With all due respect, no one was ostracized, unless they busted off a "you think Mike deserved to die", "you want to give Wilson a medal" or they led with "racial bias". I comprehended their perspective when I thought it was based on the "good kid, three witnesses, multiple shots of an unarmed teen" theory. That is what had me in the excessive force camp in the beginning.
When we found out Mike flashed gang sings, smoked the devil's lettuce, and wasn't the ambitious scholar we thought, I still comprehended their perspective. When Mike handled the store employee while stealing cigars commonly used to roll blunts, Mike wasn't the good kid that was sold to the public. Thus, part of that "good kid" perspective was erased. Then the witnesses went south, for me based on nothing more than my analysis of their statements. So the "three witnesses" perspective was lost. Then the statement from the chief about the facial injury, the cop's version through the friend, and the bystander in the Black Canseco video came about and the final piece of perspective was gone for me. Multiple shots of an unarmed teen was now seen in a new light.
As each piece of information was posted, some folks carried on like the information didn't exist. It was ignored, rejected, or minimized. We asked for their thoughts on each piece of information and there was no acknowledgement that anything carried any weight. No one responded to the questions. All they did is push forward with the same conclusion, even though the perspective I comprehended was now more or less gone. Now I wonder if the perspective was ever based on any of the three things I considered germane in the beginning, one poster acknowledged it wasn't early on and one openly commented on it earlier in this thread.
I guess the clearest way I can say it is, defend Mike reasonably and things will remain cordial. If defending Mike requires unreasonably victimizing someone else, there's going to some scrutiny. If that scrutiny makes one feel ostracized, I would hope they would consider their own thought processes along with those of everyone else. Isn't that the essence of a good discussion, to validate the integrity of what we think and feel? It's how I try to roll.
As an aside, I hope that perhaps the moderators would allow a discussion of the bigger picture at play here, perhaps in the "basement" as some refer to it. I think those who feel ostracized might find more support on a more generalized level than on a specific incident, especially this one. This certainly isn't one I'd go all-in on if I were to play race activist, you'd lose as much support as you'd gain obviously. Racism and racial bias does exist and does need to end once and for all. I just don't think it exists here.
BTW, I'd prefer the PP be moved up on the page and call it "the attic" going forward.
