Racist friends

Social media has a lot to answer for, as was pointed out earlier in the thread. Perhaps it should be reported to FB and they should be taking steps to delete these inflammatory posts.

Gagajo it really upsets me too that the BLM protests is showing up the racist in some friends and family, but not of course my immediate family, AC and their spouses.

So I’ve adopted a range of strategies. Those that are the worst and I don’t regard very highly anyway I’ve unfriended. I simply don’t need to read their disgusting posts.

Those who are closer to me, some of them basically nice people, but uneducated (in the wider sense of the word) I have responded by calling out their racism and putting the facts to them, and others who are somewhere in-between I have responded by asking them not to include me in their racist posts or tweets as they offend me.

I've thought a lot about this. Neither of my friends has responded to me. Once has continued to make borderline racist comments on his social media.

I've unfriended both of them. One is more of an ex colleague than a good friend so is less of a loss. The other though, I went to university with and I used to be very close to. It hurts.

Sorry I think I have misunderstood your original comment. I thought you were saying that 2 friends are accusing YOU of not standing up for the BLM protesters as you hadn't yet commented on Social Media. They then sent articles on racism to prove their point?
i.e. your 2 friends ARE supporters of the Black Lives Movement but believed you were not.
Have I got that right?

Gagajo, there are not really your friends if they don’t know you. Just be yourself.

What exactly was the latest crime?

Was it taking fentanyl then attempting to drive? In which case it would be reasonable to stop him driving, perhaps even by handcuffing him.
Or was it passing a forged $20 note? In which case many of us may have been guilty, albeit unwittingly.

JenniferEccles how can you possibly think that kneeling on someone's neck, when they are already handcuffed and lying on the ground, could be a reasonable thing to do?

This man was a violent criminal who served five years in prison for armed robbery. He had pointed a gun at a pregnant woman’s stomach.

Obviously I don’t know if the police involved in arresting him for his latest crime were aware of his background, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that they did.

Isn’t it sensible for police to have a bit of information on a suspect before they arrive to give them an idea of the sort of individual they are dealing with?

Scentia

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe some of the comments here.
So now it is ok to murder someone if they are a criminal?So it’s ok to treat someone as you see fit if they have been in trouble before, no matter how long ago?
No one who is un-armed irrespective of their history, colour, threats or behaviour should be treated as that man was treated.
I work with very troubled young people, who very often, for their own and others safety will need to be held, never, ever, ever have I had to put someone the floor, face down and restrict their breathing to get them to calm down.

Only if they are not white.

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe some of the comments here.
So now it is ok to murder someone if they are a criminal?So it’s ok to treat someone as you see fit if they have been in trouble before, no matter how long ago?
No one who is un-armed irrespective of their history, colour, threats or behaviour should be treated as that man was treated.
I work with very troubled young people, who very often, for their own and others safety will need to be held, never, ever, ever have I had to put someone the floor, face down and restrict their breathing to get them to calm down.

Most of the time we can get on with different views, but it is different when the issue is a moral one.
Then one has to stand by what is right, and it is hard but essential for yourself and everyone who needs support.
One needs a clear conscience to be trusted.

lemongrove

No Summerlove not all black men are perfect indeed, just as not all white men are imperfect.
My comment was about men charged and found guilty of offences, not those on remand.You had not made it clear that you meant on remand in your ‘trumped up charges’ post btw.
Are you in the US? I was thinking about the UK in any case.

I am not in the US nor was I talking about remand.

My point was simply that proportionately more black men are in prison for crimes then proportionately white men. And often times a black man will be charged for some thing with that white man would not.

Seriously. Look into it.

Also, nowhere did I say all white men were imperfect.

However, What a white boy is caught in the act of rape and only given three months in jail, or a black man has allegedly passed a $20 note, possibly unwillingly and is murdered by police, there is an absolute problem in the US. And that is not confined to the US and no matter how many posters want to pretend it is.

Callistemon

I do believe in giving people a second chance.
They may be quite shocked at being made to take a long hard look at themselves.

I'm quoting my own post about giving people a second chance.

Will you give your friends a second chance if they contact you and express remorse and say they realise now that they were, in fact, expressing racist views, Gagajo?

Have either of them been in touch yet ?

We know a black doctor who was stopped many times by the police simply because he drove a black BMW, nowadays he is often seen on TV talking about knife crime, he mentors troubled youths as well.

Oopsminty, what is going on here is racism.

This university professor was in fear for his life when the police decided he fit the description of someone who had committed a crime. The ONLY way he fit the description was by being a black male.

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

The UK is no better.

Do we have no conception of 'going straight'? Is the notion of having served his time alien to us? In addition, one of his convictions (a drugs one) was later revealed to be based on evidence from a dodgy policeman. By the time it was discovered (through other cases, not Floyds) he had long since served time for that offense.

I guess some of you feel that a black man has to be a saint to be able to be safe in our culture. Thing is, the police harass innocent black people just as much as guilty ones.

i am actually quite surprised at the level of racism and wilful ignorance on here.
i'd imagined older women would be wiser and fairer.
most are i guess.
for those who genuinely cannot see what all the fuss is about in the UK, just listen to one phone-in radio slot.
listen to the people who have the experience.
then tell them they are wrong. or maybe learn. and grow.

No Summerlove not all black men are perfect indeed, just as not all white men are imperfect.
My comment was about men charged and found guilty of offences, not those on remand.You had not made it clear that you meant on remand in your ‘trumped up charges’ post btw.
Are you in the US? I was thinking about the UK in any case.

JenniferEccles

ajswan that is exactly how I feel.
There is the danger that this criminal is being turned into some kind of saint when he quite clearly wasn’t.

Yes we all know what happened to him was dreadful but his past criminal record was a clear indication to the police that they were dealing with a dangerous individual hence the firm treatment of him.

How many police in every country in the world die at the hands of violent, aggressive thugs?

Where are the demonstrations for them ?

What is going on here?

He hadn't been in trouble with the police for over a decade

Calling him a criminal is grossly unfair

He was in possession of a fake $20 note

Hardly the crime of the century

Yes we all know what happened to him was dreadful but his past criminal record was a clear indication to the police that they were dealing with a dangerous individual hence the firm treatment of him.

The police who arrested him had no idea that he'd been in trouble a decade ago!

JenniferEccles: At last someone who also finds this whole affair as perplexing as I do. One might understand a protest in a worthy cause, but this is beyond belief. Civil disobedience, vandalism and violence is supposed to influence public opinion? What on earth has the death of a man in the USA got to do with the United Kingdom. Those engaging in this have nothing better to do and creating mayhem the juvenile consequent excuse. Wake up and do something useful in your life!

Well said MawB.

JenniferEccles

ajswan that is exactly how I feel.
There is the danger that this criminal is being turned into some kind of saint when he quite clearly wasn’t.

Yes we all know what happened to him was dreadful but his past criminal record was a clear indication to the police that they were dealing with a dangerous individual hence the firm treatment of him.

How many police in every country in the world die at the hands of violent, aggressive thugs?

Where are the demonstrations for them ?

Is there proof the police knew his history When they pulled him out of his car and murdered him?

Let's hope nobody ever has to endure that kind of firm treatment again, and that people will stand up against it again if it does.

ajswan that is exactly how I feel.
There is the danger that this criminal is being turned into some kind of saint when he quite clearly wasn’t.

Yes we all know what happened to him was dreadful but his past criminal record was a clear indication to the police that they were dealing with a dangerous individual hence the firm treatment of him.

How many police in every country in the world die at the hands of violent, aggressive thugs?

Where are the demonstrations for them ?