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.

People who are not racist don’t need to come out and say “I’m not racist”.

Well they do if they get accused of being racist just because they disapprove of protesting in a pandemic.

I wonder what the protests today will be like. Peaceful I hope with no one hurt. Manchester protests seem to have been ok from what I've seen in the news.
I would hope that the outcomes of these protests is positive but in the middle of a global pandemic I suspect they will do more harm than good.

@BeijingBikini

People who are not racist don’t need to come out and say “I’m not racist”.

Well they do if they get accused of being racist just because they disapprove of protesting in a pandemic.

Only they are not disapproving of people protesting in a pandemic are they? It’s the protest subject they disapprove of and are being sly about it.

Using the “oh, we’re in a pandemic” doesn’t wash when people have been flouting the rules all throughout, my neighbour being one of them. People sunning themselves on beaches trying to get darker skins during a pandemic, now THAT’S important and necessary.

The pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon and racism needs addressing urgently not when you decide it does.

Excellent post BovaryX I could not agree more.

This thread is really difficult to read. It's not for me to tell someone they can't protest for their own human rights. Some white people need to learn how to listen and not speak.

👏👏👏 BovaryX Thanks for being one of the only people to consistently mention David Dorn, a Black grandfather who was slain by a "protester" and left to die in the street. The MSM seem to conveniently forget him as he was a retired cop and that doesn't fit their narrative, may he and the other 13 people who have died so far in these protests RIP.

tyrant are you aware of the COVID pandemic? We’ve all been told what we can and can’t do regarding group meetings for a few months now.

*Only they are not disapproving of people protesting in a pandemic are they? It’s the protest subject they disapprove of and are being sly about it.

Using the “oh, we’re in a pandemic” doesn’t wash when people have been flouting the rules all throughout, my neighbour being one of them. People sunning themselves on beaches trying to get darker skins during a pandemic, now THAT’S important and necessary.*

I don't agree at all, you are being really insincere - every bloody day there are dozens of posts on Mumsnet fuming and calling people idiots/selfish/stupid for going to the beach, going to IKEA, protesting against lockdown, lots of other things. Anyone who's broken the rules in any way gets loads of abuse for killing some hypothetical elderly person.The anti-lockdown protests got loads of comments along the lines of "they should be tear gassed and water cannoned, I hope they die" which no-one has said about BLM protests. People have constantly moaned about VE day, etc. Someone I followed on IG who was fuming with elderly people congregating on VE day saying we shouldn't even celebrate it, is now all out supporting these protests even though it's a much bigger mass gathering. I actually think people have been a lot more supportive - partly because they think it's a worthy cause, partly because they're scared that if they don't support it they'll be accused of racism.

I disagree with lockdown from a civil liberty perspective so I would support any protest rn as a basic democratic right, no matter what the subject, but it's insincere to say that no-one has complained about other things when you know full well they HAVE, and a lot more too.

@Namechangedorthis I live in a flat, the post man drivers to a box outside my home. The delivery drivers leave parcels on the first floor (I'm third) and I'm 25 so extremely unlikely to be hospitalised 🤷‍♀️ the risk of me hurting someone is so minimal it's a bit ridiculous.

Only someone who is either profoundly ignorant or deliberately mendacious would claim that policing in the US is comparable to policing in the UK. There is zero comparison. George Floyd was killed in Minnesota. Why should UK cops be regarded as guilty by association? Are Sweden's cops guilty too? What about cops in Vancouver? How about cops in Peshawar? Are cops globally all guilty? People chucking bikes at police horses in London and claiming to 'care' about George Floyd are thugs. Their defenders are thug apologists. Does David Dorn's life matter? Why isn't his name being sprayed over London's memorials?

Absolutely. I’ve been saying this all weekend.

We’re (quite rightly!) not allowed to view all of one race’s actions by the actions of a few people.

So why does the behaviour of a few police officers - in a totally different country - mean that police here are fair game for abuse and violence? The actions of a few don’t represent the beliefs of the majority there either!!

That poor police person, just out doing their job. How horrific it must be for their family, knowing the risks that they are taking..............

