Will black lives ever matter?

[RockLock]

So another killing of a black man Ahmaud Arbery by 2 white men (Father and son) in US. They nearly got away with it calling it a citizen arrest and self defence. Father was a retired policeman.

They followed him, armed with guns and shot him.

Prosecutors tried to cover it up until the video emerged.
Ahmaud’s crime? He was going for a jog.

Will black lives ever matter?

[Annamaria14]

@missionalmostimpossible

I don't actually know this, and I am trying to google it.

Is there any country, who imported such huge numbers of African slaves, like the USA did?

Because that is still causing all the problems in the UsA.

The chain of disrespect passed down among the white population there.

"If our elders saw and treated black people as slaves, I won't treat them with respect either. I will look at them like they are dirt too."

[twilightermummy]

YANBU.
I've been shocked at a few comments on here this week myself.
The US seems lawless when it comes to racism. Stories like this make me sick.

[YinMnBlue]

This made me really sad when I saw it. Imagine having to build that in to parenting

Every parent of a black child (including me) in my area of London gives the country equivalent version of that talk to their black teen boys. Know their rights, but be sure not to put yourself at risk.

I do not think that the majority of our police are racist power hungry thugs. I think most are decent compassionate well trained people doing an incredibly difficult job. But it doesn’t take ‘most’ , it takes a few, a hefty dose of stereotyping and media misrepresentation, and a sprinkling of unconscious bias and you end up shot for carrying a table leg in a plastic bag (for example), or suffocated for resisting arrest, or just being cautioned for a bit of weed at the skate park while the it’s with rosy cheeks and long blond surfer style hair look on.

[Snaketime]

YANBU, all lives should matter. When are people going to realise we are all the same no matter the colour of our skin. What they did to Ahmaud Avery is down right despicable.

[LetsGoFlyAKiteee]

@Annamaria14 there was also the case of a woman shooting someone she thought was in her flat..it wasnt her flat it was his!! She entered the wrong one.

Police then tried to smear him as a criminal and all this. Despite the fact he had done nothing wrong except be sitting in his flat.

[RockLock]

TorkTorkBam I am not in the US, I am in the UK. I would also love to talk about racism in UK but unfortunately, the responses on here tell me that there will be utter denial about racism in the UK.

[ElizaCrouch]

So all you 'Karens' out here glossing over the facts can take a long look in the mirror

I think you should take a look in the mirror yourself drip drip. Whilst you may have had a fair point about race, these words show you up to be the ignorant individual that you truly are underneath.

[ilikemethewayiam]

I’m white and was married to a man of colour. I can honestly say in 25 years I only saw a few times when people were racist to him here in the U.K. our friends and family were all mixed white and black and there were no issues with it. However it was a whole different ball game when we went on holiday to the US. I felt the segregation and racism. We both felt very uncomfortable at times and our 10 year old son picked up on it. We were pulled out of the line at customs and bags searched. That’s never happened to us coming into the U.K. other people might have a different story but I can see why there is animosity in the US. It felt very different.

[PlanDeRaccordement]

“I just don't see how the country can operate without allowing men to work in frontline roles. We do actually need them.”

I agree, but I also think that we need the BAME doctors and nurses too. It would not make sense to excuse one segment of the population due to 2 fold increase in risk, but not excuse another segment facing the same elevation in risk. A fair option might be to shield all male BAME frontline workers because they face the most risk.

[yomommasmomma]

Some shocking responses on here. Let's hope at best these people are in denial because if not they are just racists plain and simple.

[SayNoToCarrots]

Yes, but this particular person was murdered because the perpetrators thought that if a black man is running then he must be up to no good and should be confronted

But why is that?

I think the story has been simplified somewhat

Yeah you are right @SkinRash. The heavily armed white people probably had a good reason to shoot the unarmed black man on his own.

[Xenia]

Anna, yes places like Jamaica - lots of slaves imported as in the USA although very different countries so I am not sure comparisons can easily be made.

I saw this video the other day - when he moves to the right of the van he goes off camera so I am not sure the footage shows all we need to see but it certainly proves we are very lucky in the UK that just about no one has a gun so we don't have many shootings of anyone.

And yes black lives and all lives matters. Anyone whether of our family's Catholic background (the bible says everyone is equal) or any decent background thinks all lives are of equal value.

The US and UK positions are not always comparable on race issues but always worth people t4rying to be fair. It is going to be very hard as people get back to work in the UK for employers to be fair- if being over weight or being an old man or whatever means your worker may die of covid 19 is it going tyo be fait to pick those ones for redundancies over women or over thin ones? (Assuming there are no back room jobs they can do) A can of worms on gender, race, weight and many other issues is about to be opened.

[GoddessOfGettingThereInTheEnd]

It is certainly my percepti9n that black people in america have to be so careful or some trigger happy cop will blast them with the gun they shouldnt have.

[diddl]

"According to an April 26 report in the New York Times, Arbery was a former high school football player who ran for fitness and maintained the habit into his 20s. That day in February, he happened to run past the home of Gregory McMichael, 64, who decided Arbery looked like the suspect in a string of recent robberies in the area. McMichael called to his son Travis, 34, and the two of them jumped in their truck after grabbing a handgun and a shotgun. The local prosecutor (who later recused himself from the case because his son had worked with Gregory in the district attorney’s office) determined that Arbery was shot twice after a scuffle between him and Travis, who was holding the shotgun, and that Travis acted in self-defense. Further, the prosecutor determined that the McMichaels were justified in pursuing Arbery under the state’s citizen’s arrest law."

Self defence & a justified pursuit?

That is insanely scary.

[CuppaZa]

YANBU.
I can’t believe how many have voted you are
Those commenting on white people/other races getting murdered are missing your point entirely

[ByzantinePrincess]

Something bad happens to a woman - people on mumsnet: All men are violent and sexist! There is endemic sexism in the UK and the world!

Something bad happens to a black person - people on mumsnet: Well, come on now, not all white people. Everyone is equal. I’m certainly not racist, so...

[Namechangervaver]

I agree, but I also think that we need the BAME doctors and nurses too.

Well, duh! 44% of doctors and 25% of nurses in the UK are BAME. Good luck if they suddenly all disappeared!

[Francina670]

This forum is absolutely at its worst on this subject and the ridiculous points made here are repeated on every other MN thread about race issues. It seems to be acceptable to debate whether racism is even a thing and the experiences and opinions of non-white people are consistently ignored.

I think MNHQ need to stage an intervention.

[Terralee]

YANBU Black Lives Matter

[VashtaNerada]

YANBU. I just keep imagining if an unarmed white man went for a jog through a black neighbourhood and was shot dead, how different the response would be. And it’s so tiring to hear people on here who are so clueless about white privilege. That clip from Grey’s Anatomy was heartbreaking.

[tara66]

Have you been to Zimbabwe at all these last few years?

[Yellowsubmarinedreams]

There are a lot of posters on mumsnet with ingrained racist beliefs and who don't recognise their own white privilege, OP. Posts on race have them all crawling out. YANBU at all.

[EmeraldShamrock]

I hope so. In my eyes every life matters.
Yanbu it is disgusting.
My niece is dating a black boy it has opened her eyes to petty racism, he is a lovely lad it is very sad.

[panicstationsready]

All lives matter - the bigger issue is that all and sundry can carry guns and shoot whomever they wish. Had the killers not had access to guns they may well have still killed him but certainly not so easily. Stabbings are much more 'up close and personal', guns are a way of distancing yourself from the death