This is what happens when people stop standing up for their rights

<p>>>> it's not like i'm making any of this up. obviously, we have a different viewpoint where police are concerned,</p>

<p>And no one is saying you're making any of this up. And we probably do have the same viewpoint regarding the police and abuse - though you will of course not acknowledge that. Again, no one here is saying police abuse doesn't happen. Of course it does - there's a lot of history.</p>

<p>Your bias and hatred was with respect to your snarky remarks about how and who I photograph - injecting a bunch of nonsense into the discussion; to divert the focus. Which is with respect to this being a police state.</p>

<p>>>> btw, you brought up the "R" word,</p>

<p>No, that was your insinuating undertone all throughout the last half of this discussion - see you're 2:45 pm post.</p>

<p>>>> maybe you feel bad because you cant put the genie back in the bottle, but that's not my problem.</p>

<p>Feel bad? About what? Why?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Brad, i gave you props for your work. you neglected to mention that. there's nothing wrong with taking street snaps of cops; it's just that its something most black photographers wouldn't consider unless they had an assignment to do just that. when i said, "i think its safe to assume you've never been racially profiled," that's not snark, just a reasonable assumption. if i'm wrong, please correct me.</p>

<p>i dont want to go back over all the hot air in this thread--some of which, i'll admit is mine. but much of it has been somewhat knee-jerk, like your Holocaust reference.</p>

<p>what can i say? this issue has been on my mind a lot lately, especially since i live within walking distance of 14th/bway, the courthouse, and the place where chauncey bailey was shot. the protests passed right outside my window. i live and work here, so maybe i see a side of Oakland you've never experienced; i know there's a lot of love in this community, but also some very real pain and hurt. and i'd much rather see young black girls holding up Oscar Grant posters than R Kelly posters, feel me?</p>

<p>but i will say this: i have never known a single white person who has experienced racism in the same way that black people do. that's just a fact, no disrespect intended whatsoever. for black people in america, this country has always been a police state, i.e. a place where we've been treated as second-class citizens or worse. i dont expect you or any other non-person of color to understand that. hopefully things will be better for all of us under Obama than under Bush. but in the case of the SFPD and the OPD, both of whose chiefs recently quit because of serious internal problems, community accountability remains a major issue. the criminal justice system has major problems. our prisons are overcrowded and cannot provide adequate health care for our prisoners, who are still human beings. cops shooting unarmed young black kids in the back doesnt make anything better. it is only when the community rises up and says, "this is wrong" loudly enough that enything gets done about the situation. at the end of the day, it's not about me or you, and what we agree or disagree about, it's about standing up for whatever rights we still have before they are gone forever.</p><div></div>

<p>OK Eric, no disagreement with anything you said above. We're cool...</p>

<p>Great pics Eric!<br>

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<p>So Eric, do you street shoot mostly in Oakland?</p>

<p>Barry, oakland is great for street shooting and urban landscapes. one local photographer just did a show on signage around town. there are plenty of funky little art and music scenes, old-school dives, "red light" bars, and the like, as well as a lot of recent redevelopment, which makes for some interesting juxtapositions. also lake merrit is a pretty cool place to shoot, expecially at sunset after a rain. people are generally friendly, too.</p>

<p>I know Rockridge pretty well, but that's pretty trendy. I have some artists friends that live in greater Oakland and they say it's fairly rough in places, lots of bars on windows etc. And then one of my Rockridge friends wife grew up in this really cool section of Oakland that is now old rundown Victorian's. I believe the neighborhoods their are in various stages of degeneration and re-generation but it will eventually probably gentrify as so much of the Bay area has.</p>

<p>This is for you skeptics that think Britain is not sliding into police statehood: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/feb/19/civil-liberties-terrorism</p>

<p>You know what is HILARIOUS about the link above?<br>

What is HILARIOUS is that this gradual erosion of privacy etc has come at the hands of the so called Lefty Labor Party - the so called 'good guys'..<br>

THAT is hilarious - and of course - to be expected.</p>

<p>So you get the government you DESERVE over there - as evidenced by your VOTING- just like in any other democracy.</p>

<p>enjoy your chardonnay.</p>