Attending BLM protests?

[ALifeDesign]

I am wondering if anyone has attended today or planning to go to any of the protests being organised around the country this weekend.

I am debating going tomorrow. I would maintain social distancing and wear a mask. In ordinary times I would be there without a second's thought but these aren't ordinary times.

Some photos from today on Twitter look well organised, distanced etc.

I wfh and live with one other person - currently furloughed - who would also be at the protest, so I feel we are low risk of spreading.

I'm still a bit torn. So I suppose AIBU to attend?

@Tianalia @Smileyaxolotl1 @Mittens030869

How do you know they're bringing anything back to their families? Not that it's people living alone/wfh, attending with their housemates/family.

You're the ones making assumptions. Everyone on this thread that's commented about attending have either said they live alone or they went as a household.

One thing which some people don't get is that this virus is mild for the majority but there is a sizeable minority for whom it's much more serious. We all know there are some who have died but there are other people who become very ill. I've had the virus for 3 months and it's still not over.

There was no chance of me avoiding it because I caught it pre lockdown. But risking someone else catching it when that person could die or become seriously ill for weeks or months, that's really selfish.

You're allowed to decide that you don't care if you're a martyr. But you don't get to decide that for another person.

You're the ones making assumptions. Everyone on this thread that's commented about attending have either said they live alone or they went as a household.

The people on this thread are not the only people that went. And it's a reasonable assumption that plenty of protesters will not be isolating for 14 days afterwards.

No, because I would have to travel by several trains and I don't want to take that risk.
Without covid, I would be very tempted to attend.

Dominic Cummings - the white martyr.

@Livingoffcoffee

But the point is that the protesters don't know everyone in the crowd when there are thousands of them. There could be vulnerable people who will pay the price for your decisions. Whether on the day itself or at the supermarket/at work/on public transport. It's about the risk to other people.

If not for the virus, as I said, I would have thoroughly approved and we would have thought about protesting ourselves.

OP, you obviously havent watched the videos of what happened in London. It turned into a rioting mob, baying for the blood of the police. Journalists were chased and had they not got away, I'm sure theyd have been set upon. Peaceful protest it was not. Not social distancing, just a mob.

Can’t help thinking lockdown fatigue and the excuse to break it whilst feeling virtuous is a factor, for some

As long as we remember that some I'll agree
I've been reading the Facebook of a local self-proclaimed activist who went to the protest in honour of "Lloyd Geeorge" ... apparently she's "distraught over his murder", but can't even get the poor man's name right

@Mittens030869
But everyone in the crowd have made the conscious decision to be there. I seriously doubt anyone critically vulnerable choose to attend - which I completely understand.

I said it down thread, but I'll say it again. To everyone who keeps saying it's just the poor timing...do you realise how insulting that is? Oh come on, can't you just deal with systemic racism for a while longer? I know you're being oppressed because of the colour of your skin, but it's a bit inconvenient for me right now...

Protests aren't everyone's form of activism, and that's also okay - if you're taking action in other ways. But some people have to be the ones taking to the streets to get any attention on the issue.

Well we see what happened when we all feebly signed an online petition to oust Dominic Cummings. We did so in hundreds of thousands. What result did we get?

Marches and protests are useless. They do not change anything. They are just so that the affected people can vent and the unaffected allies can virtue signal. Then there are usually violent anarchy types that get a high from going to protests and starting vandalism or fights with police or others.
Don’t get me wrong, I marched and protested a lot in my teens and twenties, but after being on the planet this long, I have come to the conclusion that none of it changed anything at all nor will it ever change anything. Never ever.
Waste of my time, effort and breath.

I have no intentions of going near any protests in the middle of a pandemic where mass gatherings are banned.

But I'm not just talking about those who attended, as I also said. All these people have their ordinary lives unless they self-isolate afterwards. They will be going home, then to the supermarket, work, and on public transport. There will be other people they come across over the next couple of weeks.

livingoffcoffee!
So if everyone on the march is going home to self isolate for 14 days either alone or with their families then fair enough.

If they go to work, to a supermarket or their kids go to school then their illegal decision is potentially impacting others and they are being selfish fuckwits. It’s not a difficult concept to understand.

@Livingoffcoffee Oh come on, can't you just deal with systemic racism for a while longer? I know you're being oppressed because of the colour of your skin, but it's a bit inconvenient for me right now...

Its nothing to do with timing or inconvenience - by attending a protest you are contributing to the spread of a virus which we cannot fight so have to stay away from other people. A virus that necessitated avoiding mass gathering to prevent the spread. A virus that disproportionately affects people who are BAME. I will not be contributing to the spread of a virus. I do not want to be a vector for a vulnerable person to get this and die. I do not want to be the person who keeps the virus in circulation through society even longer through my actions.

It's a brilliant excuse to criticise the protests I must say. They're all selfish bastards with no regard for life. Keep it up. There are none so blind as those who will not see.

@PlanDeRaccordement

Marches and protests are useless. They do not change anything. They are just so that the affected people can vent and the unaffected allies can virtue signal. Then there are usually violent anarchy types that get a high from going to protests and starting vandalism or fights with police or others. Don’t get me wrong, I marched and protested a lot in my teens and twenties, but after being on the planet this long, I have come to the conclusion that none of it changed anything at all nor will it ever change anything. Never ever. Waste of my time, effort and breath.

Marches and protests gave you the right to vote.

A 46 year old grown assed man cried out for his dead Mama as he was being murdered by a lunatic (training officer haha) who swore an oath to protect and serve. Not worth protesting about?

Some things do invoke my sense of justice. Some idiotic causes don't remotely move me. But even the dogs on the streets would have known that this was wrong? But what most people are not getting here is that This was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

@Gimmeay so your view is you couldn’t care less how many people die as a result of the protests?

I think it was a case of it being irrefutable evidence of what black people have experienced the world over. FINALLY, hopefully everyone could see for themselves?

Do you ask why so many people are incensed? Did it ever cross your simple minds that it might be because it was an example of what they themselves have experienced in some form or another from police forces?

Seems not.

I'm also assuming that everyone taking issue with the protests are the ones advocating for a continued lockdown? We're not going to see you on another thread lamenting about how we just need to get on with it now for the sake of the economy and the children to get back to school?

so your view is you couldn’t care less how many people die as a result of the protests?

Clearly not. That's white virtue signalling for you.

so your view is you couldn’t care less how many people die as a result of the protests? My view is that people probably were not expecting the crowds that showed up. I'm fairly vulnerable to the bastard virus if I do catch it myself, but I would have gone in solidarity had I known about it. If people can go to beaches, if Dominic Cummings can do whatever the fuck he feels is reasonable, then I should surely be capable of making my own measured decision as to what is more important to me.

It is students and the youth who are renowned the world over for protesting. (Unless you're a pensioner in Ireland and they try to ban bingo, or cut the OAP or cut their bus passes - lol - THEY KNOW how to protest).

I feel stupid for not having known about it. As I said, I've been avoiding the news lately as it's too fucking depressing. Otherwise I would have gone. Masked up, just wanting to 'make up the numbers'. I would never have expected the mass that was there.

Black men are far more likely to be stabbed to death by a BAME civilian in the UK than killed by a police officer.
Your racism is showing

That's white virtue signalling for you.
The phrase 'virtue signalling' is abhorrent to me.