To anyone who counteracts with ‘All Lives Matter’..

[MyChemicalRomancee]

And are against any protesting and this not being ‘your problem’ because you are white/in the UK etc. - please watch this
www.instagram.com/tv/CAtRsHjJtgg/?igshid=zsymfn3661c2

To me every life is precious

Well there it is. The dumbest fucking thing Ive read on the Internet today.

The "why don't we have white history month" mantra is almost funny in its total stupidity. If, as someone who has been through the education system, you haven't noticed that we have white history for nine tenths of the school year, you really don't have a right to complain.

strugglingwithdeciding

This is a factual account of what happened along with some footage which you've probably already seen. I highly recommend you watch it.

And yes, if it hadn't been for the second autopsy, the ME was colluding in the whole thing - blame it on a heart condition.

As regards the precious poster who believes it was wrong to tell the little girl the reality? That IS their reality. She needs to know what she's risking if she gives police any remote cause to arrest/mistreat/murder/injure her. 8 is not too young when it's her life at stake. Do you shout at your child when they attempt to dart onto a road with traffic? Do you tell them that a car could come and drive over you and kill you? Hoping that somehow the danger will sink in to their little heads? Yes you do. You don't understand the fear that black people must feel in America. It is literally fear for their lives. Simple as that. You don't take chances when it's your child's life at stake. Oh to have the privilege of not needing to do that.

Note (I'm white with a mixed race child).

The link might help

I cannot begin to understand the systemic racism that black (and other minorities) people face daily especially in the US.

I am a believer that all lives matter and I regularly stand up for disabled rights on the premise that all lives matter.

I wish there was no need for a black lives matter movement as I don't care what colour your skin is. There are horrendous examples of racism against every colour across the globe and it all needs to stop.

However the racism faced by black people in America is extreme and truly awful. I fully understand why there is a need for black lives matter movement and I stand shoulder to shoulder with those who are trying to ensure our children grow up in a world where you don't get shot because your skin is black. Black lives matter and people need to stand together whatever their skin colour to show that this will not be accepted.

All lives do matter but all lives are not currently being threatened just because of their skin colour.

The hypocrisy I don’t like is that there are rarely if ever protests about injustices in non white countries. This is called the racism of low expectations.

So while for decades we rightly protested South Africa, barely a squeak happened when Fiji introduced apartheid in 1987, or when Zimbabwe collapsed under Mugabe. China’s occupation of Tibet is put in the too-hard basket, as is its detention of minorities. And so on. So yes, I understand protests against police actions in a US state, but am entitled to ask on what criteria the protesters select their topics for outrage. A bit like the climate protest a few years ago which marched around targeting among others the US embassy but ignored China’s.

@lifeonaloop have you noticed that by saying To me every life is precious you are making this issue about you. But it’s not all about you. By making it about you and your lovely heart you invalidate what Black Lives Matter is about. You might as well say “not all white people...”

It's like saying "ALL HOUSES MATTER" and expecting the fire brigade to douse every house on the street when the one that needs attention is the one that's actually ON FUCKING FIRE really isn't it?

@HairOfTheFrog - I love that analogy. It is so accurate and easy to understand. Thank you. Can I use it?

The hypocrisy I don’t like is that there are rarely if ever protests about injustices in non white countries. This is called the racism of low expectations.

How would these protestors know about the things you described if they have never heard of them? If many are suffering with racism in their own home and on a daily basis, how are they supposed to know about what is going on in other countries?

Do you even know what was going on in the States during those times you posted? How much did many countries know about other countries’ problems before the Internet and social media, other than about wars? Our history books never mentioned any of those things even the world history books. If I asked the average British person about the things you described, would they know about them? I highly doubt it.

It's not my analogy, I saw it on Facebook, so use away!

I must admit that this subject makes me uncomfortable. I, of course, support BLM and hate the idea of racism, it is so alien to me but I do call people out on it if I see/hear it. But I feel strange discussing it as I fear I come across a bit pathetic as a white person, I fear black people will think I am patronising, like celebs going on about poverty iykwim.

