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?

[BlueGreenYellowRed]

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

Because I'm in the middle of a high risk pregnancy and so am shielding.

I suppose you think I should risk the life of my unborn child just so I can go virtue signalling?

I'm so sick of this "silence is compliance" BS. We all have different causes we support, & I'm not judging you for not going protesting for mine.

[MadameMarie]

*cop

[Pelleas]

Well, some people do think it was ok, but they're a small minority. A much larger group of people think that what happened to him was a tragic individual case which is 'unfortunate' but not symptomatic of systematic, instituionalised racism deeply embedded in society.

This is a genuine question and not intended to be goady. Do those attending protests believe the protests will change the minds of the small majority you refer to? In protesting, are people preaching only to the converted and the unconvertible, or do you believe there is a group in the middle whose opinion might be swayed by the method of mass protests?

[MadameMarie]

@janeskettle

penguins

My son of colour stayed home, because he was worried about things kicking off. His rich white friends, however, had a lovely day out. Unmasked.

Exactly. It's just a day out for bored youth, knowing the police are too scared/overpowered to enforce social distancing.

The protest was last week.

[Orchidflower1]

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

🤷‍♀️ ^^^^

No protest whether environmental, pro life, pro choice or save the bloody unicorn should go ahead in these times.

It’s selfish, inappropriate and illegal. It has lost a lot of support from within my circle of friends ( including BAME friends).

[Pelleas]

^small majority - sorry, I meant to say 'the second majority' - i.e. those who think it is 'unfortunate'.

[19lottie82]

It seems like a bit of a slap in the face to all the NHS and other key workers who have been putting themselves at risk by working during the pandemic.

I wonder how many band wagon jumpers there will be that have been clapping for the NHS every week and are now our attending mass protests.

[19lottie82]

There are plenty of other ways people can protest apart from mass gatherings.

[19lottie82]

I just couldn't let the comment slide that people are only protesting because they are bored and want socialise.


That will be the case with some people though.

[ekidmxcl]

I don't think a gathering on this scale is acceptable at pandemic time.

6 people is the limit to meet outdoors, and that is what the BLM protests are: outdoor meetings of people from different households. Being socially distanced is irrelevant. SIX is the limit, whilst being socially distanced! Not 600!

Yes, queueing at Ikea is just as bad. I wouldn't do that either. Just like others I have needed extra furniture whilst everyone wfh but Ikea deliver so I got it that way. People crowding onto beaches is also unacceptable.

That said, I don't know why people compare a BLM protest to queuing at Ikea or crowding on beaches. All are not a good idea at the current time. They can be measured individually as not a good idea, without being compared to eachother. It's kind of like saying well my neighbour just ate a pack of 6 donuts in one go so therefore now I'm going to drink 3 litres of coke in one go. Both are stupid, regardless of the other.

What about the black HCPs who will have to treat people infected with covid as a result of these gatherings? It is known that BAME people are disporportionately affected by covid. People don't seem to be giving a shit about them.

I don't need excuses not to attend mass gatherings since I am not bound by social media groupthink.

[Smileyaxolotl1]

I hope none of the people on the protests were demonising Dominic Cummings and calling for his resignation.

[EmeraldShamrock]

@Crunchymum

@RudeAF
Since you ask - none.

But I haven't posted to tell people all the reasons I would go if I could (which is what stood out to me!! We all know Covid wise it is a not a good idea for mass gatherings?)
People don't need to keep citing this as their reason for staying home?

So you're not even going to one. Covid19 is as good a reason as any to stay at home. What's your excuse?

[MadameMarie]

It’s selfish, inappropriate and illegal. It has lost a lot of support from within my circle of friends ( including BAME friends).

I think it's misjudged as well in the sense of just how many people they're alienating by continuing with these demonstrations, without a care for the NHS or the virus, when they've been repeatedly asked to social distance (whatever your ethnicity). Whether it's a shielding white person or a BAME key worker it's a slap in the face.

The fairly liberal parents who are shielding and barely left the house in 10 weeks are not likely to be happy even if they were as horrified by the killing as anyone else who saw it.

[EnthusiasmIsDisturbed]

I think Crunchymum is maybe be deliberately provocative no one has to justify why they are not going

I only know once person who is going I’m surprised as many I know are quite political.

[Paperchainpopp]

I’m not going. I don’t grudge anybody who is though. Good luck to them all I think considering the latest events & Borris’s approach to the lockdown everybody should do what they feel is best and just take responsibility.

I’m not convinced about this BAME theory either. Lots of ethnic countries don’t have as many COVID deaths as England do.

[janeskettle]

people are only protesting because they are bored and want socialise

Some of them just want to be part of the zeitgeist. There's a certain kind of performative white allyship that exists out there, and doesn't really get it. Doesn't understand why their brown friend might be more wary of things kicking off, thinks its great fun if it does kick off, a real adventure in social justice.

It's not at all. I don't want my kid anywhere near a protest that has even a chance of kicking off between protesters and police. It's just not the same for him as it is for his white friends, and you'd think, if they were so justice minded, they'd get that. One of them said 'but my Dad's a lawyer if we get into trouble', not really thinking that for a brown boy, not getting into trouble is doubly important.

[EmeraldShamrock]

Sorry @RudeAF I didn't mean to tag you.

[MadameMarie]

@19lottie82

There are plenty of other ways people can protest apart from mass gatherings.

Yeah, but then they can't have a day out socialising when the pubs are shut.

[janeskettle]

There are plenty of other ways people can protest apart from mass gatherings

Correct.

[Lindy2]

I think anyone who attends any mass gathering during a pandemic is plain stupid.

My "excuse" for not going is that I'm not an idiot.

Are the same people who are attending and spreading/catching Coronavirus the same ones that are shrieking about the high UK death toll?

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

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

Is because I don't want to a valid enough excuse for you? I wouldn't be going even if we weren't in the middle a pandemic!

[Crunchymum]

@EmeraldShamrock

I'm not going, no excuses, no "I would if it wasn't for XYZ". There is no need.

Everyone knows we are mid pandemic, i'm not going to make this about me by pointing out how active I would be in some other time and place.

[MadameMarie]

It's not at all. I don't want my kid anywhere near a protest that has even a chance of kicking off between protesters and police. It's just not the same for him as it is for his white friends, and you'd think, if they were so justice minded, they'd get that

The police here are relatively very soft and cowered anyway (these protests are exhibit A of that) certainly compared to what the Yanks are like.

The zeitgeist has generally been for years that the police have lost the streets in London to violent gangs and criminals. It was the aftermath of the riots in 2011 combined with 20,000 police cuts have pretty much rendered them useless.

It's a bit outrageous here having the mob shouting and screaming at them while they stand there and take it, risking their own necks in the process for these demonstrators who just don't give a shit.