To be utterly disgusted by the protests today.

[SoggySocksAgain]

Am I alone here?

I am utterly disgusted by what I have seen in the news.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/harlesden-shooting-toddlers-father-was-cleared-of-stabbing-man-to-death-6hxpgtgjz

JiggypuffsCaptor Completely agree!

@ChocolatelyAsFuck I’m not the one with the literacy issue here.

You know exactly which image I’m referring to and it’s not the one of the kid swinging from the statue.

The youth. With the lighter. Setting fire to the flag. Surrounded by BLM placards.

Ever since our founding fathers stood up in the Houses of Parliament and set out the principles of our constitution we have been forced to confront our racist past. Imagine if Rosa Parks had not chosen to remain in her seat on the London bus... would the UK have ended segregation? These protests are just part of a long tradition of legitimate dissent that can be traced back to the throwing of crates of tea into the Thames. One thing I'm certain of is that Trump is NOT MY PRESIDENT.

Maybe I am getting on, but protests used to, generally, have a purpose. It was to say ‘we don’t agree with what you are doing and want it to change’. They now seem to be a combination of inchoate rage and virtue signalling, with posting on social media a vital part of it.

This.

It also seems conveniently ignored that the majority of protesters are peaceful and respectful of police
Absolutely. As many generalisations and assumptions made as there've been about white people and racism.

Generalisation is the breeding for intolerance, yet never seen as many made as recently.

Imagine if Rosa Parks had not chosen to remain in her seat on the London bus... would the UK have ended segregation? These protests are just part of a long tradition of legitimate dissent that can be traced back to the throwing of crates of tea into the Thames. One thing I'm certain of is that Trump is NOT MY PRESIDENT

This toppling of racist statues sets a dangerous precedent.

What could be next to go?
Racist institutions?
Racist politicians?
A culture that pays lip service to changing systematic racism while maintaining the status quo?

It could put us on a slippery slope to equity for an entire nation and a better future for all--- okay I'm convinced let's go statue-toppling.

@Frozenfan2019

I'm disgusted that some people seem more disgusted by protests against endemic, institutional racism than by the racism itself.

Desecrating the cenotaph is a poor show, but not on a par with a society that has so little respect for people of colour and discriminates against them on a daily basis, year in, year out.

No, you’re not alone. These people have no respect what so ever. Some, I suspect aren’t even protesting about the death of GF, not really, they’re just looking for a fight and to cause as much disruption and chaos as possible, it’s pathetic! But for all the people protesting which, by the way, to me is the adult version of stamping your feet and having a tantrum, you know, like kids do, do they actually think this will change things? Believe me it won’t change anything.

Why were horses used anyway?

Because they are a very effective way of dispersing a crowd.

I've been in a crowd that was charged by mounted police and it was absolutely terrifying.

Racist institutions?Racist politicians? A culture that pays lip service to changing systematic racism while maintaining the status quo?

How very French Revolution. Wheel out the guillotine and unpack your knitting. By the way? Who gets to decide who wields the axe? You know. As you create a brave new world of 'equity'

If MN had been around in 1955 there would definitely be a hundred threads asking AIBU to think Rosa Parks is being a shit stirrer, that she’s just doing it for attention, that she’s just virtue signalling, “I’m not racist but ROSA BROKE THE LAW”, if Rosa really wanted change she’d be polite and obey the law because aggression like this just gets people’s backs up and doesn’t help to start a dialogue, and anyway slavery is illegal now and I’ve never witnessed any racism actually Rosa is the real racist for making everything about race, Rosa who keeps playing the race card unlike me who doesn’t even see race!

Comparing combatting racism to axe-wielding.

Why are some posters so invested in invoking ultra-violent imagery when discussing anti-racism? Surely not an attempt to paint anti-racists as violent “thugs” and thus discredit them and their entire movement?

Some people are honestly just terrified at the idea white supremacy might be under threat.

You should ask yourself why you consider a London cop with a broken collarbone, collapsed lung and broken ribs 'property.'

