#but i have NEVER experienced someone so blatant about their racism with a stranger before

[ambersky0319]

OH YEAH WILD AND UNPLEASANT CUSTOMER INTERACTION THIS AFTERNOON (early in my shift too)

below cut cause uh. tw racism

so first words outta this assholes mouth are to comment on my "pretty blue eyes". i dont say anything, just ask what he would like. he tells me one of the salads, and as im grabbing the stuff, he says "you probably go to university right? you look like a university girl"

i say yeah, cause i have no reason to keep that to myself. he says "probably a doctor or lawyer, huh?" and im like "nope, writer" as im beginning to put his salad into a container

and then this bitch says "what do you think of the arabs in the university higher ups?"

ALARM BELLS FUCKIN RING IN MY HEAD

"i dont really care," i say. because i dont, good for them.

he continues, saying that the arabs and syrians are gonna replace us and steal our jobs and at this point im just tryna very quickly finish up this interaction cause i am this 👌 close to saying something that would probably get me fired or purposely provoke him which while could have been fun. would mean having to interact with him longer than necessary. so i tell him im not allowed to talk about these things at work

to which he says "well i can" and then something unintelligible about his relationship to the government? idk i was tuning his ass out at this point, asked if he would be getting anything else, and as soon as he said no i escaped to the back to tell my managers wtf just happened

after this interaction too the blue eye comment made me EVEN MORE uncomfortable to think about

[workersolidarity]

Video Investigation: How Rayshard Brooks Was Fatally Shot by Atlanta Police https://nyti.ms/2UHMAM9

Okay, so before ranting about all the typical things we already know about the American Police State, the culture of violence and cover-up within police departments, and the way black men are all treated like a "dangerous thug" by officers, I'd like to mention something a little different that people are FINALLY talking about; why police are called for these ridiculous situations they have business being involved to begin with.

So did these officers just stumble upon this man sleeping peacefully in his car while on routine patrol?

No, the first scene of the footage is a young rookie officer responding to a call at a Wendy's about a man sleeping peacefully in his car. Because the officer is still fairly unsure when and where to interfere with people minding their own business, he decides to call in a more experienced officer.

They must have both felt some level of discomfort about bothering a sleeping man of no immediate danger to himself or any else around him because they communicate with dispatch back and forth for a moment.

Now I would just like to point out that the two officers initial reaction is to question whether or not they should even be bothering someone who's of no immediate harm to himself or others. This is exactly what DO want officers to run through their minds before approaching someone in situations like these. People are known to act wildly out of character when confronted by police in the best of circumstances, let alone waking up to police in your face as black man in this country.

So it's worth pointing out that these officers clearly seem to feel like they are pressured into situations like these where they are interfering with people who are not suspected of having committed any crime. Clearly they feel like they are obligated to do do once the call has been made, and even THEN they question the wisdom of doing so.

The question is why someone felt the need to call the police because a man is sleeping in his car? If it was for his own "safety" they simply could have knocked on his window to make sure he was alright. But instead they chose to involve the police despite everything that's been in the news and on the streets over the last few weeks.

So why then, do we have such a culture of call police first, ask questions later. Some of it absolutely racism. But it does go beyond the racism under a microscope. We see arguing couples threaten each other with calling in police as form of punishment or control of another person. We see it with neighbors, strangers, employees of every day stores and restaurants.

At some point it becomes worth asking why people are so tempted to use the fear and power of police to punish or control one another. Why do people feel this inherent right to "control", "subdue", "punish", or get revenge through the tool of police?

I'm not going to pretend to have all the answers here, but I can start a conversation by simply mentioning what I see in these situations.

The fact of the matter is, for people motivated through intense emotions like those mentioned previously, or through vindictiveness, anger, or whatever it may be, the incredible authoritarian power that police wield, coupled with and endless supply of petty laws to use to wedge their way into a person's life through property such as bags, wallets, pockets, purses, car and home searches, etc. has proven itself too be way way much power for one person to wield against another through a simple 3 digit call in moments of intense emotion.

