Is it just white people who object to the protests?

[malificent7]

I am white...i support the protests...several of my white friends are horrified by them. Are any non whites against them and if so why?
Aibu to feel that the incensed are scared of loosing their white priveledge or feelings of supremacy?

I’m in favour of these demonstrations. It has done the job it is meant to be doing which is getting people to talk about racism and fact finding.

In every demonstration there are the troublemakers and they make the news. They are thankfully a small minority and the focus needs to return to racism.

Most of the people at the demonstrations are adults and may put a strain on the NHS in a few weeks, but feel strongly enough to take the risk. The chance of catching Covid is obviously stronger, but then I go to work everyday in a school, so as a black person should I stay at home?

i didnt everyone wearing masks some were on their chins alot didnt have any at all

Hurling abuse (and worse) at British police officers because of something that happened in another country seems perverse to me. Rioting and lawlessness is a slippery slope.

Grandmi - a global anti-racism demo lost all credibility because one yob through a brick at horse?

Agree that it’s a sickening thing to do but the cultural weight of the two things doesn’t measure out.

Yes, I think you're unreasonable to assume that any opposition to the protests is based on feelings of white supremacy. It feels like another of the over-simplifications that are quite pervasive at the moment: if you don't clap, you don't care about the NHS; if you don't 'black out' your profile picture you must be racist. People don't neatly fall on one side of a racist/non-racist binary, and all sorts of different reactions are possible.

I'm white and nearly went to a protest but chickened out because of the social distancing issue. I don't feel clear at the moment about what the end goal is, but hope that the passion and energy of what we've seen is channelled into genuine social change. I also like the fact that people (myself included) are being forced to think about something that for many people is easy to ignore.

SpokeTooSoon - do you not agree that racism happens in this country?

@marsiettina

I’m in favour of these demonstrations. It has done the job it is meant to be doing which is getting people to talk about racism and fact finding.

In every demonstration there are the troublemakers and they make the news. They are thankfully a small minority and the focus needs to return to racism.

Most of the people at the demonstrations are adults and may put a strain on the NHS in a few weeks, but feel strongly enough to take the risk. The chance of catching Covid is obviously stronger, but then I go to work everyday in a school, so as a black person should I stay at home?

🙌 well said

Of course YABU!

I've seen friends of different races including black disagreeing with the protests. One because of the pandemic, two some are frontline workers and pandemic and three violence.

Ludicrously and very poor taste a couple of my female friends (interestingly not the men) were 'called out' on sm and told that those thinking like them had become racist themselves. Oh and it was a white woman telling them this

I would say the only people who don't support them are

a) The elite who want to maintain the status quo. That includes the people who run the media, which is why they focus so much on the small proportion of trouble makers –they want to turn public opinion against the protests.

b) People who buy into the media narrative, and those who have so little understanding of what it's like to be BAME that they think the protests are an overreaction or not "the right way" to get their message across, etc. So sure, some non-white people could be included in those groups. Not many though ,I'd guess.

I'm white and agree that black lives matter, peaceful protesting is a good thing, George Floyd was killed unlawfully and that the police officer responsible should be sent to prison for murder.

I do not support violence, rioting and people attending mass gatherings. A lot of the violence still going on are from thugs that don't really care about actually protesting but just causing trouble and that is taking away from what the BLM movement are doing. Proving those who believe that black people are thugs, right. I'm not sure what it's all achieving except a greater divide.

I am white and dont live in Bristol .However if I did I would support the taking down of a Statue of a slave trader.The rioting I think is not really helpful, because people will just group everyone together as a "mob" intent on injuring horses ,policemen and anyone who gets in the way .99% of people there are protesting peacefully and not aiming missiles at defenceless animals .

If you attend a mass gathering - of any kind - you are contributing to further spreading the virus. It's really very simple. There are still a high number of infected people in London - every protest will spread the virus more.

In two to three weeks, we will see the consequences.

I support the protest. End of.

I think saying "I support the protest but not the looting, rioting, vandalism" is equating protesters with looters, etc. There are protesters and there are chancers who use protests to do what they want, just like everything else in life, you get those who take advantage of situations. These aren't genuine protesters.

