Protests following the killing of George Floyd

I think sometimes it’s definitely intentional ignorance. Where if something is brought up that wouldn’t align with their preconceived notions is just dismissed or ignored. A lot of the time it comes down to an unwillingness to acknowledge that we have privilege. To us, the people who are protesting have no more moral backing than football fans rioting over a poor result. We were waiting gleefully for the first reports of violence, no matter the perpetrator or the context, so that we could dismiss all the protestors and their cause. Because the centuries spent being systemically discriminated against in all facets of society doesn’t really matter to us at the end of the day. It doesn’t affect us, so we’ll completely ignore the experiences and words of the people who are affected by it. Maybe sometimes even trying to justify their experience, or gaslight them completely.


I know I don’t need to let you know all this, you’ve raised all these points before and far more succinctly than I did. Just mentioning the general vibe of a lot of the people I spoke to today.

To who? I doubt anyone really believes that. Even those who seek to belittle the protestors know that they're genuinely pissed off.
 
Id say that the rioters are using the George Floyd protests as an excuse for their actions and they’re doing it as their form of protest against the establishment.

Posters in this thread have even said about bringing corporate America down.

What makes you think you can speak for them?
 
Why?

I’ve seen loads of people oppose what I’m saying instead saying peaceful protests haven't work, so riots are the solution / condoning the need for violence.

How do you think these riots are going to achieve anything?

This is what you said...

My fear is the misconception amongst authorities that a young black man is violent/armed and that they need to arrest / apprehend with force. Seems to ring true when you see the level of physicality arresting a black guy compared to a white guy and that seems a common complaint.

There is no "misconception" with the authorities. It would imply they just have wrong, a bit faulty perception about something which is putting down what is actually happening.
This is racism or clear belief about being superior based just and nothing but the color of your skin. A patent behavior which so disturbingly wrong and also, to make it worse, being done by the very same people who were put there to protect and prevent that same behavior.

Hard to talk about different "level of physicality" which has been applied when the often outcome is a death of another person just because of their colour.

So that "complaint" becomes rage.

for the protestors to then turn to violence, how does that (sadly) not do anything but enforce the stereotype / misconception that a cop will have when faced with interacting with black lads in the future?

They tried everything else. When the whole system is broken for so long, the people will eventually fight back in an equal measure. Most freedoms we value so much were achieved in the same way. Unfortunately.
 
Some of these "why don't you protest peacefully without riots?" people will defend a Western-led accidental bombing of hospitals and civilians in the Middle East with the "well that's just collateral damage in war" argument. These people are full of shit.

Nah, let's not drop to their pathetic levels of going to extremes mate. Let them sit on their fences and pretend to care.


Sigh

Non violent struggle was championed by MLK but he did not condemn violent struggle.

And for all his troubles he got a bullet. So much for non violence.

As a white man, if I ever try to quote Ghandi or MLK at you, feel free to hunt me down and give me a nice lecture and a hug!


Id say that the rioters are using the George Floyd protests as an excuse for their actions and they’re doing it as their form of protest against the establishment.

Posters in this thread have even said about bringing corporate America down.

And you've equated all the protesters and the people in this thread to those extremes, let alone feel the need to speak for them. Well done you.
 
Don’t really know much about US politics but surely Barrack Obama can come out to give a speech to ease tensions or wouldn’t he make a difference?

Because there’s no way Trump can bring an end to this with his recent comments.
He's a private citizen. It's not up to him to do anything and he shouldn't have to.
 
I'm not criticizing the protests but non-violent struggle was championed by both Gandhi and MLK. It's safe to say their efforts did not lead to failures.
Mandela chose "by any means necessary" and that worked out well .
 


That's an everyday occurrence in London. I do sympathize with public servants as they are required to put their neck on the line, but London police officers are easily the worst in the UK. Many of them come across as uneducated often abusing their authority with improper conduct. It's also demographically motivated, if you are residing around a poverty ridden or council estate area, irrespective of ethnic proportion they'll target you and use the locality as an excuse for their actions.
 
I'm not criticizing the protests but non-violent struggle was championed by both Gandhi and MLK. It's safe to say their efforts did not lead to failures.
The Black Panthers and the Indian militias/insurrectionists might also had something to do with that. So did Mandela with Apartheid.

Governments have a vested interest in framing societal changes in the most positive lends possible, both for altruistic and selfish reasons. It’s safe to say however that the official narrative often omitted a few things.
 
As the great prophets De La Soul and Queen Latifah sang:

♫ (Once again)
Thread derailment is back ♫
 
Id say that the rioters are using the George Floyd protests as an excuse for their actions and they’re doing it as their form of protest against the establishment.

Posters in this thread have even said about bringing corporate America down.

