George Floyd - America so f**ked up

Re Suffragettes

"During the radical suffragette campaign, some women carried out attacks on works of art in an attempt to publicise their cause.

In 1914, Mary Richardson infamously slashed the Velasquez painting known as the Rokeby Venus in the National Gallery.

The Mount Stewart exhibition includes a sheet of identity photographs of suffragettes issued to the National Portrait Gallery by the Metropolitan Police following the slashing incident."

Were they wrong?

Ok.
Then I presume you would not fight for a just cause if artefacts, valuable in the eyes of the opponents' of your cause, would be damaged.

Ok.

And where did it get them? Their success was built on putting the nation’s issues ahead of their own by standing down for the First World War. Their co-operation with the state made it harder to ignore them than when they were blowing sh** up.

The media would have you believe it was “‘many” but did you know Rod that less than 2% of the population of Bristol signed the last petition to remove Colston’s statue? Why is that percentage so small as to be insignificant? Could it be that up until George Floyd’s killing people in Bristol had other things to worry about, like keeping a roof over their head, than a statue?

Exactly...so why the fuss? The statue meant a lot more to Afro Caribbeans than John Smith who, more than likely, had no clue as to who Colston was and cared even less. If some white skinned folk did know who he was and what he stood for and chose to support the Afro Caribbean community, good on them.

Tbf, using that statistic is hardly the fairest way to put the argument. How many signed for Cummings to be sacked? 1.1m. Which is what, less than 2% of the UK population? Yet we know the true number is much higher, as suggested by YouGov. 

I think there's a very clear line of those who "deserve statues" and those who do not. Of course you could argue that judging by modern standards historical figures are almost always morally bankrupt, but oftentimes not. Take Mother Teresa for instance, she's a saint but her charity work has received widespread criticism, she would prioritise churches over hospitals in third world regions, the hospitals she built were ridiculously unhygienic and have been compared to the medical facilities of certain concentration camps, but she was willing to receive quality medical care for herself, but not for others. But no mob is ever going to take down a Mother Teresa statue, because there's a very big difference. Again, Liam Neeson's comments vs Mark Wahlberg having a history of abusing black people and of racist comments. There is a clear and cut line and the statue was never there for historical purposes, if it was there would have been clear information about the negative things Colston did, there wasn't. I just think it's clear who doesn't deserve a statue and who does, I mean, are you implying anyone can have a statue be placed in public? Oswald Mosley? Enoch Powell? The Moors' Murderers? No, of course not. None of these people deserve statues even though they'd suit the same purposes of "education." 

In theory, but forgive me for my cynicism about how genuine that support is. I struggle to buy into it that there has been a genuine “great awokening” and not some new shiny bandwagon for the wannabe extreme left to jump on, just as they jumped on climate change and told us it was the greatest issue facing society, just as they clapped for our carers and demanded we all do the same, then they told us that actually, they got it wrong it’s not climate change or covid, racism is the biggest issue! See where I’m going? Forgive me for being cynical that these inverse “Karen’s” haven’t just found another vehicle to assuage their white (possibly middle class) guilt, a cause that will be dropped like a hot potato in short order in favour of trans rights or some such fluff. The lack of signatures for Colston’s removal is a case in point for me. No-one cared in any great numbers until Saturday and I don’t think the erasing of history should be subject to internet fads lead by people who need a new cause celebre for five minutes.

Let’s revisit this in 9 months to a year and see if the talk is still about statues or systemic racism. Most likely we’ll have moved on to no deal Brexit and everyone will say “George Floyd...who was he? Edward Colston? Nah, don’t know him mate”. Sadly for us in Britain the cause that burns out rather than fades away is the story as old as time.

The quote is illegitimate, that's why. Just like the quotes "Anyone can deal with victory. Only the mighty can bear defeat." and "When diplomacy ends, War begins." and "The man who has no sense of history, is like a man who has no ears or eyes" shouldn't be taken seriously? Why? Because they're Adolf Hitler quotes. The quote "The fascists of the future will call themselves anti-fascists" comes from a person who ordered a gathering of people protesting against fascism in Greece to be killed.