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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

WTAF - Far right protests

999 replies

Poppi89 · 12/06/2020 11:18

I have just heard on the radio that far-right protesters will be out tomorrow in response to the BLM protesters. People are being urged not to be out in support of BLM tomorrow due to the aggressive nature of the far-right group and BLM protests are being cancelled because of them.

I am outraged by this. The BLM protesters are asking for people to not be killed due to the colour of their skin. They have rightly or wrongly made a decision to put themselves at risk of COVID-19 to help spread this message - a lot of people have called them idiots etc for doing this.

The far-right protests are now also protesting in large groups (but not in response to a murder) and are 'known' for being aggressive. How is this acceptable?

I would like to hear from anyone who is planning to join/agree with these far-right protests and their reasons why?

OP posts:
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Notejode · 13/06/2020 23:43

Not so are you donating to BLM ? Or is that obtuse

I am not against capitalism or for defunding the police but would love to help about inequality and education. BLM will get not my donation but other organisations will.

Smilethoyourheartisbreaking · 13/06/2020 23:52

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Melia100 · 13/06/2020 23:53

BLM will get not my donation but other organisations will

BLM don't get my donation either, because I am in favour of prison and jail reform, and not abolition. I also don't appreciate BLM's failure to stand with all women.

Instead, I have donated to an organisation that helps women who have been incarcerated. As women of colour are over-represented in this population, my donation helps them in a practical way.

Frozenfan2019 · 13/06/2020 23:56

Hi OP. I am heartbroken that this hav come out as even as it has. I can't even imagine what it's like to be mixed race Ain our current work
What a fucking disgrace.

Frozenfan2019 · 13/06/2020 23:59

As a white woman I promise two things:

I promise to.dosnte lone y to.NLM causes
2) I promise to tell people to.fuck off if they interfere with my relationship.witj a pant

Smilethoyourheartisbreaking · 13/06/2020 23:59

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Melia100 · 14/06/2020 00:04

Melia where you ever going to anyway

Assuming this a genuine question, yes, I looked into it. Because the donation I made last week was in my son's name. He is mixed race, and was unable to attend the BLM rally in our city due to his father being immuno-compromised. So I checked out the manifesto before donating to our local BLM group, which turned out to be run by Socialist Alliance.

I didn't feel comfortable donating to them, based on disagreement with some elements of their manifesto. So I asked my ds if he would be happy for me to donate to an organisation that has worked with formerly incarcerated indigenous and other women for a long time, whose values better match my own, and yet still match his, and he said he would like that.

So, if you want to paint that as a reactionary right wing decision, please, go ahead. I am pretty grounded in my own reality, which is that it was a pro-woman, pro-indigenous choice made in the name of my mixed race son.

Smilethoyourheartisbreaking · 14/06/2020 00:13

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Melia100 · 14/06/2020 00:15

Australia. It comes from Australia.

Where the word for both Aboriginal and Torres straight Islander people is 'indigenous'.

And here are you lecturing me on my ignorance?

Smilethoyourheartisbreaking · 14/06/2020 00:16

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Notejode · 14/06/2020 00:18

Melia you may like this foundation. www.wayuutaya.org/

Smilethoyourheartisbreaking · 14/06/2020 00:18

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longwayoff · 14/06/2020 00:19

O get a grip McTits, your audience here is not as dim as you believe us to be. If you are white you have experienced white privilege all of your life. Whether youve noticed it or not is something else. Given your lack of perception in other matters that you've mentioned it's quite possible you've never noticed. Ask your BAME friends about it. If they are as BAME as you say they are they'll help you to understand why you have it and they, for example, do not.

LlamaHammock · 14/06/2020 00:23

@Smilethoyourheartisbreaking

It was pretty obvious that Melia was posting from one of the former colonies.

Melia100 · 14/06/2020 00:28

Thanks for the link, notejode

Melia100 · 14/06/2020 00:31

This entire thread is about that and the FR marches

And I am sharing my experience of not donating to BLM, but instead donating to a charity that benefits women of colour or whatever you'd like I said instead. An experience which, so far as I know, is open to others in the UK who do not wish to donate to BLM but do wish to donate in the name of racial justice.

pigeon999 · 14/06/2020 06:29

Contribute to charities that challenge racial discrimination or volunteer for them.Call out racist jokes and comments when you hear them.
Find out what your workplace does to promote opportunities for those from BAME backgrounds.If you have not done so, undertake unconscious bias training

I can confirm that I personally have already done all of these things hopo.Unconscious bias is part of our training in my line of work - ditto the promotion opportunities. I have since googled as you suggested and come up more or less the same.

Can I be absolutely clear with you, if all of the above happened on a national scale would this solve the problem?

Surely you must be looking for more than that if the level of discrimination you are suffering is so extreme?

For example:

Statutory obligation that all parties have balanced representation including BAME and gender representation.

Judicial support during the court process/custody process and inside prison.

Diversity obligations that can and should be enforced by all companies and small businesses.

Tougher punishments for racism (this has been addressed within the legal guidelines already) but we could increase?

You are either protesting to create money for charities, gain more support etc (looking at your list) or you are looking for real monumental change which will require a much deeper conversation, and sweeping changes.

Using words on the thread like white fragility or privilege etc as an insult won't help, and will alienate those that would otherwise support you.

At least recognising the support you have, the UK"s aversion to racism and genuine effort to make things better would give a more proportional and balanced response. You would be hard pressed to find anyone anywhere that supported the scenes yesterday, but the weekend before had huge support - that is a fact.

The BLM protest was a genuine protest with a real cause.

Looking for meaningful progress can not happen with protests alone though. That was my point.

Parker231 · 14/06/2020 07:40

From the news coverage yesterday, there was violence from some people in both of the groups. That is not acceptable but I saw this post on Twitter which I thought summed it up.

“Both sides are not as bad as each other.

One side would like their lives to be a bit better.

The other side would prefer that didn't happen.”

Smilethoyourheartisbreaking · 14/06/2020 08:47

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Smilethoyourheartisbreaking · 14/06/2020 08:54

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Parker231 · 14/06/2020 09:10

@Smilethoyourheartisbreaking - you do seem to have trouble reading posts. Stop trying to rewrite what I’m saying.

longwayoff · 14/06/2020 09:10

Sigh. Thanks Parker, concisely put.

Smilethoyourheartisbreaking · 14/06/2020 09:28

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longwayoff · 14/06/2020 09:34

I wish I could, smile. Briefly, you have completely misunderstood the content of Parker's post and should apologise.

Xenia · 14/06/2020 09:38

Good explanation from Melia.

I don't think it helps to pick on the words people use too much as it is by our needs not our words we are really known in life.