How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time | Baratunde Thurston

Baratunde Thurston explores the phenomenon of white Americans calling the police on Black Americans who have committed the crimes of ... eating, walking or generally "living while Black." In this profound, thought-provoking and often hilarious talk, he reveals the power of language to change stories of trauma into stories of healing -- while challenging us all to level up.
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[@laurendwillard354]

"Minding one's own business is an excellent option. Choose it more often." FORRRR REEEEALL.

[@hushedtones7168]

also don't consume news if you want a meaningful life. they prey on the reptilian brain to keep people hooked on magnifying unlikely events if you've been part of any cultural events or social movements that's been mediatized in the past you certainly know that what's reported is often not close at all to the truth. Also they are beholden to coporate advertisers who are the REAL owners of their company. If there's avertising (even if you pay a premium subscription) you are the product being marketed to.

[@jacobjorgenson9285]

Stay out of crime ( George Floyd ) and follow police commands

[@kidzrule2]

but you cant. they force you to "speak out". and if you don't you have "white priviledge" and you are racist. so much for minding one's own business huh? :)

[@laurendwillard354]

@@kidzrule2 Did you even watch the video? The context of the quote is for when stupid white people call 911 on Black people for existing.

[@laurendwillard354]

@@jacobjorgenson9285 Please see your racist self out of this comment section. If you aren't here to learn from the video, you have no business here.

[@dracawyn]

He speaks almost like everything he says is spoken word poetry and I am mesmerized.

[@YGOdaze]

Mary Whipple he just loves playing the victim

[@Coco-ks5ib]

You are now getting the attention that you wanted, so please explain.

[@imid3440]

his voice is fab and engaging

[@lilyl.6715]

Mary Whipple I thought so too!

[@steinfliege9912]

@@YGOdaze congrats you have not understood the situation

[@SKaR64]

What I got from this was that the media is extremely racist in their reporting. Thank you.

[@adejokeloye]

Racism sells and causes sensetion

[@AMoistEggroll]

And both parties are guilty of this since they own each piece of media. Edit: Not including the nonpartisan, centrist, and/or independent media out there.

[@michamikoajczak9070]

And black people Reading these headlines are than scared of a threat which isn't as big and wants to resist against it to protect themselves

[@b.michaelbrown1117]

Truth

[@bigcountry816]

Thats what i was thinking. Its all about the media reporting these incidents. Imagine if they reported all 911 calls, sure some of these calls are indeed racist white people but the majority aren't, and the mojority of white people making 911 calls on black people are bc they are indeed commiting crimes, not bc they are black. Its an anti-white world we live in today. White people who actually say i have "white privilege" and im sorry for it, then say i will use my white privilege for good are the ones that are actually racist. I say that bc white privilege doesn't exist, and these whites that believe they have it believe that their skin color makes them more superior to black people and they apologize for being white and having this privilege bc they truly believe they are superior. The conservatives will never bow and apologize for something like "white privilege" bc we know that it doesn't exist. We know that anyone no matter their color can create a very privileged life for themselves as long as they work hard and respect others. As far as racism goes we have all been judged by the color of our skin? Whites are being beaten, shamed , and killed strictly bc we are white. It is completely ok for any other race to say racial things about white people, but if a white person does that to blacks or Hispanics it will be on the news and that person will lose his job and his entire livelyhood. Its crazy. You can't combat racism with racism, dark cannot run out dark and demons cannot cast out demons.

[@deanoliver3108]

A clearly intelligent, well spoken wise person beyond his years. Yet bases the entire structure of his view point on the belief that the headlines are true and not subject to selection or availability bias.

[@barta9342]

biased by panafricanism ?

[@lillianofcordova6772]

And also doesn't seem to recognize or address his own bias in selecting and focusing on those stories, and excluding others from his field of view.

[@drewber565]

Sadly, his mother injured him in the way she raised him AND his so-called education makes him sound smart, but he is actually uneducated. He was indoctrinated.

[@barta9342]

@@drewber565 Indoctrinated ,educated but this is a political choice; panafricanism .

[@pyroboi1398]

very wise words

[@steffenjensen422]

GIVE THIS MAN A -MEDAL- feeling of safety while having contact with those who are supposed to serve and protect him.

[@commodoreNZ]

who doesn't feel anxious with the blue and reds in their mirrors?

[@blupaduddle3806]

There's a difference between anxiousness and fear for your life. If you haven't done anything majorly wrong, you shouldn't fear for your life, but the world's rubbish.

[@natesmodelsdoodles5403]

@@blupaduddle3806 White Canadian here. one of the most terrifying moments in my life was when I accidentally blew a RIDE stop. cops pulled me over right away. lots of questions being asked, lots of suspicion. luckily they figured out that the RIDE signs were incredibly hard to see that night, and I was able to explain that I'd never encountered a RIDE stop before. all it takes is one cop with a warrant or reasonable suspicion to either ruin or end your life, and ANYONE can point them at you. it's not about race, it's about people, many of whom happen to be racist, abusing their right to summon law enforcement.

[@aidandagrossa575]

You realize in America more white people get shot than black people, right? It’s just the media makes a big deal when a black person gets shot than a white person and claim its racism so there’s another thing for liberals to get angry about.

[@hipolish]

@@aidandagrossa575 thErEs mOrE whITe pEOpLe iN aMerIcA????????

[@vaulthunterfromterra4053]

When the roles were switched to “Black woman calls cops on a white man for using neighborhood pool” I immediately though “that’s totally something that would happen in Florida”

[@davidtucker9498]

But here's the trick... Would the media report on it? Welcome to the world of fake news and media spin... They profit from stories that make people angry, not stories that depict typical reality in a balanced way.

[@vaulthunterfromterra4053]

Look up any “Florida Man” or “Florida Woman” case, and it’s not limited to just people, like: “Florida Cow evades police in several counties” and “Florida Dog steels car”. Yeah, Florida’s a pretty weird place.

[@vaulthunterfromterra4053]

Here’s another one, “Florida Woman Stabs Husband With Squirrel”

[@peppermintgal4302]

@@davidtucker9498 The facts are that one in 500 black people can expect, given only the stats of the past 5 years, to be shot in their lifetime, which is over twice as high a rate as that of white people. The media needn't spin to get their story all the time, or sometimes that spin is redundant to reality. So please, instead of trying to rationalize a genetic fallacy, let's focus on the actual data. And remember, the media is often driven by profit motive, as much as any other group of corporations, and this includes Fox news and your "alternative" alt right media outlets that are reassuring you that you're right to say cops can do no wrong. They profit on the status quo as much as CNN or Buzzfeed.

[@jacobbatchelor7877]

@@peppermintgal4302 The spin isn't redundant, it teaches people to be unable to discern reality from someone's perspective and a core skill to not being easily manipulated is being able to analyse what the reality is, what your perception of reality is and what the person who's telling you the infomations perspective on reality is. By continuing to teach people that being manipulated is okay, because this time it's for a good reason is not good in the long run. You are just as much a cog of the status quo as someone who works at fox news or buzzfeed. With the silver bullet that the internet is against TPTB all we need is people to start critical thinking, philosophising themselves and introspectively analysing and dissecting their thoughts and opinions through meditation, to end the status quo.

[@houstishaldorsen469]

I was expecting him to point out how wrong it is for the media to take advantage and twist a story by including race when it is almost always irrelevant and just causes division, but okay...

[@bagok701]

I was expecting a him to draw the connection to title media not being able to call out a racist directly instead must use indirect words, otherwise lawsuit for libel/slander. Further make another connection with the position of lower numbers of started lawsuits with black plaintiffs against newspapers for libel/slander versus higher in non-black and summarize with something about racial/political/economic ability to access legal services for defending their "honor".

[@Sasael]

[white teen with MAGA cap] [blocks and make fun] [of native american] [because is playing his drum]... lets play the game Baratunde give us... [native american] [bets drum trying to provocate] [white teen with MAGA cap] [for been in DC]... hmmm, well we all know how this ended, and Houstis you hit the nail in the head.

[@robinpohl2702]

Well me too I don't think our sensationalist mainstraim 24 hours news media is doing the public any service at this point.

[@dundermifflinscott2217]

I was just thinking the same.

[@nathanberrigan9839]

Karen yells at white man -> memes on facebook and reddit Karen yells at black man -> cnn and buzzfeed report on iNSTitutIONal rACisM

[@deanb8191]

Why does the media need to include race in anything bad that one person does to another? You never hear Black Person Attacks Black Person On The Street for No Reason.

[@simplybeef8232]

Or good..... media has to throw race in it... why not just “this person”

[@CityStarrzz]

Kevin so does selling crack to kids. But that’s still illegal.

[@skeletonrowdie1768]

that's the narrative he was talking about

[@deanb8191]

@@skeletonrowdie1768 Uh, no its literally not.

