Why Would Black Mistrust in the Government be Justified While White Mistrust is Hostile?

I’m sure there are some in the government and media and maybe even on ATS who would want to shut people like me up, which of course makes the rebel in me want to write more and to keep writing until they shut me down for good.

There is so much to write on the topic, but for today I'll focus on the way the media is framing (and fueling) the controversy depending on the race of the person who doesn’t want the shot.

If you’re white, you are a hostile, blind follower of Trump (even though Trump himself had the shot in secret, the media is always sure to tell you) misinformed, anti-science paranoid conspiracy theorist who is doubling down merely to make Joe Biden look bad.

Despite the best efforts of some health and government officials, outright hostility against getting vaccinated has taken root among some conservative segments of America. It’s a trend that experts say will be extremely difficult to overcome, thanks to deep political polarization and the spread of misinformation.

There has been increasing rhetoric, from the president on down, that these Americans are killing people with their stupidity and don’t deserve a voice and/or a place in civil society.

Now shut up and roll up your sleeves and jab your babies too; we won’t be happy w/o 100% compliance rate, and if it turns out that there is something to the reports of (for example) heart inflammation, then of course it’s prudent to force it on the entire human race. Boosters too.
Because science has never been wrong. It might not be “wrong,” but it does change, and in the words of Fauci himself:
"[I]t isn't a question of being wrong. It's a question of going with the data as you have, and being humble enough and flexible enough to change with the data www.axios.com...

For the people of color, though, who represent large swathes of vaccine hesitancy, the media has another story. They’re never mentioned in the accusatory and aggressive articles such as the following:
globalnews.ca...
It’s way more fun (and socially acceptable) to blame the white Republicans for the pandemic (despite such players as Gain-of-Function fauci and
Care-Home-Covid Cuomo who certainly have their share of the blame).
The people who aren’t white who don’t want the jab have justified fears of the government, or because they’re underserved, according to studies and the narrative:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...
www.kff.org...

Which brings me to my main question:
If the white Americans and black Americans share the same governing body, why should white Americans trust the same government they acknowledge has been (and continues to be) oppressing and damaging the health of other people?
An untrustworthy and unjust regime for one is an untrustworthy and unjust regime for all.
Which one is it, America?
As for me, I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with black America and do not trust the government always does what is in the best interest of its constituents. One of the biggest horrors of antebellum south in my opinion was the local and federal government’s refusal to combat, address, or even in most cases prosecute the most despicable crimes against innocent victims. The US army was responsible for massacres against the native population.
Doctors contributed terribly to the health crisis by overprescribing opiates (doctors are not infallible):
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...


The media should be ashamed of its inflammatory and divisive racist tactics (let’s see who’s here to discuss the media’s approach to the crisis, and who is here to shoot the messenger!).

Start with Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Then see where that leads you. Then ask the question again.

a reply to: MiddleInsite

That proves my point, exactly. Thank you!

a reply to: zosimov

Why? Because, in case you missed it, the "Government" feards nothing more than a resurgent white tribalism which they brand as domestic terrorism.....and across the board I might add.

This is one sweet OP. I can’t wait for this thread to get flamed as the deniers of what you have observed, illuminated, and elucidated on, try to throughly take it down as some of us are here to ask some serious meaty, thought-provoking questions. Just as you have here.

In other words. This thread strikes me as unique to ATS for a philosophical limelight on race, relations to the US government, and “vaccine hesitancy”.

Im curious too.

Thank you zosimov for this well written OP.

a reply to: zosimov

....that these Americans are killing people with their stupidity and don’t deserve a voice and/or a place in civil society.

Well if it helps any, I would like to let them know that I personally, do not want a place in 'their' society.

It’s way more fun (and socially acceptable) to blame the white Republicans for the pandemic (despite such players as Gain-of-Function fauci and Care-Home-Covid Cuomo who certainly have their share of the blame). The people who aren’t white who don’t want the jab have justified fears of the government, or because they’re underserved, according to studies and the narrative:

I thought it was because they think black and brown people aren't capable of figuring out where to go to get the vaccine, or when to go, or how to get to that location even if they do know where it is.

Trusting your goverment is basicaly Stockholm syndrome

The only thing I trust the goverment to do is opress people there really good at that

originally posted by: MiddleInsite
Start with Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Then see where that leads you. Then ask the question again.

But that's rather the point isn't it?

If the government is willing to experiment on citizens, then it's willing to. Given the current hostilities of the people in power, groups are justified in their distrust of the governing body. It was true for blacks, and it's true for whites.

Yet, the narrative being sold is that white conservatives are the only ones in the country who are vaccine reluctant. They're the only ones spreading or dangerous to spread delta, etc., but as the OP points out and you underscore, blacks also have ample reason to mistrust the government when it comes pushing health care on you and urban blacks are just as high, if not higher on the unvaccinated charts as white conservatives.

But we only hear about how horrible the one group is for not wanting to listen to the government, not the other.

Why?

This isn't about whether or not there is justification. I think we can all agree there is.

To go another step in:

The local news ran an article about the horrors of summer camps. They cited several camps that had been the sites of delta outbreaks.

Guess what? They were all *gasp* Christian ones!

At the end, they quoted a YMCA summer camp rep who allowed that they had had *incidents* but there was no effort to dig into actual numbers or anything else like they did with the Christian camps whose directors "could not be reached for comment".

