to feel a little less in favour of equal rights this am.

I have the right to express my opinions of racists. If you don’t like that then I really don’t give a toss.

I don’t know what you think gives you the right to lecture those with different views to you Furret.

Not one single person on here has condoned what the officer did but Floyd should not be held up as some sort of saint .

He broke into a pregnant woman’s house and when she wouldn’t hand over money, pointed a gun at her stomach.

A fine upstanding citizen then and I would say exactly the same if he was white so no accusations of racism please.

How about people that are pillars of the community and STILL live in fear of their lives, just because of the colour of their skin EllanVannin? Is that a 'self-centred chip' on his shoulder? How would you feel about a child of yours being treated that way?

www.mic.com/articles/129805/this-black-professor-wrote-about-the-harrowing-reality-of-fitting-a-police-description

Really? That surprises me.

An Indian friend I have has detailed the horrific abuse he's had hurled at him, from when he was a very young child. Insults of 'P*ki', 'Have a wash, you dirty bstd', 'f off back where you came from.'

A Pakistani student I taught 2 years ago did her English speaking and listening presentation at about the abuse her sister and she have hurled at them in public.

So your friend and family have been very very lucky.

What happened to the old adage anyway---" life is what you make it ?"
Nobody holds a gun to your head that you must live a life of crime, do they ?

Too many are living their lives with a self-created chip on their shoulder instead of doing something constructive about it. Nobody but nobody can ever be blamed for how an individual lives their life !!

Ask any BAME person you know whether they, or a close relative, have experienced racism. Be prepared to be surprised at the answer
.
A friend, half -Indian, was discussing the recent protests; unsolicited, she said that she disliked being labelled BAME, as she felt it identified her as suddenly being being different, and that neither she nor her mother, brother and children had ever knowingly experienced any form of discrimination or racism or in this country.

Doesn't mean white privilege isn't real. It means we live in a hugely unequal, capitalistic society. If we'd voted Labour in at the last election, things might have been a little different.

When were you last stopped and searched? I've NEVER been stopped by the police, here OR in the US when I lived in Washington DC. Black ex-husband (who has never committed a crime. Mostly guilty of being a couch potato), repeatedly.

White privilege ? Tell that to the many who are homeless living on the streets. Tell that to those who are struggling to put food on the table. Tell those who have to queue at foodbanks or they'd starve.

This is a " supposed " rich country----?

I thought Griselda was talking about illegal raves.

White privilege is a real thing which most of us are unaware we possess.

A point well made, Elrel

The point is Sodapop, George Floyd was a criminal. But a college professor is just as likely to be stopped by the police, and be in just as much danger if he is black. This account is from America. It happens in the UK too.

www.mic.com/articles/129805/this-black-professor-wrote-about-the-harrowing-reality-of-fitting-a-police-description

I agree with those who say that criminals should not be turned into heroes. This should not detract from the fact that unnecessary force was used in the case of Floyd and in such a matter of fact way.

Don’t get your point at all.

There are good and bad of all no matter what race or profession people do. There are also in every avenue of life those people with mental health issues that make them do awful things to others.
Protests should not be allowed while social distancing is still here. Police are risking their lives and their families by just trying to do their job which they joined up to help people.
If someone started pushing, spitting at you, kicking you what would your instinct be? Yes, you push them away and have every right to do so.

Well the racists are certainly coming out of their cupboard aren’t they?

George Floyd was murdered. Executed in the street, without trial. But that’s ok because he had a criminal record. That makes his killer a murderer.

And this is only one of a long, long list of black men and women killed, murdered in the street by police. All captured on video as proof.

To those old white women who say they wouldn’t resist arrest, you haven’t a clue. I too would probably comply, knowing that as an elderly white woman I’d be treated with respect. If I was black I’d be more wary.

Personally I’m absolutely disgusted when I read these ignorant racist posts. SHAME ON YOU

Sorry there was more to it than that . I agree Gagajo, protest movements are always difficult, uncomfortable and messy to be honest. Suffragettes, stonewall riots, the list goes on.

I agree

Of the complaints about the police officer, Derek Chauvin, some of those included previous killings. He had killed before. He was as much a criminal as George Floyd.

The UK protests are about UK racism. They are part of an international movement about racism. The UK suffers from institutional racism just as much as the US. We're lucky our police don't carry guns, because if they did, there would be a lot more BAME deaths at the hands of the police.

If we look back in history, no protest movement is ever approved of by the establishment. If you are white, you will not have suffered the problems of those who are black.

For the person who said 'I don't care what colour you are, if the police tell you to get out of your car, you should get out.' The difference is, if you're white, you get out, get your details checked and then go on your way. If you're black 1) You will have experienced stop and search regularly and 2) You have a very high chance of ending up hurt or dead.

I really hope the Black Lives Matter movement is as strong and continues in the way the Civil Rights Movement did in the 1960s and achieves real change.

Ask any BAME person you know whether they, or a close relative, have experienced racism. Be prepared to be surprised at the answer.
White privilege is a real thing which most of us are unaware we possess.

Strange you should say that SueDonim, Harwood the cop who bashed Ian Tomlinson had 12 complaints against him too.

I was interested to read that Derek Chauvin, the police officer alleged to have killed George Floyd, had had seventeen complaints made against him. Only two complaints ‘stuck’ but he sounds like a dangerous man, to me.

There is no excused for a “heavy handed” approach that causes the murder of a man who was lying on the ground with three or four men holding him down complaining of being unable to breathe.

No of course I’m not saying that, but my point is that as they were dealing with a possibly dangerous criminal, that might explain the officers heavy handed approach.

JenniferEccles

I was interested to read that Floyd had served five years in prison for armed robbery.

I guess the police were aware of his past criminal activity when they arrested him.

And?
What’s your point?
Because of that he deserved his death?

I was interested to read that Floyd had served five years in prison for armed robbery.

I guess the police were aware of his past criminal activity when they arrested him.