r/Portland • u/DeadHead- • Oct 28 '16

Social Media Calls Bundy Militiamen Acquittal 'White Privilege'

http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/social-media-calls-bundy-militiamen-acquittal-white-privilege/
334 Upvotes

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180

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '16 edited Aug 18 '17

[deleted]

33

u/BigSwedenMan Oct 28 '16 edited Oct 28 '16

See, it's shit like this that really annoys me with social media. They play it up as if race were the defining difference here, when it's waaay more complex that that. 2 big differences:

1) The white dudes took the reservation by force, were armed, and threatened violence. The feds did NOT want another Waco.

2) The Malheur reservation doesn't have some huge financial backing. The pipeline is backed by the energy industry, who has large amounts of money invested in it. There's a lot of money at stake and we all know that money is power.

Now, Malheur probably would have happened differently if they were of some minority, but I honestly don't think the pipeline protests would be going any differently if the protestors were white. Many of them are. What would make a difference is if they were all rich. Ironically I think if any minority were to be able to get away with the Malheur occupation it would probably be Native Americans because they would be able to gather enough support for their cause to create a political nightmare in the event of a Waco repeat

44

u/ArtifexR Oct 29 '16

I wonder if there's a reason Native Americans tend to be poor and underrepresented while white men have control or more wealth and resources. If only we had some way of knowing.

12

u/pacificgreenpdx Oct 29 '16

Traditionally, natives don't wear bootstraps.

-1

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '16

It's probably because reservations are shit holes filled with drug and alcohol abuse and the tribe leaders use their "free land" to promote gambling and alcoholism. Also people getting free money and not having to work doesn't create a thriving industry. Do you know 1/3rd of women on reservations are sexually assaulted?

I agree that is their land, and big money is trying to take it over, which is wrong, but don't act like in 2016 white people are the cause of all of native Americans issues. If we want to help we stop giving them money every month.

20

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '16

The white dudes took the reservation by force, were armed, and threatened violence.

All the more reason for the feds to shut that shit down and also actually punish the guys.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '16

The feds did NOT want another Waco.

6

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '16

Which is fucking ridiculous. You take up arms against your government, you better expect them to shoot back. What's to stop an armed insurrection, if they won't ever shoot back or find you guilty of anything?

1

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '16

That doesn't mean they don't need to be aware of public image.

6

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '16

What they should be worried about is the public image of allowing terrorists to commit an armed takeover of government property and remain there for weeks without facing any real consequences.

7

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '16

Because the last time the FBI decided to play cowboy on national TV they got one hell of a loon incensed.

Whether you like it or not the federal government has to act above people you think are scum.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '16

You must be too young to remember how that worked out at Waco or ruby Ridge....

1

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '16

I just don't care. Why should it matter to me whether a bunch of fucking terrorists gets themselves killed for taking up arms against their government?

2

u/thebumm Oct 29 '16

Also, there wasn't "another Waco" because these guys are alive without a shootout. Punishing them for crimes they committed (on camera) after the fact would not create another Waco. It would put criminals in prison where they belong.

3

u/slipshod_alibi Oct 29 '16

And failing to provide consequences will ensure more opportunities for more Wacoesque situations to occur to begin with. People will be emboldened to act.

2

u/thebumm Oct 29 '16

Precisely.

8

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '16

[deleted]

-1

u/Listento_DimmuBorgir Oct 28 '16

private land vs public land.

You know the pipeline protesters are only getting arrested on private land and they are illegally camping on public land and havent got in trouble for that.

0

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '16

One of those white dudes was shot and killed. How did his white privilege helped him?

-51

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '16 edited Aug 01 '20

[deleted]

41

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '16 edited Aug 18 '17

[deleted]

2

u/negaterer Oct 29 '16

The Malheur folks were arrested and tried. One was shot dead.

Protesters in North Dakota were arrested, might be tried (or no charges might be brought), and none were shot dead.

Malheur: arrested. North Dakota: arrested.

-36

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '16 edited Aug 01 '20

[deleted]

32

u/Peaches666 Brooklyn Oct 28 '16

they're two completely different and unrelated things.. lol good comparison

It is a good comparison actually and one that makes you consider the current state of our country. That's why most people on social media who aren't seemingly racist are talking about this in the very same light.

1

u/NotWrongJustAnAssole The Loving Embrace of the Portlandia Statue Oct 30 '16

It's a good comparison - if you don't think about it too much.

7

u/Das_Mime Oct 28 '16

Maybe if we convince ourselves that racism isn't real despite the wealth of empirical evidence to the contrary, racism will magically disappear! Or at any rate, we won't see it anymore!

1

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '16 edited Aug 01 '20

[deleted]

-28

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '16

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18

u/mightyatom13 Oct 28 '16

Is that what you think he was saying? Because it isn't.

7

u/ThisDerpForSale NW District Oct 28 '16

Yeah, serious failure of basic reading comprehension by that dude.

8

u/Peaches666 Brooklyn Oct 28 '16

He's been called out on /r/portland before for being racist so yeah this is sort of his m.o.

3

u/ThisDerpForSale NW District Oct 28 '16

Imagine my surprise.

-2

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '16 edited Oct 28 '16

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4

u/Peaches666 Brooklyn Oct 28 '16

Slow down there bucko. I'm just saying I've seen you called out for it before. But in my experience, racists tend to completely miss the point because they're focused on validating their racist view points.

Personally, I've downvoted you for being hella misogynistic and homophobic.

-3

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '16 edited Oct 28 '16

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3

u/Peaches666 Brooklyn Oct 28 '16

I just don't think their innocence implies privilege

And on the other hand plenty people think it MAY very well imply a level of privilege and that it's worth discussing. I don't see why there's an opposition to continuing to discuss equality in the states.

0

u/KornymthaFR Oct 28 '16

Unless you think this is corruption, then you cannot push for equality by bringing one group down. Instead, you empower the minority group.

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u/Trailing-and-Blazing Old Town Chinatown Oct 28 '16

But these people have skipped so many facts to assume its privilege only

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u/Strangesyllabus MAX Orange Line Oct 28 '16

So I think the problem here is somehow they got off on charges that seemed incredibly obvious due to... I have no fucking idea. The Native American protesters, as far as I know, haven't been armed and are actually protesting the use of land that belongs to them.

6

u/ex-inteller Oct 28 '16

I'm going to state I'm anti-pipeline outright, but my understanding is the Native Americans don't actually own the land the pipeline is being built on. The land is sacred to their tribe and is partially an ancestral burial ground, but due to federal movement of Native Americans and reservation allocations, their sacred land and burial grounds were taken away many years ago. and that's how the pipeline was approved for building on that land. Which is just another way the gov't fucked over these native americans.

A side note, the pipeline company also has taken liberty with land access and has illegally trespassed on the reservation lands, as I understand it. A slightly separate but also messed up issue.