Omg the scenes from the London protests

[SistemaAddict]

I'm just watching the news and am finding it so frightening to see the crowds, the police, the tension, the horse bolting.
I understand the desire to protest but how is this the right way to do things? I know there will be thousands of peaceful protesters among the ones causing trouble.
I'm concerned about the covid risk to everyone there especially as BAME are more at risk of the virus.

I hate confrontation and get very anxious so wanted to chat to others about this. Yes, I could switch off but I think it's important to watch and learn and understand what and why is happening.

“All lives matter” is the tone deaf bleat of a white person who doesn’t get it (at best) and outright racist (at worst). If you’re outraged at being called racist then maybe you should educate yourself.

@sobercurious the time frames will show which affected the most the beaches were couple weeks ago if this causes a spike it will appear soon , protests now so will be a good few weeks off
Hopefully neither make much difference as they are outside , but the beaches were full of all nationalities and races as were the demonstrations

The sickening irony of watching people waiving banners proclaiming that lives matter, whilst deliberately exposing themselves (and their families) to a killer virus. Especially when BAME people are more at risk.

everyone is free to become an MP and make change.

Honestly, this kind of comment just illustrates how much people don't understand systematic inequality.
If you are working 2 or 3 jobs, have caring responsibilities, or are disabled and dependent on benefits then no you cannot get involved in politics. You don't have the resources, and your benefits will be placed at risk.

[quote EasynowPatrick]**@mumsnet* isn’t prepared to say anything about racism because they’d have to mute most of the posters on here. These posts will continue full of hate until black people give up again in the face of constant criminalisation. The already expected 2nd peak of this atrociously managed public health crisis, will be down to those no good ***s![/quote]
Please c&p any racist comments or those full of hate. You know there aren't any. Just people voicing their anger at missiles thrown at the police. Police who were there to protect them.

Your last sentence is disgusting and says more about you than anyone on here. You should be ashamed of yourself.

@madamemarie i think many are at this stage already even before today

@ShootsFruitAndLeaves that is true but as they are more likely to be arrested (and more likely to have violence methods used during arrest) they are still disproportionately affected by deaths in custody. If using stats don't leave relevant ones out.

@strugglingwithdeciding The only reason left to lockdown now is to avoid the inevitable second wave that is imminent from all these ignoring the rules.

@Theinibriati

Those problems are suffered by EVERY section in this society.

I don’t think most mumsnet posters are racist , that is a myth .

All anyone is said is NOW in the middle of a pandemic is not the right time .

I can not see what is wrong with that .

At most large social justice protests there will be a group of people, mostly young white males, who are just there for the aggro. This has always happened. They used to congregate around SWP in the olden days. They now congregate around 'Antifa'. Same shit but now more connected.

If you name antifa you will be told it's not an organisation, it's just a word that means anti-fascist and surely you're not in favour of fascism? But they have a flag and a kind of uniform and they're always the ones there at the end, throwing bicycles at police horses. They've been there all day, planning, agitating, stirring things up, recruiting ... so they can have their quick fix of pseudo-revolutionary violence, knowing that nothing really bad will happen to them because daddy's a barrister. They are utter fucking parasites on legitimate protest movements.

It's vital that everybody distance themselves from this violent group of mostly young white men who hijack protest after protest after protest. If they won't name themselves as an organisation then we must name them so we can say 'that group there is nothing to do with me or the protest I joined.'

'Antifa' is the word most associated with this group so I suggest everyone else stops using it and expresses their opposition to fascism using a different phrase. I'm sure if they don't want to be called antifa they'll come up with a new identity and a new flag, so Stay Alert, especially for new, single issue front groups.

Also though, what the actual fucking fuck were the police doing taking horses into that situation? I want to know whose idea that was and what the fuck they were thinking.

AIR, black people are less likely to die while in police custody in the UK than white people.

Yes, similar in the US I believe, both in relative and absolute terms.

If this was more widely known, would black people feel safer? I don't know.

Some interesting statistics in this article:

www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/the-myth-of-systemic-police-racism-11591119883

Yes the timing is lousy from a health and economic point of view. But something has to be done, people are angry if the protest are left it may loose its momentum.

One of the most irritating, trite statements is 'two wrongs don't make a right'. Frequently said by teachers to pupils. Picture this: a child constantly bullied, day in day out. Some take part, some watch and others simply turn away. No one listens to the child when they beg for it to cease, until eventually they can't take it anymore and lash out. Someone tells the teacher and the teacher comes to punish them. The child tries to explain what happened and the teacher dismisses it by saying 'two wrongs don't make a right'. So basically, shut up and put up with it indefinitely because you don't matter.

@LangClegsInSpace horses are always at large gatherings like this you will se them every week at your local football match

*Horrible scenes. The bolted horse footage is difficult to watch.

TBH I found the slow murder of George Floyd more difficult to watch*

Aridane

It was heartbreaking to see the video of George Floyd. Cold blooded murder.

It's possible to feel shock and sadness at both and I certainly didn't imply that the poor horse's wellbeing was more important, even if you make it sound like that.

There have been other powerful protests up and down the country today where social distancing was adhered to and people didn't feel the need to hurt police officers or animals.

I abhor violence and am of the opinion that violence must never be met with violence.

I thought the most important thing right now was to stop as many people uncessarily suffering and dying from this very immediate threat of Covid. This is why so many sacrifices have been made in so many areas in order to achieve this. And yet, no, apparently it’s actually not top of the priority list after all.

@ShootsFruitAndLeaves that is true but as they are more likely to be arrested (and more likely to have violence methods used during arrest) they are still disproportionately affected by deaths in custody. If using stats don't leave relevant ones out.

No.

"14% of deaths in police custody or otherwise following contact with the police since 1990 were BAME. This is proportionate to the population as at the 2011 census."

The absolute numbers are also very small.

@cyclingmad my first thought on hearing about the protests was "oh no, that'll spread the virus". The image that popped in my head was of young black londonders taking the virus home and infecting their older relatives. It's a bit of a leap to assume those against the demos at this time are only worried about there own families catching it or don't think BLM.

Black Lives Matter!! Yes they do BUT so does the welfare of animals

Oh my - I have now heard it all

@Ariadne - do you not agree?

It’s all about risk, at the end of the day. It wouldn’t be happening if it was Ebola that was the threat.

It's an absolute disgrace.

I'm sorry I haven't read the full thread. I was stopped in my tracks by this comment on the first page.

Not racism is an absolute disgrace.
Not *George Floyd's death was an absolute disgrace.
Not Trump saying George should be looking down very happy at the minor change in unemployment figures for white people was an absolute disgrace.

How strongly do you think people must feel to be going out taking their chances with the virus?
How little respect do you think these people have for the utterly useless governance we have had lately to be doing this?
BAME have had the short end of the stick from society for so long. They have been disproportionate victims of the virus.
World leaders have been slow to stand up and denounce any of this.

I feel ashamed.

Yes it would be happening. That's the sad thing

It wouldn’t be happening if it was Ebola that was the threat.

But ebola isn't the threat.