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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think there's something wrong with this photo?

85 replies

mirrormirror99 · 31/03/2019 08:47

Three black men with their backs against a wall and officers stood in front of them, then a white woman with almost the opposite?

Or AIBU?

to think there's something wrong with this photo?
OP posts:
TheChippendenSpook · 31/03/2019 08:49

He's possibly waiting for a female PC to search the woman and by standing in front of the men, the male officers are giving them some privacy.

That's the way I see it.

lololoe · 31/03/2019 08:51

I think you can see anything if you look hard enough for it..

0ccamsRazor · 31/03/2019 08:53

Yes it is a shockingly bad photo!
Feeds into the racist mentality that black men are criminals and need to be searched.

Not ok given that a black man is more likley to be stopped and searched than a white man, due to ingrained racist ideas.

Original poster
mirrormirror99 · 31/03/2019 08:53

I don't think you need to look that hard with this one to be honest...

OP posts:
Witchend · 31/03/2019 08:53

It looks posed to me rather than a rl situation.

Original poster
mirrormirror99 · 31/03/2019 08:55

It would make sense if the article was about racial inequality, but it just has one tiny paragraph at the end "The numbers of searches fell for every ethnic group, but ethnic and racial inequality has grown. In 2014-15 black people were four times as likely to be searched as white people, while in 2017-18, they were 9.5 times as likely to be searched."

I just think it's an awful photo...

OP posts:
Eminybob · 31/03/2019 08:56

Looks posed to me too, so I can’t fathom why they felt it was a good idea to use 3 black men as the “criminals”. It’s just feeding horrible racist stereotypes.

Original poster
mirrormirror99 · 31/03/2019 09:00

I screenshotted the photo hours (about 2am) and the article was way shorter than it is now. It genuinely had 2 paragraphs and now it is a long article (reading it again) which addresses racial inequality. Why do BBC do that? To get views? So I've probably got this slightly wrong but it genuinely didn't mention racial inequality when I first read the article 🤦🏻‍♀️

OP posts:
NoTNoShade · 31/03/2019 09:04

I think this photo has been set up as a photo for another article and now it’s ‘out there’ and has been used as an image for this article. Someone has said ‘Bob, find a photo for my stop and search article ‘ and this is it.

The photo doesn’t look real anyway.

Dramatical · 31/03/2019 09:07

It looks posed to me rather than a rl situation.

Of course it's posed!

It's the pose set up OP is questioning!

Yes OP I think it's is awful.

Dramatical · 31/03/2019 09:09

Ok, so it is deliberately set up to show the inequality, in that context it makes sense.

Under the text in the picture, it just showed inequality, but without any further information it's impossible to know it was intense.

Dramatical · 31/03/2019 09:09

*intended.

CardsforKittens · 31/03/2019 09:13

I’ve no idea whether it’s ‘real’ or posed, but I had the same reaction when I saw it. It’s quite obvious that the black men are being treated differently from the white woman. And it seems to reflect what black men say about their experiences with police. So that made me think that more power to stop and search is likely to make life even more unpleasant for young black men. And actually a better approach to reducing knife crime would be for the government to put more resources into policing.

3out · 31/03/2019 09:18

What looks peculiar to me is that all the men are dressed the same, I think that’s maybe why it looks staged? The pregnant lady looks annoyed (and also looks like my sister!), fair enough.

LemonTT · 31/03/2019 09:24

As far as I can see they are all being stopped and asked for ID which is being checked for the men and women. No one is being searched in the photo. She is just standing at a different angle.

The issue would be why are all the police white.

Dramatical · 31/03/2019 09:25

It looks staged because it is staged.

Springwalk · 31/03/2019 09:36

Yes they are trying to highlight racial inequality by using a disturbing photo they know will make most people feel deeply uncomfortable.
I would say the photo did exactly what it intended to do. The message came across loud and clear, and do it should.

Springwalk · 31/03/2019 09:37

Do - so

Dramatical · 31/03/2019 09:38

The issue would be why are all the police white.

Nothing to do with how they are treating the black men compared with the white woman?

CheekyChappy710 · 31/03/2019 09:41

This reply has been deleted

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Acis · 31/03/2019 09:45

CheekyChappy, it's not OP who is being ridiculous. Surely you can work out that crimes are committed by people of all races?

CheekyChappy710 · 31/03/2019 09:49

Yes I can but in this case they are targeting specific areas which have had this type of knife crime. They are stopping and searching young youths. Colour and race is irrelevant but if they tend to be more black than white what's the issue? Being overly PC is what's letting these youths of all races run around murdering each other.

Dramatical · 31/03/2019 09:55

Did everyone miss the update where OP mentioned this picture accompanying an article about racial inequality?

BarrenFieldofFucks · 31/03/2019 09:57

Yup, that's awful 😲

Dramatical · 31/03/2019 09:59

It's not racism it's just fact

It's a picture that accompanied an article about racial inequality. It's an EXAMPLE of this.

The tag line in the pic in the OP is out of context.

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