Let there be a Black Annie!

Author

#controversy #okay2disagree.blogspot.co.uk

 

In the first episode of Boston Legal I watched last week on boxset (it came out in 2004) there was a civil-rights issue hinges on the casting choice for a version of “Annie”;

 

 

 

"Give us a black Spiderman, a black Superman, a black Jesus, not tomorrow but today

not tomorrow , tomorrow, you the problem with equality I that , tomorrow is always a day away"

 

 

 

That piece of  fiction did not result then with a victory so outrageous the thought.

 

 

 

 

 Fast forward to present day

 

 

Annie remake: casting of black lead provokes negative Twitter posts

 

Some tweets

 

There's "Not to be racist, but since when is Annie black?!". And "I'm not racist but first the karate kid then Johnny Storm and now Annie!" And, obviously "I'm not racist or anything ... But this new Annie movie is all mixed up!!! Annie is WHITE!!!!!!"

 

 

Some details

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrxc8rS2W2E

 

Annie is an American musical comedy-drama film directed by Will Gluck and produced by Jay-Z and Will Smith. It stars Quvenzhané Wallis in the title role and Jamie Foxx in the role of Will Stacks, an update of Daddy Warbucks. It is a contemporary adaptation of the musical of the same name, which was in turn based upon the 1924 comic strip Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray.

 

 

Has anyone seen this film?

Has anyone any objections to the leading role's ethnicity?

Tell me a little more about your  reviews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Racial Profiling

Stereotyping/Racial Profiling Debate

#controversy #okay2disagree.blogspot.co.uk

There are several definitions of racial profiling, including those established by different offices like the Office of the Arizona Attorney General. This office defines it as "Use by law enforcement personnel of an individual's race or ethnicity as a factor in articulating reasonable suspicion to stop, question or arrest an individual, unless race or ethnicity is part of an identifying description of a specific suspect for a specific crime."

Racial profiling is a phrase often used in law enforcement or the court system to refer to the use of a person's ethnicity or race to decide on whether to engage in some type of legal proceeding. The act itself is very controversial and considered by many as illegal and inappropriate.

Stereotyping

Stereotyping is a major issue that young people confront. The evidence indicates that because of stereotyping, assumptions and expectations are made of individuals sometimes resulting in false charges, differential treatment, and conflicts. Stereotyping influences the ways in which young people are dealt with by authority figures and adults in general. In a context of racism, stereotyping/racial profiling and discrimination thrive and limit the opportunities and possibilities of young racial minority people. It is incumbent on our institutions to pay attention to the conditions – the policies, practices, programs and individuals carrying out these policies – which perpetuate stereotyping, and in so doing build conditions that facilitate respect and appreciation for the human rights of our young minority people. 

article

http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/race-policy-dialogue-papers/stereotyping-and-its-consequence-racial-minority-youth

Some comments I have found

Its not so much racial profiling as a statistical game. Most Muslim Terrorists are from the Middle East, so if you are looking for a Muslim Terrorist you look for someone with those particular features. If you are looking for a Klan member you look for the white man. Statistics are not a bad thing.

I am for using race as a part of criminal profiling, just as height, weight, tattoos, and other characteristics are used to find criminals. I do not support police treating people differently based upon race alone.

Racial profiling only supports inequality, and racism in the United States. Its wrong and horrendously inhumane... how would you like it if you went to Africa, and the police immediately arrested you because they thought you were part of the KKK?? Even IF in some magical way it works, its still completely ridiculous and the total opposite of what many people in society want, and isn't that one giant step towards xenophobia? You cannot base the actions of an entire race off the actions of it's few troublemakers.

http://www.debate.org/police-profiling/


As long as racial fear can be used to justify disproportionate force, killings like that of Mike Brown in Ferguson will continue.
New Statesmen
Ferguson has reinforced racial fear and lethal stereotypes
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/11/ferguson-has-reinforced-racial-fear-and-lethal-stereotypes


“As Attorney General, I have repeatedly made clear that racial profiling by law enforcement is not only wrong, it is misguided and ineffective – because it can mistakenly focus investigative efforts, waste precious resources and, ultimately, undermine the public trust. Particularly in light of recent incidents we’ve seen at the local level – and the concerns about trust in the criminal justice process which so many have raised throughout the nation – it’s imperative that we take every possible action to institute sound, fair and strong policing practices.”

Attorney General Eric Holder Announces Federal Restrictions And Bans On Racial Profiling

What are our views

The porn debate

#controversy #okay2disagree.blogspot.co.uk

Let's debate

Hooray for porn! What would we be without it? Bored, repressed, frustrated. Porn nails the lie that sex is something we should be ashamed of. Porn tells us that that sex doesn’t just come in vanilla flavour. Porn lights up the lives of the depressed, the lonely, the sexually unadventurous.  It spices dull marriages; it brings excitement to relationships; it tells us where to look and where to touch. Porn allows the timid to indulge fantasies they’d never live out in real life and the adventurous to experiment with new forms of pleasure. Now that it has stepped down from the top shelf and waltzed across the internet we can all enjoy it without the stigma of being cast as dirty old men… and women. Secretly we all know it’s one of the great pleasures out there: all that remains is that we stop pretending it’s something dirty and come straight out and salute it.