People are inherently nosy, cruel, vindictive, prejudiced, and petty. Giving the public a tool with which both literally and figuratively to batter one another to death with has proven itself to an absolutely absurd blunt tool to settle petty disputes or to handle minor crimes and incidents of property destruction. Even in cases of physical violence, actually look at the details of individual cases of people imprisoned for so-called "violent" crime, and what you'll find is a whole lot of petty fist fights, drunken brawls, disputes between couples, or cases when police throw themselves into the middle highly charged emotional situations and end up in a wrestling match with a drink guy in bar fight, and even cases of burglary and other obviously non-violent crimes that have been categorized as violent by decades of "tough on crime" politicians with no input from criminalogists or psychologists. Only a very miniscule percentage of violent crimes would fit most people's perception of a violent crime.

What I see, is a country full of prejudice, racism, abject poverty, alcoholism, addiction and unhealthy lifestyles, a perfect storm of conditions for lots of highly charged and emotional situations, lots of petty crime and minor cases of violence, and then you hand people this absurdly blunt tool of today's out-of-control Authoritarian Power in the form of not particularly educated police forces with little to oversight and no concern about repercussions.

Even if this country had NO history of racism, sexism and excessive violence this would STILL be a terrible idea!

It's very important that people call out the blatant racism in how opposing neighborhoods are Policed, and in how those Police respond to crimes with respect to different populations.

However, we also have to ask other just as equally tough questions like: Is this too much power to leave in the hands of people having a dispute with someone even without race and sex related issues. Or to put it another way, imagine a perfect America without racism, without sexism, without prejudice against the poor and homeless or disabled, without any kind of prejudice at all.

Now ask yourself if our problems would be solved without all the bias and hatred?

For me, personally this an easy one. This much power should NEVER be handed over to ANY kind of policing entity. Not your local police, not your Sheriff's Department, not your State Troopers, not the National Guard, the Army, the FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE.

This ALWAYS going to be a bad idea. And as much anger and pent up HATRED I have for the police, in this video, this time, I saw two officers were wondering whether it was even their place to bother a sleeping man in his car. A question I HIGHLY doubt the person called the police to begin with bothered asking themselves. And that is a cultural issue, combined with an entity of endless power and authoritarianism.

[sumukhcomedy]

I’ve Talked to Black People So I’m Not Racist

I sat on the bus with my teammates as we traveled for a middle school basketball game. At one point, one of my teammates said to a group of us, “Why can’t Stevie Wonder read?” We shrugged. And he said, “Because he’s Black.” The other kids laughed. Internally, I didn’t react well but I’m sure I chuckled just to continue my acceptance and survival as the only kid who wasn’t white on this bus.

Why do I remember this moment? Why is it one of the few moments that stand out from that basketball season? It’s because racism and its power stand out to you years later. And, now, as I and hopefully many others evaluate the depths to systemic racism, it stands out as a moment of systemic racism. We were barely teenagers and yet somehow my teammate gained knowledge of this racist joke. He passed along the racist joke to us. These kinds of seemingly innocent racist moments and even my place in them to feel as if I could do nothing shows you how far systemic racism goes.

These moments have been a part of me for my entire life. This is what happens when you grow up as a person of color in a predominantly white environment. I’m back at it again as I find myself, in these times, educating white people. This is the great issue of being BIPOC in white environments: you become accepted enough to hear racism but powerless by the system to be able to correct it.

I as a Brown person and certainly Black people get used in systemic racism to comfort white people into believing that they are not racist. For so many I have been “their Brown friend” or “their Indian friend” or whatever. This has also strangely made me a conduit not just to all Indian people but all Arabs, all Asians, all Black people, all Indigenous people, and the list goes on and on. That’s been the case in so many environments including even in comedy as I have written about previously. I have no idea what white people have equated me to be to comfort themselves. It could be anything from close friendships with them to a Facebook friendship to a stranger smiling at me to seeing my comedy show. Any of these can allow white people to feel like they are not racist because they simply have interacted with me.

The fact is that I could be the same way as well. Growing up in such a system means that I am just as white and privileged if I wanted to be. I could say nothing in the current situation that we are in and I would be just fine. Systemic racism and growing up in a white environment can train you to want to support white people and even defend them somehow. It’s particularly the case for Asians, who as the “model minority” get extra bonus points from white people for their success. We are the exemplary immigrant and person of color. So, it becomes easy for some of us to reciprocate white comfort and cozy up with white supremacy because it continues to benefit us.