[@zula8452]

because obviously it isn't a racial thing then, the media tries to address racial prejudice when people call 911 on black people for no fucking reason.

[@headkicked]

"Because of his *poor* choice we are in a *poorer* world." Baratunde's got some great quotes!

[@1EpicMusic]

Every one should look at him self and his own actions

[@bornyesterday3627]

I've retracted my statement. The media is and has been making these narratives possible. There is no data to support it. *Subject:* Create a false scenario. To further democratic control. *Action:* Only report minority victims. *Target:* The world. *Activity:* Helping people understand. P.s. 16 cop involved shootings against unarmed black men 2019. 8000! Black on black murders.

[@comeintomyvan4827]

Wqit how

[@TheDeven1000]

From what I notice personally is when the races are reversed, the races are omitted from the headline

[@joejenkins3696]

well, thats because black people dont tend to call the cops on white people for stupid reasons and if they do, it would reveal that both sides are being stupid and the media supports equality and that would only throw a spanner in the works because white supremacists would use the articles as a defence.

[@erics7570]

He referenced headlines he repeatedly read “unarmed black killed by cop” that sentence would have been written 9x in 2019. If the statement was “unarmed white killed by cop” that headline would have appeared 19x in 2019. Sounds like systemic racism to me.

[@DIVAD291]

@@joejenkins3696 Are you saying we should lie by omission because facts don't support our narratives???

[@brokenearth7079]

I think it's because racists thrive on people being different. If they're white, then there's no need to call them out as different for them...

[@JdMaN211]

@@erics7570TL;DR: Black people, when unarmed, more likely to be killed than white people unarmed. However, this is trending downwards across the board, though not evenly for black vs white (black doing better than white). It is worth noting though, that the longer term trend over the previous 11 years is toward black people being more likely to be killed by police if unarmed than a white person (see mappingpoliceviolence.org/nationaltrends and www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6080222/ ). I also want to add, the definitions for unarmed seem to be fairly liberal (i.e. the second article states "Victim was reportedly in possession of a potentially deadly weapon, including objects being actively used as a weapon (e.g., vehicle) and apparent weapons later determined to be fake or unloaded.). This means that if a weapon is reported but not actually present, or if something relatively less threatening is reported, it still gets counted as 'armed'. Therefore, cases where 'threat to loss of life or severe bodily trauma'* are not present, the victim may still be deemed as armed in the statistics. I would argue that the true number of non-life threatening people killed is higher than the number of unarmed people. *These terms are commonly used in police policy for when lethal force may be used. As an aside, the second link shows a 6 year trend of dropping unarmed people being killed. It does seem that this downward trend is better for black people than white people, which is mildly decent but clearly work needs to be done still, especially for the white victims.

[@gerardoroman2167]

I had to watch this because of an assignment in school but the message really got to me and the way he used the game to get his point across really got me thinking.

[@a0215b]

im watching this in class right now 🫡

[@BiknChas]

I've been looking for this message for a long time. It allows me to see what I knew was there, but couldn't see. Now I am able to reconcile my knowledge and feelings. And it feels good. Thank you

[@earlj.d.6285]

8:55 “trying to touch her hair without asking” Crowd didn’t understand that major violation. They did get the oat milk one, though

[@coreysingletary8211]

ASAP_Hookgrip _ lol it went over 98% of the audiences head!!!

[@commodoreNZ]

@@coreysingletary8211 and only 2% of the audience had the hair that thought could ger caught in?

[@MsBorkbork]

I was thinking that they didn't react because it's freaking creepy to touch random people without asking.

[@jennym8976]

I didn't get the oat milk one...could someone please explain?

[@MsBorkbork]

@@jennym8976 not super sure, it seemed absurd and super white to make oat milk on a unicycle though. Damned vegans and their blasphemous nut juice. (I'm an almond milk fan, myself)

[@damarh]

that was an impressive presentation and got the message across perfectly. a year later the world is on fire.

[@georgio3753]

Dude

[@VincentFree]

America has always been on fire for some. It's not the land of the free and not even the home of the brave but maybe the current fire raging through the country can finally make that anthem hold truth

[@nicholasmassengale8649]

@@VincentFree cleansing like a Phoenix to a flame

[@dslims1]

The message is he is ignorant.

[@FreedomFighter-wy5xd]

The 🔥 is pain!!! The world now 👀 the real Amerkkka

[@marymccluer1630]

Brilliant! There is a strong relationship between language, thought, and culture, and he gets us to reimagine how outcomes could be better.

[@lking7244]

I believe all people (especially active police officers) would benefit listening to Baratunde’s video. Very informative - particularly the traffic stop. Well done! 👏 👏 👏 👏 👍

[@BuyCookiesNow]

They should really implement a substantial fine for abusing emergency numbers for bullshit reasons. Preferably based on income so rich people don't get away lightly.

[@YouAintGotNoTegridyBoi]

That makes no sense it's already a crime to make frivolous 911 calls you know nothing of this issue. This is race baiting crap tbh, I don't see how this helps to unite us even remotely.

[@snapperl]

Another conservative whining at the literal mention of the word race. You have zero wish for unity of any sort, please stop pretending otherwise.

[@hotbreakers94569]

Daegog The Wyrdmake @ the person so they know who you are talking to

[@valfreyaaurora4922]

@@YouAintGotNoTegridyBoi Because no person should have to carry the burden of someone else's fears. Do you walk around on egg-shells every day?

[@YouAintGotNoTegridyBoi]

@@valfreyaaurora4922 I'm saying people should be able to identify someone by the colour of their skin to the authorities if a crime is being committed as it would be relevant in helping track them down? I'm just pointing out how there are already laws that punish people for making false accusations. It's not a race issue. Shouldn't be made out as such.

[@sternbergjoe]

[Black Man] [wows] [white audience] [by giving TED talk]

[@anahiramirez9086]

, everybody rich now!

[@ronidoka1581]

@@willypen8613 Who tells you that?

[@jussjess2829]

Willy pen what exactly do you need convincing of? This presentation did not suggest all white people are racist..

[@tamarataylor846]

Would be a great headline!! Unfortunately, a headline that will (no doubt) only be seen here.

[@-gemberkoekje-5547]

That shouldn't be weird you know

[@dbunnysport]

Brilliant. One more watched in my mission. I likely will have to watch a few more times because I did get stuck. I attended public school in the 70s in Silicon Valley as an Asian when it was a minority. I didn’t learn as much as I should have in English. And you went brilliantly fast for me to overthink as I do. I love you and your message. Thanks for playing and teaching us how to level up.

[@jovabarris8789]

Amen. I love the transparency that you preach. Your mother raised you well. Thank you for the informative insight.

[@jm1mchp]

Great presentation. Can't help but love this Baratunde guy. Brilliant. Eloquent. I'm am old pale skinned white geezer. I am pleased to know that this man is my brother. God bless him, and all his brothers and sisters, of whatever skintone. Namaste, Baratunde.

[@NoisyHill_]

Oh, well put

[@patrick7-eleven248]

@tim tool I pray you find peace, Jesus waits for you to turn to him, his love for you is infinite.

[@felixhampe6480]

Guys just because someone doesn't agree with you, doesn´t mean he "wasn´t loved" or is a tool of somekind. You don´t know him, so don´t judge his Character, judge his Standpoint.

[@felixhampe6480]

@Ville He isn´t attacking anyones character, he dislkes the man´s suppossed standpoint (Not sure if he actually hates his race). You are Demonizing someone just because you disagree with him. You say that he wasn´t loved, is used by others (A tool) and now your accusing him of falsifying information (by saying i am him), as if he were a great evil of somekind altough you have no idea who this man is! I am not defending him or his standpoint but rather try to persuade you to draw less in black and white. Just because someone has diffrent opinons than you isn´t saying enough about his Person to say he is "this" or "that". The fact of the Matter is you don´t know him.

[@chrishughes3405]

@Ville I think felix's point is admirable I do the same as yourself. While I would love to get to know someone and share stories, my first aim is to try to make the world at all better. In a KZbin comment you aren't going to change decades of angry, repressed and neglectful formations of identity, which is the norm in human society and far as I can tell the core issue for both the far right and far left political ideologies. Forgot my point to the point I'm thinking Felix is right. Rationalisation has failed me. It is just so infuriating being smacked in the face daily with destructive and plain evil ideas and concepts and they are mostly because of a lack of love and compassion. Which are the physiological standards, humans are sensitive, cursed with understanding death, mostly, and altruistic. Unfortunately brains developed language before critical thought and still prefer a familiar narrative to reason or doubt.

[@hamzajan1632]

I hope this TED talk gets recommended more on KZbin Edit: thank you for all the likes! I'm glad more people are getting to see this video!

[@claws811]

Ÿēš

[@uddinna]

Random recommendation for me. Not watched a Ted talk in years.