George Floyd was the straw that broke the camel's back. This is not about him any more.

People (black, whites, etc) has had enough of economic neoliberalism as well.

USA is the richest country in the world, yet they fail to deliver it's people the basics, like decent public education and healthcare.

feck, they can't even provide clean water pipelines for its citizens.

A lot will change. Not going back now.
 
you think they just decided to loot stores this week, or that they see the protest as an excuse to riot/loot?

you’re a troll. I clocked it from the first time I quoted you. You’re deliberately avoiding important questions, offering no solutions, and are mischaracterising the events leading up to the riots as well as attributing the looting and violence to the protesters - who have somehow lost moral ground. Forget about 400 years of pain and suffering.

stop it. If you’ve got nothing of value to say just do us a favour and shut the feck up.

youre purpose so far has been nothing but obfuscating and derailing conversation. Bringing back to absolutely nonsense.
 
you think they just decided to loot stores this week, or that they see the protest as an excuse to riot/loot?

There’s a horrible undertone to some of your posts.

Try and imagine a life where you are terrified for your life when you see a police officer. Where every day people with the same colour skin as you are killed just for that reason. Where the entire establishment of the country in which you live is structured to keep you down.

See how long that lasts before something snaps.
 
He's a private citizen. It's not up to him to do anything and he shouldn't have to.
Yeah, maybe it’s putting a lot of pressure on him but is there really anybody else that could get through to the people like him, it’s a real pity that no one has addressed the people yet there has been no leadership throughout this whole thing.
 
You posting a video about the police is the UK carrying out a stop search in a thread about a man has been murdered in the US is strange.
It is not a thread about a man being murdered in the US, for crying out loud. It is a thread about the injustice and the systematic oppression the black people face in the entire Wester civilization (in some places like the US more than in Europe). Floyd is just a figurehead, a symbol of this oppression.
 
In my opinion this issue is a very messy affair and I don't see light at the end of the tunnel as far as I can see

The blacks will no doubt be hurtful with all this George Floyd happening, the only thing they get out of all this is a further mistrust and hatred towards the system, the whites, the cops etc.
The racist whites will feel vindication that blacks are looters, and whatever narratives they come out with.
The good police will remain good as they have always been with or without this incidents
The bad police will probably begrudgingly lay low for the time being before doing what they did best once the dust settled down.
This incidents changes nobody, those entrenched in each side will remain trenched.
You won't going to see the white supremacist suddenly moved and changed because of what happens with George, and I don't think any black Americans will change their stance after this riot. Damn some Korean Americans are still feeling some hurt from 1992.
Parents from both sides will teach their kids about 2020, and you can be sure it won't be neutral. People from all sides will take sides at least opinion wise about this whole 2020 riots. We all moderate our views in forums, discussions, and in most aspect of lives but rest assured we all take sides either way.

I can understand the frustrations penned up when year after year, incidents after incidents, the perpetrators getting more brutal by day, nothing changed, at one point the straw will break the camels back and civil disobedient is inevitable. I'm not even white/black or Americans but I would gladly march on that street if I were there. As a Christian I'd say violence is never the answer, but when one party keep coming harder, and harder and relentless in their pursuit of hate there's only so much you can bear. The lord says give your other cheek, but if that other cheek got slapped it's time to fight back.

I don't think Biden if elected are going to reform the whole police and justice system, let alone Trump. Even if someone who genuinely care for all this got elected, i doubt he has the time, the willpower, the political capital, the support to make such a reform. It feels to me that Chauvin are just the tip of the iceberg and not the bad apples.

I agree Americans need a total reform, i just don't think it's possible. Because tl;dr those that doesn't want changes are actually large in number.

Sensible, level-headed post and I happen to agree with every single thing you said there. I guess looking at this mess from afar as you do does give one a better view of the bigger picture.
 
You posting a video about the police is the UK carrying out a stop search in a thread about a man has been murdered in the US is strange.
Nope, I'm making the point that UK police constantly abuse their powers against people of colour. If you consider such 'stop search' normal, it tells me just how out of touch you and your officers have become.
 
As a white man, if I ever try to quote Ghandi or MLK at you, feel free hto hunt me down and give me a nice lecture and a hug!
The guy has since deleted the tweet, but yesterday a middle aged white guy on twitter tried to explain the meaning of MLK Jr’s “a riot is the language of the unheard” comment to MLK III.
 
Don’t really know much about US politics but surely Barrack Obama can come out to give a speech to ease tensions or wouldn’t he make a difference?

Because there’s no way Trump can bring an end to this with his recent comments.

He was president and didn't change much, so he better keep quiet.
 
