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.

Why did a police officer once stop me running through a hospital (my workplace) and not my three white colleagues?
We were all in the same colour scrubs, all with ID clips, all running in the same direction.
Is it perhaps because I’m mixed race?
He waved me off though because I had an Irish accent, so that’s ok.

It angers me that they didn’t post, that they didn’t speak until they saw him die. But they are doing it now and we are ASKING them to do it.

I'm white. I resent the suggestion that I'm tarred with a racist brush

Another thing that we would do well to remember is that this happens in other Western countries too, not just USA. It's more blatant in the USA and results in more deaths because of their gun laws - but there are similar issues for black people in the UK too, probably mostly London but doubtless in other cities and areas too. They've done statistics on stop and search numbers, and young black men are pulled over far more than anyone else. People of colour in the UK may not live in fear of their lives from the police as much as in the USA, but they still have to deal with racist shit on a daily basis in many cases.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/02/revealed-the-stark-evidence-of-everyday-racial-bias-in-britain
www.theguardian.com/law/2019/may/04/stop-and-search-new-row-racial-bias

Same in Australia, same in Canada. No doubt same in other predominantly white countries too. The difference with the USA is the gun laws - something else they should obviously look at, but won't.
Even the fact that their President is an overt racist isn't unique to the USA - look at the thatched twat in charge of the UK! And Scummo over here isn't any better.

The whole thing is so sickening really. The amount of people using this horrendous situation to preach, get likes, followers, look liberal. Yuck“

I’m white, I have good friends who are African American and living in the States, my concern way precedes recent killings, my posting record on this issue is there to be seen. I don’t care about looking cool, getting likes or appearing liberal. I care that my friend was scared to death when a car pulled up behind him while he was out jogging, I care that he’s had to talk to his young children about how to behave around police to avoid them getting shot, I care that his family come to see me and feel anxious walking round my street because if they did the same in a similar area in the States the chances are someone would call the police.

Empathy, understanding and compassion -the knowledge that other people have a different experience of the world than you do, the desire to challenge inequality, racism, and oppression implied or explicit are human qualities I’d hope most people possess.

I resent the suggestion that I'm tarred with a racist brush

You have privilege though, right?
Do you challenge it?

#BLM has been around for quite a long time now, just as the issue of institutional racism in the police has. I find it very odd that Yappity hasn't encountered it before.

Read the post about opening the garage again. That is a good illustration of white privilege.

It seems like some white people get upset at the idea they have the unearned privilege of not being universally afraid or at least cautious around the police, like they are being criticised or belittled by phrases like #BLM or 'white privilege'. They are not. These particular white people ARE being challenged for their close-mindedness and the fact that this ignorance is compounding the problem of racism, whether they understand this or not. When you respond to an anti-racism campaign with "but surely ALL lives matter?", you are wasting people's time and setting back the struggle of BAME people to be heard.

Yes, the Black Lives Matter movement was started in 2013 after the murder of Trayvon Martin, a black man who was shot dead by a policeman, who was acquitted of all charges.
blacklivesmatter.com/about/

There were protests then too.

And there will continue to be protests until something changes.

Don’t like the protests? Do something to change the system that kills black people, endlessly.

@BlackBucketOfCheese

I resent the suggestion that I'm tarred with a racist brush

You have privilege though, right?
Do you challenge it?

I am a white supremacist am I? Wtaf do you mean?

If you want to know why it's specifically Black Lives Matter then watch this video.

WARNING it's not for the faint of heart.

twitter.com/ThisIsQuasimodo/status/1267880824915058688

The concept of white privilege isn’t about white supremacy in KKK terms, it denotes the fact that without any effort or merit on your part you don’t face the discrimination that people of colour do. That you have advantages and social capital by virtue of being white. If you then go on to use that social capital to reinforce racist attitudes, values and beliefs you’re into white supremacy territory, in my view.

I am a white supremacist am I?

Quite exactly where I said that to you because I said white privilege.

I meant to say, I’m happy to be corrected on the white supremacy-v- white privilege thing, thats just my understanding which may be wrong.

Quote not quite. This phone!

And you know what my origins are do you Bucket? Or have you made an assumption of some sort?

Trayvon Martin was not actually shot by a policeman. It was a sociopath neighborhood vigilante, George Zimmerman.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Jimmy_Mizen
Just a normal guy buying bread on a Saturday morning

@Monty27

I'm white. I resent the suggestion that I'm tarred with a racist brush

If you’re not racist, then the statement doesn’t apply to you, so you don’t need to get upset.

Recognise class analysis, and realise that when POC are discussing their realities, and what white privilege / racism means to them, they don’t need to qualify NAWPALT (not all white people are like that) in order to not upset (general) you.

People often don't recognise barbed comments, dirty looks etc when they are not directed at them. Unless it's really overt then it gets dismissed.

I saw racism in my past workplace - it is discreet but the people it was affecting were very aware it was going on and gave me a huge amount of good feeling/friendliness just for the fact that I noticed it and worked to make things fairer.

People really don't seem to notice when someone always 'accidentally' gets excluded, giving crappier assignments, the smallest work space or is forgotten about in the tea rota.

I'm not particularly observant so how come I noticed it?

@Monty27

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Jimmy_Mizen Just a normal guy buying bread on a Saturday morning

His murderer was tried and convicted.

Thanks Humpty. Sigh. I may not be coming across well. It hurts me to think my empathy and support of the black community and community as a whole is worth nothing.

This always resonated with me.

Good thread for anyone is confusing the peaceful protestors with the people damaging property:

www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/gtn3ps/video_of_the_anarchist_who_started_attacking_the/

How do you challenge white privilege if you have it? I know that I have white privilege- I am white and I don't experience the prejudices/disadvantages that POC experience and I therefore accept that when I hear about peoples experiences of being treated differently (for example guys who say they have to think about how they walk about so they are not questioned by the police etc viewed as threatening) I have no basis to challenge this as true and accept it as true ( in a similar way that no man can truly experience a woman's experience of sexism ).
Is challenging white privilege "simply" challenging racism or is it different and more about acknowledging racism has benefited you?