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Post by EspadaIII on Jun 3, 2020 21:22:43 GMT
Thoughts on this matter....
I was going to post a long screed about the whole situation, but really it boils down to - Why are the US Police so stupid? Why does this still go on, not every year but seemingly every month we have news of another black person killed simply for being black and not remaining in the ghetto.
It reminds me of a Not the Nine O'Clock News sketch but regretfully far less funny.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jun 3, 2020 21:35:32 GMT
Poorly selected and poorly trained. I can’t prove what I’m about to assert but I doubt any of the Minneapolis officers would have even made it into basic training for any UK police force.
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Post by EspadaIII on Jun 4, 2020 6:17:17 GMT
And I thought Minnesota was a decent place - not like Georgia or Alabama.
Makes one think twice about going to the USA both on a political and personal safety basis, even though I have been many times.
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Post by Humph on Jun 4, 2020 6:29:39 GMT
I think you get a huge clue about the levels of empathy one can expect from Americans in uniform as soon as you get off a plane, especially at JFK.
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Post by bromptonaut on Jun 4, 2020 7:38:07 GMT
Historically the UK has had a problem with prisoners or people being detained dying whilst under restraint. Black men with mental health issues were disproportionately represented in that cohort, for example Mikey Powell mikeypowell-campaign.org.uk/mikeys-case/. They have largely learned from expereince and from the thinking and reforming that went on in the light of the Macpherson report. |
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Post by EspadaIII on Jun 4, 2020 9:24:24 GMT
It seems that despite the numbers of black police officers in the US there is still institutional racism. Just odd.. but somehow unlike in Europe, the backwoods of the USA remain distinctly 'if you're not white you can't be up to anything good'. Such a shame - and a disaster.
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Post by bromptonaut on Jun 4, 2020 12:03:19 GMT
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jun 8, 2020 22:04:58 GMT
Is it only me that thinks it is wrong for everyone to be 'taking the knee' at the moment to show their support at the moment? It was a knee that killed George Floyd.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jun 9, 2020 5:55:57 GMT
Symbols take on a life of their own at times like this. The knee gesture was already symbolic of Black Lives Matter, and the Floyd case gave it extra resonance. The picture of the Democrats in Congress making it before a session last week was very powerful.
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Post by EspadaIII on Jun 9, 2020 6:25:18 GMT
To me, it is virtue signalling. The best thing these politicians can do is fix the problem.
Israel has suffered from racism committed on black people when the Ethiopian jews arrived between 1980 and 2000. They were (and possibly still are) treated as second class because their knowledge of modern life was almost nil (had to learn how to use toilets) and the rabbinical authorities questioned their status. As a result they have suffered less economic benefit as the country has grown wealthier.
The government has spent a great deal of money in counteracting this, including posters seen on my recent extended visit, saying in simple words 'I see a person, not a colour. It will work because there are no large ghettos of Ethiopians so eventually they will assimilate into the community, much like the Russians did when they arrived en mass in the early 1990s. But it takes effort, not gestures.
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Post by bromptonaut on Jun 9, 2020 14:09:15 GMT
To me, it is virtue signalling. The best thing these politicians can do is fix the problem. The problem in the US at the moment is that, at least at a Federal level, the politicians lack the tools to fix the problem. The House can propose something but the Senate and President are not going to facilitate it going further. |
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Post by EspadaIII on Jun 18, 2020 15:26:23 GMT
Great to have the footy back last night and a great win for ManCity.. But do we really have to 'take the knee'? So many people in my circle of friends and work colleagues are just fed up with this. It's not necessary in the UK, although a minutes silence was perfectly reasonable.
Someone in my office said today, what about the Uighurs in China, the Kurds in Iraq/Turkey, the Rohinga in Burma, Christians in Arab countries - are they not deserving of sympathy and attention? Perhaps more so as they are being persecuted, not just victims of one-off individual crime. But is it that there is something that can be done about the BLM situation?
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