George Floyd copper

The troubles have been underlying for a long time, the killing was the spark needed to ignite it. The rioting does seem to have an element of organsation to it, people coming in to town from miles away to join in isn't spontaneous off the cuff trouble.

 

Similar to the shipped in people in the Bradford riots 20 years ago

 

Completely agree. He's been charged with 3rd degree murder and his wife is divorcing him. He's being held accountable which is what a civilised society does.

It's a horrific incident but it's being dealt with appropriately.

 

Great example of why the black lives matters movement is a complete fallacy.

 

Venn diagrams I’d like to see - Those who claimed to live under the oppressive fourth reich EU, and the thinly veiled threats of what might happen if we don’t leave Vs Those who look at too many Facebook memes and videos, and claim that black folk in America aren’t oppressed.


It took 4 days for that policeman to be arrested, btw.

 

Oh, and I’d love to see the mental gymnastics @Bronco will go through with what Thatcher’s henchmen did in South Yorkshire in the 80’s, and what’s going on in America right now.

This is what happens when folk have nowhere else to turn. They fight back.

 

Let’s bring it back to something we can all relate to (because I doubt there’s many on here who can relate to being a black man living in Minneapolis), being football fans. Let’s imagine the police in this country were arresting folk at football matches, for any number of reasons, and people kept dying in the hands of the police, how many times does it have to happen before we demand change? Where would the line in the sand be?

 

Is it black men at football matches?

 

There is no justification for the rioting, looting and extreme violence we have seen over the passed few days.

Floyds killer has been sacked and arrested and I am sure justice will prevail.

 

The fact that there was 4 officers involved , 1 was white 1 mexican 1 asian and 1 somalian . 1 as been rightly charged with 3rd degree murder ( should be 1st ) but the other 3 have been only sacked , the public outcry ( peaceful , not by looting arson and 2 more murders) should focus on all 4 involved .

 

You can answer without being facetious if you want. Where’s your line in the sand, how many deaths before it’s too much?

 

Why would someone need to relate to the specific circumstances of those involved to have an opinion on it? I've never understood that position. I've never murdered or raped anyone but I have an opinion on it. I've never had or been aborted, but I have an opinion on it.

What about the level of violence against the police in the USA, does that need to change? What about the number of non-black killings by the police, does that need to change? What about black on black crime and murder, does that need to change? Should that be front and centre of the outrage?

 

I mean, police not killing people is not hard to do, it doesn’t happen often over here, and when it does it’s all over the news. Life seems so cheap in America.

 

No argument there. But then, they all have the 'right to bear arms', which doesn't exactly help.

 

Why wouldn’t you allowed an opinion, on any of those things? Of course you are, we all are. But if someone who actually lives there and gives first hand accounts, of course I’m going to listen to them, no brainier for me.

 

Do you want to know my truthful answer. It might not be to everyone's taste but it is what it is. It ain't right but then the more I realise the world ain't the place I thought it was. My 'moral' standpoint will more than likely be different to someone elses. An unrelated subject but the pictures over the weekend of rubbish shrewn beaches and tourist spots told me everything I need to know about society. If we can't teach something simple like taking your rubbish home to the generally retarded public we've no chance with anything else.

 

I think I've expressed my opinion many times of the Thatchers era especially the miners strike they were treated appallingly so not quite with you ?.

 

The link between the miners and the riots in Minneapolis is tenuous at best. The last time I looked at the miners striking they weren't burning down their own communities.

 

Fair point, but then you'd have to listen to first hand accounts of others who might have a different perspective too. Such as what its like to be a serving police office in that area. For absolute clarity, what's happened looks disgusting and inhuman - I'm not in anyway trying to make a case for the defence; but the perpetrator is being held to account, it would seem. Professionally, personally and criminally, he's going to face consequences. What's the protest against exactly? And why is it in any way appropriate for protests to be taking place in London? If it were a protest against a subsequent lack of action and penalization, I could understand. If its against a perception of 'racism within the police', then there needs to be a very open dialogue that looks at situations like this in context. Any actual incidents of racism should be dealt with robustly - but the problem for me, is that the whole discussion can't be had sensibly because far too many people are eager to play the 'victim' card, or to take offence on behalf of others. You're immediately faced with terms like 'white privilege' or 'institutional racism'. The problem needs looking at culturally as well as racially. For example, more white people are killed by the police in the US than any other race. However, as around 15% of the US population is black, the fact that around 40% of the deaths which occur at the hands of the police is committed against black people, shows the numbers to be disproportionate. However, ~50% of all murders/killings in the US are committed by black people, so that shines a very different lens too. (I'm quoting numbers from the FBI's website, https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017/topic-pages/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-6.xls). Proportionately, a black person in the US is much more likely to be killed by another black person than a person of any other race. Another example I'd cite - its fairly well established that a person is much more likely to turn to crime if they're raised in a 'broken home'. The rate of single motherhood in the US is much, much higher in the black community than any other - in the region of 65%, nationally. That must surely be a factor. I don't see the Black Lives Matters campaign going after those issues.

So there are much more complex socio-economic factors, much of which need exploring and resolving carefully and honestly, without an automatic sense of immediate victimhood.