Running racism in America thread

That's what the agitators want. Left or right. Antifa or Proud Boys. That we throw up our hands in fear and exhaustion and ask for more violence from the government. Because it serves their purpose.

Don't forget what started this: the killing of George Floyd.

Hold on to that, specifically, and to the idea of peaceful protest in service of better policing, and do your best to ignore - and get through - the rest of it.

 

Yes. And there has been thousands upon thousands of people doing that all over the country. I was impressed at the massive marches yesterday that were peaceful.

 

The bulk of the protests have been peaceful, but, let’s face it, they got more peaceful when it became clear there was going to be a greater police and national guard presence.

Protests have changed since the 60s. There is, for one thing, a unsettling performative quality to them, as if a looter is in a movie. There’s an awareness that the audience is going to be greater than just the people standing there. That awareness can make people do some strange things.

 

I woke up this morning with Brother Marvin in my thoughts. I thought I'd share.

 

They got more peaceful because the Proud Boys and Kluxxers are pants-wetting babies when they might have to pick on someone their own size.

It's a fair point, @Alma. Some groups here have asked people who already have physical issues or who are sheltering in place to do other things to support the protesters. At least part of that concern was to keep people safe from the outsiders coming in to agitate.

 

Soon to be fired by Trump ...

 

WTF?

 

I’m confident that in Minneapolis, there were a lot of outside agitators because the city was a flashpoint. Since then, I think a lot of the angriest, most destructive folks are from inside their own cities and states.

 

I call bullshit on this. It is wanton destruction that has nothing to do with race, or racism, or any other kind of persecution. Or politicizing.

Frankly, it's the kind of thing that makes you want to see these people get shot at.

And worse, that might actually happen, because, in this entire discussion, I've seen a lot of talk and blame of Trump, politics, and the upset over Floyd's death, etc. OK, I get that Trump's stupid tweets and general previous idiocy hasn't helped, and the protestors are angry. But more and more, I think we all see that these trouble-makers are not the protestors, and George Floyd and concerns about racism are not motivating them in the least. And Trump's repeated description of it all as "disgraceful" is not actually wrong, at all.

So, what do we actually do about the destruction and looting (not the protesting)? Because it has to be stopped. What are anybody's actual suggestions for stopping it, beyond Biden's rhetoric about healing wounds, etc., with no specifics.

What do we actually do to stop something that is nothing but sheer, widespread criminal behavior and a complete, intentional lack of personal responsibility? Because that's what it is.

 

I know that I have a reputation as a peace-loving “Deadhead,” but this sentence in which you say “these people” should be shot is very troublesome for me. I am not attempting to be argumentative.