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?

[Crunchymum]

@PinkSparklyPussyCat

And I respect that. Alot more than I respect "I'd be there in a heartbeat if it wasn't for XYZ"

[MissEliza]

@Lindy2 you're absolutely right. Lockdown rules are there for the good of everyone.
A friend of ds2 went to a protest yesterday. He's in year 12 but his dm was complaining on Facebook only a couple of days ago that it's not safe to reopen schools and she won't be sending her ds back when year 12 re-opens. Yet he can stand with hundreds of people in the street.

[MadameMarie]

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

Well they've done the government a favour. People will be pointing the figure at all these mass demonstrations when the death toll hits 50,000 in the next month and then 60,000 and so on.

[WhentheRabbitsWentWild]

Apparently they have defaced the statue of Churchill

I don't care for Churchill one way or the other but I do understand that a lot of Africans died on his Watch . Its not an excuse but it might be a reason they done it .

Sod going up there anyway what with COVID 19, rain and wind and huge crowds . Not my scene at all anymore (and I have done my share of Protests , but its over to the younger now)

[Tianalia]

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

Indeed.

[Valkadin]

I won’t be going because of Covid, I’m not white. I have been in many protests and if it kicks off you can be the most polite, well mannered conscientious person ever but it literally becomes a tidal wave of humans you can’t escape from. Was in Hyde Park during a protest years ago saw a police horse almost trample a woman running with a buggy. Yes there supposed to be peaceful but you need just one idiot to kick stuff off.

[ChilliCheese123]

R rate above one here,
we live with elderly MIL who hasn’t even been past the end of the drive since mid March. If I was to bring covid back to her she probably wouldn’t survive it

I think there is a sniff of ableism and ageism in criticizing those who don’t go. But I will he accused of peddling whataboutery and racism for saying that when that’s not what I mean at all.

[AliasGrape]

@Crunchymum respect what you like, not sure what made you arbiter?

The OP asked a question, I answered. I’d go if I wasn’t pregnant/ we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic. It’s true. I’m not virtue signalling or trying to earn the respect of an anonymous internet stranger. I’m answering the question.

I do wish I could attend and not because I’m bored or want to socialise. I think they’re important and I would like to show my support but have tried to find other ways of doing that.

There’s some real predictable bullshit on this thread ranging from ‘it happened miles away why bother’ to ‘he was an ‘unsavoury individual’ anyway’, and a huge scrabble to discredit the protesters as bored, over privileged idiots who are only there because the pubs are shut and they fancied a day out. All of which just proves to me how necessary the protests actually are.

[MadameMarie]

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

They've took the heat off him and let him off the hook anyway and also let the government off the hook for the now inevitable second wave.

If Dom is an evil genius maybe he's organised the protests himself!

But yes these are massive hypocrites. David Lammy (a Black MP who is very outspoken on racial justice) said on Question Time that he was calling for Cummings to go last week so he can't condone protests with no social distancing and that's why he didn't attend.

[Ylfa]

Went to Hyde Park on Wednesday and to another one today. Will probably keep showing up at these events because there are even bigger and more sinister sicknesses in our society than COVID-19.

[PublishedEgg]

@Ylfa

Went to Hyde Park on Wednesday and to another one today. Will probably keep showing up at these events because there are even bigger and more sinister sicknesses in our society than COVID-19.

Whilst I agree in general terms, surely the fact that over 40,000 people in the space of less than 6 months have lost their lives to this virus means that right now stopping that happening again/further should take priority over protests? Not the cause itself but the large public protests?

[MadameMarie]

Question to those who feel that continuing these protests in the UK are necessary: do you think it's right for these protesters to be shouting and screaming at UK police who have to stand there and take it? They have been cut to the bone, have to deal with violent knife crime every day and are putting their lives on the line not just with COVID but having to deal with mass gatherings like this?

I feel very sorry for our police. It must be a horrible job and if there were riots and looting again it'd be the police risking their lives to restore order.

[Ylfa]

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

Is this supposed to be somehow analogous to our right to protest people dying because of racism? I don’t get it.

[PublishedEgg]

I saw a post being shared on Facebook earlier saying to watch out because the media will likely blame these protests when there is a second peak but say nothing of all the white people on beaches etc...

I think lots of people have condemned those gathering on beaches, I've seen it on the news regularly recently.

But surely some responsibility does have to be taken if people are going to gather in mass groups in city centres?

[bringbacksideburns]

Just watching the news.
15,000 People gathered in Piccadilly Gardens.

Love to see who went to a socially distant protest .Are these the people who live in the zillions of middle England "villages" famous on Mumsnet, where they go on a day out with child in carrier and stand metres apart on a village green, then pat themselves on the back and ferl pleased with themselves afterwards?

The area I live in has now one of the highest R rates in the country and people have received letters to tell them it's now advised not to send their children back to school. We are now being told to wear masks when we go out.

It's terrifying to think of what may happen as a result of today. Makes the whole Dominic Cummings farce seem old news but they say a week is a long time in politics.

I wouldn't hesitate to go in normal circumstances or if I lived in a country a damn sight better off than us right now in terms of dealing with COVID.

[MissEliza]

Our right to protest people dying because of racism. But it's ok to have a mass gathering which will likely spread infections, cause more deaths and prolong the lockdown which will cause more economic damage, which will likely disproportionately affect the already disadvantaged BAME community. People will then turn round and find some way to blame the government.
I agree with pp who feel sorry for the police, having people scream at them with no PPE to protect them. However, I feel the police should have prevented people protesting like this.

[Smileyaxolotl1]

ylfa
Because as David Lanny said it is completely hypocritical to condone or attend a mass gathering during a pandemic while condemning a man for breaking guidelines.
This protest was not completely time sensitive. George Floyd’s killers have been charged.

[amijustparanoidorjuststoned]

@MadameMarie

The police are NOT innocent and are inherently racist.

This is potentially outing, but my cousin's husband used to be in the MET and one time he was driving home from a shift and drove past a black man out for a run. My cousin's "D"H called for back up and several police cars turned up to search him. Turns out this innocent man was a famous boxer. My arsehole family talk about it with such pride.

So, no.

[Ylfa]

I just can’t stop thinking about the racial undertones of so many white voices telling people of colour how to protest, how to grieve and what they should do about racism. Do something constructive if you care.

[Smileyaxolotl1]

ylfa
It’s not unreasonable to tell people they shouldn’t protest With a mass gathering in the middle of a pandemic.
It’s not racist. In fact BAME people are likely to be disproportionately affected if protests cause a rise in cases.
Don’t be so ridiculous.

[EmeraldShamrock]

There is lots of social pressure too. I asked my niece why she wanted to go protest during this, she said she wouldn't be much of a friend or girlfriend if she didn't stand up to say BLM.

[PublishedEgg]

I'm not racist. I just don't think now is a good time for people (of any colour) go be gathering close together. I said the same when people were meeting on crowded beaches.

[Fink]

@Pelleas, it's obviously a matter of opinion, but personally I think yes, protests raise the profile of the argument and thus awareness amongst people who are otherwise a bit clueless.

[tttigress]

Not sure what photos you were looking at OP, but it doesn't look socially distanced to me.

[Mittens030869]

Well, I can't because I'm still unwell after weeks of COVID-19 symptoms and my DH has asthma. Plus I don't think it's right to put BAME communities even more at risk from COVID-19, including potentially BAME police officers and BAME healthcare workers.

Otherwise, we would seriously discuss the possibility going and taking our DDs with us.