Hawkeyes Past, Present, Future Share Feelings on Racial Injustice

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We as whites have to accept that white privilege exists, as well as the fact that we as individual's will never truly understand because it's always been part of us. I can't fathom to think about being pulled over for something as simple as speeding and replacing the "oh shit I wonder if I'm going to get a ticket" thought process with fear for my life that I'm going to be another statistic. To be scared by a badge that is meant to represent the very foundation of safety in our society.. I can't and will never begin to understand, nor do I want to, because I'd simply never be able to come to terms with it.

We're all people. I don't see white privilege being a negative thing or a "card" being played against us but rather a cry for help. Racism and discrimination are real. It's a cry for help from one person to another, regardless of skin color, to be part of the solution rather than turning a blind eye to the reality presents itself every single day and pretending it doesn't exist. We're all in this together and I'd like to say that rather than closing the gap from generation to generation that it's time to take a step forward together as a society and not simply as separate races.
 
Some said they cried when he saw the video of George Floyd and understandably so.

I just watched the Facetime, Facebook (whichever) video of the 19 year old young lady from Davenport whose sister was just shot and killed by a rioter the other day. I couldn't stop myself from crying when I watched it. Her family is hurting now just like George Floyd's.
 
HuckFinn said:
Look inward.
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Look inward for what? Like inward on how to be a better person? So far I already naturally treat everyone with the same respect. Truth is, when I see a black man, a mexican working on a job of mine, a waitress, pretty much anyone who I think it's possible they might be in a position of getting mistreated by people, I throw in a little extra kindness. That's who I am. Do I need to hire a minority? Because I can check that box too. I've had one opportunity in my life to need to choose between white and minority for hiring and I chose the minority. I could have flipped a coin on who to hire. I ditched the white person purely for racist reasons. So I treat people good and hire minorities when the opportunity presents itself. Exactly what do I need to look at to cure my racism?
 
SteveGarvey1 said:
Some said they cried when he saw the video of George Floyd and understandably so.

I just watched the Facetime, Facebook (whichever) video of the 19 year old young lady from Davenport whose sister was just shot and killed by a rioter the other day. I couldn't stop myself from crying when I watched it. Her family is hurting now just like George Floyd's.
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But that's a distraction from what the bigger problem is and if your focused on that then your a racist... Or something like that according to some of the folks that are over the top with how they think,,,,
 
KF nailed it. For any coaches out there regardless of what age you coach, I beg you to reach out to your players. You don't have to pretend to understand but as a coach your the head of a integrated family and make sure they know that as a team you stand by each other and are always there for each other. We've accepted the position where it's our job to be role models and mentors to those we coach it can't just be about what takes place on the field. The last few months have thrown so much shit at our youth that they deserve to be reminded that were all going through it together.
 
Meanwhile, there have been 200 black people killed in gang violence so far this year in Chicago. It's a far worse societal problem than what happened to George Floyd, as bad as that is. Yet nobody seems to care.

Never any threads about it here. Never any lectures given to us about how we should feel. It's just taken for granted that it's going to happen. That's just sad.
 
Do you understand systemic racism? Do you understand white privilege? Do you care?

From the NAACP

  • In 2014, African Americans constituted 2.3 million, or 34%, of the total 6.8 million correctional population.
  • African Americans are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of whites.
  • The imprisonment rate for African American women is twice that of white women.
Are blacks evil? Are they born bad? Is the playing field really level?

I can tell you I'm really looking forward to your responses.
 
I'd love to jump on the "THE POLICE ARE THE WORST" bandwagon because having lived overseas, I think America is a heavily overregulated police state, but for the love of God, are people going to step back and see the humanity of the cops in any of these situations? The cops have a ton of radio calls, they're trying to find the scene, they see dudes standing there with guns, they get on the scene and there's about a dozen people yelling at them. I am pro 2nd Amendment but this is exactly why open carry is a baaaaaad idea (and I am glad it is illegal in my otherwise very pro gun state and would have had zero sympathy if the cops dusted one of the gun toters at the Michigan capital). If I'm the cops and I hit that scene, the absolute, and I mean absolute, first thing I am going to do is secure those shotguns that I just saw and make sure there aren't bad hombres getting ready to turn me into that guy who starred in the RoboCop documentary. I don't care who you are in that situation, I ain't chasing some looter until I know exactly what the deal is with those guns.

