AIBU to feel angry about Notting Hill Carnival behaviour?

[ProudBlackMomma]

Any other London folk mortified by the Notting Hill carnival? Hundreds of arrests, lewd behaviour, vulgarity and litter. It does not represent my culture. It’s an embarrassment.

I wonder how much the policing at Tommy Yaxley-6-Names's marches costs us?

We have had a shooting in our town centre. And that didnt need a carnival

I understood a lot of the arrests happened before the start of the carnival. Also face recognition was used by the police which led to the arrest of quite few of the participants so might not have been to do with incidents at the carnival itself. This might go some way in accounting for the large number of arrests..

I presume organisers charge for pitches selling food and drink, maybe sponsorship, donations from people attending?

That sounds a bit drastic if they have to board up properties along the route? Is that because attendees smashed people's windows?

mumsnet increasingly so. sadly.

Thank you for that deeply interesting history lesson. Somerset tourism should take you on as head of marketing.

Yes the post you quoted mentions the trading and sponsorship income.

places are boarded up so people can’t congregate in doorways etc.
it also means the hoarding can be removed and businesses etc can be opened up the next day without delay. It’s become part of the carnival, the boarding is decorated with street art before being put up

Over 100 people arrested had not committed a crime or n the day but were wanted for something else and were picked up by facial recognition

True. They would properly police a TR event. At the last Unite the Kingdom march they arrested 20 people.

Now if at the United the Kingdom march they had the same conditions as Notting Hill and found all those weapons, dealt with the stabbings, sexual assaults and assaults on the emergency services which the Metropolitan Police described the atmosphere as "overwhelmingly positive and celebratory" and said it "passed largely without incident."

Would they also say the same at a Tommy Robinson march?

Yes, I've heard that the police hate being on duty at the NHC. Not surprising as their ears will be subjected to a battering from the ridiculous levels of noise from the sound systems and they will be worried about doing anything that might be construed as racism which means their career and pension are on the line.

Calling it 'overwhelmingly positive and celebratory' sounds like gaslighting.

It looks terrible, though. Houses and shops boarded up and the boards covered in graffiti. It looks nasty.

Agree!
It's partly a locality thing, as you say immigration if different diasporas into areas creates variations, so does migration from within the UK, industrialisation, changes to industry etc etc.
Also, time. The only time culture is frozen is when it's dead. Shakespeare was influenced by Jacobean revenge tragedies and British history but he also innovated and catered to popular demand for new things which themselves became traditional. And then he died and culture continued to evolve.

Also, you can't judge how violent an event is by the number of arrests made at the time. At violent protests/riots the police will make very few arrests on the day usually because the last thing you want, if you are already outnumbered by a screaming mob, is to take two or more police officers out for several hours to arrest and process someone if it can be avoided. Usually they avoid arrests on the day and arrest them at their homes days later.
Whereas for genuinely non-violent protests (sitting on the ground waiting to be arrested) the police can cart of loads. For planned events they can prearrange for a large police presence and take the opportunity to arrest people wanted for other things. (Not sure I like the use of facial recognition cameras on principle though).

It’s art. Why does it look nasty? Because it doesn’t align with the art you like to see?!

It can't be nice for people to have their houses boarded up though - whether someone likes the art is purely subjective, but being boarded in/out of your house definitely isn't great, although I appreciate better than having windows smashed etc. Shouldn't be necessary though

Haven't been to carnival since I had kids. Music was fun, food was lovely, costumes were impressive, kids in the parade were having a lovely time. My friend and I got steamrollered by a rapidly expanding crowd (moving out from a shooting in the middle of the dancefloor as we heard later), so I guess it depends what you focus on.

People buy a house there knowing what happens. This is like moving to the countryside and complaining about the smell of muck spreading.

There are those that would object to that comparison....

Because of race?

Oh you know. Honi soit qui mal y pense. Aka intent is in the eye of the beholder.

Quantum, you said some would object to the comparison. Maybe you can say what you mean by that.

Some would object to carnival being compared to muck spreading, I'm sure that was not your intent.
There is some interesting(?) case law regarding people moving next to a cricket pitch and objecting to balls in their garden I believe.

Yes, wasn’t Hamlet based in Denmark because it was based on a Danish story.

Or people moving into apartments next to famous music venues in the centre of city centre nightlife and then complaining about the noise to the council.