Are the people protesting in London mad?

[JKD1982]

I agree that what happened in the USA is appalling but why would anyone risk their own health and go against all the social distancing rules to protest in London? It won’t make a difference to what’s happened and could cause another crisis in London hospitals because people catch COVID.

AIBU thinking they are mad and there is a better way (from a laptop?) to express anger

Why are people protesting in the UK? It's cute that you think we don't have our own cases of George Floyd's over here. These kind of threads always confirm that some of you are floating on your privilege bubble with no idea what is going on below you.

The numerous photos showed clearly the majority of protestors were white.

I was actually there and that simply is categorically not true.

The people actually leading the protest (the individuals making the speeches, and physically leading the march from Trafalgar Square to Downing Street, the individuals who decided the march would stop outside Downing Street and for how long, the ones who chose what specific actions took place outside of Downing Street, and who then led the march to the Houses of Parliament) were all black.

The individuals who questioned, filmed, and debated with the Downing Street police, including the famous “clown” man, were all black. I personally witnessed that exchange.

I had conversations with many of the other protestors and got to hear their stories and get to know them at least in passing. Almost all the people I spoke to were black and from London. There was also a small group representing the Jewish community, and a group representing the Latin community.

From what I personally witnessed from actually being there and being right in the middle of the original protest and the march, was that approx. 2/3 of the people there were black. At least.

Just because you saw a few photos doesn’t mean you know better than people who were actually there. I have dozens of photos showing nothing but black faces, but all the advice I’ve read and been told has been to avoid posting photos that show people’s faces.

Perhaps people have an agenda to only post photos showing white protestors? Perhaps the (predominantly white) reporters showed unconscious bias when selecting white protestors to interview? Perhaps black protestors were less keen to be filmed and photographed, for fear of reprisals?

@jayanddisplay

White people are not being systemically killed through processes of state sanctioned murder. White people have never been the powerless minority.

You named 1 white victim. We could name hundreds who have died at the hands of white aggressors.

@ChocolatelyAsFuck is right. I was there, too.

It might shock you but black people over 40 and those with underlying conditions matter as much as those young and healthy.

Oh well thanks for that. We'd never have known till you graciously gave us permission.

How dare people decide to risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people.

How dare you tell anyone how to challenge their oppressors of hundreds of years. Imagine being so far up your own are you see fit to tell black people they're doing it wrong.
You are a part of the problem.

@bgcexx your parents can meet their grandson in a garden for a BBQ from today. Could you please let me know the date black people will stop being killed at the hands of the state?

Look how many BAME people have propped up the NHS during the Covid crisis, I bet a good percentage of them have been harrassed or stopped & searched needlessly by the police. That is why they are protesting, yes they haven't been shot or murdered by the police but BAME people in America are being too frequently & getting away with it.

@toffeeyoghurt oh so you're calling me a racist! 🤣

You can't claim to care about black lives if you dismiss sensible concerns over mass gatherings during a pandemic Where did you mention sensible concerns?

He wants to protest against racism by putting the lives of many black people at risk?

How did I misrepresent you? You wrote the above.

@toffeeyoghurt where is your evidence that the protesters were all white people not from London?

It might shock you but black people over 40 and those with underlying conditions matter as much as those young and healthy.

where has anyone on the thread said otherwise?

I bet everyone who is supporting this protest isn't a transport or supermarket worker or similar in London. Someone who's life was directly put at risk today, the risk of catching covid, by these protests. These jobs are essential and working class and most people don't have a choice but to do them, do you think they're happy with increased mixing and larger gatherings which increase the transmission of a deadly, even if not always fatal, virus.

There is such privilege I'm supporting this when it in no way effects you. You sitting at home watching the protests and supporting them aren't having your lives risked by them.

These protesters may have made the risk assessment for themselves that the protest today was worth the risk of catching the virus but did the ask everyone they would come into contact with if the risk of such a mass gathering was ok with them too.

I am mix raced, brown, I have experienced plenty of racism in my time. However it is not ok to put other people at risk to push what you believe in, even if what you are pushing for is right and just. Absolutely it is the right of these people to protest and if they want to risk their lives for these protests that is up to them. But they are risking far many more people's lives who have no choice but to take on this risk despite probably not wanting to.