[@thefishreloaded]

wish granted apparently

[@DairangerSentai7]

Yo Hamza you gotta share that jawn.

[@GeoNeilUK]

It is, it's just the recommendations that come after that which include a video on how anti-racism hurts black people (as if racism helps them) In a world where Ben Garrison gets it, i can do without being linked straight to MovementMaterial (don't bother watching the video, just check out who they're subbed to)

[@susandemchesen2718]

I shared this on my fb wall in 2020 bc I liked it so much. Every time I go through my timeline and come across this, I watch it again and again, I'm entertained. Thank you

[@thepeasant1093]

Okay I am obsessed with sentence diagrams and this whole sentence structure = systemic structure thing is blowing my mind

[@ethanp5948]

Damn not enough people pause to define their terms nowadays

[@dslims1]

Thats because most people have no clue to have an actual logical conversation, i dont believe this gentleman truly does either, hince all of his assertions.

[@JustButton]

dslims1 what should he do differently then? In your opinion?

[@noahmugan354]

What terms did you not understand?

[@lerpog4509]

JustButton dude he is literally saying he did a good thing, did you watch the whole video

[@dslims1]

@@JustButton present actual facts to back up his assertions.

[@rumbarrels1183]

About 10 years back my family and I went on a holiday to Florida, we stayed in a villa on a street with a hundred identical villas. On the first day we went grocery shopping and on the way back there was a massive thunderstorm, I told my mum to run in to the house and I'd carry in the shopping. My mum in her haste ran in to the villa next door to ours and headed in to the living room to find a very surprised black family wondering who'd just barged in to their home, she apologised and explained the situation and they laughed about it. We invited them to a BBQ at ours the next day as an apology and ended up spending most of the rest of the holiday with them, we're still in touch today. I often wonder if one of them were to have made the same mistake my mum did and enter the wrong house whether the situation would've ended differently, simply due to the colour of their skin.

[@josephhood8759]

that depends on who your mom is, my mom wouldn't care about color, she'd attack and then ask if your ok and offer food and refreshments, my moms crazy though.

[@reneef3949]

Yes it would have been different if she was black.

[@generateemail8451]

Jack Capone It really does, doesn’t it? I mean, it seems like he’s a critical thinker who’s paying attention to the news, understanding reality, and exercising empathy. Well done, Sean.

[@andyfumo8931]

@@generateemail8451 yea I don't know about critical thinking but sounds like he's letting himself be influenced by stories

[@thejtl83]

No, it wouldn’t have been different, racism is exaggerated in America, I have the #s to prove it.

[@dancewomyn1]

"Change the action, which changes the story, which changes the system, that allows those stories to happen. Systems are just collective stories we all buy into.When we change them, we write a better reality for us all to be a part of". Thanks for this. :)

[@sonjaallen2393]

Defund the headlines. Namaste, God bless. Thank you, Mr. Thurston, for a beautiful presentation.

[@stacywalpole6826]

Why don't people ask people what they are doing & or why BEFORE involving police? Do we as Americans forget to communicate like we should have learned in kindergarden...be nice, make friends, ask questions, smile, have snacks & nap.

[@rodshop5897]

@cj p Nice cherry-picked narrative you painted for us.

[@phoenixnmhesq]

This kinda great but we have to get to the point where people don’t even do that in most of these situations. Most of these people are doing the same thing that Caucasian people are doing and I personally would not care to answer if some regular person or even a cop approached me and told me to explain myself when I’m simply existing like everyone else. These people need to be made to suffer consequences for not seeing us as just as much human; someone who matters just as much as themselves. Because that is the entire problem. They don’t think of the consequences for what happens to us because they don’t have to. Even when they do know the probable consequences they don’t care because we do t register as important enough for them to care about. They need to be forced to care in the same manner as we have been forced to care about them

[@Applest2oApples]

Because that requires confrontation, and by and large people do not want to confront others. So they call the people whose job it is to do so. People are also morons though. In any case, reality is that is really easy *not* to get shot by police, regardless of your skin color.

[@Warmduscher1876]

@@jeffbridges5312 And yet here you are, taking time out of your busy schedule to belittle and minimize black activism. Fun fact, it's black American's society too. Fuckwits like you just don't let them be part of it.

[@marcconti8234]

Thank you, many of those headlines could be fixed with communication.

[@OGEdger]

People should be fined for wasting the police's time with stupid calls.

[@yourinternetfriend6778]

Can I fine TED for wasting my time with stupid videos like this? ;-)

[@gido9467]

Your Internet Friend You chose to watch it. You chose how to spend your own time. Congratulations.

[@stunnerkumah]

Your Internet Friend wasting your own life on hate sad man lol

[@namp2018]

@Winged Raspberry Not all the cops are bad. Just because some cops don't do anything against the bad cops, doesn't mean they're a bad cop.

[@namp2018]

@Winged Raspberry also, THE PROBLEM STARTED WITH THEM CALLING THE COPS. I put it on caps so you READ.

[@kelseyholmes2458]

I thought he was going to actually read the articles and say how misleading headlines can be

[@iamwhodis]

same here. disappointed.

[@mychevysparkevdidntcatchfi1489]

He's a DemoKKKRat pushing fear to make a buck as you can see from his jobs. He's not going to tell the truth, because he wants that sweet mullah from selling fear like all DemoKKKRats do.

[@imoyabrax450]

@@mychevysparkevdidntcatchfi1489 funny u mention the kkk listen to strange fruits

[@motv-independentthinkingfo3817]

I Absolutely Love This TedTalk you are an Amazing speaker, You Have Spoken Truth Thank You Bro, I Level Up With Baratunde💯🙌🏾🙏🏾

[@randoml97]

"Rated dwane the rock johnson or darker"😂😂😂

[@inigo8740]

I don't know if it was the lighting reflecting on his skin, but when I saw him Baywatch, I was surprised when there was a joke about black guys sticking together. I was like, "Wait, he's black? That's not a tan?". Really shook me.

[@Patrick.Edgar.Regini]

@@inigo8740 what a Queen! ...With Love 😘😉

[@GiaZera]

@@inigo8740 Also Polynesian.

[@isaiahrobinsonjr.246]

Laura Doan www.amazon.com/Racial-Profiling-History-Racism-Robinson-ebook/dp/B082P948YC/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?keywords=Isaiah+Robinson&qid=1578510081&sr=8-6

[@MrHallTV]

Q Hns you are correct that it is a valid reason to be pulled over, but you are also heading down the right track about his fear being sad. Many people are pulled over for valid reasons every day. The difference is they are not killed, or in fear of being killed, each time it happens. Now let me get a bit more sinister for a second. What if you see someone you want to pull over because of race and you do it for a reason that you might have let go on another car. Cracked tail light, questionable right turn in red, not enough of a pause on the stop sign... because they don’t belong in this neighborhood? Because you want to check them out? It’s not always about that but the fact that we have to question it is a problem imho.

[@ImOver6feet]

Maybe the headlines are the problem. Who’s writing them?

[@thepineappleman4442]

um WHAT?

[@stuartspencer2161]

@@thepineappleman4442 A few examples of how the narrative changes the tone. Police called on person using neighbourhood pool - neighbour dispute Police called on person trespassing and using neighbourhood pool - legitimate minor crime Man calls police on woman for using neighbourhood pool - narrative now introduces gender which creates a sexist narrative White man calls police on black man using neighbourhood pool - now race is introduced, creating a racist narrative. In the end, these headlines promote racial tension, and further hampers and chance for equality amongst people.

[@twelfthian7654]

Stuart Spencer well said, why do more people not see this lol

[@bogusmcbogus2637]

@@twelfthian7654 Because a disingenuous headline is disingenuous, no matter how prettily the words fit your preference to not admit it could and probably is about race

[@twelfthian7654]

Bogus McBogus also well said. The worst part is that when you try and help people see it, they will not listen and will even be upset with you.

[@raindog68]

Reversing the flow of injustice is not justice-it is vengeance. Some things go straight on to the hard drive. Very reasonable, likeable and thought provoking man..

[@megabrex]

I have twice had police called on me for doing something mundane. Once because i was walking my dog and raised my voice to her when she attempted to chase a rabbit on the other side of the street and i raised my voice to her. Police came to my home and interviewed me threatening to take the dog away. and once when i was camping for "brandishing a gun", I am not a gun owner and had to allow the officers to search my car and campsite, we packed up and found another nearby campsite. I am not black and i do not live in the united states of america. As for how he described his traffic stop, that is just good practice, Good lighting, wallet visible on the dash and keeping your hands where the officer will see them will help reassure a police officer that he is not going to get shot during this stop.

[@terryvest640]

I had police called on me twice also..... for not giving refunds to customers...

