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BLM gone too far!??

IrishGolfer

Fac ut gaudeam
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Sep 1, 2004
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Ok, I know the rules about politics on here, but man, this thing is getting out of control. Before I start I need to say a few points.
  • 98% of Northern Ireland is White Christian, so we don't have much of an ethnic population. I guess we are quite remote. It is growing, but probably the slowest growth in the UK.
  • Racism is everywhere, we specialize in fighting between Catholics and Protestants! People have been murdered, beaten up, made homeless, jobless etc all because of their religion.
  • We have seen evidence of racism against ethnic people/families, generally from working-class areas in the towns and cities. But on the whole, we don't see much open racism here. I'm sure people have their own views but they are not made public.
  • With Covid-19, we have a bunch of folk who have been at home for the last three months on 80% of their salary, bored and frustrated, with far too much time on their hands.
  • What happened in the US recently was wrong, no doubt. But it seems to have caused the pendulum to swing far too much the other way. This over-correction has seen a lot of craziness. Dumping of statues into harbors because of the figures' links to slavery. Cancellation of comedy programs because of perceived racist content. Taking Gone with the Wind off download sites. How far do we go with this? We cannot blot out history. These things happened. Yes, we need to learn from it. But let's not pretend it didn't happen.
  • BLM should be ELM (every life matters).
I can say I don't believe I am a racist, nor is anyone in my family. I travel a lot so I meet a lot of people. Skin colour has never presented me with a problem. But I would admit that I probably have some racist tendencies. I do laugh at mild ethnic jokes (if they are funny) but I laugh at sexist jokes too. But I do believe in equality. Black or white, rich or poor.

Where does this stop, or is it only the beginning?

Rant over!
 

azgreg

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Just one point here on why All Lives Matter (ELM in your case) is the wrong sentiment. An analogy if you will. Let's say a mother has five children. One of them is in the hospital fighting for their life. The mother is spending all her time and energy on that one child ignoring the other four. Does she love them all? Do all their live matter? Absolutely. However, the one child is the one struggling. The one child is the one that needs all the attention right now. That's why Black Lives Matter is getting the attention right now. Black lives are the ones in pain right now.
 
OP
IrishGolfer

IrishGolfer

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I get that, thanks. I just think the momentum shift has overshot the mark. I think it will settle at a new norm which will benefit everyone.

There isn’t a big population of African Americans where I am Aaron. That’s kinda one of my points.
 

TEA Time

Grumpy Gilmore
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I get that, thanks. I just think the momentum shift has overshot the mark. I think it will settle at a new norm which will benefit everyone.
New laws are being established. For example, in TN they've banned no-knock warrants and in NY they've banned choke-holds. Nothing was happening when black people peacefully protested, and let's face it the USA was established thanks to a huge riot.

There isn’t a big population of African Americans where I am Aaron. That’s kinda one of my points.
That's exactly my point, as well. Our (white people's) perspective is skewed. Black people in America just want white people to ask questions and listen, then to amplify their voices now because it hasn't been heard for 400 years.
 

limpalong

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Greg's analogy is perfect!! Of the 104 foster children we had through our home, many were black. The stories I could tell!! I was in high school during the civil rights marches of the 60's. We hoped that would end racism. It didn't. Has the recent unrest "swung the pendulum too far? I don't think so. Hopefully, it has swung it far enough to make some needed changes in our society.
One of the main purposes in our life is to leave society and the world a better place than we arrived. To that charge, my generation has failed! We are leaving a mess for our kids and grandkids to clean up. Hopefully, they do a better job than have we.
My family and I have been so blessed to be born in the U.S. and have benefitted our entire life with the freedoms and liberties guaranteed under our Constitution. Those same freedoms and liberties we have benefitted from need to be assured to all our citizens regardless of race, religion, gender, or who you love. Changes in policing policy are already being enacted. The conversation is begun and needs to continue.
 

BigJim13

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What we are seeing is an over correction due, IMO, to years of under correction and not listening.

I was cautiously optimistic that things might change after the Floyd video and still am. It was quite a stark and shocking video. That being said, I thought the Rodney King video was stark and shocking and that was 28 years ago. Twenty Eight, I remember watching it on the news and the riots that followed the acquittal.

Hope and change maybe now?
 

MCDavis

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What we are seeing is an over correction due, IMO, to years of under correction and not listening.
^^^THIS^^^

I think what's happening now was inevitable. However: the example about the statues. I have no issue with any statue being removed properly, by the owners/proper authority, and then kept for historical purposes as appropriate (doubt they all can be kept). I do believe that all involved in forcible removal, damaging them, etc should be prosecuted for breaking the law. I also firmly believe that everything being protested now should continue to be taught in schools across the country so that the younger generations learn from past mistakes. The statues...put them in a specific section of museums. Nothing new. There's a Holocaust museum in NY. That way, if you want to see/study it, you can. If you don't, you don't have to.
 

TheTrueReview

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I don’t take leave of my senses over race. I only judge by the content of character. The people burning and destroying are the useful idiots of a pathological ideology that caused the death of millions in the 20th Century. But if you must only listen to a black voice, perhaps start with Larry Elder, Candace Owen, Damani Felder, The Right Brothers or the Hodge twins. You may be surprised.
 
Last edited:

BigJim13

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I don’t take leave of my senses over race. I only judge by the content of character. The people burning and destroying are the useful idiots of a pathological ideology that caused the death of millions in the 20th Century. But if you must only listen to a black voice, perhaps start with Larry Elder, Candace Owen, Damani Felder, The Right Brothers or the Hodge twins. You may be surprised.

The problem is the underlying feeling of not being listened to for literally centuries. Of course I don’t agree with rioting or looting, but when you feel like you aren’t being heard otherwise, I kinda understand. The problem with that is that it becomes too easy to shrug off the message once the rioting starts. The message gets lost in the acts...see Kapaernick. His message was totally lost once disrespecting the flag took over.

Again, we’ll see what comes of it. It certainly feels a little different this time, but we’ve seen this movie before.

IMHO what we really need is a strong leader or many strong leaders to stand up and actually bring people together not along political lines, but on the lines of humanity. Sadly I’m not sure we have them...yet.
 

TEA Time

Grumpy Gilmore
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What we are seeing is an over correction due, IMO, to years of under correction and not listening.

I was cautiously optimistic that things might change after the Floyd video and still am. It was quite a stark and shocking video. That being said, I thought the Rodney King video was stark and shocking and that was 28 years ago. Twenty Eight, I remember watching it on the news and the riots that followed the acquittal.

Hope and change maybe now?
I think this one is different because of the generations at play. X, Millennial, Xenial, Z... they are much more politically active and with the internet they are much more prepared than people were during the Rodney King incident.
 

TEA Time

Grumpy Gilmore
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The problem is the underlying feeling of not being listened to for literally centuries. Of course I don’t agree with rioting or looting, but when you feel like you aren’t being heard otherwise, I kinda understand. The problem with that is that it becomes too easy to shrug off the message once the rioting starts. The message gets lost in the acts...see Kapaernick. His message was totally lost once disrespecting the flag took over.

Again, we’ll see what comes of it. It certainly feels a little different this time, but we’ve seen this movie before.

IMHO what we really need is a strong leader or many strong leaders to stand up and actually bring people together not along political lines, but on the lines of humanity. Sadly I’m not sure we have them...yet.
100% this!
 

RHill24

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Everything has gone too far this year. I wouldn't even be surprised if we get invaded by aliens by the end of the year.
 

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