It's never right to put other people at risk against their will and in this time of a pandemic this risk is massive.

The point about BAME people disproportionately dying from COVID is a good and important one, but anger should be aimed at the systemic inequalities behind that disparity. Both in terms of systemic discrimination within the healthcare system, and in terms of jobs (black people being more likely to work in lower paid jobs where they are under more pressure to return to work and will be less likely to be able to work from home) and the government prioritising the economy and even keeping companies happy (eg by not making it mandatory for companies to provide PPE for employees) over lives.

Aim your anger there, not at black people for wanting to protest racist murders.

@ChocolatelyAsFuck

You're conveniently ignoring the scientific evidence that part of the reason BAME people are more at risk is because we absorb less vitamin D which is showing to be key in fighting the virus.

Yes there are systematic inequalities but even if there weren't more BAME people would still be dying because our bodies are made different and in the case of this virus that puts us at a disadvantage.

Don't put words into my mouth. Gaslighting is very unpleasant. Given I voiced suspicions the majority of protestors were white, I've no idea how that translates into telling black people what to do. Not that anyone at today's mid pandemic mass gathering represents anybody but themselves. We're all individuals. Rather racist to suggest any particular group is all the same.

Today's mass gatherers have no right to risk other people's lives. You might wish to risk your own life but you have no right to risk hundreds of thousands of other people's lives. Black, white, Asian, or any other race.

You still haven't answered how a mass gathering during a pandemic of a virus that kills four times as many black people as white helps stop racism? How does putting black and disabled and elderly people's lives at risk help? What do you want to achieve? An angry rant or genuine end to racism? Harming other vulnerable people including many black ones doesn't help. All today's protest achieves is putting vulnerable people's lives at risk. It's a shame. If you genuinely cared about racism perhaps you've stop to consider the impact easing lockdown too soon will have on BAME communities and campaign about that.

I'm repeating myself now so I'll leave you to your angry incoherent rants. I expect you'll continue twisting what I've written but like I've said my posts are there for all to read exactly what I wrote.

These jobs are essential and working class and most people don't have a choice but to do them, do you think they're happy with increased mixing and larger gatherings which increase the transmission of a deadly, even if not always fatal, virus.

It's ok to have legitimate concerns & raise questions. The protests I'm aware of have tried to take into account Covid. However with the increased mixing that has been going on all week at beaches & parks & with many schools accepting more pupils tmw I'm not sure how much of the increased risk can be attributed just to the protests.

@frazzledfatty

Every risk taken increases the overall risk more. I for one think the people gathering on beaches are idiots too. But like I said before, which many posters decided to quote of out context btw - a nice bit of gaslighting, is that this virus doesn't discriminate, in that it doesn't care if you're gathering for a worthy just cause or for a jolly, it just wants a human host to infect. Therefore I think all mass gatherings, worthy of not, are stupidly risky right now.

but like I've said my posts are there for all to read exactly what I wrote.

Yep, it's clear for all to see.

Therefore I think all mass gatherings, worthy of not, are stupidly risky right now.

That's fair enough but they are happening & were happening before the protests.

I think the people protesting have a far more valid reason to be out in crowded places than all those people on beaches

I wouldn't.do it but I completely understand why people.do . Protesting from a laptop has got people precisely nowhere . Unfortunately I am not sure the demonstrations will do much either but I completely understand the anger and the desire to do something, anything

@frazzledfatty

And they should all be stopped. Just because they were already happening doesn't mean I should just shut up and accept this one too. I think they're all unacceptable and we should have stopped them and should continue to prevent/stop them in the coming week(s) until it is safer.

It is mildly interesting what the media and thus what the masses choose to pick up on. Like, I'm totally behind the Americans protesting over there. Rightly so. But people here choosing it as their cause to hit the streets is odd given there are worse acts brutality and injustice carried out even more often in other parts of the world. Why don't so many Londoners demonstrate about those? Weird USA-centric outlook.

Who should be stopping it? Are you lobbying the gov to stop easing the restrictions?

"I think the people protesting have a far more valid reason to be out in crowded places than all those people on beaches"

I agree.

But just because a reason is "more valid" doesn't mean it is "valid" in itself.

The act of gathering, whatever the reason is still dangerous and illegal and puts other people at risk, even if they weren't part of the gathering themselves.