To be ashamed that we have caused people of this country to live in fear?

[FinalInstructionstotheAudience]

Watching news. People, ordinary people apart from the colour of their skin, are being threatened, their business ruined, and are petrified to step outside.
Because a few ignorant, selfish, thuggish women and men, who don't have the wit to understand that social media spouts false information.
They don't want to understand what is happening, their herd mentality kicks in and off they go. They even take their kids. A new summer holiday past-time
What a disgusting country this has become

I'd like to see any of the rioters explain why they think looting shops like Lush and Greggs is helping them make a point.
There is a picture doing the rounds of a man in a st George's shirt stealing loads of gingerbread men, a phone screen protector and a bunch of bath bombs. Aye mate, that'll show the government!

I heard an interview with a rioter saying he wanted all black and Asian people out of this country because 95% of crime and damage to the country is caused by them. The interviewer hit back with "you're literally committing crimes, causing damage and hurting people to try and stop other people committing crimes, causing damage and hurting people?"

In an ideal world, they'd all get arrested and spend some time in prison, but I don't think there is space for them sadly.

People have a right to protest about immigration, and that is not, per se, racist.

It is a failure of policing if violence or intimidation are allowed to happen.

I am Jewish and the ‘pro Palestine’ marches were pretty intimidating and had a violent and racist fringe. Would I want them banned? No, as protest is an important part of democracy. Would I want them properly policed and the violent anti semites sent to prison. Absolutely.

That was clearly tongue in cheek...

We haven’t become anything.

I am mixed race and was born in Britain. I won’t be classed as any part of ‘we’ or ‘them’ wether people are trashing towns centres and rioting or setting fire to buses they fancy it.

But what I do find frustrating is the amount of people that think fear of going certain places is a new thing. It’s not. There’s been places I haven’t gone in years, where I grew up because I am mixed race. And not because of white people.

My dd was followed by a car of men shouting ‘white bitch’ and ‘white’ at her only the other night.

Theres places I don’t go because I am not white enough there’s places I don’t go because I am too white.

Women are harassed, raped, killed just for walking down the street or go out for a few drinks or walking their dogs or even just being in their own homes. Lots of people live with fear, for some reason or another. And I wish people would stop pretending it’s otherwise and this fear is a new thing.

What’s going on is awful. I hate it. I am disgusted. But large parts of society being afraid to do something isn’t new it’s just been ignored and ignored. Non of the rioters from any side care. And I am not sure wider society really cares.

Maybe of we had tackled all male violence years ago and effectively lots of people (of any colour, religion, culture) would feel less afraid.

and while I hate the violence and the rioters and hope they face the consequences. I do think that certain parts of society are using this to show how virtuous they are. Like they didn’t care 4 weeks ago, but now they do and now they think it’s completely new and just happened over night.

Thank you OP. I’m not white. Luckily not living in an area affected so far but it isn’t a nice time. It may seem trite but it is good hearing not in my name.

not a Muslim but remember how that community doing the same to apologise and do the same around Isis attacks.

Because to respond to someone's individual experience with "hey you're wrong because he's my individual experience" is divisive and dismissive.

Why can't we acknowledge each other's experiences.

How about:

"I'm sorry this happened to you. It's happened to me too. However my experience was..."

Why the need to inflame & divide?

Religious men, you mean? Because there are Christians who specialise in street harrassment (JW) and most sex pests I've encountered are white.

@Walrusdress sorry, but burning down hotels with “immigrants” in is not protesting. It’s attempted murder. It’s rioting. It’s terrorism. It’s inhumane.

Thank you so much, this was my experience too.

But we're not allowed to talk about it because bigger wider social issues trump our individual experience

Exactly this.

When you don't listen to people they will eventually get fed up.

Just like in France and Germany where the extreme right get millions of votes.

Starmer needs to learn from what has happened there but he won't because he is just like Macron an Merkel.

I guess because I am autistic and don’t always respond how people expect me to. Thank you for educating me, I will consider it for the future.
For me always means always. Not “sometimes”, not “the majority”, not “in my personal experience”. Which is why I did not respond to the posters first comment when she shared her experience but to the second where she generalised it and claimed it was universal.

I am not ashamed for something that I didn't do.

Yes to TR

and perhaps LF (I don't know enough)

But no to the others.

We have to have free speech.

People having been saying the same since the 30s. People want to blame someone for their troubles. Immigrants are an easy group to blame.

This is nothing new for women, we've had to alter our behaviours all our lives in some
way or another

now the menz have yet another target

hey ho

and so it goes on

I think maybe there is a certain continuity with the more quotidian kind of drunken thuggery that goes on in city centres of a weekend, making them no-go areas for unaccompanied women. Football hooliganism too, even if that's not as extreme as it was. Our society has normalized male violence for as long as I can remember, and racist political rhetoric ever since 9/11 has channelled that violence against Muslims and minorities, with open hate being tolerated from the Brexit vote onwards. They were only ever waiting for an excuse to do something like this.

For me, it has always been certain men. That's why I used the word always. I didn't say for all the women of the world it's always certain men.

You have my full empathy. I have ADHD & I get the struggles of trying to be understood. I think people use language like that to make a point when they don't feel like they are being heard. My two pence!!

So maybe in your original post you should’ve said “certain men for me” 🙄

now you’re trying to justify what comes across as a racist comment where you think “certain” men are the problem so riot away..

Exactly.

We need to stop the far right taking hold like they have in France and Germany.

However I don't trust Starmer to do this.

He will behave like Macron and Merkel because he is white and has never experienced racism.

Well said. Fear is not a new thing FGS. I've been fearful of being harassed (and have been many times), raped or attacked or worse my entire life- this isnt new. Women have been living with this for centuries and its always been repulsive.

We haven't done anything thanks. It's a small group of people

Yep, watching the riots took me back to my council estate days when I was afraid to walk some places as a girl because of gangs of boys and getting spat on/attacked. We've let this thuggish behaviour go on for far too long.

Which rioters do you have the same skin colour as? The white people? Or is it the brown people with swords and machetes in Birmingham last night? Or the brown people who were rioting in Hareshill two weeks ago? Or the black people who destroyed parts of London a few years back?