We love sports. How many times did we watch O'Keefe take an hour to get a play in? How many times have we seen a starry eyed QB try to call an audible at the line with the playclock at 4 with disastrous results? The consequences of being wrong in those situations are nothing in the grand scheme, but the consequences of not securing a firearm in what is basically an asymmetrical war zone like we have on city streets right now is potentially deadly. Have any of you guys been in a situation where the cops have absolutely lost control? I've been on the periphery twice. It is fucking pandemonium. I wouldn't be a cop in a major urban area even if you offered me Kirk Ferentz's annual salary. This whole situation is going to lead to a diminution in the IQ of guys who become cops because there is no effin' way anyone with an IQ over 90 is gonna sign up for that job.
 
RobHowe said:
Do you understand systemic racism? Do you understand white privilege? Do you care?

From the NAACP

  • In 2014, African Americans constituted 2.3 million, or 34%, of the total 6.8 million correctional population.
  • African Americans are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of whites.
  • The imprisonment rate for African American women is twice that of white women.
Are blacks evil? Are they born bad? Is the playing field really level?

I can tell you I'm really looking forward to your responses.
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Rob, with all due respect, I think you may need to take a few deep breaths and read your original post where you stated, "This is not an open invitation to start debating whether or not you think there are racial issues in this country." I get the passion but seems like your violating the rules you have set here. Just my two cents.
 
okeefe4prez said:
I'd love to jump on the "THE POLICE ARE THE WORST" bandwagon because having lived overseas, I think America is a heavily overregulated police state, but for the love of God, are people going to step back and see the humanity of the cops in any of these situations? The cops have a ton of radio calls, they're trying to find the scene, they see dudes standing there with guns, they get on the scene and there's about a dozen people yelling at them. I am pro 2nd Amendment but this is exactly why open carry is a baaaaaad idea (and I am glad it is illegal in my otherwise very pro gun state and would have had zero sympathy if the cops dusted one of the gun toters at the Michigan capital). If I'm the cops and I hit that scene, the absolute, and I mean absolute, first thing I am going to do is secure those shotguns that I just saw and make sure there aren't bad hombres getting ready to turn me into that guy who starred in the RoboCop documentary. I don't care who you are in that situation, I ain't chasing some looter until I know exactly what the deal is with those guns.

We love sports. How many times did we watch O'Keefe take an hour to get a play in? How many times have we seen a starry eyed QB try to call an audible at the line with the playclock at 4 with disastrous results? The consequences of being wrong in those situations are nothing in the grand scheme, but the consequences of not securing a firearm in what is basically an asymmetrical war zone like we have on city streets right now is potentially deadly. Have any of you guys been in a situation where the cops have absolutely lost control? I've been on the periphery twice. It is fucking pandemonium. I wouldn't be a cop in a major urban area even if you offered me Kirk Ferentz's annual salary. This whole situation is going to lead to a diminution in the IQ of guys who become cops because there is no effin' way anyone with an IQ over 90 is gonna sign up for that job.
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I can see this is pretty well thought out, and what you said makes sense. They could have tried to secure the guns by simply asking them to put them down - a better way to handle it IMO. They weren't threatening in any way. Pointing weapons at them and securing them with zip-ties is a perfect example of a total inability to de-escalate. Isn't that supposed to be one of the main functions of a cop? To be able to de-escalate? They did the exact opposite in this case.

The news reporter and others clearly said those three weren't involved and was met with "I don't care about them." He gave zero shits about the people who were innocent and was bloodthirsty, unable to see past his own wants, to catch the looters. he was not calm. The three innocents were her first concern, he could have easily addressed that first which would have allowed her to shift her focus to the entire reason why the police were called over in the first place.

I understand that these situations are incredibly hectic and we are all human, but man they really effed that up.
 
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Hawk1960 said:
Rob, with all due respect, I think you may need to take a few deep breaths and read your original post where you stated, "This is not an open invitation to start debating whether or not you think there are racial issues in this country." I get the passion but seems like your violating the rules you have set here. Just my two cents.
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Nope. That went out the window early. You guys took the discussion that way. And now I'm involved. I don't need to take a deep breath or step back. Anybody that wants to tell me to do that can save it.

I'll probably shut it down at some point but like on social media, these thoughts and ideas everyone has been tiptoeing around need to be brought to light while the world is having this discussion. Look at the story posted in the original post of the thread. Look at how many Hawkeyes are talking about this subject.

