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Originally Posted by ratbastid
I don't think that's at all obvious. Though I get that from your view of the world, it is.
I'm going to give you my interpretation of what happened, and I request you interact with it as as likely a candidate for The Truth as yours is.
Let's say I'm having a party, and there's something my wife does that irks me and I need to straighten it out with her. I'm going to take her in private to do that. It's not appropriate to do that in front of everybody--not everybody needs to hear it, and it could damage how she's thought of with others, and I'm not going to do that to her.
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Comparing a party at home to this setting is a stretch I can't make.
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That's what happened here. He wanted to straighten something out with the black defendants in his courtroom. As a successful black man, he wanted to inspire them toward something, and tell the truth about how things are for black people--not in America at large, but RIGHT THERE in front of him. And he didn't think it was appropriate to have what was basically a private conversation out in front of everybody. So he asked the ones who it didn't concern to leave. Not because he hated them or he thought they didn't deserve or couldn't benefit from something, but because it just didn't concern them.
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As I stated in my last post to Jewels......I don't agree with the venue or how it was done but I can respect the intent.
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Can you consider that interpretation--MY interpretation--to be as likely to be The Truth About What Happened as YOUR interpretation is?
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I can.
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To start with, you'd have to give up that your interpretation IS the truth. You'd have to come to grips with your interpretation being just one of many possible interpretations. You know, it's not that your interpretation isn't valid--it's logically consistent with itself, you've got evidence to support it, etc, etc. What I'm asking for, though, would require you to acknowledge that other interpretations are equally valid, and that they're all interpretations.
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I have just answered his. I have no problem with this.
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If you can do that, then we're having your "sit down and look for common ground" conversation. If not, there's no conversation going on here, and none possible.
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Let's have at it.
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So you'd want the same lecture the black people got? You're sorry you missed out on being told to shape up? It's racist for him not to tell you that you're in sorry shape too? In my interpretation (which, again, if it's not as likely to be The Truth as yours is, we can't really talk), his excusing you means that he doesn't think you need this talk. See, I think if anybody is to be offended, it's the black people who he singled out as failures. But that's not how you see it. You see it the way that leaves you the wounded party. Which I find interesting. Not surprising--you are a human being, after all, and we human beings LOVE our victimhood--but interesting.
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I still believe that in that venue, all could possibly have benefited.
I think that judge picked the wrong venue. I think the intention may have been truly a wonderful and inspiring one.
I disagree the bench or using his position to achieve this was the right venue.
I think he may have had a bad day, saw too many cases and in a way snapped. I do not believe this was a planned event, that this in fact was a spontaneous event and done out of emotion, possibly a combination, anger, hurt, embarrassment, for what he sees young men in he community doing.
I can find acceptance and true understanding in all that. I may even respect what he did just not the action and venue.
So we can find some ground on the superficial level.
Now what about the dark underbelly double standard this event brings up. To say it is not an issue, is wrong. To ignore it makes it worse.. We as a country must face it eventually and work through it.