Rioting in Baltimore...

[Shryke]

Code word? Am I in the conspiracy theory thread?? I guess any word could be a code word really? Maybe code word is a code word...

No, you are in a thread about politics to some degree. Crazydog7 is using the wrong word but you should be familiar with the concept if you want to talk politics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog-whistle_politics

Dog-whistle politics is political messaging employing coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population but has an additional, different or more specific resonance for a targeted subgroup. The phrase is used only as a pejorative, because of the inherently deceptive nature of the practice and because the dog-whistle messages are frequently themselves distasteful, for example by empathising with racist or revolutionary attitudes. The analogy is to a dog whistle, whose high-frequency whistle is heard by dogs but inaudible to humans.

To quote Lee Atwater on the basics:

You start out in 1954 by saying, "Nigger, nigger, nigger." By 1968, you can't say "nigger" — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.

What large groups of white protesters are you guys referring to exactly?

Basically any. The word "thug" gets throw around at black people alot more then white people on the news in various contexts.

[theprincethatwasntpromised]

Try reading the thread you post in next time?

http://mic.com/articles/105198/9-photos-of-white-people-rioting-put-the-ferguson-demonstrations-in-perspective

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/keene-new-hampshire-pumpkin-festival-turns-to-mayhem/

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/28/lest_we_forget_when_white_kids_do_it_its_not_a_riot_its_a_celebration/

Is that a question or the wrong punctuation? Anyway, I have read the thread. Try reading my question again...What LARGE white groups are rioting? Very few whites involved in Baltimore. And every time fans riot it's condemned and arrests are made. No one gets a pass. You can't do that shit, regardless of race.

[Eyron]

What LARGE black groups are rioting? How many were there rioting in Baltimore?

[Mudguard]

I've used the word thug and also have seen it used for decades without any racial connotations. It's even a class in Dungeon and Dragons. I'm not sure when the word was co-opted as a derogatory code word, but it seems relatively recent to me, maybe sometime in the last decade. When Obama used the word thug to describe some of the rioters and looters in Baltimore, I don't think he was using it as a derogatory code word. Like many others, including me, the term thug just means a brutish, violent criminal.

[Shryke]

I've used the word thug and also have seen it used for decades without any racial connotations. It's even a class in Dungeon and Dragons. I'm not sure when the word was co-opted as a derogatory code word, but it seems relatively recent to me, maybe sometime in the last decade. When Obama used the word thug to describe some of the rioters and looters in Baltimore, I don't think he was using it as a derogatory code word. Like many others, including me, the term thug just means a brutish, violent criminal.

Like any word it depends on context. Especially with dog-whistles since, you know, that's the whole point.

[Mudguard]

Like any word it depends on context. Especially with dog-whistles since, you know, that's the whole point.

It seems to depend on intent, which is a difficult thing to determine. Two people calling the rioters/looters in Baltimore thugs, and for one, it might be being used a derogatory code word, but for the other, it might not. The problem is that a lot of people now just automatically assume that the word thug is a derogatory code word and just assume that the person who used the word has the intent on using it that way.

[Larry of the Lawn]

It seems to depend on intent, which is a difficult thing to determine. Two people calling the rioters/looters in Baltimore thugs, and for one, it might be being used a derogatory code word, but for the other, it might not. The problem is that a lot of people now just automatically assume that the word thug is a derogatory code word and just assume that the person who used the word has the intent on using it that way.

Of course it depends on intent- but It's usually very clear. Because it's rarely just hanging out there by itself. When you read it in the same paragraph as say something like 'black on black crime' 'why aren't their community leaders calling for an end to this violent behavior' or a bunch of others.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

CD,

I don't think anyone at least in this century and in the US has used words like rioters and thugs to refer to large groups of white protesters. So in most respects I think you could argue that "thug" is at least a code word.

People haven't called people rioting in the wake of sporting event victories and losses "rioters" without regard to the racial make up of the rioters? Really? I'd like to see something supporting that particular assertion.

Iceman,

From your link regarding the "pumpkin festival" riot:

@flowergirl7 By children, do you mean the drunken thugs taking part in the melee?

Thugs are thugs no matter race, nationality, religion or social class. Lock them all up......

Those are from the comments and I admit the prior articles are telling. They do seem to minimize and poo-poo the actions of the rioters.

[Inigima]

I don't think most "normal" people think of it as a racial thing (I absolutely think politicians use it as a deliberate dog whistle) -- but I think it tends to demonstrate unconscious biases.

[Fragile Bird]

Baltimore prosecutor has just announced probable cause for homicide charges.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/us/freddie-gray-autopsy-report-given-to-baltimore-prosecutors.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000

[NestorMakhnosLovechild]

Baltimore prosecutor has just announced probable cause for homicide charges.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/us/freddie-gray-autopsy-report-given-to-baltimore-prosecutors.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000

Wow. Good on the Prosecutor's office for moving so quickly after the conclusion of the police investigation. And doubly good on them for staking out their positions so clearly on the issue of whether there was any probable cause to arrest Mr. Gray (there wasn't, and his knife was not a switch blade and not illegal) and to what extent police procedures were NOT followed.

Whatever anyone thinks about the media's actual handling of these high profile, racially charged legal cases that have kind of sprung up starting with the Zimmerman trial, I think it's evidence that, for whatever reason, we're hitting a critical mass in society at large where these incidents are not able to be swept under the rug. And while I definitely think that some of these cases appropriately go one way and some of these cases appropriately go the other way, I'd rather live in a society where they are all exposed to enough public scrutiny to ensure that there is SOME pressure on these officials to 'get it right.'

[Inigima]

Gray's death ruled a homicide. Van driver charged with second degree murder, and he and five other officers charged with various offenses including involuntary manslaughter. Sundry other conclusions.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-freddie-gray-mosby-presser-0502-20150501-story.html#navtype=outfit

Specifics of the charges notwithstanding, this is really good news. Partly because it looks like the right decision, and partly because of what it represents with respect to police misconduct. I'm very glad to hear this isn't going to just quietly go away.

[eyenon15]

So do those 6 officers get arrested now? Like anyone else charged with crime?

Nvmnd, I see the article says warrants were put out on them.

[NestorMakhnosLovechild]

So do those 6 officers get arrested now? Like anyone else charged with crime?

Both articles say that arrest warrants for all six of the officers have been issued.

[eyenon15]

Both articles say that arrest warrants for all six of the officers have been issued.

Yeh I'm assuming that means they will actually be brought into a holding cell or something like that.

BTW, would it be ok to refer to those 6 officers as thugs??

[Maithanet]

It seems a little strange they weren't all charged with manslaughter. It seems like establishing intent is going to be really hard.

[Shryke]

As you'd expect, the police are not happy with this. The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 sent a rather disgusting letter to Mosby (the prosecutor) over it;

http://live.baltimoresun.com/Event/Latest_updates_from_the_Freddie_Gray_case_in_Baltimore/161526165

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 is asking Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby to appoint a special prosecutor to the Freddie Gray investigation because of her personal connection to the Gray family’s attorney, William H. “Billy” Murphy Jr., and her marriage to a City Councilman.

The letter from FOP President Gene Gyan also states that none of the six officers involved in Gray’s arrest and death were responsible for the 25-year-old West Baltimore man’s death that spurred a night of rioting, looting, protests and unrest. The letter was released just minutes before Mosby announced charges against the officers.

The letter itself can be seen here:

http://images.scribblelive.com/2015/5/1/5a4cf32c-d39a-4048-a1a4-2a5576b63303_800.jpg

Including a truly disgusting "It'll be bad for your husbands career if you don't do what we ask" threat.