Do you think George Floyd's death would have made such an impact if we were not in lockdown?

[Herecomethehotstepper]

The reaction to George Floyd's death and the conversations it has brought forth are well overdue. Racial profiling has been allowed to continue for far too long and many lives have been lost as a consequence.

Do you think his death would have made the same headlines if the world was not in lockdown? Do you think it was a spark that lit the fire? Part of me feels that the world was looking for a cause to get behind due to inactivity/lockdown fatigue. I don't know if it would have recieved so much attention in 'normal times' and that makes me sad.

Probably not.

Black people have been being murdered by the police in the US and around the world for years and we haven't cared enough to change anything before now.

Yes on the whole I still think it would have! Rodney King happened without lockdown. I think the only slight difference is the media might have had other things to focus on so the ripple effect maybe wouldn’t have lasted as long as it will do. I think we would still have protests and riots, maybe not the scrutiny of 70s/80s/90s tv shows though.

I am not sure. Yes, there is a dearth of non-COVID news but this one abuse lit a spark.

I think the fact there was quality video evidence and it was so clear that it was abuse. And GF's language was so polite, and pleading.

I hope to God some progress is made.

No, and without media / gov non of it would be happening.
God knows what's really going on whilst they attract you to look other there.
I don't mean the poor man wouldn't have been killed, but the bandwagon jumping was media and government.

@Devlesko I fear the same 😞

Someone suggested on another thread (now deleted) that many protesters probably were expressing anger at lockdown as well, or authority in general, even if they were not saying so.

Of course not. People are bored and frustrated and that leads to bandwagon jumping and mindless vandalism which makes a mockery of the issue they’re pretending to support.

It's possibly more that Black (and Asian) people are being disproportionately affected by both Covid and the economic impact of Covid. So there was already an underlying anxiety.

In the US the scale of job losses and the lack of security system added an awful lot of fuel.

Most definitely the result of societal unrest it's been brewing for a while.
people are waking up to what is happening much more these days.
We see things live from the other side of the world that we used to have to wait to be reported, if a all.
Add to this social media, the media itself, and propaganda / spin from government, and it's a recipe for rioting.
I also believe that government decisions haven't been for our benefit and the whole brexit thing was orchestrated.
We are all manipulated you just have to decide how involved you want to be, and if you want to join their games.
I don't and keep to the simplest life possible, because they aren't nice games.

Yes, absolutely ! because we all got to watch it minute by minute as he was murdered.

We don't we see that played out too often, so I am sure it would have he same impact on all of us, lockdown or not.

I think part of it was the actual availability of people to attend protests. How many people would have actually taken time off work / studies to go? People were tired of lockdown and it presented them with the opportunity to get out & meet people, ( maybe throw shit at the police) vent some anger while congratulating themselves on social media. If some real changes are made then great but I doubt half the people protesting would have been so vehement under normal circumstances.

No.

But purely based on the fact that already disenfranchised people have suffered worst during lockdown and so are more disenfranchised.

There would have been protests. And rightly so.
I still cannot fathom what went through the police officers mind to do what he did. It was abhorrent.

If this brings about real change - rather than plastering the cracks bu removing statues - then the protests will have been worth it.

I don't agree with violence though. Ever. I don't agree attacking police to show anger of racial inequality in policing is ever excusable.

But I'm the same way I don't agree with GF being made out as an angel when he's caused untold suffering on his victims of his crime before.

I think it is the trifecta of lockdown, it was the police who did it, and it was filmed for the world to see.

And yes, I agree, long overdue.

I think there would still have been protests, I don't think the UK would have just let it pass, but the rioting was due to being whipped up.
I think the statues should stay and we should educate our children about the lives of these people, what terrible bad things they did, and how they made their money, gained status etc.
What is the use in trying to eradicate history, rewriting everything.
I often wonder if in fact Orwell couldn't see all this, but the powers that be have taken his word, that'll work.