Agree

However

Poor police person chooses to be in the police

A black person doesn’t chose the colour of their skin

Belle
BovaryX Thanks for being one of the only people to consistently mention David Dorn, a Black grandfather who was slain by a "protester" and left to die in the street. The MSM seem to conveniently forget him as he was a retired cop and that doesn't fit their narrative, may he and the other 13 people who have died so far in these protests RIP

It's shameful that David Dorn's death is not being more widely reported.

www.chicagotribune.com/columns/john-kass/ct-george-floyd-david-dorn-kass-20200604-nufke7avkvc5zhy4eenios4zji-story.html

@sweetnhappy
I have read a lot of stuff in posts around BLM, and have felt frustrated by the some of the extremes on both sides - from people claiming their lives are under threat everyday from the U.K. police to people denying there is a problem at all. Both sides ignoring each other's experiences and lots of angry ranting that just switched me off.
But THIS is what we should be focusing on. In the U.K. it's about the everyday lived experience of of this man and every other like him. An 11 year old boy, just cycling like little boys should, then being chased and abused by a car load of white men. Or the little boy who gets blamed for everything because he's black. Or the young man being abused when walking with his girlfriend. All this because of his colour.
Your post made me cry - a lot, in fact I am still crying - because as a white person I can see this reality of this. For me this is the most powerful post out of anything I have seen. Thank you for sharing.

People we've protested about for years in UK, with no resolution. You didn't take any notice because those protests were quieter. Violence begets violence, this was always going to be the case when wider society consistently ignored violence against others simply due to their race and colour.

People who think black people here wouldn't be impacted via seeing a black man publicly executed in America, have no understanding of us and are talking from an uninformed standpoint. We don't divide in the way that you do.

You had your chance with the Lord Scarman report following the racist SUS law which was only repealed after violent protests, but never budged when it was marching and singing only. Same with Civil Rights Act. Racists will never see the actions of police in terms of human rights abuse of black people. Hence it's essential that protests continue.

I don't directly know a single person who's died of Covid-19 yet according to (questionable) stats. 3 months into a pandemic, how strange🙄. We are no more at risk at a protest than we are when manning the front lines at hospitals and care homes.

You don't get to say when we can protest. As you can see.

'shameful that David Dorn's death is not being more widely reported.'

Yes there isn't any outrage because it wasn't a 'white supremacy' murder, so didn't his life matter? or Tony Timpa a white man killed by the police in the US in 2016. It is police brutality in the US that needs protesting about.

'An 11 year old boy, just cycling like little boys should, then being chased and abused by a car load of white men. Or the little boy who gets blamed for everything because he's black.'
The same could be said of underage white girls in Rotherham.

I would say to you high horsethat a. Two wrongs don't make a right and b. The Rotherham thing is not widespread across the country. This happens to ethnic minorities every day of their lives at school, at home, going out. I don't think the two things are comparable

I wonder how much of this boils down to male violence?

'would say to you high horsethat a. Two wrongs don't make a right and b. The Rotherham thing is not widespread across the country. '

Of course they don't make a right, my point was many people experience xenophobia, bigotry, prejudice and racism. Your comment implied otherwise.

Also I think the Rotherham thing is very widespread it is well documented that is underreported, ironically because of the fear of racist accusations.

I hope today's protests are peaceful and also productive. I can't help thinking a spokesperson is needed to actually convey the aims. Defacing monuments isn't very useful and doesn't make many empathetic.

Because they haven’t been issued enough to go round.

@DeeCeeCherry Well said. I agree.

The police will stop doing stop and search for fear of being seen as racist.
That means more black boys will die of knife crime. Is that what protesters want?
There are only diversity internships in civil service and foreign office. White young people have no chance but they don't complain.

I think if people want to help oppressed communities by breaking shops so that working class, overworked, underpaid communities can spend all night cleaning it up, amid violence, wondering how they will now survive then they should be allowed, without judgment. judgment is a form of violence designed to silence. I actually think the real villian here is peaceful protests, it makes all the authentic allies who want to throw bricks and set things on fire look really bad.

The Rotherham thing is not widespread across the country.

Asian grooming gangs from 25+ cities across England have been tried and convicted.

Official figures show that 18,700 children have been groomed in the last year alone. A significant amount of this abuse is racially motivated.

Why are you seeking to minimise racist abuse of white children?

What happened in Rotherham and across the country is terrible and needs to be addressed. I'm not sure though what it takes away from the cause? Should we just not bother trying to make society more equal for everyone because other things have happened which are also bad?