Protests Riots and Black Lives Matter

[Stan-and-Jan0]

I am quite beside myself with disgust and disappointment that Airbnb would enter the fray of political turmoil by supporting an organization who's stated mission is not only a lie but as they demonstrate daily, the protests and ensuing riots one has to know that it's not about racial equality. I will get into a long diatribe here but I'll just say that every time I see BLM box on the website with a donate button, I have to wonder if anyone at Airbnb actually knows what BLM stands for and what their true mission is. Look at what's happening in Seattle right now. It's really quite disheartening.

Very little respect left for this company.

[Melodie-And-John0]

You may be right on that @Sarah977 but how does that give license to the rest of the lawlessness?

[Sarah977]

@Melodie-And-John0  As has been mentioned here before, looting, arson, etc. is being done by people who are not part of the peaceful protests. They are yahoos who look for any excuse to wreak havoc. You see the same sort of behavior after some high profile soccer match. No one is arguing that that sort of behavior is okay or giving license to it. 

Many of the protesters have been protecting stores from being looted and doing their best to quell that kind of lawlessness. They have also protected police officers who found themselves alone in the midst of an unruly crowd.

[Ann72]

@Melodie-And-John0  Because the majority of protests have been peaceful, I think it's time to stop harping on the looting and violence that broke out at the beginning and has largely stopped while peaceful protests have continued and grown.

In addition, peaceful protest is a powerful force for change.  A study of hundreds of campaigns around the world for the last century found that it takes a mere 3.5% of the population actively participating in the protests to ensure serious political change.

So no, it's not a matter we can sit back and leave to our legislators.  Peaceful protest is a powerful force for change.

You can read all about it in an article from the BBC:  https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world

[Ann72]

@Suzanne302  Seriously can't believe the level of double standard you describe!  By that I mean, I can believe it, but just can't handle that level of stupidity and double standard.

I too don't understand why anyone is slamming Airbnb for supporting Black Lives Matter.  It's a ridiculously delicate moment and to take a stance like that is at the very least bad timing.  Just keep your mouths shut and keep enjoying your white privilege.

Bravo to you too!

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Ann72 , Im guessing you cant imagine that I might agree with all three of your multilingual arguments , especially # 2 but I do.  Its easier at this point to recognize what is wrong than what is the way to fix it, anyone veteran or not that says they know how to re-unite our nation should step up cause we are eating ourselves up.   My question is, does the fact that someone is a veteran eliminate the validity of their voice in a conversation?  If so, that would be unfortunate and not a whole lot better than the mob treats its hit men,"just kill who we tell you and keep your yap shut" but thats not what your saying right?  Be well, JR

[Ann72]

@Melodie-And-John0  No, darling, you missed the point, which is that the argument as posed in my note is fallacious, because the conclusion doesn't logically or of necessity follow the first statement.  "Argument from authority" is one of many logical fallacies.

Read @Sally221 or @Yadira22 to see how logically they argue their points.

[David6762]

God save America

[Melodie-And-John0]

I would like to remind everyone here that has been keeping this thread alive, literally nobody is saying that the murder of George Floyd or passive oversight by the killers "Coworkers" was acceptable.  Furthermore, most concur we must change the power and control structures in the streets of our cities that supercharge the responses beyond reasonable force.  Most also seem to agree that new laws and different handling procedures are needed to rein this in.    Consensus is pretty tough to get on most subjects but it seems were closer to agreed than disagree on most of the big stuff.   

Where it all falls apart is how we get there.  So far, cries to Defund the police, release prisoners and temporarily overlook crimes are not logical, none of those would have saved Mr Floyd.  Even more radical demands like segregated or no police, separate schools and courts and hospitals coming out of the warzone epicenter in Seattle's overthrow of 6 city blocks is not going to produce change that helps us heal or rebuild.  To really fix this we need to rally together, the place we can do that is in the voting booth.  We must hold those in charge responsible for fixing the problem not just the blame.  If they know were ready to do that, they will act, if they think we wont show up at the pole or let auto vote do it for us, they wont change anything and The Capitol hill crowd will be coming to a city near you next!  God save America is right @David6762 !  We could use some divine intervention right now, now that I think about it, arent we still in the middle of a pandemic....   Stay well, JR

[Patricia55]

Very interesting podcast – hope you can get it across the pond - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3cszc6d

“Will the waves of protest and anger that have swept through US cities since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis make a lasting difference to race relations? African Americans must surely be sceptical. Racism, discriminatory and violent policing have survived all previous efforts to make real the promises of equality and justice for all. Stephen Sackur speaks to the historian and civil rights activist Mary Frances Berry. What will it take to engineer genuine change?”

