For those of you that think ‘all lives matter’ heres a quick and easy explanation

[TeddyIsaHe]

MN can be extremely racist at times, most posters that have been here for a while will know this.

All lives can’t matter until black lives do. It’s something we ALL need to understand and I think this makes it very easy for people to grasp.

A bit like what happened with Jewish people in the War, with the Nuremberg trials, the hunts for Nazis, the repossession of war loot and redistribution.

How did that make reparations for the thousands killed who didn't benefit from the war loot?

How do we here in the UK make reparations? Who do we make it to? Do black people who were slave owners have to make reparations too? Do you mean individually compensating descendents or do you mean in the form of sums paid to a government?

I dunno. I guess it's for you smart buggers to figure it out.

When reparations are made, like with everything, there are winners and losers. An awful lot of it is the process. Of having to acknowledge wrongdoing, make an apology, and then make reparation, as best you can. Knowing that the people that suffered can't have their suffering undone, but the legacy wrongdoing and suffering might be mitigated by making reparation, and also knowing that you have done what you can. While understanding that might not be enough.

@YappityYapYap
It should be FWBLM. First world black lives matter or RVBLM. Racial victims black lives matter. The cause is not fighting for all black people to have equal rights at all because the majority (more than half) of black people in the world do not even have the basic right of food and water but people are ignorant to that as a majority. So how can you say you believe BLM when you only care that some of them do?

You are (wilfully?) misunderstanding the meaning of the slogan "black lives matter" . It is the slogan of an anti racism movement campaigning against discrimination against black people, including police brutality and institutional racism. This movement started in the US although it has since spread to other countries. The slogan is perhaps a bit clumsy in that the meaning isn't that clear unless you understand the context (i.e. black minority persecution in a white majority country). However plenty of people on the thread have explained the meaning of the slogan. The black lives matter movement is not really about food insecurity in developing countries. That's not to say its supporters don't care about that issue as well. But one movement cannot cover every possible inequality in the world. People are entitled to be most concerned about issues that affect them and their communities. Just because women in certain other countries are hugely oppressed, does that mean people in the UK are not allowed to campaign for better women's rights here?
It also strikes me as pretty racist to think that every black person is morally responsible for solving problems in other countries where black people live.

Firstly, I have no problem with the slogan Black Lives Matter, it doesn't offend me (being white) and I think the house fire analogy is the simplest to explain (and is the one I use).

Something does puzzle me about this though. The piece of shit that knelt on George Floyd's neck was a white man married to an Asian woman (so unlikely to be a white suprematist), the other officers who are equally guilty in my eyes as they were also kneeling on him are Asian, Black and White.

How do we get from these assholes putting someone who resisted arrest on the floor to the idea that they murdered him BECAUSE he was black?

They definitely murdered him, but I'm not sure they did it because he was black.

They definitely murdered him, but I'm not sure they did it because he was black.

It's a question asked by many people. The man involved had also been involved in other incidents involving both black and white people so it seems like he has a history of being a thug. There's also rumour that they both worked in the same club for seventeen years though no clarity on whether they knew each other so was there possible history there? Presumably it will come to light at trial.

I think America was already a tinder box because of inequality exacerbated by covid. Was this the spark that ignited it?

They definitely murdered him, but I'm not sure they did it because he was black.

But Chauvin knelt on his neck, in broad daylight on the street, as people were watching and filming and George Floyd was saying he couldn't breathe. And he didn't even look like he gave a shit. He must have known that he lived in a society, that he was part of a system, that placed such little value on the life of a black person that he would be able to cause serious harm to them and it wouldn't matter? It might not have been because he was black, but Chauvin thought that doing that much harm to a black person just wouldn't matter if that makes sense?

If MN is your idea of somewhere that "can be extremely racist" you clearly lead a very sheltered life.

@Hearhoovesthinkzebras possibly inflamed by the (undeniably) racist murder of the jogger too. Whichever officer was kneeling on George's ribs should definitely face the same murder charge as Derek Chauvin.

MN IS very racist.

Saying MN can be racist doesn’t equate to saying other places are not equally bad or worse.

What a bizarre idea. Racists will go to any end to deny racism and attack those who point it out.

They definitely murdered him, but I'm not sure they did it because he was black

No but they thought they would get away with it because he was black. There has to be systemic racism for the first autopsy to find that his death was not related to the incident, and for the policeman to initially be allowed to walk free (before the protests started)

[quote SleepOhHowIMissYou]@Hearhoovesthinkzebras possibly inflamed by the (undeniably) racist murder of the jogger too. Whichever officer was kneeling on George's ribs should definitely face the same murder charge as Derek Chauvin.[/quote]
Absolutely. We have a charge of joint enterprise in the UK. Do they not have similar in the US? Chauvin might have been the one kneeling on his neck but none of the others did anything to stop him - in my book they are all equally guilty.

