Voddie: Michael Brown Reaped What He Sowed

[DomWackTroll]

Because Marxism.

thegospelcoalition.org/article/thoughts-on-ferguson

ETA: Facebook responses:

facebook.com/VoddieBaucham/posts/10152711105422550

[hoipolloi]

In case you wondered how many dog whistles for white fundies can be stuffed into one commentary...

Voddie Baucham is a pandering asshole.

[RachelB]

No, Voddie. No.

No one deserves to be gunned down in the street and left to die.

We are called to be better than that to each other.

[lulumama]

Voddie knows where most of his supporters come from.

[FloraKitty35]

Voddie, blow it out your ass.

[RosyDaisy]

You mother fucking, ignorant, fundie SOB! You have sunk to an all time low, Voddie!

[DGayle]

I'm having a hard time understanding this. Is he really blaming black men for not being brought up right? Like that means it's okay to shoot black people like vermin? Has he forgotten his own race? Or does he just think he's above it all? WTF?

[maybeizfundie]

He may genuinely believe that simply by "doing right" and perhaps also (dressing right) black men can avoid stigma and prejudice.

The looks my preppy, well-behaved, well-dressed, biracial 11 year old are getting this year as he approaches adolescence belie that claim. :(

Whatever happened in the specific incident with Michael Brown, there are plenty of other cases where police misconduct was *clear* and *clearly race-based*. I don't know how Voddie has avoided the "driving while black" phenomenon, or maybe he hasn't, but is in denial. But even if he has, that doesn't negate the experience of many, many black men, and he is a lucky anomaly.

[Coco]

Voddie -- acknowledge the hopelessness of being a black male high school graduate in search of a job in the current economic situation. Talk about that please. I don't know if Michael Brown was on his way to college, but i can imagine the desperation he could have faced, thinking that it would be very difficult to find a good steady job. Black men are one of the last groups hired when jobs are scarce.

One of my most politically vocal facebook friends has been speaking out against the black rioting. He is an activist in conservative circles, and he posted quite a bit about the unfairness of affirmative action this summer, in college admissions. Hello - it's necessary. There will always be many more children of privilege to fill a slot who yes, may show more potential -- initially -- because of life long advantage, than kids of color or kids from difficult backgrounds. Why isn't the need for legally enforcing equality of opportunity obvious to everyone? White privilege still exists at every level of society. Everyone person deserves the opportunity to better themselves, and the hope that comes with a chance to be something great. And it's not going to just happen, it has be be by law because bigots are still in power.

I am also disgusted at Voddie's little blurb about how Americans are somehow blessed to be privileged.

Here:

I don’t care what advantages my white neighbor may or may not have. If he does have advantages, God bless him! I no more fault him than I fault my own children who have tremendous advantages due to the fact that they were raised by two educated, Christian parents who loved, disciplined, and taught them. Ironically, when I think about THAT advantage, I am filled with joy and gratitude to God for his faithfulness. People are supposed to bequeath an advantage to their children and grandchildren (Prov. 13:22). Why, then, would I be angry with my white neighbor for any advantage he is purported to have? And what good would it do? How does that advance the gospel? Especially in light of the fact that growing up with the gospel is the ultimate privilege/advantage! It is the advantage that has granted us all “American privilegeâ€! Are we guilty for being citizens of the wealthiest republic in the history of the world? I think not!

um, okay Voddie. Those wealthy white guys like Scott Brown and Co. are your audience, so i understand that little butt-kissing platitude. But we as Americans, as the wealthiest nation DO HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY as very privileged people, to ensure equality of opportunity among our citizens, not triumph in our individual luck.

Ferguson anger doesn't seem to be so much at the disparity of wealth, really. It's anger at the horrible injustices based on nothing but pigment. I'd be angry too if i had no real chance at getting ahead, no matter how hard i worked, because of something (my skin) that i can't change.

Hopelessness = violence.

[StellaMarie]

What an asshole.

In the end, the best lesson my children can learn from Ferguson is not that they need to be on the lookout for white cops. It is far more important that I use this teachable moment to remind them that “God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap†(Gal. 6:7). Moments before his death, Michael Brown had violently robbed a man in a store. A man doing the best he could to make a living. Minutes later, Brown reaped what he sowed, and was gunned down in the street. That is the sad truth.

Michael Brown didn't "violently rob" anyone. He wasn't stopped because he lifted cigarillos from a corner store -- that was a red herring -- he was stopped for walking down the street.

And, don't worry followers, there's no such thing as "White Privilege" -- that's a Marxist (???) construct. You're not racist. Because fatherless black children.