The officer rode her horse into a traffic light, ffs. The only connection between her injuries and the protestors is the fact that there was a protest. And if you look at the footage on Sky's website, you can clearly see protestors getting the mounted police following her to stop or turn their horses to prevent further injuries.

I swear some people would do away with the right to protest in case someone gets hurt.

As people were chucking bikes at police horses in London because of George Floyd's death in Minnesota, this is what was happening in Harlesden. Many of those who are justifying violence on social media, have zip all to say about this.

Residents on the Church End estate spoke yesterday of their shock and anguish at the shootings. One local man who knew the family said that police had struggled to end the bloody conflict between gangs from Church End and the neighbouring Stonebridge estate after police station closures. “My friend’s son Quamari Serunkuma-Barnes was stabbed to death outside school,” he said. “Now her daughter and grandson have been shot. Ask yourself. How would you feel? Sad and angry. That’s how you’d feel.” A mother of three who lives within 20 yards of the shooting scene said she was “shocked” and “sad” about the injured boy and mother. Abrar Fyad, who has lived in Harlesden for seven years, said: “I’m really sad about this for the mum and the child. I want police to find the shooter. The family have the right not to get shot. That family are scared and so are we. I have two daughters, five and ten, and a son, he’s nine. I don’t want to go out. It’s not safe. My three children sleep in bed with me at night.“The other day I saw a boy with a knife the length of my arm outside my house. Others have tried to break into my house. We need CCTV, more police officers, more police cars

YANBU, it's absolutely disgusting.

People at home aren't going to change or be understanding or supportive. They are not going to take it seriously when this violence is going on. Same with the last London riots. Vandalism on war memorials on VE day. It's not just paint to people, they are outraged.
In USA, dogs are being killed and left on walls of animal shelters, the looting, the fires, the violence etc. It's definitely a small minority, but it's their actions that are the most noticeable.
Quite frankly how POC are treated in the USA is abhorrent and it needs to change. I do feel the violence is damaging the message.

No one has been “justifying violence.”

Not sure why you’re posting stories about the police ignoring violence against BAME people to try to discredit... people protesting about the police ignoring violence against BAME people.

@LakieLady

You are either profoundly ill informed. Or deliberately mendacious. People were throwing bikes at police horses. As a consequence, her horse bolted. And she was knocked off it. Do you imagine the police ride into traffic lights deliberately? Cop yourself on.

D day, not VE!

@Waxonwaxoff0

YABU. The reason we women have the vote today isn't because the suffragettes protested peacefully.

No they didn’t!

@ChocolatelyAsFuck

People on this very forum have been doing exactly that. Why are people chucking bikes at cops in London because of a death in Minnesota? Are Sweden's police guilty? What about Singapore's police? Are police in Peshawar guilty? Why is the death of George Floyd more significant than David Dorn's death? What are the specific aims of the protests?

I love Mumsnet for a lot of things but my gosh, what an awful site when it's about race issues.

Has anyone blamed Meghan yet?

@ChocolatelyAsFuck

If MN had been around in 1955 there would definitely be a hundred threads asking AIBU to think Rosa Parks is being a shit stirrer, that she’s just doing it for attention, that she’s just virtue signalling, “I’m not racist but ROSA BROKE THE LAW”, if Rosa really wanted change she’d be polite and obey the law because aggression like this just gets people’s backs up and doesn’t help to start a dialogue, and anyway slavery is illegal now and I’ve never witnessed any racism actually Rosa is the real racist for making everything about race, Rosa who keeps playing the race card unlike me who doesn’t even see race!

This😂🤣 The double standards of mumsnet. Smh

Totally disgusted with the protestors. World wide pandemic killing so many people. Completely disgusting behaviour, disgusted on so many levels.

In fact, I actually felt for the UK police yesterday. In the time of a pandemic, getting right into the faces of the police can be a death sentence for them.

How many police and other front line withers (ambulance etc) were taken up dealing with this when it’s a time of crisis for our country

How many BAME gave their lives in the NHS and urged services recently for these shitheads to flaunt all care in relation to the pandemic. It’s spitting on their sacrifice for us.

Money is pouring out of the government right now to keep us afloat During this pandemic, how much was wasted on policing these events? Clean up?