In response to MSNBC asking if Americans are numb to tragedy.

[wlotus]

Americans are not numb to tragedy, or the recent mass killings in the news would not be news. Rather, violence seems inevitable for many overwhelmed, angry people. But that is not a new thing; the hopeless rage and resulting violence (often against one another) of historically oppressed groups in the US has gone on for generations. It is only now that white Americans are beginning to feel the same things and act out in the same ways against each other or experience it in the midst of their neighborhoods that the mainstream media is asking, "Oh, my goodness: what has gone wrong?!?"

Comments

[ciardhapagan.livejournal.com]

For poor and lower class whites this oppression isn't a new thing either:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_Riot
http://jeffersonswall.blog-city.com/remembering_harlan.htm

This is why Hillary's major support amongst white people came from the poor and lower middle class. Poor and lower middle class whites know a good union candidate from a poor one. Hillary had a great record and showed she knew what she was talking about. Obama fawned about Reagan and showed other classist markers. Compare that to Jesse Jackson in 1988. He connected all disadvantaged people together, not playing one against the others, and spoke as someone who knew what he was talking about. He won 13 states in the primary fair and square with strong support from poor and lower middle class whites.

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

I hadn't thought of any of that. Thank you for pointing it out.

[czaria.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, I'm somewhat numb to tragedy at this point. Maybe it's the large quantities of Prozac flowing through my system, but, while I still think it's incredibly sad, I can muster the head of steam over these sorts of incidents that I used to.

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

There is something to be said for not having a deep reaction to every bad thing that happens in the world. If we did, we would walk around in a state of constant depression, since SO MUCH bad stuff happens and the media seems to think it is their job to tell us the minute details of all of it.