So I'll state this again.
My problem with the majority of Gaf's "wait and see" crowd is that I feel they only want to be hyper rational and hyper robotic in threads of stories that they are less inclined to believe. Yes there are some people here who are known to be hyper rational or contrarian for contrarians sake, but by and large most posters form an immediate opinion on a story regardless of race. Of all the news stories posted how many times do posters chime in with "let's wait and see"?
I don't believe I've seen the "Let's wait and see" crowd as often when stories are posted about someone that has been purportedly raped or abused in some manner. People generally don't doubt someone claiming to be raped or abused in some manner (even though false claims have been known to be made). It's a serious accusation! The only time you will see a "let's wait and see mentality" is if there is doubt. For instance if some random person was accusing a celebrity. People would say "Let's wait and see" because there is doubt and false accusations against celebrities are more common than not.
An officer profiling a black person or being accused of racism/abuse is also a serious accusation. The difference, I think, is that many of the wait and see crowd are so tired of "the race card" (even the officer said this, although accurate in this circumstance) and they view black discrimination as a wholly overt and never subtle thing -- so they generally have huge reservations (or are hyper rational) when confronted with possible racism against blacks -- especially if police are involved -- even though data has proven that the judicial system targets blacks at an alarmingly high rate even though we only make up 13% of the population and commit the same amount of crimes as whites. There is doubt, so that phrase is used.
I feel as if a good amount of these people don't believe that racism and prejudice are as rampant as they really are. They don't believe it to be as pressing or alarming as it is. As others often say, they think it's somewhere, surely, but not ever in front of us.
Reasoned hesitance is fine. I see it all the time on gaf but it's posted in such an un-inflammatory way :
"This story is awful if true."
I do see this often posted by people who are willing to 1) comment on the reported story 2) supply their position 3) reserve judgement
The "wait and see" crowd are usually saying that to:
1) wait for information that supports their disbelief or hyper rational hesitance.
To me there is subtle context to the statement let's wait and see. To me it doesn't add anything to the conversation. No one here is stupid. We all understand that there could be more information to invalidate what is being presented. We will still form an opinion on the information given and comment on the situation. Again, that's how science works. You form a conclusion on the information given and then when more is given you adjust or you have more information to support your original stance.
The hyper rational wait and see until you have all the facts mentality does absolutely nothing because it often assumes that there IS more information that needs to be gathered to reach a proper conclusion when there actually may not be more information that needs to be gathered to a reach conclusion. Yes we may find out the whole story with infinite detail but if the outline still holds true then the "let's wait and see" mentality holds no purpose. It's a supremely naive comment on a discussion forum as well. No one is going to wait to comment. No one is going to wait to form an opinion. People can and do have reservations and people can and do realize that more information could change things. But no one is going to wait and see.
That's why I prefer if someone comment with the caveat "if true". Because it maintains that there could be more information that changes what's presented, but this also could be all the information we need to unbiasly judge the situation.
If a known white actress claimed to be harassed by cops most people would automatically believe her until more information came out. Yes, some users who appeal to authority would probably echo that tired phrase but most would believe her as done here with Danielle Watts.
My problem is that society has data proven bias against blacks and Neogaf is no different. I am not calling the "let's wait and see" crowd racist. But I do think that subconsciously a lot of the people who hold that mentality do not afford the benefit of the doubt to blacks the same way they do to whites especially in relation to state enforced oppression.