6 ms·

While it may be tempting to jump to a racial interpretation of the arrest, it appears that the CNN reporters were just standing in the wrong place and in the ch

While it may be tempting to jump to a racial interpretation of the arrest, it appears that the CNN reporters were just standing in the wrong place and in the chaos of the moment were arrested.

wtallis 6y ago
> and in the chaos of the moment were arrested What chaos? The scene shown in the video looks really calm, with one protester, several reporters, and a very large number of police standing around apparently doing nothing more than looking intimidating at that moment.
- corrupt_measure 6y ago
  Perhaps chaos isn't the best word. Hightened tension is more appropriate.
  - colejohnson66 6y ago
    Heightened tension is not an excuse to arrest someone. Police (in theory) exist to lower tension, not add to it.
elil17 6y ago
I hope that anyone seeing this situation and thinking, “I’m not sure how race plays into this,” will go back and learn some more about the history of race in America. I think a good starting place is the podcast “1619” which does a really good job investigating where racial problems in America came from. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.htm... Perhaps it’s naïve of me to think people will want to learn about what it really means to be Black in America. But I think if you really listen to what history is saying and really listen to what Black people are experiencing right now it will change how you think about events like this.
- corrupt_measure 6y ago
  The entire 1619 Project and its premises have been rejected by many prominent historians, both black and white. The 1776 Project was actually formed by a number of prominent black intellectuals in repudiation of the 1619 Project and I would encourage you to take a look at their work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1776_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1776_Project Given that the NY Times has been involved in some nasty racist scandals and reporting in recent years, it's difficult to take their 1619 Project as anything more than racist propaganda at this point. Let's take a step back from how it may feel to be black in America and consider the facts and reality of what it actually means (generalizing of course) to be black in America. The large majority of interracial violence per capita is committed by blacks themselves, blacks are far more likely to have children out of wedlock, are far less likely to graduate from high school, etc. I care a great deal about the well-being of blacks in America and the best way to actually improve their circumstances is addressing the actual root causes of their inequality, not by blaming external forces that today have relatively little impact on the Black experience. If more leaders in the progressive movement - like those behind the 1619 project - recognized this, they would do far more good for the black community than they are doing now.
  - monocasa 6y ago
    The 1776 project is the epitome of the very propaganda you're talking about.
  - elil17 6y ago
    Ah yes, the NYT is fake news but we should trust a Wikipedia article that is in the process of being deleted because it is fabricated.
    - corrupt_measure 6y ago
      The New York Times appears to me and many others misguided on the issue of race. The 1776 Wikipedia page does not appear to be slated for deletion, I'm not sure what you're talking about there.
mturmon 6y ago
You have just scolded the above commenter for jumping to a racial interpretation, and then jumped to an opposite conclusion yourself, on the basis of no evidence.

While it may be tempting to jump to a racial interpretation of the arrest, it appears that the CNN reporters were just standing in the wrong place and in the chaos of the moment were arrested.

wtallis 6y ago

> and in the chaos of the moment were arrested What chaos? The scene shown in the video looks really calm, with one protester, several reporters, and a very large number of police standing around apparently doing nothing more than looking intimidating at that moment.

corrupt_measure 6y ago
Perhaps chaos isn't the best word. Hightened tension is more appropriate.
- colejohnson66 6y ago
  Heightened tension is not an excuse to arrest someone. Police (in theory) exist to lower tension, not add to it.

elil17 6y ago

I hope that anyone seeing this situation and thinking, “I’m not sure how race plays into this,” will go back and learn some more about the history of race in America. I think a good starting place is the podcast “1619” which does a really good job investigating where racial problems in America came from. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.htm... Perhaps it’s naïve of me to think people will want to learn about what it really means to be Black in America. But I think if you really listen to what history is saying and really listen to what Black people are experiencing right now it will change how you think about events like this.

corrupt_measure 6y ago
The entire 1619 Project and its premises have been rejected by many prominent historians, both black and white. The 1776 Project was actually formed by a number of prominent black intellectuals in repudiation of the 1619 Project and I would encourage you to take a look at their work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1776_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1776_Project Given that the NY Times has been involved in some nasty racist scandals and reporting in recent years, it's difficult to take their 1619 Project as anything more than racist propaganda at this point. Let's take a step back from how it may feel to be black in America and consider the facts and reality of what it actually means (generalizing of course) to be black in America. The large majority of interracial violence per capita is committed by blacks themselves, blacks are far more likely to have children out of wedlock, are far less likely to graduate from high school, etc. I care a great deal about the well-being of blacks in America and the best way to actually improve their circumstances is addressing the actual root causes of their inequality, not by blaming external forces that today have relatively little impact on the Black experience. If more leaders in the progressive movement - like those behind the 1619 project - recognized this, they would do far more good for the black community than they are doing now.
- monocasa 6y ago
  The 1776 project is the epitome of the very propaganda you're talking about.
- elil17 6y ago
  Ah yes, the NYT is fake news but we should trust a Wikipedia article that is in the process of being deleted because it is fabricated.
  - corrupt_measure 6y ago
    The New York Times appears to me and many others misguided on the issue of race. The 1776 Wikipedia page does not appear to be slated for deletion, I'm not sure what you're talking about there.

mturmon 6y ago

You have just scolded the above commenter for jumping to a racial interpretation, and then jumped to an opposite conclusion yourself, on the basis of no evidence.