I can’t say why but I knew, even at a young age, that even though I was in a white environment, I was seen more as my color than I was as white. So I knew I had to better understand that experience on a deeper level. I educated myself on Black issues, Indigenous issues, South Asian issues, and race theory while in college. I interacted with a Black community that ceased to exist where I grew up. I established friendships and valued real conversations on racism inside and outside of the classroom. I’ve done the same since graduating and moving into the strange world of stand-up comedy and in the business world. This effort allowed me to learn and I’m still learning.

An example to express how easy it is to not see systemic racism and white comfort was a video that went viral of John McCain campaigning prior to the 2008 presidential election. A woman in the crowd says to McCain, “I can’t trust Obama. He’s an Arab.” McCain quickly takes the microphone after shaking his head and says, “No, ma’am. He’s a decent family man, citizen, that I happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that’s what this campaign is all about.” Everyone has applauded McCain for his decency handling the situation but no one appears to ask the deeper-rooted questions. First, how did this woman get to this point that she’s thinking that way? How did she believe Obama was Arab? What does “being Arab” mean to her (clearly, terrorism, anti-Christianity and perhaps even worse). And, clearly she is not alone, as there was applause from the audience to her concerns. All white people, including McCain (stuck between a rock and a hard place as a politician having to accept these people still needed to vote for him), excused these comments. They brush her off as crazy and racist. But they never addressed why this kind of craziness and racism existed in the first place. They have never dealt with the fact that this kind of racism is a part of even them. Neither McCain nor even YouTube comments years later truly condemn such a question even existing.

53% of white women voted for Donald Trump. This is a stat that gets consistently brought up particularly by white feminists. But this stat hasn’t been dealt with at all. White women are caught in systemic racism and it’s clear, when push came to shove, they chose being white over being a woman. On a purely superficial level, they chose “grab ‘em by the pussy” over the first woman president in the country’s history. The reality is that some of these women (and white men) voted for Obama. How could they vote for Obama and then vote for Trump? It’s because, for so many, it was easy to brush off Obama’s election as the “end of racism.” But, the “end of racism” then signaled a quick move to voting for someone enacting blatant racist policies. Many people got comforted voting for Obama, so comforted that it allowed them to then vote for a man who accused him of not being born in America.

It’s not particularly fair to compare race and gender but I’m not sure how else to do it in these situations to drive home the point. As even a well-meaning man, I no longer tout myself as a feminist as I did in college. It’s a heavy, misunderstood word. But I listen to women, I support women, I speak up when I feel it’s right to do so and then I keep my mouth shut on the topic and keep learning. The same cannot be said of race in this country. So many people (men and women) are getting highly emotional and overwhelmed about it over the past few weeks, but rather than listening and learning, they keep talking. They behave in ways that only white people afforded the benefits of being at the top in systemic racism could have the opportunity to behave like. They speak with the same perspectives on race that systemic racism presented to them. And, when we do bring gender into it, we should understand how particularly difficult it is for Black women and the Black trans community within this system.

If you want to begin to reflect and address systemic racism, perhaps think about the moments in which you experienced it or took it for granted. Maybe it’s something you experienced when in school. Maybe it’s how you behaved with your “Black friend.” Maybe it’s when you watched McCain’s reaction in the video above. Maybe it’s the feeling you had when you voted for Obama. Maybe it’s the feeling you have when presented with the stats on Trump. Either way, we’ve finally reached a point of understanding where we all need to push away the thoughts that we are not racist and embrace how systemic racism has existed in our society forever, how it’s had an effect on us to make us racist, and how we change that.

If we allow ourselves to listen, reflect, and analyze before speaking up, we allow ourselves to get on the path of being antiracist as opposed to “not racist.” Otherwise, you can still applaud yourself for your one Brown friend talking to you or the two times you voted for Obama.

[cygnahime]

FFX Reliveblogging Part...4?

