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?

[Sicktaethebackyeeth]

It will be interesting to read everyone's excuse for not going

I didn't want to. Is that ok?

[Mittens030869]

So he's been out of prison since 2014, having served his sentence. So what I read about him fits with that, that he'd turned his life around and was serving his community. It does matter that it was in his past and not the way he was when the police murdered him on camera, and very hurtful to his family to use his past to somehow justify the actions of the police officers that day. (Not that it would have justified it, obviously.)

[thecatsthecats]

@Bercows

The thing is, I don't think human beings are morally any better or worse than other species. We at least have concepts such as morality, good and bad, and human rights.

Human rights have always perplexed me on some level, because they imply something immutable. A human right to clean water, a safe childhood etc - nice aspirations, but not something that has ever been attempted by another species. (yes, I know no other species has the intelligence to attempt it...)

Male lions, on taking over a pride, slaughter the infant cubs of the outgoing lion. There is no question of 'right' about it, and no protection from it. But then there has never been a lion that enslaved another lion.

Human beings have managed to build societies that are managed by laws that don't exist in nature that are in some ways worse than what nature manages by itself.

[Thisisworsethananticpated]

Anyway from reading the news today i think we can safely say the protests are sadly not an ideal place to take the kids
And there we are
Humans eh

It’s a shame , given that the kids are the ONLY people that can change this

[Devlesko]

BashStreet

I know nothing of the sort.
He was the most awful criminal, and would have been inside probably for the rest of his life.
He couldn't help himself, and quite a few black people have said they are keeping out of the whole thing, not supporting at all.
He's no martyr, but a hardened criminal.

Maybe racism has a lot to do with why he turned out the way he did, who knows. But it certainly isn't fiction.

That said, he did not deserve to be killed when the Police were supposed to be arresting him. This is why I support BLM because what he did was irrelevant to him losing his life.

[Proudboomer]

There is a man called Brandon Tatum who speaks a lot of sense. Some or which is uncomfortable for the black community and some of which is uncomfortable for the white.
Look up his videos on you tube as he is worth listening to.

[MissEliza]

@BashStreetKid of course that's the purpose of furloughing employees. You're being asked to stay at home and not go to work in order to curb the spread of the virus. The government is covering your salary to avoid economic disaster. What do you think it's for ?

[Timekeeper1]

@Devlesko You are making up lies. He would not have been back to prison at all, let alone "the rest of his life". He had been out of prison since 2014! He had a good reputation and was a model citizen. And in that time did a lot of good things for the community, he had turned his life around. If you are not lying then someone has been feeding you a bunch of outrageous lies, because nothing you said is true. Not even remotely. You should check your facts before posting on here.

[SimonJT]

mobile.twitter.com/munyachawawa/status/1269694740833939457

[Mittens030869]

@Timekeeper1 That's what I read about him, that he had become a devout Christian and was helping in his community. Hence the rage and hurt, and the memorial services. I doubt that would have been the case if he was still a violent thug.

People do change. At any rate, it's so disrespectful to his grieving family, who have been really dignified in their response to what happened. That poster keeps repeating those comments, it's really disgraceful.

[BashStreetKid]

[quote MissEliza]@BashStreetKid of course that's the purpose of furloughing employees. You're being asked to stay at home and not go to work in order to curb the spread of the virus. The government is covering your salary to avoid economic disaster. What do you think it's for ? [/quote]
This was in response to a post that said "You’re furloughed to avoid coming into contact with others who have the virus, so it’s a bit unfair to then go and mix with thousands of other people on a working day while the government pay you for it."

We are indeed being asked not to go to work to curb the spread of the virus.

However, that is not the purpose of furlough. The government could achieve the same without it, if it were prepared to ignore the effect on the economy and unemployment statistics. The purpose of furlough is to avoid mass redundancies.

[BashStreetKid]

@Devlesko, what you have written is indeed fiction, and highly offensive fiction at that. Floyd had not been convicted of any crime of violence over the last 13+ years and there has been no suggestion that he had committed one.

If you claim to know different, let's have your evidence. If you can't produce evidence, please withdraw your statements.

[TabbyMumz]

"BashStreetKid

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"

"No, it didn't. Someone's been making the mistake of believing the Mail again."