Really worth a listen.

[Melodie-And-John0]

Thanks for sharing that @Patricia55 ,  I have listened to Ms Berry before and while I recognize her experience in the field is exceptional, I cannot agree with her rationale that the murderers of Mr Floyd are responsible for multiple deaths, destruction of a billion in private and public properties and thousands of injuries the have occurred in its wake and not the people that actually did it.   I doubt that will be any consolation to the family members surviving Retired Police Capt Dorn (Darker skinned American) who was murdered protecting a business containing multiple firearms that was being looted by another darker skinned American, Jimmy lee Robinson who has been charged with murdering him.  According to Ms Berry, it was the 4 bad officers that caused his death not Mr Robinson.  That logic wont start or end a rational conversation that provokes change that would have saved George Floyd from that piece of garbage so if thats how this moves forward, change may not come, just more senseless tragedy in its wake.   

[Patricia55]

Hi @Melodie-And-John0 🙂

Where do you think the "rational conversation that provokes change" begins?

(I sure as hell don't know for sure... oh, maybe we white people could just try to imagine what it's like to be black... I mean, really try. I'm not convinced that many white people have exercised empathy.)

[Melodie-And-John0]

That conversation your talking about is on the lips of most of our nation and much of the world.   No disrespect @Patricia55 but I and every single person I have spoken to about this was convinced that this type of treatment of any living breathing human or even an animal was wrong the very first time we saw the video of that pos and his merry assistant murderer buddies murdering Mr Floyd. 

I would guess you might agree, nobody is served or needs more people to die, get injured, lose their homes or their livelihoods to convince me or the nation and world we need change.  Change happens in the halls of congress and our state houses, there is nothing that needs changing at my house or yours that will make them do their jobs faster until election time when we can vote them out if they fail to and then only me cause your in the UK not the US!.  

BTW, "White" may work for you but doesnt work for me as a classification, as the son of an artist, I can assure you, I am not white except maybe my boxers!  Edgar Winter is white, I am not.  I guess you could call me a Caucasian if you must be putting folks in white boxers in little boxes.  Even thats non-descriptive cause the person I am and have become has absolutely nothing to do with the color of the body your looking at in that picture other than the scars on my body that let you know I have worked very hard and still do most days.  Stay well, JR 

[Patricia55]

@Melodie-And-John0 

I'm a little confused ... didn't I hear you saying that you're a republican? and presumably voted for Trump?

[Melodie-And-John0]

Presumption is the mother of all screw ups @Patricia55 , in this case your right on both parts but presuming much more based on those two facts alone is probably not going to leave you on solid ground long.  I wont bore you with the long description of how our system works because Im sure you know that no president in our history to include our first darker skinned one created the place where people like Mr Floyds killers felt comfortable living, that has existed longer than our nation. 

Unfortunately, none will win the Nobel piece price for ending it forever, at least not yet.  FYI, President Trump has done more to decriminalize being dark skinned since Bill Clinton signed the so called anti crime bill into law that locked more dark skinned citizens up than any other president in our history.  I pray President Trump will preside over a movement to end the the dark shadows and hiding places bad LEO's are sheltered from being dealt with quickly and judiciously.  Only time will tell if he can, we should all hope that happens and he doesnt fail like the others before him, Stay well, JR 

[Robin4]

I would just like to say, can we please all put things in perspective here!

I don't want to see the world divide itself over a career criminal!......but that is what is happening. Too many people are now simply itching for a fight, they are taking to the streets, looting, demanding something they have no idea how to implement! 

One of our Australian federal senators summed it up pretty well yesterday morning.

https://youtu.be/aHkxDkp9HiQ?t=5

I, like Jacqui Lambie, would like us to focus on one problem at a time. We have just witnessed another black person in Atlanta shot in the back by police while trying to escape apprehension! In the same time-frame 3,862 people lost their lives to COVID-19 around the world.

Can we please put the world back together one block at a time. Black lives do matter,  just as white lives do, but can we please not undo all the hard work the last three months has subjected us to!

Please can we move forward, leave the emotion out of current events and try and get as many of us as possible to live to see another sunrise! 

The main game is COVID-19,  can we try and whip that before we take on another challenge!

Cheers......Rob