[@lillianofcordova6772]

I don't know if my incident with the police happened because of a 911 call, but I did have a police officer pull over and talk to me because I was walking with my children after dark. (I'm white, and we were out trying to see the lunar eclipse because my kids love science.)

[@Gloria_magslife]

“She sent me to school looking like this...” oh my goodness... 🤣 I love you for sharing that.

[@tomasturan5781]

Yeah, awkward but still sexy. Like in a movie where even the ugly girl is actually pretty. Emotions are important propaganda tool. Well played.

[@siddsen95]

Such an exemplary public presentation. People like Baratunde are the sole reason that we still have words like hope and faith preserved in our collective vocabularies

[@aidandagrossa575]

That’s kinda a stretch because 1 in 4 people who get shot by the police are black. White people get shot the most but nobody cares.

[@thebestshmave7401]

Aidan DaGrossa but blacks are only around twelve percent of the population.

[@willypen8613]

And keep truth out, it is very offensive. Speaking words of truth will earn yt strikes

[@willypen8613]

@@thebestshmave7401 but tend to crack quicker under pressure. Emotional stability wise. Combined with additude, entitlement issues. This video may make people of color feel good make them feel empowered to be more outspoken at the wrong time not helping the real problem at all in the long run. Telling the truth won't do nothing but earn yt strike's. Everybody knows what i saids true thats why ive got nobody disputing it. They would sound stupid.

[@Calers-gu1ib]

@@aidandagrossa575 I also read that cops who do the shooting the most against blacks are black cops, makes me think those particular phone videos aren't in high demand by the media so people just dump them from their phones

[@DingleFlop]

Very good talk by someone with an amazing name. "Reversing the flow of injustice is vengeance, that's not our game" THANK YOU

[@EyesOfFrozenMeat]

... and this was "recommended to me" today? Why? Does KZbin think that the last few videos I watched didn't fall in line with the correct-think narrative?

[@codycevering2733]

KZbin soy boys decided that you weren't watching black enough content. So they figured they would "educate you" about your white content preferences. Strangely, regardless of how racist you are to your very core, I'll bet you listened and gave this guy your attention.

[@cadenhenderson4322]

Cody Cevering Right on buddy

[@AlexanderTabiadon]

It's like the book 1984 gotta keep you in line with the 'correct' viewpoints rather than your own.

[@thechloromancer3310]

I feel that he is missing one key point: the headlines used - even when they are fully accurate and not hiding context - are intentionally inflammatory. They are designed to garner attention and garner outrage, thereby getting more eyeballs on the paper/page and getting more shares over social media. The end result is a cultural narrative that does not match the reality. And that reality is that 0.047% of the 55.8 million annual police contacts in the US result in a complaint for excessive force. Only 8% of those complaints are sustained. The number of fatal shootings by police is even smaller (998 in 2018, 95.3% of whom were armed). I'll give the speaker props for being funny and being a good presenter. But he, like most of US society, is being played by a sensationalist media establishment that amplifies a small number of ridiculous and/or tragic stories into an overblown narrative of common police brutality.

[@yoshypl9901]

I wonder why comments like this one do not have more likes? There are thousands of arrests and people are whining about one, cherry picking and mongering.

[@kendramiller8419]

I agree. That’s what I was thinking the whole time. He is using the headline to talk about the situation but like you said these headlines are intentional inflammatory.

[@sethralavode9012]

He did work for the Daily Show. Of course he wouldn’t mention that.

[@juanpls3856]

You said exactly what I was thinking through all the video and didn't know how to explain

[@soham.banerjee]

@@sethralavode9012 must be trevor noah era and not jon stewart

[@1981stonemonkey]

This must be the dude who actually said the most during his talk. He has every reason to be emotional, condescending, even hateful on stage. Instead he chose to calmly open a space and use simple educational tools to openly, vulnerably and authentically teach about racism and how to change it. I salute you.

[@penmaster003]

Harmen Westerhof No one, regardless of presumed adversity, has any reason to be emotional, condescending or even hateful. You don’t change anything by being what you are supposedly fighting against. That’s a pretty moronic way of approaching things.

[@LynnOliver-bc8sx]

@@penmaster003 penmaster003 it seems you misunderstood harmen westerhof. We are all in agreement. Yeaaa!

[@adamwyker4800]

Yeah unless he’s a moron that is wrong about everything he says and in a moral, self respecting society he’d be embarrassed and ashamed of his actions…but the low IQ of the masses lap this BS up over and over and pretend this race hustling midwit is some sort of brave hero for regurgitating the most unopposed MSM Democrat narrative talking points. How brave!!!? What a good boy!

[@ashleg8350]

"Simply reversing the flow of injustice is not justice. It is Vengeance." Boy, don't we need to have THAT one splashed across the front page...

[@user-jn7mz2iw5i]

Absolutely brilliant and powerful speech! Thank you!!

[@albe184]

He broken this down is such an innovative way, it not shaming anybody but showing the correlations between different degrees of injustice. Love u brother💪

[@suelily4281]

I wish I could give this more than one thumb up. Very well said.

[@rocr62]

Not shaming anyone? "Not all white people are racist”... Translation ”most are”.

[@albe184]

@@rocr62 what's wrong with you? He is is just stating what's been happening. The same way people express their hate for Obama and black lives matter. So be a real man and understand that these events happen and all we want to do is change it.

[@josephhood8759]

@@albe184 what's been happening in the news is they pick what stories make the most money and everyone suffers for it, and BLM inspired a bunch of monsters to kidnap and torture a defenseless autistic man, and Obama got elected twice, its the news that said what your repeating, yes it happens, but not usually due to race, its simple fear of what we've been told and bad expectations of what we believe to be true, do some research and use your own mind instead of you're bias.

[@David-xy4br]

Albë I wish people that hated cops and called them pigs weren’t allowed to call them. That would be so much better.

[@Amaranthyne]

When he said “black woman calls police on white man using neighborhood pool”, I immediately thought “what kind of crazy, weird a** s*** was he pulling in that pool”.

[@peenwald8852]

same. i just realized what the thumbnail actually meant when i read this comment

[@Amaranthyne]

@Nicccque Haha, happy I could help. I’m pretty sure my reaction wasn’t what he was using in his argument, though. His assessment was that this headline would sound ridiculous to most when you switched it, but I definitely would’ve believed the guy in the pool was nuts and taken it seriously. Maybe it’s the thought that if a black person calls the police then s*** must be seriously bad.

[@megabrex]

i Look at that and it does not seem to be the absurd scenario he is making it out to be. I suspect if you ask most men of any race if they are comfortable alone somewhere that kids play they would say no for this very reason.

[@gustav24-7-52]

If that's the case I'm remembering.... a private subdivision was having a problem with non-residents coming in and using the pool. That's called trespassing. A woman nobody recognized was asked where she lived and she gave the one street name in the development which didn't have any houses built on it yet. Leading a member of the home owners' association in that private housing development to pursue the issue further. Yes, the Black woman had just move into a house in that development but got the street name wrong. It got sorted out and everyone screamed racism anyway.

[@Amaranthyne]

@Gus tav, that’s just it, it might’ve been, but maybe not. Now I’m going to say this really quietly and hope I don’t get crucified. We don’t know if George Floyd being black had anything to do with his death. I’m not denying there is racism, or even that black men are targeted. The officers who killed George Floyd had histories of excessive violence, and I haven’t seen anything about it only being towards black people. It’s entirely possible George Floyd was an unfortunate guy who happened to be black. I hope in the future our police force will be more diverse, maybe that will remove the racial charge behind law enforcement and people of all races will feel that police are a service meant to keep them safe.

[@John-cd1ri]

We appreciate you Baratunde - thank you for your voice!

[@DEmersonJMFM]

Mentioning race in all these news headlines automatically assumes that the issue is because of race, as if another race wouldn't do the same thing. It can also enforce stereotyping, leading to more ignorance behavior from some people.

[@benalt]

/and would race be mentioned if the situation was reversed?

[@latanyahenry]

Sure, writers could leave out the words black or white, but it wouldn't change the fact that the reason the cops were called on these people is because WHITE people were uncomfortable with Black people in spaces they thought they did not belong. Problem is not the headline, its the narrative--and the lack of acknowledgement by white people that this foolishness happens as often as it does. You missed the whole point of the Ted Talk!

[@zxyatiywariii8]

@@latanyahenry Yes, this is usually true. I was once falsely arrested for "theft" just because I was the only non-white person in the whole building. (And I was later able to prove I was innocent, and falsely targeted, because of security camera footage and witnesses.) However, some people are horrible to everyone, of any race. A white friend of mine had the cops called on him just because he was in "the wrong place at the wrong time". People who call the cops on innocent people -- they waste police resources and they put innocent people at risk. I think if someone calls the cops on an innocent person, the CALLER should be charged with "reckless endangerment" or "false reporting" or something. Then people would think twice about calling the cops on innocent people.