I'm grinding in the Omega Ruins in my other save, and mildly frustrated because Tidus has the highest strength in the party but......chocobo racing sucks, so he's capped at 9999 damage. Meanwhile Auron in yellow HP is doing 50k and hit 99,999 with a crit. Just the once, but it got me that trophy. I'm pretty sure Auronlu has already talked a lot about the Luca/Bevelle Crusaders/Warrior Monks conflict taking place in the background of the game. It first really comes up in Maechen's little discourse about the history of Lord Mi'ihen. Notable is that the Crusaders, originally founded as the Crimson Blades, were not originally part of the Yevonite power structure, but were subsumed presumably as an alternative to holy war. (Which is kind of hilarious, considering the our-world history of "Crusaders".) Ahhhh it's my favorite lesbians! And Clasko. I could say a lot of unkind things about the Battle Thongs, but the narrative at least never treats Lucil (and Elma) with less than total respect. Which I guess just shows how...gratuitous the clothing is. It's completely inconsistent with the characters. Bad design. Speaking of outfits, I looooove Belgemine's dress. It's so elegant! I'm pretty fond of her as a person, as well. And not just because she heals our aeons for us. She is a lady. I mean, also an undead, but it's rude to comment on these things. I usually lose this first aeon duel, but I'll give it my all anyway. Yes! I got off two Energy Blasts with a whole 37 HP to spare! Is Belgemine looking for Yuna specifically? Did she maybe meet Braska, either while alive or after death? Or is she just meeting up with all the promising summoners to see if one of them will prove worthy of her sisters? She's so mysterious and cool, I love her. Everyone has to practice their smiling faces when little kids cheer for Yuna bringing the Calm. It's very awkward, especially for Callie's mom, who does know. Now I'm talking to Luzzu and Gatta again, which of course leads me to the eternal question: who shall live and who shall die, who by fire and who by drowning, who by sword and who by beast. It's like the one branching-paths decision we make in this game, which means I think about it a lot. Additionally, when I first played this game I was deep in my Achilles/Patroclus phase and these two gave me feelings. They still do, but now the feelings contain a strong element of nostalgia. This area is just full of NPCs I love. Shelinda is a doormat, but I am fond of her. Even if it a bit rich of her to say, "It's not about defeating Sin!" to a summoner. Defeating Sin is everything to Yuna. And she still goes out of her way to make Shelinda feel better. Yuna is so kind. Auron does not have time for your racist bullshit, Wakka. Also we're all low on MP, especially you, and MP is life. We are not doing the other half of the Highroad like this. Continued adventures of endeavoring not to boost Lulu's affection through the roof. Lu, I love you, and I love talking to you, but please, let me get cutscenes with Yuna. I firmly believe that Yuna asked her guardians not to tell Tidus the full truth, after this scene if not before. She doesn't want him to change how he treats her. (How he treats her: giving her minor crises of faith every time they talk, but in a good way.) She's in a particularly yearning mood here, not least because she's just been recording her will. And here comes Tidus, acting like she has a future... (And all her other guardians pretending not to be eavesdropping.) (Up until Auron can't take it anymore, anyway.) Enter Rin, Al Bhed ambassador (unofficial). At least, he's the one out there taking up space and being Highly Visible, suggesting strangers learn the language, doing all that stuff. He is, however, definitely wearing a kink collar. No, I do not know why. I knocked the Chocobo Eater off the cliff for the very first time! Usually I kill it before pushing it that far back, but with Lulu, Auron, and Tidus all hasted, it didn't get enough turns to push back. This is usually the part of the game where I save the chocobo ride for later and grind for Ability Spheres. With Extract Ability, this will probably take less time than usual, though I also appreciate the extra AP. Plus I want to get Kimahri 'round to Steal ASAP. [Some time later] I wonder what Dona does between getting turned away at the gate and meeting us in Djose. Is there another way around, or does she just wait until Operation Mi'ihen explodes and take the main road? She's quite close behind us. I wonder if she stays to help with the aftermath as well, or if she just heads onward. She definitely got ahead of us at some point (Guadosalam if not before). I find her blend of selfishness and selflessness very intriguing. Seymour's moving on Yuna even here. I wonder if he picked her over Dona and Isaaru because she was the one he happened to encounter, or if it was deliberate: she's younger, more naive certainly than Dona, and certainly seems very devout (liable to be dazzled by a maester's attention), less experienced...younger. But I