(snip)If you're not ideologically perfect, you're awful, and if you disagree on anything, you must be disagreeing for the worst possible ethical reason.
This horse was beat to death during the Moore/Samuels campaign, and it has come to the point where a whiff of this strategy tends to draw bile to my throat.
The closer I am to agreeing with the people that use it, the more it upsets me. One example is CUAPB - they almost always ascribe extreme motivations to any decision made, to any action taken? If anything happens, they come out with press releases ascribing the worst possible interpretation far before they could possibly have dug into the details. If you're not with them, you're a racist and a fascist who wants to see the police keep the downtrodden beat down. Or, at best, you're a naive fool.
Begging your pardon, Jason, but could you be so kind as to send me copies of any press releases or other communications in which we referred to anyone as a "racist" and/or "fascist" who " wants to see the police keep the downtrodden beat down"? These are harsh accusations and I'd like to see some proof.
As one of the founders of the group, I cannot ever recall us sending any communications with such wording. Moreover, I can't recall our organization even implying such things about anyone. Yes, we criticize police policies and actions we think are improper and we take public officials to task if they do not live up to their responsibilities related to overseeing the police department. I hardly think that qualifies as calling them racists or fascists.
I'd like to be involved with their work, but I just can't add my name to an organization that uses these tactics.
Then, by all means, start another organization more in keeping with your ideas of appropriate tactics. There is plenty of work to go around. However, I think you will soon find that sitting around holding hands with city officials and bought-off "community" leaders kumbaya-style will not net you very much in the way of results. Part of our effectiveness in CUAPB is that we are clear about who our organization serves and we are fearless in fighting for our constituency. This doesn't always make us popular but, then again, this ain't a beauty pageant and we ain't bucking for Miss Congeniality. But if you see other ways to go about it, by all means please do so. As I said, there is a ton of work to go around and maybe you'll come up with a better way to get it done.
(snip) And of course, if you question the extreme statements coming from both sides, you get slammed by both sides. I've been declared anti-police and racist in the same day for digging for facts on a story about a party being raided last summer.
This implies that someone in CUAPB declared you a racist for asking questions about a party that was raided last summer. I don't recall having any such conversation with you (not even sure what party you are referring to) but perhaps you discussed this with someone else in our organization. If this is the case, please accept my apologies in advance. You should have every right to ask questions and get answers in a respectful manner. However, I would appreciate any information you can share related to this matter. Further, if no one from CUAPB was involved in the exchange noted above, I would appreciate you clarifying that.
Michelle Gross
Bryn Mawr
Communities United Against Police Brutality
TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.)
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