[@jacobmarshall5391]

@Jeff Oliver very well said, but sad that most people wouldn't take the 30 seconds of, "hard work" to read it. Then they would have to take into consideration your side, which would automatically make in not about them. If so many black people wouldn't assume that whites are racist, then whites wouldn't assume blacks think whites are racist. Body language can be felt. Blacks dont have to say that the other is racist. The white person knows they think that. That makes the black person racist. There are plenty of white racists, but that shouldn't be assumed just because they think they're wrong about what they're doing. And when getting pulled over, I do the same thing. If it's dark I'll turn on my interior lights. And when he asked for something I tell where it is, and when I'm going to reach for it, and I do it slowly. My brother was beaten by a group of cops for running away, but he ran away. The cops weren't in the right, but neither was he. So many people bring misfortune on themselves, and blame the other when something bad happens. It's so foolish, conceited, selfish, and hypocritical, and I cant understand how a person could be so awful.

[@Marnee4191]

I agree. I listen to NPR (and local Minnesota PR) nearly every day. If a black person is shot, they say a black person is shot. If a white person is shot, they just say a person is shot (as if white is the norm and black is the exception!) But then it also highlights that someone is black in a story when it has no relevance. When I saw the video of Floyd being murdered, I - like most people - was horrified. Really, really distraught. That was a Monday. It was Thursday before I realized that a bunch of the protesters (some who I knew) and many people around the country and world were seeing it as some racial issue. To this day, I don't understand that. Chauvin was a straight-up murderer in my opinion. And Floyd was a straight-up human being. I didn't see Floyd being murdered and think "WHITE man murders BLACK man" because there was no evidence of racial bias and I'm not so prejudiced or racist that I consider the "race" of every person I see like many so-called liberals do. I saw one man killed another and it was horrifying. I think that many black people are believing the narrative that any time a white person does something bad to a black person, it's racially motiviated. Some white people are just a**holes. (There definitely ARE racists, but that doesn't mean every time a white person is a jerk to a black person it's due to racism.) And some liberals (I am a liberal) don't see black people as fully human, but children they need to protect, and that anything bad that happens to a black person must be because of racism because they are way, way, way too concious of race and feel compelled to wear their anti-racism on their sleeve to the point of ridiculousness. Floyd was a man. Chauvin was a man. Chauvin killed Floyd. I saw no indication and no evidence has surfaced that it was racially motivated. If we want to look at racially motivated killings, we have to look at 1) statistics, which show there is no bias in police shootings or 2) the individual case. For Floyd, there was no evidence of bias in that individual case. I was shocked that first week to learn that the protests for Floyd were focusing on race. I knew people out protesting (I am from Mpls) and admired them. I wanted to go myself, but could not. Then I learned everyone was focusing on race instead of on the murder and the subsequent evidence of police militarization, and I am still just dumbfounded. BLM says they unapoligetically focus on black lives, so they only complain when a black person is killed and they think it is unjustified. So, they get the media attention and it makes it seem as if the only people are killed are black people. We just don't HEAR about the non-black people killed. BLM specifically says they don't care about the white people being killed (or it's not their focus) and that is their prerogative, but it is skewing people's perceptions.

[@fresch4395]

Just commenting so youtube recommends this more and the word gets out there. 500 000 views is not enough

[@Kirkwoodclay]

The rest of us have met a black person before and don’t need to hear the bullshit only white privileged people need like it’s a handbook

[@denkortagiraffen8947]

@@Kirkwoodclay but isn't it good then If this Video gets recomended more offen. If more people see this then more people with such thougts will see this and maybe Change their mind.

[@bobsonbobbybobson6888]

@@denkortagiraffen8947 how many of these stories are untold? Its always one story: white on black. How many white on hispanic, white on brown, brown on hispanic, hispanic on yellow stories do you not hear? The speaker is not wrong about this kind of violence and bullshit. But how can we truly create change if we exclude 90% of the stories.

[@coreywilson3508]

@@bobsonbobbybobson6888 His overall point is that it would just be better for more people to see this. Are you suggesting otherwise?

[@kimberly8695]

@@Kirkwoodclay You've met A SINGULAR black person? In what capacity?

[@cottoncandy113]

Damn, when he said, "I am tired." That's exactly how I feel as a black person. I'm tired of someone's fear turning into a threat for me.

[@naufrage0]

And most of them just think youre making it up.

[@aliceb.6884]

I am so very sorry.

[@terrencemyers1033]

That is a profound statement!

[@HashTheGrappler]

Then move to Canada. We don’t have these problems. Why? cuz our media isn’t constantly fanning flames.

[@PedanticNo1]

Welcome to the wonderful world of being gay. Constantly worrying whether people can tell- whether your mannerisms, speech, or interests are passively giving you away. The constant anxiety of hiding yourself and fearing attack or reprisal if you're found out. People say that gays "aren't oppressed anymore," and while that's true legally (mostly) here in the US, it is the same social struggle that black people face. And yet, black people are by and large the most intolerant of homosexuality. My point is that ALL PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION. These talks that focus on "white people" as a monolithic group promulgate racism because they act as if this isn't a human issue. In non-majority white countries, the same things happen between different races. You'd never know that, though, from the way this is presented.

[@cliftontorrence839]

Wonderful ! Mr B. afforded me a glimpsing view into my own bias and comfort perceptions. We can rewrite the story and change the world.

[@useyourmind4405]

One must ask oneself when seeing ANY headline: why would color even be mentioned? The answer would be: to try to trick you into believing something that may not be entirely true. I do not read or watch the regular news anymore, because 50 years has taught me that there's ALWAYS an agenda with the news. People- start thinking for yourselves. This man here is smart, but only goes 80 % of the way with his thinking. Most don't even go that far, but instead just parrot what others say. That's being intellectually lazy. Use 100 percent of your mind to avoid being manipulated by those who want your money or your vote

[@muddbrinigar]

You're right on! Wake up America! Think for yourself! Quit listening to the media. If it's not sensational it won't be printed/reported. Think about that.

[@tommybro5313]

Boring

[@dandemore8057]

@@tommybro5313 what a thoughtful response you got em good bud

[@tommybro5313]

@@dandemore8057 thnx

[@annadstar777]

UseYour Mind totally agree! Great name, by the way 😄

[@Shrew-22O1]

No one: Becky: *dials 9-1-1*

[@SFgamer]

Define a 'becky'. Cause I see it just callously thrown around.

[@PostProteusKitten]

@@SFgamer A racial epithet describing a white female. According to wikipedia: "Becky is a term for a white woman. After Beyoncé used the term in 2016 in the song "Sorry", on her album Lemonade, it came to mean a "white girl who loves Starbucks and Uggs and is clueless about racial and social issues", according to the New Statesman."

[@Patrick.Edgar.Regini]

"a Becky"? LOL WOW too funny. Never heard it. Too bad we're all so uptigh. We should use that! ... and all just laugh about each other until we forget about using any more nouns on one another!

[@bulldozer8950]

You mean Karen? Damn Karen

[@Troytrapz]

@@PostProteusKitten I think most girls who go to starbucks are feminist SJW's... tbh

[@KJizzle]

Minding one's business is a damn good choice tho cause people are nosy af

[@TheDebare]

I'll remember that the next time I see a man beating up a woman. I won't stop him like I did before.

[@danny-do3vk]

@@TheDebare ever heard of discretion?

[@gour4201]

누가 의역 좀 해주세요.

[@mikeaskme3530]

@@nicholaswilliams8536 that is not true, going by FBI statistics.

[@z42O]

Better to be white than any color lol

[@mudguts77]

Man reads headlines, plans how to live his life by said headlines. Man's real life experience is 180 degrees opposite of what the headlines lead him to expect, man still believes headlines....

[@gmale2624]

Man denies reality.

[@ChristopherNFP]

Best comment ever. Describes his lived experience as professional and appropriate actions by politics. Decides to live his life as if the OPPOSITE of that experience is what happens.

[@tobycurrie4499]

Man looks at statistics regarding police interactions with black civilians vs. white civilians, and acts accordingly. Man has an experience that is unlikely but not impossible within his statistical understanding, and better appreciates that it is possible, but ultimately decides that the statistics of millions of interactions are more trustworthy than a single anecdote.

[@mudguts77]

@@tobycurrie4499 man does not understand statistics, and/ or does not believe them. Fails to compare number of interactions with police with number of shootings, nor does he compare that number to the number of crimes being committed in a particular community. Or he would find that his lived experience is highly "likely" given most of the conditions for negative interaction have not been met, conditions that are coincident with, but not dependent on race.