expect Seymour would have gotten quite a long way with Isaaru, who is after all the most devout of the three - and besides, if Seymour told him what becomes of a chosen guardian, Isaaru might do a lot to keep his brothers from that fate. Seymour says all the right things to and about the Crusaders, even things Tidus thinks (and we are likely to think) are true, but he doesn't mean any of them. He just wants the operation to occur as part of his power struggle with Kinoc, with a bonus of having an effect on Yuna, making her more urgently want to complete the pilgrimage before more people die. I doubt Auron's 100% got Seymour's specific number yet, but he does know he's a maester, and Auron is the founder of Team Fuck Yevon. He knows you don't move up in the ranks without stepping on the people below you. (I mean, also Seymour advocates blatant hypocrisy, which is just the Yevon leadership trademark.) Being asked to perform the sending before people die may be more of a burden than being asked after. That's a heavy emotional burden to place on a teenager. (Although I do think legal/cultural adulthood in Spira is younger than it is for us - life is short no time for childhood.) Fact: the first time I played, I didn't even notice Luzzu and Gatta standing over there and missed the scene entirely. It's a good scene, and really highlights how much Tidus still doesn't understand on a gut level. He sees Gatta wanting to fight, and doesn't think that he could die, and of course there're warring impulses there. God though, the HD remaster takes all the character out of Wakka's face, and I hate it. You know, some people might see saying, "I'll propose when we win the cup," as meaning, "when pigs fly". But I guess that doesn't make sense considering Lulu's behavior. "Being with your girl is good, but keeping Sin far away from her is better." God. Men. I mean, in Spira it's not just men - Lulu went on two pilgrimages to try to keep Yuna alive - but she's also not someone who appreciates being protected. Yeah, Tidus doesn't understand yet why Yuna let Luzzu go, because he doesn't know that she's going to her death, too. And if she feels it right to ignore all the people she loves and who love her telling her not to go, then it's right for Luzzu to do the same. They both think saving the world is more important. Wakka, Wakka no, Wakka don't - see? Racism and religious fundamentalism leads to hurting yourself by kicking a cannon when you're wearing sandals. (I do appreciate the realism though.) I flipped a coin, and it looks like this run, Gatta lives and Luzzu dies. I don't really have an opinion on which is best; it's tragic either way. Though I guess it feels a little more narratively awful to have Tidus naively suggesting Gatta go to the front lines where he gets killed...But the coin has spoken. I appreciate how they give Kinoc character and relationships in so little time. Just his intro - he walks up and hugs Auron, not a huggable person - says something. Auron is still stiff and cagey with him, but that he allowed himself to be embraced says there's more there. Of course, he's also plotting Operation Mi'ihen to break the Crusaders (and, if X-2 is taken into account, setting up the deaths of the Crimson Squad - I think to take out potential rivals), so it's not like he's a good person or anything. But he's less flat. Got the overkill on Gui with ease, thanks to Energy Blast. (And got everyone AP.) Man, Sin's arrival is Lovecraftian as fuck. I like it. The black tendrils snaking through the bay... top creepiness. How Lucil, Elma, and Clasko - how anyone - survived Sin's blast I'll never know. People were disintegrated where they stood! I also don't know how Seymour, a full caster, has the Strength to physically hold off Gui2. It's been weakened, sure, but come the heck on. (His Summon command, which he must have, is also not there. I guess we're not allowed to get a sneak peek of Anima yet.) I appreciate the extra touch of giving Seymour AP, to trick you into thinking he's going to join the party long-term. :C They almost got a shot off on Sin, but unfortunately, horseshoes and hand grenades. Also heartrending: the messages that come up when you check the corpses. Shut up, Seymour, I have another Energy Blast in me. Besides, he could go for Sin at any time; he has his Final Aeon, after all. But he won't. He'd rather destroy the world than save it with his death. And he wants Yuna to feel helpless, so she'll feel like she needs him. Oh no the dead kid who we saw practicing to avenge his sister...no...stop it... Before Jecht came to Spira, his drinking didn't have real consequences to him. He was "still the best", after all. He still had a wife who wouldn't leave him. He hurt other people, but they didn't confront him about it. It took Spira to make him see that it was a problem. Hell of a thing to put on your kid, like, "Hey, son, can I get a mercy kill? Thanks." Though I guess that is...I mean, end-of-life care is a traditional part of a child's duties. Just...not usually in your teens.