So what it boiled down to was that both types of camp had COVID issues, but you came away with the impression that Christian camps were uniquely terrible for it because they provided numbers and those officials did not comment directly.

a reply to: zosimov

As a foreigner I look at this maybe more distanced but it touches a topic in my own country too, the vilification of everyone not thinking like the mainstream media and politics tells them. Those that want to arrive at a conclusion and have no problem arriving at the same conclusions the media has or politicians do, if it's logical conclusive.

What I see in your country is ravaging black on black, and black on white crime, is higher than white on black crime. The reason behind is the ghetto and grouping up of demographics. Yet your politicians blame police officers, that learned from experience that the black demographic situation IS different and that crime IS higher, to develop a prejudice? That's only human.

But the problem with prejudice is, that it's self feeding. Like taking two steps forward for prejudice and one step back when something positive happens. This doesn't say that black skinned humans or Afro-American's are all criminals but we're all shaped by our surroundings and if you happen to grow up with "gansta" and "bangers" do we blame the kids?

It takes a strong and sharp mind for someone experiencing this to change and leave. I don't know any statistics about blacks leaving ghettos for good but these people exist. From my experiences with refugees that got the curve, those are often more valuing, hard working than the common population that didn't had to come to the same conclusions and decide for good, that they want better things in life than waking up in the middle of the night due to gunshots.



And at that point I blame politicians for it. They fueled this seclution and now they US-democratic left is once again using their common modus operandi to twist and spin the truth around.

It's Russian or Turk blocks here that have similar issues. Decoupling from the main base of the country, making their own rules, setting themselves over lawful processes.

a reply to: zosimov

*pew* *pew*

As a general precedent, I think that anything that can be used for division, will be used for division.

They cant completely deconstruct the longterm Narratives either, which essentially revolve around making criticism levied at anyone who happens to have black skin "unacceptable."

There may be an obvious disconnect when it comes to approaching this topic, but for those inculcated into the religion (typically called "the left") there will be little to no awareness and they will tend to just propagate specific tidbits of random information. Usually as some sort of opportunistic criticism of whatever archetype they hold of the "opposition."

Literally anyone who questions what is happening is on some pretty solid ground. Specifically when considering the obvious and total lack of any concern about public health in general.. Just shut up, do what youre told, and consume corporate products. And dont forget to root for your team and demonize and dehumanize anyone who disagrees!

Realistically, pretty much every societal system ..ever.. has been, in actuality, minority rule. This is in direct opposition to the general narrative that states systems are setup to benefit the most prevalent social groups, usually with implications of racism, supremacy, etc.. but is perhaps one of the most effective tactics in obfuscating the true nature of our civilization, societies, and species.

Literally everyone has good reason to have distrust and wariness when dealing with government and massive sources of power. Particularly when there is not only historical precedent, but very little to no concern for public health outside of "solutions" to a single virus & disease. (Im repeating concepts for weight lol)

I also maintain the the vast majority who want to be vaccinated, have been. To get the numbers higher, it will require significantly more coercion and force. Which I suspect is the whole idea.

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

Hi there Nice to see you and completely agree this issue is being fueled by politicians and media who turn around and blame the people they are manipulating.

Sounds a lot like the Balkans after Soros got a hold of it. Scary yet interesting parallels.

a reply to: Serdgiam

Haha, you missed!



It's great to talk to you, Serdgiam, and to read your insight (as usual very keen).

Hope you're enjoying the beautiful day!!


PS Thanks to all the great responses so far

a reply to: MiddleInsite

But what about the experiments on white people?

www.npr.org...

Not just in America but by the American government. Allowed by my government:

newsinteractives.cbc.ca...

en.m.wikipedia.org...

I know someone who's mother was part of that second one.

a reply to: zosimov

Just between you and I.......I have a sneaking suspicion that they are lying to/about all of us.

but don't tell anyone I said that.

Simple answer:
People of color can behave any way they choose, which includes all manner of anti-government, anti-law enforcement, and anti-societal behavior. Why? Because they're VICTIMS! The poor souls have been oppressed.

When white people do the same thing, they're labeled racists, terrorists, and white supremacists.

a reply to: ColeYounger

You're close.

My suspicion is that black people can naturally be forgiven for distrusting a structurally oppressive and white supremacist power structure like the US government, but white folks have zero excuse for it. They made it, and now they need to live in the bed they created or some such crap. Plus, look at the ones in power doing the hard work to bring about equity through the system by oppressing the oppressors.

originally posted by: ketsuko

originally posted by: MiddleInsite
Start with Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Then see where that leads you. Then ask the question again.

But that's rather the point isn't it?

It's the whole point.

Unfortunately, COVID was the last straw for the cobbled together patchwork of conflicting narratives the left has been pushing. Anybody still following the left with gusto has abandoned putting in any effort to make sense of it or to try making sense of it for others.

After reading a really thoughtful OP the only thing that came to mind was "Tuskegee" and that's what we get. It doesn't matter that it supports the OP. It's important to never agree with the right, even when the evidence does.

a reply to: zosimov
I forgot so much to write but my head is kind of messy today, lacking some sleep.

One of these things was:

White mistrust has to be hostile, because it's the base demography expected to not step out. They can't have almost the whole country being against them suddenly. You question one thing and it turns out to have been a lie, there's more to uncover like a snowball going down the hill collecting speed and mass.

Saying the "N" word to a black person is hate speech and a federal crime but screaming white BOY at a white person is not hate speech or a crime.

Times have changed and now its time to overcompensate due to a probate brain.....

a reply to: zosimov