[@tobycurrie4499]

@@mudguts77 I would need more data than I have to either confirm or counter you, so for now I say fair enough

[@MegasXaos]

So you're saying that the Media is really the only thing that's systemically racist. If journalists weren't sexist and racist and removed race and gender: "Person calls cops on another using public pool" That's not going to sell papers (unless it's the Onion or Midnight Star). They'd have to come up with better headlines.

[@spriddlez]

Right problem wrong solution. Why do newspapers have to make headlines that enrage, sensationalize, anger, stir up etc? To sell news papers. Better headlines won't fix the fact that people don't want to click on nice news articles. They don't want to pay for papers.

[@NmaM-it5yk]

Newspapers! What the heck gentleman lol 😂

[@starspaceschool587]

More insidious problem, Americans would rather be sensationalized rather than informed.

[@Peter-qz3sn]

Ignoring racism doesn’t solve racism

[@starspaceschool587]

​@@Peter-qz3sn Ignoring invented racism is a great way to solve racism. Media and the left tend to pretend racism exists everywhere, the largest perpetrators of racist policy today are liberals.

[@Amanning15007]

Great presentation.... My take away from this was... 1. Mind your damn business 2. Your fears should NOT be my burden to carry, and finally 3. The police are not a grievance hotline to use for people just living.

[@PrimeCarrot]

I think you're missing an important takeaway. If the media starts focusing primarily on cases of racial unity, we are exposed to it everyday and it becomes a part of our social structure. With time, systemic racism will cease to exist if we follow his advice.

[@biggreentruck4907]

@@PrimeCarrot Systemic racism has already ceased to exist, in the context that he presented. It is true that some people call police at the drop of a hat. The girl selling water, for example; I doubt that race was an issue there. The issue was that the little girl was engaged in commerce without a license. (The woman who called the police is still a c*nt, though) The speaker was correct in that we should all mind our damned business, though. Looking at those headlines, what was the context? The headlines conveniently omit context. The Safeway and Starbucks headlines, there were some trespassing issues at play. Calling the police was appropriate. Guy inspecting house? Did he just buy that house? Was it vacant, or occupied? If I saw a stranger poking around the house nextdoor, I may be inclined to call the police, too. Were I in the position of having the police called on ME for surveying my property, I'd be thankful for vigilant neighbors. The guy started with a faulty premise, and while he made some decent points along the way, he came to a faulty conclusion. If he would only stop to think about context, he could be revolutionary.

[@PrimeCarrot]

@@biggreentruck4907 I think you're focusing too much on the details and failing to acknowledge the greater takeaway outlined above. It's not about the context of the content presented in the headlines. It's about the effect the headlines themselves have on our social structures. Should we be sending messages of discourse, or unity? Despite context presented in this video, the effects of systemic racism undeniably plague our society, and we should take any and every action to uproot it.

[@bobsanders8682]

@@biggreentruck4907 The issue with the "mind your own business" thing is then the media will show stories where whites COULD have called for help or police but instead let well enough alone because they're racist if they try to help... Lose lose

[@Lina-rf9nb]

This!

[@kijekuyo9494]

Black Comedian and Commentator Amuses, Entertains, and Enlightens White Teacher Watching TEDTalk

[@andyfumo8931]

Must be a drama teacher

[@kijekuyo9494]

@@saamamerat5308 I 100% agree with you. Race is an illusion created as a political tool. I've written about this extensively.

[@Drakeblood97]

@@saamamerat5308 The concept of race is, I believe, entirely fabricated by antiquated Academics, has very limited applications in reality, and is merely a substitute for those who do not wish to confront the more complex reality that is human genetic and cultural diversity. If you look at how race is colloquially thrown about, one easily stumbles into all sorts of inconsistencies that should invalidated any serious discussions which hold the concept of race to be a truthful one. Sometimes race is tied to a nationalities such as Indian, Japanese, or Chinese, yet these countries themselves contain a plethora of diverse peoples, all of which are simultaneously Asian by the way. Other times we say it's one's skin color that defines race, be it black, white, yellow, brown, none of which are remotely helpful in telling precisely where one comes from. Sometimes we use vague geographical locations to define race, eg. we say Asian is a race, when as we see, Asia is actually a large swathe of land home to hundreds upon hundreds of ethnic groups and cultures, and yet we never consider European a race and instead we do consider the myriad European ethnic groups and cultures. What's worse is that these problematic "definitions" are also reflected in official gov't documentation such as census data. In my opinion, which I believe is firmly grounded in science, ethnicity is the only true meaningful characteristic a person carries with them which defines their heritage; to go any larger than that, we start to conflate people who should necessarily be considered as unique.

[@georgplaz]

somebody should call the cops!

[@aquadragondavanin6745]

you should show this to your students! what do you teach?

[@dankrauz1036]

This is powerful. A year later it makes more sense.

[@Lodatzor]

I mean, it's not actually very sound logic. All he's done is assume that all the headlines are true, and assume that the exact same thing doesn't happen all the time between white people. When he talks about his fear of being pulled over, he clearly doesn't understand that only ~1,100 people a year are killed by police, which is 0.0003% of the population, and 50% of those people are white. The reason why he is so scared is not because he has a genuine, reasonable expectation of being killed, but because so many carefully selected headlines find their way into his feed, making him believe that he does. And why? Because then he becomes another willing customer of the grievance industry. His entire upshot is basically "white people need to act differently" instead of the far more reasonable "don't let media headlines shape your impressions of reality".

[@thematsonia]

Usually the subject of systemic racism is either outright denied or a means to own the conversation about race. These ideological extremes only make the problem worse. This talk takes neither extreme. Cheers to Baratunde Thurston for his wisdom and nuance with handling the truth about the burdens of being black in 2020 America. This is a thoughtful contribution to the conversation and offers genuine and constructive action steps.

[@tikity-boo6225]

It's tragic that the people who need to watch this the most, won't.

[@Grim_Beard]

Some have - they're the ones who clicked 'dislike'.

[@araweelospirit4180]

Why not go on a dropping in DMs spree Rene. That’s how activism works sis, disrupt. Go ham

[@dslims1]

Why do you say that, he doesnt actually provide any real information.

[@FreedomFighter-wy5xd]

@@dslims1 not where you are concerned. White insecurity is a real thing my friend

[@guffinator70]

Who do you feel "need" watch this?

[@christinaVennegerts]

Amazing talk and surprisingly funny for a topic like that. Great speaker and important topic!

[@andreischmidt3311]

He writes for the daily show

[@baratunde]

Andrei Schmidt I used to be a producer there but don’t currently write for the show. Thanks

[@marcconti8234]

@@terrencemyers1033 Is this about racism, or supremacy? I don't want to live in a world where people's lives are different based on how they look. Saying white people are a cancer is just as bad as any other form of racism.

[@navyforeveryoungjean-phili5940]

Christina V. He made it comfortable enough for you racist whites

[@carpentryfirst3048]

@@navyforeveryoungjean-phili5940 cause blacks are so accepting...

[@sinngleton]

Well, just to put the numbers in to a perspective. There was 10.5 million arrests done on 2017, of which 27.2 % was blacks, so 2.86 million. This is by FBI stats. WP data says there was 13 unarmed blacks shot last year. So its fair to say that it is less than 1 in 220 000 chance for a black unarmed guy to get shot when getting arrested. Other police encounters are way more frequent than arrests, and that probably takes the chance to 1 in millions.

[@maximus8940]

Not to mention that those unarmed black men were most likely resisting arrest

[@tomsellout9576]

There were actually only 9 unarmed black men shot in 2019, and 7 were justified. Contrary to 19 unarmed white men you didn’t hear anything about

[@Brianparsons1991]

Math, who'd a thought it would help later on in life.

[@lillianofcordova6772]

How much of the problem of black people feeling oppressed in modern society is because they are told over and over by leftists in media, politics, and education, that they are oppressed and need to feel fear in every interaction in their lives? Leftists have convinced me that there is systemic racism in our country - and I believe that it manifests in the ways that leftists attempt to terrify and belittle black people by telling them repeatedly that they are outside of the system, and that they are constantly at risk. If you hear the message often enough - no matter how far from reality it is - it's hard not to believe it an make decisions accordingly, and those decisions can and do negatively impact black people; keeping them from education, employment, and community opportunities that they might otherwise have pursued.

[@gillianzohnert2323]

Thank you Sinngleton.

[@MrJob-jv4dc]

Does having your skincolor as a large part of your identity, not reinforce racism? I understand why in America you would do that, but does that not promote the differences between races, instead of removing the differences?

[@robertallen9570]

The point is not to destroy or ignore our differences, but to embrace and celebrate them

[@crzyautochic4807]

I totally agree. If everyone would go by their identity as to who they are and not pride of their race things would be totally different......the more everyone toys with the racist word the more racist sheep become....pay no attention to it dont teach you children to be racist thats only when its going to change

[@annadstar777]

Mr. Job I agree with your first sentence/question. However I don’t think we can remove the differences. It’s ok to see people’s skin color, ethnicity but it shouldn’t make a difference in how we treat each other. As long as we see people as humans who deserve love and respect...Skin color has nothing to do with someone’s worthiness, it’s just a part of who we are.

