AIBU to think some people on here are way too obsessed with not being seen as racist?

[BadWordlePlayer]

I’m posting in AIBU because this has been niggling at me for a while with the tone of so many threads lately, but it's really blown up following the bodycam footage of the Henry Nowak case.

There seem to be loads of posts these days where people are basically showing off how not racist they are, or how much they hate racists or the 'far right', or jumping in to call something racist at the slightest thing. It feels performative, like they’re desperate to signal their virtue and make sure everyone knows they’re on the “right” side. I get that racism is bad, obviously, but it sometimes feels like it’s taken over to the point where common sense goes out the window.

Henry Nowak shows how dangerous this mindset is. This poor 18-year-old student was stabbed multiple times by Vickrum Digwa, who then lied to the police claiming Henry had racially abused him. The officers took that accusation at face value, handcuffed Henry while he was lying there bleeding out and saying he couldn’t breathe, and didn’t treat him as the victim urgently enough. He died in police custody essentially. The mindset of those officers sounds exactly like the over-the-top “must not be perceived as racist” attitude you see in some threads here. They sidelined a dying boy because of a racism claim (which turned out to be a complete lie). That’s not just sad — it’s dangerous.

This isn't a left wing / right wing post and I’m not saying racism doesn’t exist or that we shouldn’t call it out when it’s real. I also hate the phrase "virtue signalling", but I can't think of a better one than it. This constant virtue-signalling and knee-jerk reactions make situations like Henry’s more likely, not less. People (including police) become so paralysed by the fear of getting it wrong on race that they get it horrifically wrong on everything else.

Am I being unreasonable? Or has anyone else noticed this shift on MN and in general?

The incident referred to as the Irish George Floyd last week was horrendous. A man from the Congo was pinned down by security guards in Dublin, he died, it’s awful and unnecessary. There has been protesting all week, a witch doctor carried out voodoo spells on the store and wishing all the customers will die, this weekend, a young black boy was murdered only 21 years old. A club promoter at a rap event, the same protestors won’t acknowledge this, in fact the club is promoting the next event without a whisper on the young boy because it was black lads fighting a black lad, same way when a black man committed a serious offence against a white person, there is uproar, the division is crazy.
At the same time as the crushing incident, a white man was robbed and murdered by two immigrants, it didn’t get the same outcry. Politicians in the street screaming about racism etc. it was silent for the white man murdered by two teenagers who recorded it and put it on twitter.

And people also forget racist stereotypes are not the same for every ethnicity. If the perpetrator had been a Black man it’s likely they would have been quick to believe the victim. So let’s not spin a tale that police are these racial justice warriors ffs.
100% agree with this.
Had he been black the police would have done things very differently.

Are you referring to Lucy Connolly's tweet at the time of the Southport riots?

She pleaded guilty and her appeal against the sentence was turned down, which seems to suggest that the sentence wasn't excessive.

The judge's sentencing remarks are published here

Lucy Connolly: sentencing

I've read them, and the sentencing guidelines for the offence here

Incitement sentencing guidelines

and it seems clear to me that her offence fits 1A and the judge gave appropriate consideration to all factors in arriving at the sentence.

I'd be interested to hear where you think he went wrong and how that is an example of "two-tier" justice.

oh yes I don't see colour brigade and I need to tell everyone are all over social media and forums

yet many of them are very aware when someone is Jewish funny that

The only bot is you because you don't believe anyone could have a different view. It's very telling the poster/s who keeps referring to the victim by his surname.

I wonder how many of the current crop of racists will be able to quote from the Aeneid though?

Well if being thought of as a racist leads you to bleed out after asking for help … I can understand why. People seem afraid, like they will be hurt or something if seen as a racist.

I am called a racist here all the damn time though for the most innocuous shit, I don’t care. Whatever it takes to take the bite out of this phrase. Shouldn’t matter anymore if you are called a racist for pointing out obvious things

Very few groups it is acceptable to hate and Jews are included in that.

I note several posts calling anyone non-white " foreign" in the wake of this murder.

No. Digwa was British. So yes, some people manage to be racist just fine.

Grateful for small mercies etc. The less educated our racists are, the better.

Including a Sikh family who cared nothing for the life of a white boy.

Oh yes. That’s why I said personally the man being Sikh may have influenced the officer given their “Model Minority” status.

A black perpetrator would simply be seen as a gang member and the police would not have hesitated to cuff him.

Yes. As I have said numerous times. Though I do not think they would have cared for him whatever race he was because they were psychopaths.

oh please there is plenty of hate about have you missed the growing antisemitism in this country especially on the so called kind left

they can be seen even when they think they can't

I have not watched any video is their evidence that this was a racially motivated crime?

Their thoughts and opinions are hammering you at the opinion polls. A lot of whom are educated. Among everything else, I wouldn't be quite as sneery given the disturbing video footage that has affected anyone with compassion. Coming on this thread being sanctimonious doesn't make you any better than those you are taking the piss out of.

No.

There's evidence they didn't value his life and automatically played the race card. Wonder what their BS would have been had Henry been Sikh.

People are clamouring about two-tier policing and I'm happy they are now aware this issue.
Pretending it's an issue that sees white people being overpoliced, however, is what makes their argument ridiculous. There are no statistics that supports this at all

Thank. You.

So - none? (If police put an overfocus on racism stop and search rates would be the opposite of what they are.)

No. The police should have kept an open and impartial mind when investigating. The fact that they didn't is what OP is complaining about. The police in this case were not big enough to do what was right - they just did the unthinking, knee-jerk "can't be seen as racist" thing. I am not racist, and it doesn't bother me if I am wrongly called racist because for example I might criticise the behaviour of someone non-white. Who cares if someone thinks you are racist? If you are not, you are not.

That wasn’t my question.

Well it's my answer. This isn't about a racially motivated crime. It's about a racially motivated defence.

What does immigration have to do with this story?

I can't be alone in thinking, whenever I read someone tell me how decent they are because they are not racist, or that they're anti racist (whatever that means)..

'I bet you're the most racist person you know'