Recent Riots

I can only see it through the lens of a power struggle of politicians that at the end of the day both think they'll benefit from it.
Honestly it's disgusting.
BTW, the most hurt people at the end (not only physically), will be again the poorest.
 
There's nothing to "understand" here. Rioters and looters are criminals and must be treated as such. Peaceful protest is a different thing.

Crimes committed by 16th century Spanish, British, French or otherwise white colonialists have nothing to do with 21st century white Americans. That doesn't make sense.

Calling people pigs because they are part of some group is not ok, no matter if it's a race, religion or profession.

And Target branches should be looted and burned because Target "should" be marching with the protesters? Looting and burning people's work places because they're not doing what they "should" do sounds very much like a thing communists/fascists would have done in 1920s/30s Germany or 1960s China. Let's not go there again.

Nowhere did I say Target SHOULD be looted. I'm saying when people of color are being victimised and brutalized by police, when police respond to peaceful protests with violence (dozens upon dozens of videos have emerged of this in the past week) then I don't give two shits about a Target in comparison.

And I'm not calling anyone a pig because of their profession. I'm calling fascist murderers pigs. Not all cops are fascist murderers but there's systemic problems nationwide when the fascist murderer cops are not held accountable by their colleagues.

I'm so tired of people acting like looting and vandalism is the takeaway from these protests. When voices go unheard for so long and change doesn't occur no matter how peaceful you protest, are you that shocked when things bubble over like this?

Ever hear of the Boston Tea Party?

Did you read the quote or from MLK Jr in the article I posted with his comments on violence and looting? White people love to invoke MLK's name when preaching about how protest should always be peaceful when they really don't understand history fully.

There's plenty to "understand" here - you are choosing to not even try.
 
what about modern day slavery?

black as well as asian and Eastern European people are promised jobs, trafficked into the uk and then forced into salvery. its reported in the news all the time. there is even slavery happening in Libya, where black people are bought and sold. its happening everywhere, worldwide.

ShenGCH basically covered it; human trafficking is obviously a horrible thing that really should get more press and more done, to put an end to it...

But it isn't in the same realm as black slaves in the Western world (specifically, the southern US).

And that was ***OPENLY DONE IN AUCTIONS***, for many decades and public killings/lynches were super common, for a slave that tried to escape or go against their, "master."

Humans can be horrible creatures, no doubt.
 
One of the reasons behind this is I don't think a lot of Americans know how their political system works. I was just baffled when America elected Obama twice but then tied his hands by electing a Republican House twice.

Trump was then voted in, a vote that was obviously spurred by people wanting a shake up and a breakaway from the establishment. We all know how that went, but you then had Bernie Sanders who was genuinely looking to shake things up in the right direction, but what then happens? The American Democrats vote Joe Biden to be their candidate, effectively returning the country back to the same old establishment if he wins.

America needs to improve their standards when it comes to police officers. I'm sure the training to work in a McDonald's or Starbucks is more intense than it is to become a police officer in most places.

Once*

Also, Trump technically didn't, "win," the election like you are thinking; he won the electoral college; Hillary had higher vote counts from coast to coast, but she didn't win the, "important," states, which have more seats than other states.

Which is beyond absurd; in a 2 party race, it should absolutely come down to who has the bigger vote, period. By conducting elections in the electoral college system like the Americans have always done, it greatly diminishes and demeans the value (and, "voices," of the voters) of the votes that come from states such as Wyoming and Idaho; are they not as important, because they don't output as much revenue or have as big a population as NY, California and Florida?

In Canada, we have a similar system (whoever wins the most seats, regardless of vote count, wins the election), but that makes absolute sense in a country where 3-5 parties are vying for seats; but for a 2 horse race? Just doesn't make sense...

Thus, the US's whole election model, is either antiquated or just plainly backwards and, of course, due to regions, it is slanted towards the right wing as well (when has the west EVER been blue? I'm talking Montana, Idaho, etc.?).

Anyways, I've always had an anti-US outlook in my life, so it's easy to pile on in recent times, but they TRULY are incredibly backwards and ****** up, compared to the rest of the Western world.
 
I'm so tired of people acting like looting and vandalism is the takeaway from these protests. When voices go unheard for so long and change doesn't occur no matter how peaceful you protest, are you that shocked when things bubble over like this?

Ever hear of the Boston Tea Party?

Did you read the quote or from MLK Jr in the article I posted with his comments on violence and looting? White people love to invoke MLK's name when preaching about how protest should always be peaceful when they really don't understand history fully.

There's plenty to "understand" here - you are choosing to not even try.

Thank you.

