The problem I have with being asked to accept that TuTu's perspective is the only acceptable one is that a. I was partially raised by Americans, who were close friends of my parents and whose kids I grew up with, but b. most of them were Hispanic first generation immigrants, other than the ones whose Mexican families ended up living in America because the border moved rather than because they moved. And the bits of America I've lived in have mostly been the bits that if a war or two had gone differently might still be part of Mexico. So here I am, another Brit living in America, but the lens I'm seeing things through is very different to hers (and my lens is going "wait, did all the Native American and Hispanic people just vanish from this analysis of race in America?"). Which doesn't mean that either of us is wrong, it just means that different life experiences lead to seeing things differently.
There is absolutely no question that America has an especially ugly history in terms of the oppression of black people, and the legacy of slavery can still be seen everywhere. In many areas the forerunners of the current police and jail system came into existence in an attempt to "control" former slaves, and when those slaves were freed it was in some ways in name only. There is also no question that the UK played a significant role in things ending up as fucked as as they have. However, the US and the UK now are very different societies and it just doesn't work to talk about structural racism in both countries as if it works in the same way. It's also impossible to have any sort of productive conversation about any of what's going on in the US now without realizing how different policing is in the two countries. I'm white, though not always read as such, and in a place where there are currently demonstrations going on, as well as some looting. In those cases where demonstration has moved more towards riot, it's been because the police are so heavy handed and so militarized that they've pushed things in that direction. In Washington DC people spotted a blackhawk flying over a demonstration. That's a military helicopter, what the hell is it doing being used against American civilians? Here the police are driving around in what look like tanks rather than police cars. I'm going out even less than I already was because of Covid19, but it's not the protestors I'm afraid of, or even the minority of people who're looting. It's the police. If you've been lucky enough never to deal with American police and are picturing British police it's almost impossible to convey how terrifying the American police can be. Right now it feels like there is an occupying army riding around in tanks ready to shoot anyone who looks at them wrong. This is not the fault of the people demonstrating, it's the kind of massive, stupid overreaction that always happens when a deeply racist society with a militarized police force finds itself facing the (entirely justifiable) anger of its black population. Having a complete imbecile in charge isn't helping.
I don't like Bergdorf and wish that they would do a bit of reflection on their own colonizing behavior towards women, but I wish that some people would take a deep thread and consider the optics of this thread a bit more carefully. GC women familiar with Bergdorf's history are not the only people reading.
(I was thinking this on the thread about Amy Cooper too but couldn't figure out how to articulate it.)
Also, not sure if people will be able to watch this in the UK, but I think it's a pretty good overview of why things have kicked off the way they have over the past few weeks and might be useful for people who've never spent any time in the US in terms of explaining how a lot of people are feeling.