George Floyd Protests

Yeah I think the latter and PosterJ is right. Cleaning up the thread would possibly look like we're trying to say these kind of views don't exist, and I think the more people see what some people are really like, the better.

I do stand by my view though, that how long can we allow someone who holds such proud racist views to be allowed an account? Is there no clear violation of rules because he's careful with the words he chooses and therefore it's essentially at the mods discretion?

I don't see a lost cause National Front case that were fronted from the 1970's. We can help him. My first thought yesterday was ridicule but I wish I had approached this differently. Should have been more sympathetic how someone had found Candace Owens and was posting her views as mainstream.

I came in to see what was being said in this thread, and i saw Dave reference a video... i started to scroll back to find said video, thinking to myself, please don't let it be THAT video... DOH!

Candace Owens has found a way to make a name for herself and make money. She said that Amy Cooper (Central Park dog walker) was not racist at all. Even aftyer she saw the video of her fake crying into her phone about an 'african american man is threatening my life'

These protests are not about George Floyd, but a much larger picture, and i believe they do make a big impact. I hope that, finally, we see actual change happen in our society.

Protesting works:

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/big-majorities-support-protests-over-floyd-killing-and-say-police-need-to-change-poll-finds/2020/06/08/6742d52c-a9b9-11ea-9063-e69bd6520940_story.html

There's a lengthy post on Facebook by Patrick Wayne Benjamin-Lange which you can read in full on his page but I thought this section on statistics is prettt interesting given some posts on previous pages.

“15. “More white people are killed by cops than black people. Here are the statistics...” - I love when people do research! Thank you for that! But those stats that you’re proudly flashing around aren’t an accurate reflection of the issue. According to data, there are aprox. 234,370,202 white people In the United States. Comparatively, that same data states that there are 40,610,815 “Black” Americans. So, when your stats show 1,398 white people have been killed by officers since 2017 and only 543 Black people, what those statistics really show is .0005% of white people were killed by police in those 3.5 years, while .0011% of black people were killed by police. That means, black people were killed 220% more often by police, even though they make up only 12% of the population compared to white peoples 73%. Math has no racial bias. Those aren’t good stats. Stop using them to defend your position.

16. “Black people commit more crime...” - Do they really though? According to data released in 2017, there were 475,900 black prisoners in state and federal prisons and 436,500 white prisoners. That’s a difference of about 9%. So for arguments sake, let’s say those numbers are an accurate reflection of the amount of crime committed. If people of colour commit only 9% more crime, why are they killed by police 220% more often?

17. “Well, the same stats you mentioned shows that even though they’re only 12% of the population, they commit 54% of the crime.” - Good Catch! But those numbers don’t actually reflect the amount of crime committed. That’s why I said to assume they’re correct. Those numbers only reveal how many people are incarcerated. The reality is, while those numbers are all we have to go on, they don’t tell the complete story either. In the United States specifically, socioeconomic racism, which was designed to keep POC in poverty through district red-lining, a lower quality of education and other systemic obstacles, is a huge component. Thanks to redlining (look it up) and other zoning and banking practices, quality of education in “black” neighbourhoods is significantly lower, which means the average income for POC in those neighbours is lower and the unemployment much higher. Also thanks to redlining, the unemployment rate, and lower income rates, crime in those neighborhoods tends to be higher. That means those neighborhoods are patrolled by police more often. Thanks to racial bias, POC are followed, stopped, harassed and arrested more frequently than the white people who live in those same neighbourhoods. What all of this means is that, when POC are arrested more frequently, they often can’t afford fancy lawyers to help them. They usually end up with Public Defenders, who are often overworked, and they often encourage POC to plead guilty in exchange for less time. Then there’s the fact that, because white people make up 73% of the population, they also tend to make up a bigger percentage of Jurors. There’s lots of factors to consider. So don’t assume that just because they make up 54% of the people in jail, that they make up 54% of the crime. The entire system is broken. That’s part of the problem.“

Another slave trader statue removed :

This seems overdue, and shouldn't be limited to just two cities:

I have no issue with that statue coming down and now a good time to bring other statues down that traded in the currency of human misery. Also I include in this portraits of Slave Traders in the Tate and National Gallery.

I live in Tower Hamlets, happy if my council tax has been used towards that removal.
I hope some of the statues that have been removed will be replaced with memorials to those who lost their lives and freedom during the slave trade.