[DomWackTroll]

What an asshole.

Michael Brown didn't "violently rob" anyone. He wasn't stopped because he lifted cigarillos from a corner store -- that was a red herring -- he was stopped for walking down the street.

And, don't worry followers, there's no such thing as "White Privilege" -- that's a Marxist (???) construct. You're not racist. Because fatherless black children.

And Michael Brown was not "fatherless"! :angry-banghead:

[RachelB]

He may genuinely believe that simply by "doing right" and perhaps also (dressing right) black men can avoid stigma and prejudice.

The looks my preppy, well-behaved, well-dressed, biracial 11 year old are getting this year as he approaches adolescence belie that claim. :(

Whatever happened in the specific incident with Michael Brown, there are plenty of other cases where police misconduct was *clear* and *clearly race-based*. I don't know how Voddie has avoided the "driving while black" phenomenon, or maybe he hasn't, but is in denial. But even if he has, that doesn't negate the experience of many, many black men, and he is a lucky anomaly.

*nods* This is a big worry for me-- I have friends whose oldest (also biracial) is in early adolescence, and the changes in how people casually react to him are just hurtful. And he's at least as compliant, easy-going, and well-behaved as I was at 14.

Which honestly shouldn't even matter. It is developmentally normal for adolescents to be somewhat obnoxious and boundary-pushing. A lot of people overreact to behavior in young men of color that they would totally shrug off, were it coming from a young white man.

[notsocommon]

Shoplifting is not an automatic death sentence, Voddie. Nor is Jay walking...which is essentially what he was stopped for.

[AnAgnostic]

As a black person, I was disappointed by the positive comments coming from other black people. I am thoroughly convinced that black fundies are a self-hating lot that must constantly prove that they are "different," and "respectable." This respectability politics is pretty much the same for women. If you act and dress a certain way, bad thing happen to you - discounting the fact that even the most respectably presented black or women (esp. black women) are not exempted from harassment, abuse or discrimination. You are all absolutely right 0 this asshole panders to his conservative white audience in an need to assure that black anger at mistreatment is blown out of proportion. I could not bring myself to read his bullshit, just as still can't bring myself to watch the interview with the police officer who didn't get indicted. I just can't these days. :pull-hair: :wtf:

[VelociRapture]

What an asshole.

Michael Brown didn't "violently rob" anyone. He wasn't stopped because he lifted cigarillos from a corner store -- that was a red herring -- he was stopped for walking down the street.

And, don't worry followers, there's no such thing as "White Privilege" -- that's a Marxist (???) construct. You're not racist. Because fatherless black children.

I agree that use of the word "violently" does seem overkill here. Yes, he stole cigarillos. Yes, he used his size to intimidate the store owner. However, I don't believe he actually harmed the store owner and so saying he was violent in that particular instance is unfair. Whether he was violent with Wilson is up for debate, but after reading the autopsy report I am inclined to believe Wilson's story is closer to the truth.

As for the rest, he was approached by Wilson initially because he was walking in the middle of the street and wouldn't move out of the way for several cars that were driving (obstruction of traffic). It was after that that Wilson claims he realized they fit descriptions of the suspects. So, while he didn't approach them initially about the robbery, it was a major reason why this situation appears to have happened. Did he deserve to die for that? No... However, if he really did violently attack Officer Wilson then Wilson had every right to defend himself (again, the evidence from the scene seems to back this claim up) and he had the legal protection to use lethal force to do so if necessary.

(I do think a healthy discussion on the validity of those laws could be quite useful, as could a discussion on the use of cameras for police officers).

The person who wrote that is an ass, plain and simple though. Black people have always dealt with prejudice and hatred. That won't change just because of how they dress or look - it will only change when people of all races are judged by their character instead of their color. Plenty of white people act like thugs and plenty of black people are extremely hard workers; its a damn shame that stereotypes could possibly give one a pass and condemn another.

[DGayle]

I don’t care what advantages my white neighbor may or may not have. If he does have advantages, God bless him! I no more fault him than I fault my own children who have tremendous advantages due to the fact that they were raised by two educated, Christian parents who loved, disciplined, and taught them. Ironically, when I think about THAT advantage, I am filled with joy and gratitude to God for his faithfulness. People are supposed to bequeath an advantage to their children and grandchildren (Prov. 13:22). Why, then, would I be angry with my white neighbor for any advantage he is purported to have? And what good would it do? How does that advance the gospel? Especially in light of the fact that growing up with the gospel is the ultimate privilege/advantage! It is the advantage that has granted us all “American privilegeâ€! Are we guilty for being citizens of the wealthiest republic in the history of the world? I think not!

