Something I'd like to discuss

[Circled Square]

I've noticed that with this Chattanooga shooting, there's been...an interesting style of reporting. How is it that a guy with a big ol' bushy beard and a name like that has no motives? Yet a white kid who shoots up a church is automatically called a racist? I mean Jesus, one guy looks like a stereotypical terrorist, the other one looks like the guy from Codename: Kids Next Door



So why is it that when the white guy shoots up the Church, there's calls for the confederate flag to be banned, tons of articles about the dangers of white supremacy, but when a Muslim guy shoots up a Marine-...base? Building? I think it was a training centre, he's a man with "unknown motives", and doesn't get nearly as much coverage?

Of course now they know he's an ISIS recruit, still though, I've never seen the media attack a person like they did with Dylan Roof, and then just a month later treat this "lone gunman" like he's a wacko, a psycho, not a terrorist.

Do you think there's a double standard? Do you think that this is just a coincidence? I'd like to know what you guys think about this. Sorry if I offended anyone with this post.

[SlightlyJames]

mfw CS posts a topic with a vague title regarding discussion

[Locke]

To me, it feels like our media is very "underdog" focused. The United States is very powerful, therefore anyone it faces is a natural underdog. Therefore the media french kisses the asshole of every "enemy" to the United States and has for a long time. They were smart enough to not do that for a year or two after 9/11 but after 9/11 was old news, we suddenly had to feel sorry for the poor misrepresented misunderstood lowly sad terrorists. It's not their fault they want to blow up anyone who isn't them, it's ours.

It's a shame they don't have Vince McMahon running the media. At least then, the United States would be praised and respected WHILST being "pushed as an underdog" when in reality it was anything but.. but at least then the media would be on our side.

Off(ish) subject:
George Jefferson can say honkey and cracker every single episode of The Jeffersons and nobody bats an eye. The Dukes of Hazzard is anything BUT a racially charged show, and it gets pulled for having the Confederate Flag on the car.

The double standards are real, and you're a fucking racist for noticing.

[Circled Square]

Yeah Locke pretty much said my feelings on the matter in a much more direct way.

mfw CS posts a topic with a vague title regarding discussion

Hey I've been on the up man, reading the books, breathing exercises, I've mellowed out.

[Hanley!]

I dunno, I think people bring a lot of their own views and baggage into how they see these things. I mean, you're talking about the media instantly branding the white guy who committed the recent church shooting as a racist, but from my perspective:

1) a huge amount of the news media was hesitant to label the murders as racially motivated, despite the fact ...
2) it was clear as day that he was a racist.

There's always going to be different reactions out there to these news stories, so people are going to naturally focus on the ones that they don't agree with, because they'll think it's outrageous that there are so many stupid opinions out there, and they'll be worried that the prevalence of these "wrong" opinions will poison the minds of others.

That's my take on it anyway. Honestly I haven't heard of this new terrorist attack, but I've been living with my head in the sand for the last week while I recover from surgery. But in relation to the church shooting, that case was really cut and dry.

[Circled Square]

Within an hour of the church shooting it was full on White Supremacy blaming, I thought it was weird. Yes, it was clear as day. Just as it's clear as day that the shooter who shot up a Marine base is obviously a terrorist, or anti-American, radical Islamist, I don't know the right term. If we're going by first glance, that is.

[UTK]

The fuck are you talking about? First headline I saw about it was a couple of hours after it happened, and it was a CNN headline that read, "SHOOTING IN CHATTANOGA: SHOOTER INSPIRED BY 'ISIS'?" The minute the media realized his skin color they jumped all over it.

[Circled Square]

The fuck are you talking about? First headline I saw about it was a couple of hours after it happened, and it was a CNN headline that read, "SHOOTING IN CHATTANOGA: SHOOTER INSPIRED BY 'ISIS'?" The minute the media realized his skin color they jumped all over it.

Live on TV when the news went down he was described as a lone gunman with unknown motives. It was like that until the next day the narrative made a switch to ISIS. Or later in the day. But right away when the Charleston shooting went down they ran with the racist angle. I also can guarantee that this story will have a much shorter lifespan compared to the Charleston shooting.

I don't think that it's a huuuuge deal or anything, it's just something I noticed considering that these incidents are so close to one another.

[AkydefGoldberg]

So why is it that when the white guy shoots up the Church, there's calls for the confederate flag to be banned, tons of articles about the dangers of white supremacy, but when a Muslim guy shoots up a Marine-...base? Building? I think it was a training centre, he's a man with "unknown motives", and doesn't get nearly as much coverage?

Don't know the in-depth nature of media reporting over there but it's not the case over here..

Any attack that has a sniff of Muslims involved is labelled a terrorist without fail or any investigative work whilst an attack carried out by a white man, against Muslims, is dismissed too easily as a "lone wolf", "he had mental health problems" and doesn't garner the coverage it would if it had been a Muslim.

Case in point. Last year, a man beheaded an elderly woman in her back garden in London. Media reports instantly referred to it as a terrorist attack IIRC. The Sun newspaper, which is hardly a beacon of fair reporting, labelled it an attack carried out by a Muslim. It turned out the killer was a schizophrenic but of course, The Sun never apologised for their front page.

Dylan's coverage would have been more strenous, posing more questions and assertions of a community, if he had been Muslim.

[Circled Square]

Not in America. Minority on minority crime doesn't sell. It's common, and nobody cares about it. It's not a headline. It doesn't fit their narrative. You're not gonna hear about it. I guarantee you there'd be no call for the Confederate flag to be removed if Dylan Roof was an islamic extremist. The story would be at best a week long. Thanks for telling me about the contrast between Western news and the European news.

[UTK]

I guarantee you there'd be no call for the Confederate flag to be removed if Dylan Roof was an islamic extremist.

No shit?

[Circled Square]

Blah. You know what I mean. There'd be no call for action if a minority massacred another group of minorities. It'd be swept under the rug like the countless of other murders. Guess it's an American thing.

[SortaCreative]

How many shootings have to happen before someone wakes up?

[Circled Square]

How many shootings have to happen before someone wakes up?

Most shootings happen in places with gun control. The U.S, that is.

[SortaCreative]

You have a very odd idea of "gun control".

Look this debate is insane. It never goes anywhere. You can open carry in public places in Texas. It's actually terrifying.

[Circled Square]

You have a very odd idea of "gun control".

Look this debate is insane. It never goes anywhere. You can open carry in public places in Texas. It's actually terrifying.

Terrifying for people plotting massacres, maybe.

[SortaCreative]

You have a very odd idea of "gun control".

Look this debate is insane. It never goes anywhere. You can open carry in public places in Texas. It's actually terrifying.

Terrifying for people plotting massacres, maybe.

I stand on the street with a rifle slung across my back.

Am I a "good guy" or a "bad guy"?

[Circled Square]

That's irrelevant. It takes a special kind of person to commit mass murder. Hurr durr but anyone can pull the trigger, yeah, but a psycho will use a gun, knife, chair, brick, slingshot, duck, anything.

That being said, I'm all for strong background checks to see where the guns are going, who they're going to, etc.

[SortaCreative]

Absolutely. Crazy is crazy. A killer will kill no matter what.

But until I shoot someone you don't know. I could unload and hit dozens of people. You don't know until then.

I would argue it'd be really difficult to stab nine people in a church though. The, apparent, alternative is to arm basically everyone and there's so much wrong with that it actually hurts my head. That's not hyperbole either.

[Circled Square]

No...you can have the right people carrying guns. Not everyone chooses to do so. I would hate to see only criminals and police officers being armed. That scares me.