Is it okay to say I support (re: the police) safeguarding, serving and protecting but I don't support racist-driven stop and search, racial profiling, killing innocent, unarmed black men and women and random people in the streets? What does that statement tell you? Doesn't it look like a stealth form of generalizing that all police people do this? I'm sure "not all police people" will be the response to that statement. So why not separate the two between protesters and looters? If you support the protest, support the protest. Don't think anyone will accuse you of loving looting, vandalism and violence (as if police violence isn't part of the reason for the protest

And statements like, "it doesn't help their cause" makes me side-eye whomever wrote that. Their cause? A human rights problem where lives of black people are worth less than others is their cause? Shouldn't it be everyone's cause? And because some idiots (of different races btw) are using the protest to do what idiots do makes the cause of wanting their lives to matter to everyone unworthy in some way?

I don't agree with rioting in any form, attacking police officers and police horses, desacrating monuments and not adhering to social distancing.

I presume you mean 'desecrate' which is a word which means to destroy or denigrate religious sites. So it hardly applies here.

But, that aside, I wonder how many people who decry or are "outraged" about this (I'm looking at you, Ms Patel) cheered when statues of Lenin, Marx, and Stalin were pulled from their plinths.

The thing is with protests, whatever they are about, you will always get thugs jumping on the bandwagon using it as an excuse to commit crime. There is never a need for protests to be anything but peaceful, passionate yes but absolutely no excuse for violence and vandalism.

I think saying "I support the protest but not the looting, rioting, vandalism" is equating protesters with looters, etc

It could just as easily mean “I support protestors but not looters”.

I think we’re he trying so keen to identify the closet racists that we are in danger of condemning perfectly benign people now.

I'm white, one of my best friends and my god daughter (her dd) are black. I've never considered myself to be racist at all however some of the issues that have arisen because of BLM have really made me think and made me more aware of the challenges my friend and DG face in life- things I probably have never thought of. It's quite disturbing to think that you could be part of the problem. The protests have definitely had an affect on me.

However, I do worry that Covid affects BAME disproportionately and that the protests will be used by those who's purpose it suits to portray them in a negative light. If rates start going up in the next 14 days and lockdown is stalled, the number of BAME deaths increase you just know how certain media outlets are going to play it.

The photos from the Bristol protest looked like the crowd was majority white.

Anyway, no, plenty of non-white people I know have been rolling their eyes at the protests (although generally supportive of the cause of course).

Are you being deliberately goady OP?

Violence is not the answer. Regardless of what colour your skin is.

I am white. I enjoyed seeing the statue toppling, as it had great symbolic value without anyone getting hurt. You can't really have enjoyed seeing footage of the Berlin wall getting trashed and worry about a statue.

However the protest organisers should have been mindful of what happens regularly at the Notting Hill Carnival. It's all fine and goes well, and then around 6pm thugs turn up. The protest should have had a clear ending and the police been given a chance to clear the streets.

EmperorCovidula -
‘The photos from the Bristol protest looked like the crowd was majority white’

What’s your point?

I support the right to a peaceful protest and have done all the way through lockdown, since I am against lockdown anyway from a civil liberty perspective. I would support any peaceful protest (BLM, XR, womens rights, anti-abortion, pro-abortion, Westboro Baptist Church) even in a pandemic. However I don't support violence and that's what's made me go a bit sour here. I know it was a small minority but now the media/people abroad will just latch onto those awful clips and detract away from the actual cause and actual issues.

It could just as easily mean “I support protestors but not looters”.

I think we’re he trying so keen to identify the closet racists that we are in danger of condemning perfectly benign people now

The reason for that statement is some who are so quick to be vocal and condemn what's wrong about the protest have not felt the need to be as vocal and condemn what's caused the protest.They haven't even felt the need to say they support the protest till something went wrong. It's as if they've just stayed silent till there was something (they think) black people did to condemn once again. They're busy sharing photos of those injured in the protest but claim not to be political when it comes to sharing photos of BLM or victims of racism (another side-eye statement).

In that case, I view saying "I support the protest but.." is the same way as saying "I'm not racist but..."

I think the point most people are missing is that not all protestors are vandals! Look at the anti tuition fee protests, some of those descended into violence but no one started saying all students are violent or all of the protestors were violent.
I'm fed up with how people always seem to want blacks to be perfect or else any transgression is amplified! If only the British public held their. Government to such high standards!