To think that the looters should be ashamed of themselves

[clipclop5]

I think that the protests are fully justified, and support them, but imo looting is ridiculous. Using the horrific death of someone as an excuse to steal?? This is not what George Floyd would have wanted. Probably quite the opposite.

Pay attention!

They won't. It doesn't fit their narrative of black people being the creators of their own circumstances.

Let's disintegrate the human rights of white people for a few hundred years. We'll soon see how much they put up with before deciding enough is enough

White people looted the Native Americans, murdered them and stole their lands.
White people looted Africa and stole people to murder, rape and enslave.
White people looted dozens of nations and held them captive as colonies.
Frankly white people are lucky this looting is mostly just commercial premises so far.

Black people are still being lynched so, honestly I can't bring myself to give shit about a few shops or police cars.

@BelleHathor

That is some speech.

@Aridane

I think the poster was highlighting the fact that not all the people at protests are there for the cause, rather that some just join in for other reasons, no?

I completely disagree OP. Signing a petition isn’t really an adequate response to state sanctioned murder. Trump’s tweet, the ‘when the looting starts the shooting starts’ should tell you which side of this you should be on.

Here in the US the media and the police taught us in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina that it is only "looting" when Black people do it. It is "finding food" when white people do it.
The most significant difference compared to 1968 is that citizens are able to record the brutality of the police in response to citizens protesting the brutality of police.
Also the recordings of the police officers smashing windows and setting fires should be a wake up call for some people.

Yes, and the fact that there is no ambiguity in the Chauvin video. His expression, posture and demeanour cannot be misconstrued and it is clear that George Floyd is unable to move, unarmed, defenceless.

People cannot 'unsee' this. It cannot be so easily explained away. (although I 'm amazed that other incidences have been - it's just the footage here is explicit and clear to see.)

This is not what George Floyd would have wanted. Probably quite the opposite.

How do you know what he would have wanted? Did you know him?

This is a really good Twitter thread about COINTELPRO, an FBI initiative set up to discredit the black civil rights movement and black activists, where the FBI worked directly with the KKK.

twitter.com/clairewillett/status/1266894029498675200?s=21

And this is a PDF to declassified or leaked documents on COINTELPRO.

peopleslawoffice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Hampton.Cointelpro-Booklet.pdf

@DoctorHildegardLanstrom would you want your loved one to be honoured by a bunch of looting idiots, determined to erase any good the protests have done?

@clipclop5 I can't really answer that as I have not been subjected to years of hate for the colour of my skin. But I also don't suppose to be able to talk for someone who I don't know.

You seem to be able to though.

Lot of white people doing that damage. Have a wee Google OP.

The OP didn't say anything about the race of the people involved. Did you read her post?

a bunch of looting idiots

More people, most likely white, deciding they know best. Because white people have always had the best intentions for black people...
I wonder how much oppression, degradation and murder you'd put up with before you'd had enough and acted on it.
You absolutely smack of privilege.

@FortunesFave

The reasons behind the looting are complex. There is crushing poverty and hopelessness in some communities. Those people are desperate for change, they feel worthless and hopeless. If they had been given more opportunities then they would not.

Not to mention that this is during a pandemic when many people are struggling more than normal. Our food banks aren't even able to keep up.

Serenada Killer Mike really is a wonderful community organizer and he speaks so much sense, there is power in protesting but the real power lies in the ballot box from the bottom to the top.

Looking at Twitter just now things are dire in Los Angeles,reports of gangs going out to the wealthy neighbourhoods now.

Bet Prince Harry is wishing he was someplace else.

I don’t care about the looting. It’s a distraction.

I agree

Well said @NeutrinoWrangler

@WhatwouldLangdo

Pay attention!

They won't. It doesn't fit their narrative of black people being the creators of their own circumstances.

Let's disintegrate the human rights of white people for a few hundred years. We'll soon see how much they put up with before deciding enough is enough

White people looted the Native Americans, murdered them and stole their lands.
White people looted Africa and stole people to murder, rape and enslave.
White people looted dozens of nations and held them captive as colonies.
Frankly white people are lucky this looting is mostly just commercial premises so far.

Black people are still being lynched so, honestly I can't bring myself to give shit about a few shops or police cars.

Yes and yes again.

To the posters on this thread who are still not getting it, please check out the lecture by Jane Elliott.

She asks who would accept being treated the same way that black people are treated in our society. Stand up if you would be ok with that kind of treatment. So on this thread which of you would be happy to be treated that way. Stand up.

Now remember according to you if your 14 year old son was punched and chucked around (for smoking cigarettes), your daughter was shot to death in her own home (oops thought you were a drug dealer), your brother was shot in the street (for jogging), your husband was slowly suffocated for 8 long minutes (for having a counterfit bill, when there are millions of them in circulation and he prob didn't even know) you would not protest, you would not fight back, you would accept this life and the system.

Now consider that these are just a very few examples of white violence against unarmed black people that have just happened over the last few months. Would you want this life?!

Here's a link to Trevor Noah's show that Serenada mentioned up thread. A very lucid analysis of why looters should not be critcised.

The anger is entirely understandable. As a white woman living miles away from it all, I feel such all-consuming anger when I see the atrocities committed by police and politicians over there. I can’t imagine how intense that anger must feel to be black and to actually live amongst it all. The looting is a symptom of a system rotten to its core. To blame the looters is to entirely miss the point. It is also missing the point to focus in on looting when so much peaceful protest is happening at the same time (which is frequently met by violence from the police).

Bet Prince Harry is wishing he was someplace else.

He married a biracial black woman from
LA. I suspect he’s quite keen to understand what’s going on for his wife’s and son’s sake. Maybe you would wish to be somewhere else but don’t speak for others.

I just think it’s weird how some people will lump protestors and rioters together in one breath, and then in another say a few bad cops shouldn’t spoil the whole bunch in the same breath.

Why doesn’t the same logic apply in both cases? (That’s rhetorical I know why)

sitsdown

I think that we need to separate rioting from looting. Rioting is for the most part understandable, after all with the best will in the world peaceful protests do not work, and the anger and frustration caused by that is entirely understandable.

Unfortunately as with anything, any kind of protest will also include a number of bandwagon jumpers who are simply there for a ruck, and this also takes away from the reasons for the protest.

Looting on the other hand is purely opportunist criminality. There is no justification for it, and the fact that looting happens as part of the rioting diverts the attention completely away from the reasons for the rioting.