Flip side

Salute it? Why? When all intimacy is reduced to heave and thrust what scope is left for sensitivity and tolerance and love? And what kind of a warped, desensitised view of the world of human intimacy does this offer up to our children? Men finding it harder to be satisfied with their real world partners; women feeling inadequate and pressured to live up to the cyber-competition – this is the reality of pornland. So which is it – the great liberator of the libido or a blight on human intimacy?

Quote from

Pornography is Good for Us: Without it We Would be a Far More Repressed Society
http://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/pornography-is-good-for-us/

The author

I think porn when used sensibly and between consenting partners can be beneficial however as with anything open to abuse and over use leading to overbearingness in the relationship. Also when used outside of a relationship it becomes the poor substitute.

Is there an connection between porn and emotions?

Your comments

Police body cameras

#controversy #okay2disagree.blogspot.co.uk

Comments from the author on police shootings

Having followed the news on this my views are that there does seem to be a real disconnect between a lot of people of colour and those that are employed to Serve and Protect. And from figures bounded about it is said that a higher number of deaths were being met  by black people, also other ethnic minorities.

A news report

The justifiable homicide victims of 2012 were overwhelmingly male — the FBI's records included 11 women and 415 men. They were also, as are most people that interact with the criminal justice system, disproportionately black. Black Americans make up 13 percent of the US population, but the FBI's data shows that 32 percent of the felons killed by officers in 2012 where black. Fifty-two percent were white, and 12 percent were Hispanic.

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/21/6051043/how-many-people-killed-police-statistics-homicide-official-black

Obama asks Congress to fund 50,000 police body cameras

Comments from the author on racial profiling

The existence of racial profiling dates back to slavery. In 1693, Philadelphia’s court officials gave police legal authority to stop and detain any Negro (freed or slaved) seen wandering around on the streets. This discriminatory practice continued through the Jim Crow era and now in the twenty first century, racial profiling is prevalent across cities in the U.S.
Racial profiling is a tool used by police forces all over the world. It is controversial and I believe the height of laziness. Police have used racial profiling in in the UK in stop and search tactics 2012.
Racial profiling alienates vast sections of society and I believe the negatives outweigh any perceived positives
People have called for it to end in the UK and yesterday President Obama called for it to be stopped.

News report

Racial Profiling in the UK

Although racial profiling is not officially used in the UK the statistics do show otherwise. Under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, police officers are permitted to stop and search individuals with justifiable cause. According to the statistics provided by the Ministry of Justice some police do seem to be using racial profiling. Asian people were over five times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people. Black people were seven times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people. Only 0.6% of the searches ended in arrests for terrorism offences.

Why Racial Profiling isn’t Working

There have been a number of high profile cases that have highlighted the flaws in racial profiling. Colleen Larose, the middle aged, white, Philadelphian suburban dwelling woman is the antithesis of the typical terrorist profile. Self named ‘Jihad Jane’ was arrested on charges of conspiring with overseas militants to murder and if necessary to become a martyr for radical Islam causes. Colleen Larose is only one of many terrorists who do not fit the usual racial profile. Larose, along with many other white terrorists, is one of the reasons why racial profiling has been seriously undermined when it comes to profiling criminals.

US attorney general calls for end to racial profiling

US Attorney General Eric Holder has announced plans to "help end racial profiling once and for all".

He was speaking in Atlanta in the wake of mass protests surrounding the shooting dead of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white policeman.

Mr Holder was speaking at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta where Martin Luther King preached.

President Barack Obama has requested funds to improve training and provide body cameras for the police.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-30290308

Comments from the author on rebuild the trust

Whenever incidents  like recent events in the US and similar incidences in UK , (Stephen  Lawrence, Mark Duggan, the shooting in the Oval) efforts need to be taken politicians and senior law enforcement officers to readdress the situation going forward. While investigations are still going on with the Mike Brown case and Tamir Rice I am pleased to see that body cameras are being promised and emphasis on building trust is being employed. We all condemn the looters and law breakers but let it not distract us from the real , underlying issues which are evident.

 News

7 JULY 2016 

4:22PM

Fatal shooting of black man Philando Castile by police during traffic stop in Minneapolis caught on video by girlfriend

JULY 2016

                                                                 

Protests as Louisiana police shoot and kill black man selling CDs on Baton Rouge street

Sterling was selling CDs early Tuesday outside the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge, the source said, when the homeless man approached him and asked for money.

The man was persistent, and Sterling showed him his gun, the source said.

"I told you to leave me alone," Sterling told the man, according to the source.

The homeless man then used his cell phone to call 911.

The details about the 911 call shed new light into the Baton Rouge police's high-profile fatal shooting of Sterling, a 37-year-old black man.

September 20th 2016

According to department spokesman Keith Trietley, officers saw the man get out of the car with a gun and then get back in. When officers approached the car, the man got out of the car with the gun again. At that point, officers deemed the man a threat and at least one fired a weapon, he said. A weapon was recovered by detectives at the scene.

What Say You?