re: Aaron Hernandez and the death penalty - semi updated OP

quote:

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Now if Sterling is allowed to keep the franchise and they aren't able to force the sale? No doubt the public outrage will far exceed anything with Hernandez. I just think if you polled people right now on which situation upset them more the majority would answer Hernandez. At least I hope so, now I'm starting to doubt myself

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You're probably right. I think the outrage is fake on either side.

I mean, I'll admit I don't really care about Hernandez. We're jaded as a society, so some gang member killing some people who hang out with gang members doesn't mean anything to me. It probably should, but it doesn't. So we'll all vote "yes" to moral outrage, but we don't really care.

As for Sterling, people like you and I probably don't care about that either. What some old man says to his hooker girlfriend is pure entertainment. I feel no need as a white dude to say "Hey that guy is racist, unlike me, because I like black people!" but a lot of white morons are doing that, which drives the media coverage (and the media has their own agenda in situations like this). But I don't even think the liberal "outrage" from the white community is real either.

In sum, I think you're right more people would vote against Hernandez. But the outcry is louder with Sterling. And if we assess why the outcry is louder, the obvious conclusion is because the stigma of racism is so strong in this country that people feel the need to feign outrage against racists. People feel more inclined to speak out against racism than murder, which is probably screwed up.