@chergar
No, we will not think you are patronising, until more white people speak out nothing will change, keep speaking out and challenging racists, research thinks like systemic racism, talk about racism with your kids.

*things

People do protest in non white countries. Black South Africans were protesting long before the Western world picked up their cause. It’s that their causes find little solidarity.
What is most interesting is that when people of colour protest on injustices meted out by other people of colour it is almost always dismissed as ‘that’s what these black/brown/tribal people do’- you know this idea for instance that ‘ethnic conflict’ in Africa is this unique thing (there is academic literature on this nonsense) because Africans can’t think beyond their tribe/ethnicity.

blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#educate

No, we will not think you are patronising, until more white people speak out nothing will change, keep speaking out and challenging racists, research thinks like systemic racism, talk about racism with your kids Thank you for this advice. I often feel awkward and don't know what to add as wtf do I really know about how it feels.
I will always stand against racism, my DC are very aware of racist behaviour, we talked about George Floyd's horrific cold blooded murder and others who have had to face discrimination.

you know this idea for instance that ‘ethnic conflict’ in Africa is this unique thing (there is academic literature on this nonsense) because Africans can’t think beyond their tribe/ethnicity.

Which is bloody ridiculous, because just look at the tribalism displayed in white societies. It's a general human trait that didn't get thrown out along with the melanin when we moved north.

It's an idea that's not limited to white people, either. There's a thread in FWR discussing a black American who thinks systemic brutality is the sole province of the white race. Which just goes to show that skin colour doesn't necessarily inoculate one against picking up and internalising the dominant racist cultural message.

I will say ALL LIVES MATTER, at this particular point in time.
Because we are in the middle of a pandemic and going out into the streets to protest and mass gatherings puts everyone in danger.

Unfortunately racism is so deep rooted in America that a change is not on the cards for a long time if ever!

This is modern america.

but looting and stuff like that will not help will it ?

They want you to conflate the protesters with the looters, most people will obviously not support the looting and the arson some of them may possibly be business owners themselves so will support probably quite draconian measures to bring a halt to the looting so by conflating the two you make the protesters and their cause devalued and so then the 'consequences' of their actions can be filed under 'they deserved it' dont be suprised at how far some people will go just to keep their priviledge and the current advantage of the status quo and the enslavement of POC in the American industrial prison complex

To a PP who said the looters were poltically on the left, could you post your source?

Ah Thankyou @simonjt I stand corrected! It's been appropriated though, surely, by white power groups?

So has the swastika. Thanks for the education Simon. I had no idea. I also recently learned a sharp lesson about some seemingly innocuous phrases but which had unpleasant origins in racism. And that 'colour blindness' as a protestation against racism in fact nothing other than an assertion of white privilege. This isn't stuff I ever want in my vocabulary: gestures or otherwise.

Thanks @Notrightbutok

Can I ask how we can use our white privilege in daily occurrences, where is the line between interfering and helping?

I wouldn't want to imply that a POC couldn't stand up for themselves.

And can I ask as well,if you don't mind, have you ever experienced racism and had someone use their white privilege to help you?

Age 8 is about when a black child in the US has to understand the extra risk she faces and be prepared with what to say and do - she will soon be popping out alone to walk to school or see a friend nearby or visit the corner shop (not that most places in the US have those!)

And the smug, fatuous retort that "All lives matter" is a pointless truism. Of course they do! So let's all do something about the ones being treated as though they don't.

It's as if you were agitating to save the rainforest under threat from illegal logging and somebody pompously announced that "All forests matter, you know." Well go and climb a tree in a carefully preserved oak forest in England protected by the Woodland Trust and feel smug and virtuous. Just ignore the bulldozing and loss of habitat elsewhere.

@GreytExpectations

Oh the I don’t see colour brigade. My usual retort is “yeah, you see the world in black and white, nes pas?” They often never get it.

"I don't see colour" is often preceded or followed by some fantastic example of racism. It's the 90s version of "all lives matter". A dog whistle.