George Floyd copper

Oh the irony.

 

A man was pressed down onto concrete with a solid 200 lbs sitting directly on his neck. He cried out for water. He cried out for his deceased mother, and once he realized he could no longer breathe, he cried out for mercy and he begged for his life. His nose bled and he lost control of his bladder. Yet he remained trapped and handcuffed under the weight of an officer’s knee.
Onlookers tried to intervene only to be threatened with pepper spray. Even when he lost consciousness, the weight of that knee stayed firm on his neck. When first-responders demanded they check for a pulse, the cops refused. When off-duty medical personnel begged for the officer to get up, they refused.
America watched a man being killed in broad daylight for 10 agonizing minutes.
I understand people will dig through everything he’s done wrong in his life. I understand that people will roll their eyes at this. We will see his mug shot and he will become a villain even though surveillance video does not support police claims that he resisted arrest. But there is no crime that justifies this punishment. Whether he has a criminal history or mental health issues, there is no justification for his death.
His name was George Floyd
#justiceforgeorgefloyd

I know this is doing the rounds on social media but it sounds very much like what witnesses saw, how can any human being do this to another when he could obviously tell George Floyd was struggling to breath.

 

Not just the witnesses but the cops must have known it was all being filmed too, they could have stopped that at any time...

 

They are good points, especially about cultural factors. That applies across and within communities of all races and belief systems.

If you were to look at those single-mother rates by income bracket of the mother or father I suspect there would be greater alignment.

In the context of George Floyd and what is happening in America right now, it all comes back to inequality and I believe race is a factor in this, for some people.

Try to get past the book title. I had similar reservations but it was a very thought-provoking read for me.

 

Fair enough, I may well give it a read.

The point in bold is a great one. And my worry is that having that discussion openly and critically has become impossible.

 

Come on surely we have come further in 60 years with no wars as a nation? Still not far enough but Of course there will be people with more now than there was then? And too right

 

I see City along with a lot of clubs have posted things on social media today. And as usual some of the comments are not complimentary, one WBA fan told them to cancel his season ticket, there reply was great.

 

Make you feel summat when you see the looks on those kids faces.

 

The foundational statements in that video are about parents staying together and strong male role model presence in the home. I made this point earlier - in the US, the rate of single motherhood is much, much higher in the black community than any other racial category. 68% compared to 24% in the white community.

So maybe there needs to be a more difficult, but open and collaborative discussion about the cultural elements that might be behind it rather than assuming it to be a simple case of racial inequality.

 

It does. And it shows the burden of responsibility for sacrifice and selflessness that comes with being a parent.

 

Can I just say that that has been some really good, sensible, well elucidated posting on here just lately, I might not agree with it all but it has been refreshing to see grown people state opinions and back them up with solid reasoning. Thanks fellas, you probably know who you are.

 

You can see why people would support the response of the club there. What I would say though, is that there's something which makes me uneasy about football clubs taking stances of political, social or moral preaching, particularly on complex issues which may drive many different views and perspectives.

 

The prem footballers couldn't wait to jump in, love the old virtue signalling the footy players and the a listers.

 

Here's our very own interpid council, a bit late to the party but not wanting to miss out on the fun.

 

This seems to be one of the watershed moments in modern history much like the Rodney King issue years ago. Change doesn't happen overnight and seemingly not at all in some places.

You've seen the video as have I although I couldn't watch it all. Imagine a not unbelievable scenario in which one of the onlookers charges the officer kneeling on him knocking him off his neck, saving his life. Could have happened. That person world have been arrested and be in jail now for assaulting an officer and nothing would really change. No riots, no Liverpool fc taking the knee, no social media blackout , no clubs making political statements. Sometimes big things have to happen to instigate real change.

Yes, there are other socio economic factors in play here but that goes back to the poorest people in society always having the raw end of the deal.

 

No argument on your last sentence. But the poorest people in society are represented across all demographics.

Its a complex issue though. The black lives matters movement was started as a means of protest against Police Brutality in the US. A country with a very different racial history to the UK. I'm not sure its the place of football clubs in this country to take a stand. On what basis? Assuming the need for solidarity with black people across completely different continents and walks of life as a result of the horrific murder of George Floyd - isn't there a risk of something inherently racist in that? In absolute terms, more white people are killed by the police in the US than any other race. Hispanic deaths at the hands of the police aren't far behind the numbers for black deaths. Where's the outrage? Somewhere in the region of 3000 people of all colours have been killed by the police in the US over the last 3 years. In the same period of time, 400,000 people have died trying to escape the Syrian Civil War. Where are our football clubs in lining up to make a political stand? Where are the Facebook and Instagram campaigns?

I think there's much about the US that's f*cked up. Assuming the same issues afflict black people everywhere, is something I have difficulty with. Many of the people coming out in support may be well intended, but perhaps not always well informed. There's an air of rushing to virtue signal flooding social media.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/6/2/21278051/instagram-blackout-tuesday-black-lives-matter

 

Think everyone should listen to this:

 

Hey hey, another band wagon jumper. All about the likes and retweets. He'll be asking us for us whites to apologise for having the brass neck to born white next.