Current Events > Does learning about black history and slavery make you feel bad for being white?

(+) Yeah! (+)

totalnerdken posted...

I don't even understand why it would make me feel ashamed. F***, I'm arab, my people have been far worse in terms of slavery than white people. I don't feel ashamed about that. Those were different people with their own circumstances. I'm sure plenty of them were assholes. But I don't identify with them.

The Arab Slave Trade was indeed very brutal. Not many people are taught about it.

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totalnerdken posted...

I'd even argue that theft (until a certain dollar value) shouldn't be punished with prison.

Yeah, you wait until you've been burgled a few times. The only way you're going to stop a career burglar is to deprive him of the physical freedom to break into other people's homes. Fuck that dumb pigshit about only violent crimes deserving a custodial sentence, just because you feel sorry for habitual crims who make other people's lives a misery. We're the ones you should be feeling sorry for.

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Firewerx posted...

Yeah, you wait until you've been burgled a few times. The only way you're going to stop a career burglar is to deprive him of the physical freedom to break into other people's homes. Fuck that dumb pigshit about only violent crimes deserving a custodial sentence, just because you feel sorry for habitual crims who make other people's lives a misery. We're the ones you should be feeling sorry for.

Burglary and theft aren't the same thing. I've had my home burglarized as well and understand where you're coming from but there's a wide range of theft that has nothing to do with burglarizing someone or repeat offenders, and equating the two doesn't help anyone.

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TheLiarParadox posted...

Burglary and theft aren't the same thing. I've had my home burglarized as well and understand where you're coming from but there's a wide range of theft that has nothing to do with burglarizing someone or repeat offenders, and equating the two doesn't help anyone.

totalnerdken wrote that: "prison should only be reserved for violent crimes". End of.

Which would mean no custodial sentence for career burglars, conmen who've defrauded elderly people out of their life savings, serial stalkers and habitual harassers, or a whole host of crimes that can impact hugely upon victims' lives without necessarily involving violence. When you definitively remove prison either as a deterrent or as a way of safely quarantining criminals from society, you're not giving them much incentive to stop doing what they're doing; you're handing them the freedom to continue victimizing innocent people.

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Gladius_ posted...

Should people get imprisoned for 20+ years for a burglary? Probably not but some time should be spent. Even in our current system a small theft isn't likely to land you prison time.

Absolutely. I'm not a "lock 'em up and throw away the key" type for non-violent crimes, but I definitely believe that neighbourhoods need a breather for a spell from the selfish bastards who make life shitty for other people.

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Firewerx posted...

totalnerdken wrote that: "prison should only be reserved for violent crimes". End of.

Which would mean no custodial sentence for career burglars, conmen who've defrauded elderly people out of their life savings, serial stalkers and habitual harassers, or a whole host of crimes that can impact hugely upon victims' lives without necessarily involving violence. When you definitively remove prison either as a deterrent or as a way of safely quarantining criminals from society, you're not giving them much incentive to stop doing what they're doing; you're handing them the freedom to continue victimizing innocent people.

I don't care what he said. You were being hysterical and said something dumb in response.

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R1masher posted...

Guilty of being white... sounds like a minor threat

Lol

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I'm not American so this is only academic to me

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TheLiarParadox posted...

I don't care what he said. You were being hysterical and said something dumb in response.

Sometimes the only way to battle a viral outbreak of stupid is to try treating it with a homeopathic dose.

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To all the people who say they see no reason why they should feel guilt over a past during which they weren't even alive, over things that other, long-dead people once did... Can I just ask: Do you ever feel pride in a history that you took no part in, or for achievements that weren't your own? If so, why the difference?

Nope. That's equally weird to me.

What I'm trying to get at here is that when it comes to your country's past, you've gotta take the rough with the smooth. You can't cherry-pick your country's positive achievements and say, "Yeah, we did that! That was us, the USA!", but skip the bloodstained pages of its history and say, "Nothing to do with me, that was other people long before I was born."

Yeah, that's hella hypocritical of those people (and I'm sure that type exists)

My family was fighting against slavery before the American Revolution so you all can get fucked. I don't have a racist bone in my body.

Firewerx posted...

Yeah, you wait until you've been burgled a few times. The only way you're going to stop a career burglar is to deprive him of the physical freedom to break into other people's homes.

Note: employers steal way more than any other kind of thief in this country, and we handle that shit through civil courts.


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Gladius_ posted...

Not to mention what other type of punishment is there? Fines? Fines only effect the poor and don't necessarily effect the rich to the same degree. So is it okay for rich people to conduct theft instead of poor people? Is it more okay for a rich person to burglarize over a poor burglar? We need a deterrent and prison is one such deterrent. Should people get imprisoned for 20+ years for a burglary? Probably not but some time should be spent. Even in our current system a small theft isn't likely to land you prison time.

Do you think rich people don't get far lighter sentences than poor folk? Do you think they're convicted at anything close to the same rate?

Prison sentencing is harsher on the poor just as much as fines are tbh.

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