that it's not black people killing black people cause they secretly hate themselves and have listened to too much of that damn hip hop music, but simply because it's convineint. If I were to ever kill anyone, I'm sure they'd be white, not cause metal and secret self hatred rotted my brain, but because they were closest at the time.

 

[Kaleb]

I normally dont like Jason whitlock , but I have to admit that was a very good read.

 

[StrainedEyes]

That column is ridiculous. People living in poverty can't just get up and get out of it. They are kept in check by a system designed deliberately to do so--that's why so few successfully escape being poor. It's not because they're lazy, or because they don't want to work, or because they're immoral--it's because the system doesn't work for them.

So yeah, people in desperation commit desperate acts. That's why terrorism happens. That's why poor people commit a lot of low-level crimes. That's why these things happen. That's why there's a lot of criminality in black neighborhoods.

And yes, it should be blamed on Reagan, it should be blamed on Bush, it should be blamed on the Republicans for perpetuating myths like "welfare queens" and scary black men, it should be blamed on the Democrats for selling out on the promises they've been making for decades, it should be blamed on corporations for pillaging the people of this nation, it should be blamed on rich people for going along with all of this, it should be blamed on middle-class people for ignoring it and being intimidated into subconscious racism, it should be blamed on the system, it should be blamed on the people who PERPETRATE IT.

Blaming black people for the situation they're trapped in, is like blaming a rape victim.

But people do get out, a lot of people. How do you explain them? Luck? The few the system lets by so the world doesn't think twice? Or is it drive and determination?

 

[PemLam]

i can sympathize with you trying to get rid of handguns... but its never going to happen. i repeat, never. its a gun, which falls under the second amendment, which will never be repealed, because the people will not allow it. period. constitutional rights are not to be played with, regardless of the 'facts' that say changing them will make them better, people will come out in droves if you threaten something like that.

and i think the article was pretty damn good. and spot on if you ask me... and everyone arguing its wrong is simply bringing up points the article already pointed out... making themselves look illiterate....

oh and its a god damned shame it took two deaths in the NFL for people to finally notice, oh maybe black on black crime is a problem... the media coverage of this single murder is ludicrous. no disrespect intended.

The constituation allows for people to own guns as part of a well regulated militia to ensure the security of a free State...it has zero to do with Joe Homeowner wanting to own a handgun for the security of his household or his car or anything else. It, like many other laws, have been bastardized to such an extent that they no longer resemble anything like what our forefathers intended.

As a PO, I'd fully support a ban on privately owned weapons, though I'm not naive enough to believe it would get all the guns off the street.

 

[The Sage]

Fantastic article, I can't disagree at all.

 

[DBella]

Very enlightening and bold article. When I first heard of Taylor's death, what's written didn't cross my mind although I've heard of Taylor's checkered past.

I think it's always easier to blame the system and blame society for people tend to shirk away from personal accountablity. This article doesn't do that. No doubt we are a product of our environment and the system and society do play a part in molding our lives but ultimately, we have a choice; we either let ourselves be victimized and turn to a life of crime or we can take a different path and be a survivor and succeed at life. It can be done for it has been done. It may not be easy, but it's not impossible.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

Wait, has more information come to light about Taylor's death, last I heard it was a home invasion/robbery gone horribly wrong. While tragic, not all that uncommon.

 

[bell110]

That column is ridiculous. People living in poverty can't just get up and get out of it. They are kept in check by a system designed deliberately to do so--that's why so few successfully escape being poor. It's not because they're lazy, or because they don't want to work, or because they're immoral--it's because the system doesn't work for them.

So yeah, people in desperation commit desperate acts. That's why terrorism happens. That's why poor people commit a lot of low-level crimes. That's why these things happen. That's why there's a lot of criminality in black neighborhoods.

And yes, it should be blamed on Reagan, it should be blamed on Bush, it should be blamed on the Republicans for perpetuating myths like "welfare queens" and scary black men, it should be blamed on the Democrats for selling out on the promises they've been making for decades, it should be blamed on corporations for pillaging the people of this nation, it should be blamed on rich people for going along with all of this, it should be blamed on middle-class people for ignoring it and being intimidated into subconscious racism, it should be blamed on the system, it should be blamed on the people who PERPETRATE IT.

Blaming black people for the situation they're trapped in, is like blaming a rape victim.

Wrong. I like how you listed people that "should" be blamed except the people that HAVE to be blamed, them selves. "The system" isn't keeping black people down. They do it themselves.

The point of this guys article, which some of you are missing, is that poor black people embrace the thug culture. If they really wanted to make something of themselves, they could. Like the guy said, they have access to free education that wasn't available to them 50 years ago, and they had to fight to get it. Now, it's uncool to be educated. School is for losers and is considered "acting white". You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

This guy Taylor, sad that he died, but face it, he could have prevented it. He got out of the slums of the city, playing pro football and became rich, yet he still embraced his thug mentality, and he was murdered for it. Same with Tupac and Biggie.

There will always be poor people and there will always be criminals. BUT, you do not have to embrace it and just blame all of those problems on "the system".

 

[AhabTheArab]

Wrong. I like how you listed people that "should" be blamed except the people that HAVE to be blamed, them selves. "The system" isn't keeping black people down. They do it themselves.

The point of this guys article, which some of you are missing, is that poor black people embrace the thug culture. If they really wanted to make something of themselves, they could. Like the guy said, they have access to free education that wasn't available to them 50 years ago, and they had to fight to get it. Now, it's uncool to be educated. School is for losers and is considered "acting white". You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

bingo. not gonna get outta those slums without an education, i dont care how much rock you sell. pointed out that the one school was one of the tops for funding, yet it was around a low income community, so only 60% of the potential population went. thats ****ing pathetic. "RING RING THEY CALLING MR WELFARE." - Big Daddy Kane

 

[StorminNorman]

ok I didnt say that because thatd never work. Handguns from the public only; cops have em but thats it.

SOME criminals would obviously have them; but if they are illegal to possess guess what

1. People will think twice bout bring it out in public
2. Obviously much harder to get

They would be like weed. Though its illegal; youd have to live witht he realization they exist; but you cant deney it would save a large number of lives.

I can, easily. By taking away guns from law abiding citizens you are giving them no defense against guns held by criminals.

Also, rap music is a large reason why black culture today is screwed up. When you have the message that defiling women, shooting cops and each other and taking a cap in your ass is honorable and right - its going to encourage some to turn their life to such a disgusting way of life.

Rap music is not what killed Sean Taylor, but it certainly played a roll in the culture that did.

 

[StorminNorman]

Wait, has more information come to light about Taylor's death, last I heard it was a home invasion/robbery gone horribly wrong. While tragic, not all that uncommon.

Honestly, the fact he was shot in the groin makes me think it was a bit more personal.

From what I have heard there is no real leads, no suspects, not much of anything - pretty much making any motive a guessing game.