Have peaceful protests ever worked?
Looking for moral high ground when your.people are being killed left, right and centre is stupid.
As the woman on Fareed said, there is no form of protest that the White man will accept because he simply does not want to be confronted with his racism.
Colin Kaepernick was banished for kneeling at a football game ffs!
Tbh, I am a bit irritated with some here coming to criticise the protest without offering any solutions.
“Dr. King's policy was that nonviolence would achieve the gains for black people in the United States. His major assumption was that if you are nonviolent, if you suffer, your opponent will see your suffering and will be moved to change his heart. That's very good. He only made one fallacious assumption: In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none.”

― Stokely Carmichael
 
Id say that the rioters are using the George Floyd protests as an excuse for their actions and they’re doing it as their form of protest against the establishment.
Posters in this thread have even said about bringing corporate America down.
And so what if they did? Why does that prick your ego or feelings so badly?
 
To who? I doubt anyone really believes that. Even those who seek to belittle the protestors know that they're genuinely pissed off.

The majority of the people I’ve spoken to today have completely dismissed the protests. I’ve heard

‘If they want to be taken seriously they shouldn’t act like criminals’

‘All they care about is destroying shit’

‘how many of them have even experienced police brutality’

‘When you see what’s happening you think no wonder they treated (George Floyd) that way’

A damning indictment is that these are far from being the most offensive thing I’ve heard today. I was probably being glib when I said that they see no moral difference between these protests and football fans protesting a result. But if the case is that they do? It still makes no difference in their disposition.
 
Maybe the protesters should re-brand themselves as a corporate entity, adopt style-less suits and soporific smiles, and wear laminated badges bearing the forgettable slogan 'We're raising awareness of something our fellow white folks might never have heard of: racism.' Then, after lobbying for tax exemptions, their complaints might be taken seriously by the authorities (after a little bribery, of course).
 
you’re a troll. I clocked it from the first time I quoted you. You’re deliberately avoiding important questions, offering no solutions, and are mischaracterising the events leading up to the riots as well as attributing the looting and violence to the protesters - who have somehow lost moral ground. Forget about 400 years of pain and suffering.

stop it. If you’ve got nothing of value to say just do us a favour and shut the feck up.

youre purpose so far has been nothing but obfuscating and derailing conversation. Bringing back to absolutely nonsense.

I actually think this Heardy guy is probably Atze, back with another account to continue his trolling :lol: Either way at this point it's quite clear that he's a troll.
 
I’d like to see a venn diagram showing the people shouting about how violence isn’t the answer and the people who cling to the 2nd amendment and the need to be able to fight off their idea of tyranny one day.
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The majority of the people I’ve spoken to today have completely dismissed the protests. I’ve heard

‘If they want to be taken seriously they shouldn’t act like criminals’

‘All they care about is destroying shit’

‘how many of them have even experienced police brutality’

‘When you see what’s happening you think no wonder they treated (George Floyd) that way’

A damning indictment is that these are far from being the most offensive thing I’ve heard today. I was probably being glib when I said that they see no moral difference between these protests and football fans protesting a result. But if the case is that they do? It still makes no difference in their disposition.
Im guessing the abused in Minnesota are not too worried about what people in Swansea think of their plight?
 
It is not a thread about a man being murdered in the US, for crying out loud. It is a thread about the injustice and the systematic oppression the black people face in the entire Wester civilization (in some places like the US more than in Europe). Floyd is just a figurehead, a symbol of this oppression.

The thread is about the protests following the the murder of George Floyd. I also understand the reasons behind the protests and have stated I agree with them. What I don't agree with is trying to lump in a random stop/search encounter from the UK with absolute zero context. He's just posting random things to sensationalise. As I said before he posted an article which named a number of black people which had been killed by the UK police over a number of years. Some of the names (as I pointed out to him) were criminals killed in possession of firearms whilst committing offences. I personally don't see how that's relevant to this discussion or is in any way comparable with the murder of George Floyd who was simply getting his groceries.
 
“Dr. King's policy was that nonviolence would achieve the gains for black people in the United States. His major assumption was that if you are nonviolent, if you suffer, your opponent will see your suffering and will be moved to change his heart. That's very good. He only made one fallacious assumption: In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none.”

― Stokely Carmichael

It's a violent quote. It's difficult to accept but is there a proof that he is wrong?
 
I was probably being glib when I said that they see no moral difference between these protests and football fans protesting a result. But if the case is that they do? It still makes no difference in their disposition.
speaking of venn diagrams, american sports hooligans and #alllivematter is going to be another near perfect circle isn't it
 
Nope, I'm making the point that UK police constantly abuse their powers against people of colour. If you consider such 'stop search' normal, it tells me just how out of touch you and your officers have become.

You're not though. You're not making any point you're just posting random stuff from Twitter.