Feel free to answer the question why there's a disproportionate amount of black people incarcerated and living in poverty.

I'll be here waiting.
 
HawkGold said:
I want going to post, but this is hysterically sad. This site is doomed. Rob should be banned for starting this. The stupidity on this thread is why this nation is in the shape it's in. I wish I didn't believe some of you are serious. God help the US. God help Hawkeye Nation. Iowa has maybe the most covert racists in the US... Thank you for Representative King to the world.

Iowa is way low on college degrees and the anecdotal evidence here is epic.

North, couple of things. First the trauma will be with your kids forever. It's a cold fact and I know personally. 2nd, relations with significant others of your kid.... Much harder than raising kids. You wont won't see it coming especially this generation.

PC. How could you be so ignorant?

Fry... Get over your ex.

Rob....you are afraid to take some on here on and it is loud.

Hawkeye Nation self destruction over Covid 19 and racism.

That is all.
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My daughter just made the dean's list. She is happily in a relationship and my oldest is married with their first kid.

How's that for being traumatized for life.

You dont know my kids anymore than I know yours. Now move along with the martyr act.
 
I have always had trouble with the term "white privelege." Although I recognize that I have many advantages in society due to my skin color, sex, sexual orientation, able-bodiedness, etc., I just naturally bristle when I hear the term. I feel like it diminishes my accomplishments, my hard work, it implies everything was easy for me based upon my race. So there is a definite difference between my reasoned assessment of this term ("of course I have many advantages, and that is not fair") and my emotional reaction to the term ("how dare you, I worked hard all my life to get here").

This is due to the negative connotation of the term privelege, but that is not how it was meant when the term "white privelege" was first proposed in 1988. The term was used in a very academic sense to refer to advantages conferred to one group and not to the other, not to imply white people are all of an arrogant, country club sort. And whiteness certainly creates one type of privelege, but there are many others as well (wealth, class, etc.).

If you have ever bristled against the term (like me), I would strongly recommend reading through ALL links at this site. As Connor McCafferey posted, it is up to us to educate ourselves. If you spend an hour with that resource, I think many of you will feel differently about what is happening in the world (I did).

And above all, let's listen to one another. When a black person talks about their experiences, don't minimize them, don't rationalize, just listen, like you would to a friend or family member. Trust them. Empathize. @RobHowe , your collection of thoughts from current and former Hawks it hugely helpful. When we hear Jovon Johnson talk about all the shit he has been through because of the color of his skin, it has a profound impact because he is family (Hawkeye family), so we listen differently than if he was just random person X. Thanks for sharing that.

Take care, everyone, and spread a little love today.
 
RobHowe said:
Nope. That went out the window early. You guys took the discussion that way. And now I'm involved. I don't need to take a deep breath or step back. Anybody that wants to tell me to do that can save it.

I'll probably shut it down at some point but like on social media, these thoughts and ideas everyone has been tiptoeing around need to be brought to light while the world is having this discussion. Look at the story posted in the original post of the thread. Look at how many Hawkeyes are talking about this subject.

Feel free to answer the question why there's a disproportionate amount of black people incarcerated and living in poverty.

I'll be here waiting.
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I don't have all the answers to those questions but one of my college room mates served as a juvenile counselor in Central Illinois for over 30 years. I've discussed the incarceration question with him in the past and his answer over the years has consistently been there are too many African American kids growing up without a father figure in the home. I don't have his local county stats in front of me but the numbers are mind blowing. In those situations, and I don't care what race it is, the children are starting off life with one strike against them. He's a big supporter of the big brother/big sister program that tries to address it. I've volunteered for that program in the past and also donated to their fundraisers and highly endorse it as one of those charities where the money is well spent.
 
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Hawkfnntn said:
Because they're are folks dug into their mindsets. Good luck changing adults minds. Even a lot of folks that say they are open minded aren't all that much so. Some can some will. Most won't...

Try getting a lifelong Hawkeye fan that's 60 yrs old to start rooting for Nebraska the rest of his life... As impossible as that sounds this is tougher. I sincerely don't think we'll see the day actually. It'll take todays 20-30something yr olds to raise their kids without hate/racism and then their kids to do the same first... It'll just take awhile. My generation and my folks's generation didn't do a good enough job at you could say.
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I'm pretty sure I have rooted for Nebraska once. I couldn't tell you when, but the odds are I have.
 
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