Advantages should be the result of the choices you make with what you have. You can't make any decisions about your race. You are, or you aren't, and that's that. Now if you're naturally an easy learner, and apply yourself, that should be an advantage you don't begrudge someone for having. I'm a white person, and I resent that there's an advantage for our skin color. It shouldn't exist.

[Rebelwife]

Voddie is an ass and an embarrassment. However, I read this thread title as "Voddie: Scott Brown reaped what he sowed" and thought Ooh, Fundie Throwdown! :violence-duel:

It would have been a Thanksgiving miracle to rival Tool o'Ween. :lol:

[mirele]

Fuck you, Voddie. I don't know what fucking country you were born in, but it wasn't the US of A. I am old enough to remember the vestiges of Jim Crow. I am well aware of my privilege as a person with white skin and uneasy enough to know that if racists checked my genealogy I'd be in trouble under the "just one drop" doctrine of Jim Crow. I also know that a people can't emerge unscathed from 200+ years of slavery (to name some attendant evils: family breakup and sexual assault by the masters) and then 100 years of Jim Crow without scars. Voddie Baucham, you are not helping. You are merely pandering to your masters. Kiss my ass.

(sorry for the swearing but I'm pissed off)

[mirele]

And, don't worry followers, there's no such thing as "White Privilege" -- that's a Marxist (???) construct. You're not racist. Because fatherless black children.

Let's talk about those fatherless black children for a minute. We have 400 years of fatherless black children in this country. For 200+ years, slave couples could not legally marry and were regularly broken up and sold to other owners. Then, with Jim Crow, if you didn't keep your head down, you could get lynched. Good jobs were scarce in the South, so many black men migrated north to find factory work. And then, finally, since the (legal) end of Jim Crow, we've seen an *explosion* of black men imprisoned, many for low-level drug crimes.

The system is stacked against black families from the get-go. Marxism has nothing to do with it. Voddie Baucham is delusional.

[HeatherFeather]

No, Voddie. No.

No one deserves to be gunned down in the street and left to die.

We are called to be better than that to each other.

I agree. It seems to me that Voddie's remarks were, at the very least, uncharitable.

[maybeizfundie]

So ragingly frustrated by some of the comments I'm seeing from friends who just.don't.get.it. :x

Common themes: "I'm poor! Where's my white privilege?" "That's what you get for attacking a police officer!" "That woman (Brown's mother) is just the type of woman I'd expect to raise a criminal."

Try explaining how segregation affects people, even though it's technically not legal, and they can't comprehend it. Try explaining what white privilege really is (no, it does not mean all white people have more material goods than all black people :? ). Try explaining why simply having brown skin puts my sons at risk regardless of their character or behavior....

Nope. Can't comprehend it. :pull-hair:

[Hane]

So ragingly frustrated by some of the comments I'm seeing from friends who just.don't.get.it. :x

Common themes: "I'm poor! Where's my white privilege?" "That's what you get for attacking a police officer!" "That woman (Brown's mother) is just the type of woman I'd expect to raise a criminal."

Try explaining how segregation affects people, even though it's technically not legal, and they can't comprehend it. Try explaining what white privilege really is (no, it does not mean all white people have more material goods than all black people :? ). Try explaining why simply having brown skin puts my sons at risk regardless of their character or behavior....

Nope. Can't comprehend it. :pull-hair:

Anecdote 1: When my (white) daughter was in middle school, she and her two dark-skinned Puerto Rican friends went to the local discount store to look at records. She instantly noticed that the store clerk was ignoring her, but following her two friends around and making comments about "expected behavior." My daughter got fed up and walked up to the guy and said, "Why are you harassing them like that? They're the best behaved kids I know, and have the strictest parents! Why weren't you following ME around? You don't know me, either!" This out of a 4'8" twelve-year-old with braces.

Anecdote 2: My black colleague was at a convention for her majority-black church. While she was there, she and a group of her fellow congregants (middle-aged women in conservative Sunday clothes) went shopping. The store personnel instantly went on alert, following them around. Fun fact: When I was at my majority-white church convention, the local businesspeople welcomed us with open arms (we had ID badges on). Same kind of well-behaved, conservatively dressed middle-aged women, but with less melanin.

[RosyDaisy]

When I worked Sundays in retail, the friendless and biggest spenders were conservatively dressed black women. Maybe that's because I didn't care what color their skin was and didn't hover over them.