[@mattw6399]

By not having skin color as a part of your identity, you might not see color and when you don't see color it allows racial problems to hide in plain sight.

[@colincouture9823]

I am not allowed to be probably British

[@routtookc8064]

"A lot of growing up, is learning to keep your mouth shut"

[@prolitcom]

Someone: calls the police because you're selling water on your neighborhood street You: I did nothing wrong. Why are you threatening me? Someone: A lot of growing up, is learning to keep your mouth shut

[@jordanthomas4379]

routt ookc yes lets not ever call the police or stop crime from happening.

[@jordanthomas4379]

Prolit Com that women was a New York left wing democrat and a fool, you have no argument

[@prolitcom]

​@@jordanthomas4379, I didn't know left-wing Democrats are not allowed to sell water anymore. Since when?

[@jordanthomas4379]

Prolit Com I was talking about permit patty.

[@ritahayworth610]

I really enjoyed this talk. I also enjoy alot of the comments. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to respectfully share their perspectives, I appreciate you!

[@rtchelvi]

One of the best speeches I have ever listened!

[@ultraderek]

When I get pulled over I do the exact things, too.

[@KangarooPoo]

Yeah, but you don't do it out of fear for your life

[@ultraderek]

@@KangarooPoo uhhh, yeah I do. Being pulled over isn’t like going to the dentist. There is a real probability of violence occurring. Only a moron would behave in a way that makes a person that is legally allowed to use violence even more nervous.

[@user-jn7mz2iw5i]

Yeah but the level of fear of what might happen and chances of being shot are none to zero, probably..

[@kiraash3674]

@@ultraderek you obviously do not understand the privilege you have by being a white individual..

[@thebatman4279]

@@kiraash3674 Give it a rest ffs.

[@ponzopa]

Is he like a powerpoint god or something?

[@onepants6081]

Yeah that was smooth af

[@tomasturan5781]

No, it is typical well prepared victim mentality propaganda

[@onepants6081]

I mean he is not wrong in most of his points, they just seem exaggerated and vague.

[@carlosnava1471]

@@tomasturan5781 Care to elaborate?

[@quangduongang6230]

@@carlosnava1471 Probably just a troll. Had to remind myself that I'm on the internet sometimes, too.

[@SJRAIDERS7]

Never heard something more poetic than "everyone should mind their own damn business," what an ethereal statement that is, and what a world it would be if we all did just that.

[@jmontgomery1178]

I agree, which means not making all whites somehow responsible for a few goofy people who are afraid of silly things. How many people exactly? 40 out of our millions?

[@troublemaker9899]

Welcome to English Liberalism.

[@Wertbag99]

And when people do that they get hit with "silence is violence". The headlines would just change to "white woman fails to protect black neighbours house from burglar"

[@1992til]

That’s deep brother, brought tears to my eyes.

[@DanEllis]

"Unicycles and oat milk" doesn't seem very far from "watermelons and fried chicken"

[@codypitts6467]

So fkin true. Remember what he said, reverse the situation! Lool

[@summerstapleton5787]

HAHAHAHAHA!

[@noxxon-8966]

Skateboards and coffee-flavored soymilk.

[@cadenhenderson4322]

Exactly what I was thinking.

[@sh00ting_st4rr]

Dan Ellis I love watermelons and fried chicken but hate unicycles and oat milk and I’m not black 🤣🤣

[@Draconicrose]

Brilliant! Thurston clearly knows how to use humor to diffuse discomfort that might otherwise cause his audience to get defensive and thus effectively get them to absorb the message.

[@moonettewolfsong9960]

Pondering the uproar if you took the white and black out of the titles. The insanity of ‘woman calls police on someone walking to work’ or the uproar over ‘children arrested for loitering while outside a movie theatre’ That was a story going around tumblr awhile ago. The fact the children were black wasn’t mentioned till right near the end, after you read about the absurdness of the back and forth between police, the children who had been walking away as instructed when one of them was handcuffed and dragged into the police vehicle and the writer of the post, who’d seen what had happened and stepped in as witness that the children had been leaving and then refused to leave until they were sure the children were safe. Made sure the mother was there and gave them numbers to some lawyer friends etc. The writer also mentioned some other people who were nearby who chose to standby as witnesses and there was a big semi subtext on the importance of witnesses who could support what actually happened.

[@Alex-ki1yr]

+

[@k1dork]

Moonette Wolfsong, what about the uproar if the media actually reported that more unarmed white people are actually killed by the police?😱

[@claudiar7186]

So, some black people are sometimes inconvenienced by people calling police on them. Have you ever considered this may not be due to racism, but just people trying to stay safe and paying attention? Somehow in 2019, these police calls are treated with more uproar than the multitude of people dying and being robbed by black perpetrators. 2016 Color of Crime study concluded that if NYC was 100% white, murders and homicides would decrease by over 91%. Thats the kind of information that leads to these phone calls. Not racism.

[@IExpectedBSJustNotThisMuchBS]

@@claudiar7186 Here, read this. Don't just read stuff that supports your bias. www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2000/color-crime-booklet-jared-taylor-popular-radical-right

[@Sheilawyer]

Claudia r it’s more than an inconvenience....it’s unconstitutional. I don’t believe in restricting freedoms outlined in the constitution.

[@thomaschevrierlaliberte5884]

Thanks Mr. Thurston. I meet many undercover racists around me unfortunately. I'll now save time by sending them this talk

[@Lodatzor]

Why? All this talk did was reveal that he doesn't understand bias in media.

[@openminded9141]

I will give him some respect for the conversation. It was thought provoking. The comments were very good as well. The news headlines may drive some of this. With that’s said, he brings up good points.

[@roberttemme6162]

I had a conversation with my brother yesterday about this very topic. You've added more clarity to what we were discussing. I wish I'd seen this last year when you posted it. Better late than never. Thank you for sharing this. Bob T

[@nevrcm3261]

I agree "mind your own damn business" more often is a great solution. This respects ALL citizen's right to freedom and privacy. A couple observations: - All the "Karens" are where? Liberal Dem strongholds (NYC, Brooklynn, Oakland) - The Media IN THE HEADLINES characterizes and drives the story. Take out white, take out black. It becomes a non-story...aka no headlines...aka no media revenue. It becomes "women calls police on man inspecting his own property"...just another busy body who doesn't take the EASY way...the common decency approach to say "Hi" to another human and engage and learn.

[@availanila]

There's also the American problem of rampant dehumanisation. The majority of videos of people calling the cops for petty squabbles, videotaping others at their worst for internet shaming, or just online hate and cancelling are in North America. Try an easy such of entitled people and see how many cone from the US, North America, it developed countries versus everywhere else. It's like they've forgotten empathy of people going through stuff compounded or triggered by something innocuous to others and just voiding on them. Empathy should be common not rare, no matter how unlikable someone is. You don't have to expose a fragile individual or an individual at their worst to millions of people for abuse to feel as if you've got justice it they've got their just desserts.

[@fakename287]

Close, but most Karens actually live in the republican suburbs that reside outside of democrat cities, and often have to venture into these cities for food and other supplies, which is where the conflict comes from; they expect the entire world to function the same as their copy-pasted culdesac and tend to create a scene when encountering any form of mild inconvenience

[@Rollin8.0]

I'd love to get the stats on how many of these idiots that ring the cops for everything are children of single mothers... I've got a hunch it's probably a lot.

[@dr.adam_bright2601]

Well what if approaching the person inspecting the property does not own it and they whip out a gun and fire a few bullets into your head.

[@fakename287]

@@dr.adam_bright2601 again, if you had minded your own business and not approached the person, your wild hypothetical wouldn't have happened

[@ThomasJFoolery]

THIS GUY USED THE ONION AS A REFERENCE FOR HIS CAREER.

[@nordikkai7185]

If you work at the Onion, youre kinda a god. The creativity is intense

[@user-nu4wl1tz8l]

Conservatives use Breitbart as a reference when they work there. What's your point?

[@Henry-kz4gn]

Imagine that, behaving propperly and not attacking police and the encounter went just fine, AMAZING

[@roxee57]

This seems to be a US thing. Not just the phone call, but the guns drawn response.

[@LaughterOnWater]

It really is.

[@legalfictionnaturalfact3969]

the natural consequence of shipping in slaves from another continent.

[@AnexoRialto]

It's the militarization of the police. That's new. The racism is the same, but now the police answer as if they're storming the beaches at Normandy.

[@5pctLowBattery]

Greg K true. “Let’s talk about police militarization” -Beau of the fifth column kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnOWeYiOmdKcmpY

[@Qwentar]

Native Americans also have and have had a rough time of things in Canada...