@JoeExoticsEyebrowRing I'm glad you mentioned the people who filmed it. How the hell do you watch something like that and not intervene? All I heard was some rather feeble objection but surely if you witnessed that then you'd have to do something about it?

Videoing it was all they could do. What else could they have done? Called the cops?

George Floyd himself can't have thought Hispanic Lives mattered too much when he robbed Aracely Henriquez at gunpoint in her home back in 2007. Thankfully she acquiesced and was spared.

@JoeExoticsEyebrowRing I'm glad you mentioned the people who filmed it. How the hell do you watch something like that and not intervene? All I heard was some rather feeble objection but surely if you witnessed that then you'd have to do something about it?

They were watching the fucking police murder a man before their eyes. The police. The people who are supposed to be upholding the law and protecting people, murdering a man in cold blood. Why on earth would they get involved and risk the same happening to them? The police arent going to come along and help them are they?!

Anyone who says they would have intervened in this is totally deluded bullshitter.

They definitely murdered him, but I'm not sure they did it because he was black

First off if it was a Caucasian man with a $20 they’d have likely never suspected it was counterfeit (it wasn’t) 4 police would not have responded, and no one would have been beaten in their car, then dragged out and suffocated to death.

It wouldn’t have happened if George Floyd had been caucasian. It just wouldn’t. People can try an explain this away as a non-racist murder but that’s showing their ignorance.

You only have to look at Brock Turner who was found raping an unconscious woman behind a skip and he served 3 months. That’s white privilege.

@SleepOhHowIMissYou the person filming was a 17 year old black woman.

Would you have stepped in?

@DioneTheDiabolist I wasn't there but I don't think I could have just stood passively and filmed, not if it was something preventable.

I once saw a man who had been killed by a bus in Oxford Street and so many people were filming on their phones that when the paramedics arrived, they struggled to get to him. It was disgusting.

@TeddyIsaHe

Did you see that tweet from an American college professor who said he was spoken to by the police about a counterfeit $20 a few years back. For him it’s an amusing anecdote he recounts at parties. That is white privilege perfectly portrayed.

I wasn't there but I don't think I could have just stood passively and filmed, not if it was something preventable.

It wasn't 'preventable'. It was the police murdering a man. Police with guns. Bollocks would you have done anything but watch in horror.

@teddyisahe I hope that I would, yes. I have intervened twice before, once in my teens where a girl was being spat on a train by a gang of idiots (she asked them to stop smoking) and once when a gang tried to karate kick me in the face as I passed.

There must have been other witnesses. There are photos from behind of all four officers kneeling on George.

They were saying that we need to use our white privilege to help - my question though is how? Some suggestions were to actively speak out, to visibly be anti racist rather than just being not racist, yet then one particular site had hundreds of black.people slamming any white person who had spoken out - saying it was offensive, as white people we have no right to speak out, that the people doing it are only doing it to feel good about themselves. So, is it wrong to do that then? Is that causing more harm for white people to speak out? If it is wrong, what can we do that uses our privilege for the right reasons?

I think you have to remember that a lot of people who have experienced racism can be understandably quite sensitive to being patronised by white people. Also, there will be a few who just want to have an argument, probably partly fuelled by the frustration and fear of the whole situation. I can completely understand black people on a site where most people are black, getting annoyed by white people virtue signalling on line. I mean what is "speaking out" , anonymously, online, anyway? Obviously I haven't seen the site you have been on, but that's my guess as to what's going on.
In my opinion the best way to "help" is to take real life actions, rather than on social media. For example, think about how you vote. Be aware of white privilege if you have a job that involves interviewing or employing people. Don't laugh at racist jokes, even to be polite. Challenge subtle racism by refusing to turn a blind eye and being inclusive in the workplace and in social situations (for example don't allow people to make racist remarks, even if there is no one else present. Include everyone in work dos, include everyone in conversation). Don't make assumptions about people. It should be about genuinely helping others to feel comfortable, and not about making yourself look good. No one is expecting you to make some kind of amazing stand! Just have good manners mixed with a bit of awareness.

Actually I think the op analogy is spot on.

If someone started a thread on here saying that happened posters would be utterly appalled at the behaviour. It would be in classics in half an hour as everyone turned to ridiculing the narcissist who could not allow a moment for someone else to have the spotlight on their pain their grief their victimhood their love their pride their anger.

All human lives are important - but for some reason the police in some states in the US don't think so. I think that's why in the states its's important to say " black lives matter". In the UK where inequality is more spread maybe we can say " all lives matter".

Although how any person could put their leg on another's neck until they can't breathe - I really don't know. I never feel massively safe in the cities in the US. They need to have stricter gun laws for both police and citizens.

Re the policeman's wife being Asian, you get racists in families, so it doesn't surprise me.

He probably sees black people at the bottom of his hierarchy and doesn't value their life.