And to add to your point:

Let's not forget the absolute tipping point. George Floyd was murdered. Rather than trying to reduce the protest to the looting and vandalizing, how about we condemn the looting WHILE ALSO speaking louder about the unnecessary loss of black lives so that the true message doesn't get diluted? George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Philando Castile, Botham Jean, Trayvon Martin and many other black people are dead unnecessarily. Anytime black people try to protest peacefully to get their concerns across, many on the other side choose to fixate on things like the flag or the troops and now looting/vandalizing. Please, we can't allow the message to get distorted anymore. The looters, who I don't condone, don't represent the majority of the protestors who are being peaceful nor do they negate the fact that a cop(s) killed George Floyd while others on video begged for his life.
 
Think it's been pretty much confirmed (not officially, but going on Twitter videos and posts) that literally ALL of the looting is either done by white people who are dressed all in black or police, trying to incite others.

These posts and videos are getting VERY little press and exposure, but they basically paint the truthful picture of how things are.
 
Think it's been pretty much confirmed (not officially, but going on Twitter videos and posts) that literally ALL of the looting is either done by white people who are dressed all in black or police, trying to incite others.

These posts and videos are getting VERY little press and exposure, but they basically paint the truthful picture of how things are.
If your definition of "literally" is equivalent to "some of," then that is true. Otherwise, there are plenty of pictures and videos of black people looting, too. On the flipside, I haven't seen a single picture or video of police inciting looting.

Twitter fuckery?
 
If your definition of "literally" is equivalent to "some of," then that is true. Otherwise, there are plenty of pictures and videos of black people looting, too. On the flipside, I haven't seen a single picture or video of police inciting looting.

Twitter fuckery?

The *very* first video of this kind, the guy dressed in all black with the umbrella (who smashed an Autozone), was confirmed to be a cop in Minnesota, that's what I meant about cops. (also other vids of cops smashing windows, in full uniform, but not confirmed if they were looting or doing something else)

And absolutely, blacks have been taking part... but, "the first stone cast," in all of those videos, are by white people.

Everything's blocked here at work, so I can't link anything :(

Hey, I don't live in the States and have no intention to go there at all, unless it is a fishing trip or a one day trip to watch football, but this is just what I've viewed.
 
If your definition of "literally" is equivalent to "some of," then that is true. Otherwise, there are plenty of pictures and videos of black people looting, too. On the flipside, I haven't seen a single picture or video of police inciting looting.

Twitter fuckery?

I think Truck is way off-base with his generalization there, but if you're looking for police inciting riots:


I live in Denver, so many were outraged by the social media of cops just loving the riot gear they get to wear and suggesting they start one themselves.


This one is also indisputable, really, group of cops walking down the street, smashing cars along the way.


One of several I've seen of cops destroy supplies peaceful protesters are bringing to their rallies


Plenty more examples out there I'm sure, I'll add some more as I come across them.
 
Nowhere did I say Target SHOULD be looted. I'm saying when people of color are being victimised and brutalized by police, when police respond to peaceful protests with violence (dozens upon dozens of videos have emerged of this in the past week) then I don't give two shits about a Target in comparison.

And I'm not calling anyone a pig because of their profession. I'm calling fascist murderers pigs. Not all cops are fascist murderers but there's systemic problems nationwide when the fascist murderer cops are not held accountable by their colleagues.

I'm so tired of people acting like looting and vandalism is the takeaway from these protests. When voices go unheard for so long and change doesn't occur no matter how peaceful you protest, are you that shocked when things bubble over like this?

Ever hear of the Boston Tea Party?

Did you read the quote or from MLK Jr in the article I posted with his comments on violence and looting? White people love to invoke MLK's name when preaching about how protest should always be peaceful when they really don't understand history fully.

There's plenty to "understand" here - you are choosing to not even try.
I'm with Nathaniel Essex on this one. Don't know if there's any deeper political message to the looting, I think most of the looters were waiting for a good opportunity to loot and gladly took it up. Any deeper meaning one may want to see in their actions is based on speculation. They may or may not be using violence to protest. What you know for sure is only the fact that they're looting.

Luckily they are a minority and most of the protesters do think peaceful protests do make a difference, otherwise they wouldn't be peacefully protesting.

Personally, I think it's a very bad idea to protest violence with violence. If people try to protest against a too violent police force by acting violent, they may end up biting more than they can chew.

Who knows what Donnie T. 's takeaway from the looting and riots will be? He might think "Oh shit, there's looting and chaos in the streets, the police need to toughen up. Maybe I need to change the laws so I can get the military on the streets anywhere, anytime." And he's got a decent chance of getting re-elected.

Violence can only further escalate the cycle of violence, not better things, imho.
 
I'm with Nathaniel Essex on this one. Don't know if there's any deeper political message to the looting, I think most of the looters were waiting for a good opportunity to loot and gladly took it up. Any deeper meaning one may want to see in their actions is based on speculation. They may or may not be using violence to protest. What you know for sure is only the fact that they're looting.