Yes it did, theres videos of it all over YouTube. 37 police officers injured. 2 horses attacked. Crowds jumping up and down in a frenzy shouting "kill the police"....all over the news. The cenotaph vandalised. Need I go on? Or are you still trying to make out it didnt happen?

[Devlesko]

So he didn't threaten a pregnant woman with a gun to her unborn child?
He was a dispicable person, an ardent criminal.
Not someone many Black people want to be associated with, theyd prefer someone good to hold as a hero.
I'm sorry if that upsets you, have a look at all the Black people on youtube condemning those martyring him.

Still, I hold firm that nobody should be murdered when being arrested, and of course BLM.

[SistemaAddict]

@Devlesko it's strange how there's double standards isn't it. He was trying to turn his life around from what I've read but that doesn't erase his appalling violent past. However mentioning this is very much frowned upon and we are not to judge anyone by their past. Unless you are white of course and therefore partly responsible for the slave trade because we will forever bear the legacy of the sins of our fathers.
BLM, this shouldn't even need to be a thing and no one should be murdered by anyone. No one should ever take a life although there's the self defence issue. Not relevant in this instance though..
The divide seems worse now. So much anger towards the white community for what some white people have done. No one, no matter what colour their skin, should be tarred with the same brush as those who sinned before them.

[Xenia]

It is always a difficult issue as to which past crimes should be forgotten and which not. The UK has some serious ones that are never taken off your record and less serious ones that are "spent convictions". Holding people up with a gun in their homes is pretty awful. There is a massive moral issue over this kind of thing too. In the Bible the prostitutes and prodigal sons and the like are welcomed back and forgiven (in the new testament whereas the old testament prefers to go in for vengeance and an eye for an eye).

[TabbyMumz]

"So he didn't threaten a pregnant woman with a gun to her unborn child?"
Yes he did, during a robbery.

[Timekeeper1]

@Devlesko Yes, he did. But that was many many years ago, and he had been out of prison for many years since. Far cry from you saying he is a criminal forevermore and will be back inside again. There is a saying: don't judge me by my past; I don't live there anymore He had become a hero for many because he turned his life around and did a lot for the community. THAT, is what he should be remembered for.

[LetsGoFlyAKiteee]

and would have been inside probably for the rest of his life

Even though he hadnt been in jail for 6 years or so?

His past hasnt been forgotten especially now it's been mentioned by the media for whatever reason..

But that was in 2009..people can change for the better. I dont see why it needs to keep getting mentioned. The whole thing isnt just about him. His death just tipped it over as the policeman showed so little regard for his life! In public..clearly thinking could get away with what he was doing.

[TheNanny23]

Things have obviously escalated to a wider cause beyond George Floyd as a person but- seriously?

A criminal past does not mean that a random police officer on the street should be able to play judge, jury and executioner.

[Devlesko]

Hey, I'm only saying what I've been told by the black people who aren't supporting this movement. They say they don't want to martyr a criminal.
That's not to say anyone thinks he should have been killed, he was being arrested.

[MorganKitten]

I was in London, much more peaceful than made out on tv and the police kettled the crowds long before the time to leave which started issues.

[HoldMyLobster]

Hey, I'm only saying what I've been told by the black people who aren't supporting this movement. They say they don't want to martyr a criminal.

And yet earlier you said...

I don't think many checked out his past before they jumped on the bandwaggon.

How ironic.

[AKissAndASmile]

Even though he hadnt been in jail for 6 years or so?
12 years

[AKissAndASmile]

Hey, I'm only saying what I've been told by the black people who aren't supporting this movement. They say they don't want to martyr a criminal.

We've heard more about his criminal record from 12 years ago than the fact that the money he had the police called on him for wasn't actually counterfeit.

And who the hell calls emergency services out for a suspected fake note? Police in Minneapolis can't have much on if that is an emergency call. They must be bored. I couldn't even get THROUGH to the police here in the UK when a bike got stolen.

I suppose that's why they asked what race the 'perpetrator' was . Black guy? Ok yes sending a blue light out now....

The amount of times I've found fake or foreign coins in my purse! Never called the police on any one 🙄