[@string1414]

Eloquent, engaging, and informative. This man is a true orator.

[@DB-sd3cw]

That's racist

[@obeng-yeboahk.d1914]

I like how he speaks but I'll like to see him quote some statistics 🙃

[@HannahOgunyinka]

What part of his speech needed statistics? He is speaking about his experience and it’s our job to reflect, not reduce to science.

[@lth1999]

Hannah Ogunyinka it is important to reflect, but it is also very important to use statistics and not feelings or emotions for arguments. quite simply, he’s scared of police because he DOESN’T use/acknowledge statistics and instead puts media headlines above facts in terms of importance and validity

[@timffoster]

One statistic I'd be curious to see him weave into his his monologue is the fact that when in a physical confrontation with cops, whites are more likely to get killed than blacks. But that would run counter to his narrative, so I wouldn't advise holding our breaths waiting on that one. And yes, this also applies to black drivers getting pulled over at night time (We're graciously assuming the cop can even see a driver's race at night. Try it. It's much harder than you think. It's even hard during the day time. )

[@grsfmyrdbbfanhrhdrungtruju169]

He literally put sources on the screen. What else do you want.

[@lth1999]

grs FM yr db bf an hr hd run gt ru jug FM gr sources =/= statistics

[@mozarth]

How many unarmed black people police killed in the year 2019 vs unarmed whites? Does anyone know?

[@bvan00]

9 black 19 white

[@theloniousMac]

9. How many black men were killed by other black men in 2019? 7000+.

[@joshua9567]

How many cops were killed to? 89 last year alone

[@TJ-kj9ki]

Minivo that’s kind of expected in a way as their job often comes with handling dangerous situations, not saying that the number is okay of course.

[@dovehorse9066]

@@theloniousMac how many white men were killed by other white men?

[@naturalcareoils3141]

TED should be promoting this on major platforms. Great job Baratunde

[@StephenDuMont100]

-officer, she's sleeping in the common room of our dorm. -Is she doing so in a threatening manner?

[@moniqueloomis9772]

😂💀

[@hollythemage1350]

For some reason this made me wonder what would happen if someone had a nightmare at the moment the cops arrive and just starts screaming in their sleep but they're clearly still asleep so would the police bother trying to wake them up or would they just shoot them?

[@mistynightshade5471]

I am sorry, but at 5:51 I had to stop and make this comment because you made me cry. As a future English teacher, this is what I want to do. Give students the practical communication skills they need to make their world a better place.

[@hopeworld9096]

Nice mam

[@Whatifginger]

Baratunde is just pure awesome

[@robynalbertyn6446]

"There is a structure to systemic abuses of power, the structure is what makes them systemic" Completely blown away by how he breaks this down.

[@davidpatton2296]

It’s too bad that what he said is fake. There is nothing today that is designed to keep blacks down.

[@davidraymond4616]

You do realise that structure is a synonym for system right? It's like saying "there is a circularity to circles and that's why a circle is circular".... much like the logic this man is using.

[@musicscores439]

@@davidpatton2296 What is also too bad is the fact that, whatever you tell these people, they ignore you. Sad.

[@annalieff-saxby568]

A wonderful talk; one of the best and most moving I've ever heard. Yes! Let's all change the action to change the system.

[@gorgo4910]

I’m so confused. I thought this was how everyone was supposed to behave when you get pulled over.

[@JustinSims1983]

He has real experience that speaks to real culturally sensitive realities

[@whocares110]

Not really, he simply pushing a narrative.

[@GabeofColumbus]

Just discovered this. It was timely then, it's even more timely now. I hope a lot more people see this. Only half a million isn't nearly enough.

[@nhugh23]

His use of intelligent, clear and concise words and his humour make you want to listen all the more. We hear this all the time with the US, but who actually is listening to what they hear?

[@lordlurk7968]

It's certainly well presented and written, but it's a shame that it's a ton of cherry picked information to paint a bad image...he's using some extremely minor statistics and woefully incomplete studies to base his claims on, which can be beyond dangerous if used the wrong way...

[@VageG0zer]

It also makes you miss the fact that he uses news headlines to create the argument that certain actions happens more and more. Without the critical thought that, just maybe, the news articles are MADE to create that narrative, regardless whether it's actually true or not.

[@penmaster003]

Lord Lurk I agree. it is a shame that such a well educated and concise man would present such a surface level faux intellectual argument using headlines from new sites that have all essentially become tabloids to prove the very narrative that divides and alienates black people.

[@lllore9895]

Everyone knows the article doesn’t always match the headline. The headline is inflammatory for a reason! Who knows what that woman in the pool was doing, and who knows what was going down with the woman giving food to the homeless. It’s like an inside joke- without context it isn’t fully understood by other people.

[@catiemyers3429]

Ok, who DOESN'T feel like they just entered a survival situation when pulled over?

[@massojupiter3436]

If you keep feeding people that every cop is out to kill you then they'll eat it. There is a bias there because nobody talks about the hundreds of people that are pulled-over daily and go home without a single scratch, wound or bad experience. It's like a book. If you highlight a curse word everytime you see it then you'll think the book is full of curse words. There might be a total of 300 curse words in the book but the book itself might have 80k words that aren't curse words at all. But of course since your focus is to look for curse words then you would most likely miss the 80k words that aren't remotely close to something negative.

[@Dargonhuman]

@@massojupiter3436 Oh I love that analogy! I'm going to use it the next time I get into a debate with my ex wive's mother - she's utterly convinced that we're in a police state and that police brutality is as common as spiders in the attic, and I keep trying to argue that exact thing, no, there isn't an epidemic of police brutality because of exactly what you just said about the hundreds and thousands of routine police interactions that happen without incident daily that we never hear about. I think that book analogy will really help her see the true logic of the matter.

[@pks1884]

@@massojupiter3436 Good analogy.

[@Dargonhuman]

@@paddlefar9175 It's like Dark Souls in real life.

[@Marnee4191]

I got my driver's license in 1983. I was a tiny (4' 11") little white girl in a lower-middle-class suburb in MN. My Dad sat me down and told me what to do if I ever got pulled over. He said, put your hands on the wheel, don't reach for anything, don't get your license ready, because the officer will see your hands moving. Don't get out of the car, don't make sudden movies. Do exactly as you're told. And he explained WHY. He said that cops get shot at traffic stops, and they approach every vehicle not knowing what they may face. He said he didn't want me to get shot. I get so mad when I hear from black women about the horrors of having to explain to their black sons how to avoid getting shot and that it isn't that way for white people. All parents should teach their children this, and should explain WHY as my Dad did. (And for the record, WHITE men are 20 times (!) more likely to be shot by the police than black women, so why are some black women so afraid of the police and say that white people can't possibly understand their fear?)

[@LazarusStr]

Loved this so much, I will watch it more than twice, lol. Your perspective was wonderfully brought across in a funny manner, but you didn't lose me on the seriousness of the topic. Simply loved this ♥️🙏🏾 The list of actions of "Living"....oh, perfect. It is clear that this was well thought out and pieced together. You create a great recipe for how to have these conversations. Well done! Well. Done.👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾♥️👏🏾

[@pimpshiza]

I have been trying to simplify, organize, and fully understand the plethora of hidden variables at play, all the way back to Rodney King, when. I was only 14. This is the first time I have seen somebody able to break down the issues to understandable and data-driven points. You have to realize that he is not just trying to share what he has learned, or issue guilt for truly evil & sad events. To repair anyting you must first break it down and learn what is broken, where to start, and determine what tools you can use. he does an amazing job of bringing the information forward, and not only being organized and clear about it, but he also disarms the audience, helping them objectively remove themselves from the conversation. I truly believe that comedy is the best tool for issues like this!

[@hiddenintheshadows1469]

King was a scumbag

[@jeffburnham6611]

But the Rodney King issue was a direct result of his own stupidity. He was on parole from a robbery conviction, was under the influence of alcohol which violated the terms of his parole, and he fled from CHP officers which resulted in a high speed chase through neighborhoods. Were the LAPD officers out of line for their actions? Absolutely, but look at what happened next: 6 days of rioting which resulted in widespread looting, assault, arson, and murder, causing over a billion dollars in damage, 63 people were killed, 2,383 people were injured, with more than 12,000 arrests. The reaction of the black community was far more destructive than the arrest of one black man, but that's the type of typical reaction you get from that community.

[@pathmor]

This delivery of this presentation was perfect.

[@09hazman]

Well spoken, well presented and engaging young man . I watched the entire video because of that 👍 even after he lost me on click bate head lines and examples of “systemic” issues ! I liked the way he argued without yelling and insulting and tried to back up with facts , the numbers seem twisted though towards fitting his argument more than fitting his argument to the number. I don’t agree with his message but I did like the way he delivered it