Luckily they are a minority and most of the protesters do think peaceful protests do make a difference, otherwise they wouldn't be peacefully protesting.

Personally, I think it's a very bad idea to protest violence with violence. If people try to protest against a too violent police force by acting violent, they may end up biting more than they can chew.

Who knows what Donnie T. 's takeaway from the looting and riots will be? He might think "Oh shit, there's looting and chaos in the streets, the police need to toughen up. Maybe I need to change the laws so I can get the military on the streets anywhere, anytime." And he's got a decent chance of getting re-elected.

Violence can only further escalate the cycle of violence, not better things, imho.

In an ideal world, yes you're right. But when has there ever been significant change without violence? It's the sad reality we live in. I truly believe if things didn't get a little ugly this past week, those 4 cops would not be facing the charges they're facing. Breonna Taylor's killers are still walking free, her boyfriend is facing murder charges for trying to protect himself and her from murderous intruders. It's an outrage.

I do think the tensions have simmered to a point allowing peaceful protest to resume without distraction. Hopefully. Looting sadly hurts the low income neighborhood residents where it occurs the most, no doubt about it.
 
In an ideal world, yes you're right. But when has there ever been significant change without violence? It's the sad reality we live in. I truly believe if things didn't get a little ugly this past week, those 4 cops would not be facing the charges they're facing. Breonna Taylor's killers are still walking free, her boyfriend is facing murder charges for trying to protect himself and her from murderous intruders. It's an outrage.

I do think the tensions have simmered to a point allowing peaceful protest to resume without distraction. Hopefully. Looting sadly hurts the low income neighborhood residents where it occurs the most, no doubt about it.
I agree with this but what I was originally saying is there is a big difference between attacking government buildings, police cars etc. and burning down independent stores, attacking private property and looting.

If I was related to the victim, my anger will spill over to a point of fucking up the government buildings etc. as much as possible but no way am I looting and attacking private property.
 
I agree with this but what I was originally saying is there is a big difference between attacking government buildings, police cars etc. and burning down independent stores, attacking private property and looting.

If I was related to the victim, my anger will spill over to a point of fucking up the government buildings etc. as much as possible but no way am I looting and attacking private property.

Agree 100%. I drove past Denver's Capitol building today and the graffiti is almost impressive and symbolic for the moment. I'm not shedding tears over it. Looting low income neighborhoods, on the other hand, robs residents of things they need in daily life. I still think the collateral damage is minimal compared to the real issues at hand. I don't like to see it and hate how it's a dominating part of the conversation right now.

This clip is going viral and is an extremely powerful condemnation of the looting taking place in this woman's neighborhood:

 
from all the clips ive seen online, the police are acting really brutal towards the innocent protestors. there has been some horrific clips / images of people being beaten, loosing their eyes. yesterday there was a clip of an old man who was pushed over by police.. he hit his head on the floor and blood was pouring out of his ear..there was even a image of a homeless man in a wheelchair who was bleeding from his face (eye?) after getting a "nonlethal" round ..he wasnt even protesting.

the sad thing is , these people getting injured by police are not even violent protesters or the criminals just people peacefully protesting.
 
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There have been numerous, countless peaceful protests in the past, yet innocent black people are still being murdered. Riots were inevitable. Does anyone really think this would have gotten the attention it has done if it was just another case of "let's stand about with banners and hope things change"?

If the destruction of buildings and businesses will result in a generation of black Americans who don't have legitimate fear for their lives from the police, then it's more than worth it.

I truly hope this finally leads to proper change.

Having said that, the attacks on police in London is a fucking joke and just a case of opportunistic twats tryna take advantage. Whilst there have certainly been similar incidents of corrupt, racist, and outright murderous British police in the past, the scales and consequences pale in comparison.

On the whole, I reckon our country has a good police force, one that - dare I say - we can be proud of.
 
In an ideal world, yes you're right. But when has there ever been significant change without violence? It's the sad reality we live in. I truly believe if things didn't get a little ugly this past week, those 4 cops would not be facing the charges they're facing. Breonna Taylor's killers are still walking free, her boyfriend is facing murder charges for trying to protect himself and her from murderous intruders. It's an outrage.

I do think the tensions have simmered to a point allowing peaceful protest to resume without distraction. Hopefully. Looting sadly hurts the low income neighborhood residents where it occurs the most, no doubt about it.
A lot of historical examples come to mind. Czechoslovakia, Eastern Germany and to an extent also India (Gandhi) although there has been horrible violence between Muslim (now known as Pakistani /Bangladeshi) and Hindu Indians in the vein of India's independence from Britain.

Saying that non-violent protest cannot be successful isn't true.
 
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