George Floyd - America so f**ked up

Like I said it's the decades old argument amongst the Afro American Community, do you follow the MLK method of protest and resistance or the more "direct action" methods of Malcolm X.
To be fair the vast majority followed MLK, for a couple of reasons.
A) He was right to call out the Apartheid.
B) He had the Christian Church (mainstream if not the loonies) behind him
C) The liberal Jewish community supported him (a big deal in New York, politically)
D) He preached passive, non violent resistance.

I think all of us who were around in the UK in the mid to late 60s supported him, if you were inclined to believe that the State was oppressing minority groups, or indeed anyone who dared challenge the establishment.

The sad thing is that here we are 50 years later and still the same debate is being had.
Afro Americans are evidentially treated differently by the authorities.
So can anyone claim that passive resistance worked?
Before anyone jumps down my throat I am not arguing for violence, but I am suggesting that you can understand the anger and frustration felt by the Afro American community. Once you get that then perhaps the knee jerk reactions can be tempered.
Let's not forget also that three people were shot dead as soon as there became evidence that their views were gaining traction, or sympathy, in "mainstream" America.
Martin Luther King
Bobby Kennedy
And to a lesser extent Malcolm X who converted to Islam. AKA Malcolm Little.

Trump is now applying the same tactic, describing protesters as "Domestic Terrorists" and defending the white vigilante supremacists who shoot them.

Some things never change do they.

As for you joining the marches William if you had been around, admirable but not enough.
Would you have walked into the Blacks Only Bathroom? Used the Blacks Only Entrances? Would you have joined the Congress of Racial Equality, an act along with their own selfless activism got Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner, three Jewish young men, murdered in Mississippi in 1964?

Against that backdrop and the continued killings, the ridiculous disproportionate representation of minority groups in disadvantaged lower income group, is anyone really surprised that people protest?

Like I said it's the decades old argument amongst the Afro American Community, do you follow the MLK method of protest and resistance or the more "direct action" methods of Malcolm X.
To be fair the vast majority followed MLK, for a couple of reasons.
A) He was right to call out the Apartheid.
B) He had the Christian Church (mainstream if not the loonies) behind him
C) The liberal Jewish community supported him (a big deal in New York, politically)
D) He preached passive, non violent resistance.

I think all of us who were around in the UK in the mid to late 60s supported him, if you were inclined to believe that the State was oppressing minority groups, or indeed anyone who dared challenge the establishment.

The sad thing is that here we are 50 years later and still the same debate is being had.
Afro Americans are evidentially treated differently by the authorities.
So can anyone claim that passive resistance worked?
Before anyone jumps down my throat I am not arguing for violence, but I am suggesting that you can understand the anger and frustration felt by the Afro American community. Once you get that then perhaps the knee jerk reactions can be tempered.
Let's not forget also that three people were shot dead as soon as there became evidence that their views were gaining traction, or sympathy, in "mainstream" America.
Martin Luther King
Bobby Kennedy
And to a lesser extent Malcolm X who converted to Islam. AKA Malcolm Little.

Trump is now applying the same tactic, describing protesters as "Domestic Terrorists" and defending the white vigilante supremacists who shoot them.

Some things never change do they.

As for you joining the marches William if you had been around, admirable but not enough.
Would you have walked into the Blacks Only Bathroom? Used the Blacks Only Entrances? Would you have joined the Congress of Racial Equality, an act along with their own selfless activism got Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner, three Jewish young men, murdered in Mississippi in 1964?

I can`t say with any certainty what I would have done, if I`d lived in that time and under those circumstances.  Can you?  Can anyone?
I`m pretty sure I know what I wouldn`t have done though.  I wouldn`t have got a can of petrol, and started setting fire to my own neighbourhood.
According to an article in the ST, one of the buildings burned down in Kenosha was owned by a local black businesswoman, and sold hair products for the local black community.
HTF does setting that on fire help anybody?   The anger and frustration felt by the African American community may well be understandable, but giving vent to it to the extent that they burn down their own communities, isn`t.  

Whilst I understand your sentiments I can say that during my adult life I have witnessed many acts of selflessness and charitable acts that have been inspiring and leaves me to think we are not beyond redemption.

I wonder how many truely selfless people there are out there, much less than 1% would be my guess.

Modern culture is built on a capitalist system, so it's 'winners or losers'.

The system is to blame for people being selfish.

Whilst I understand your sentiments I can say that during my adult life I have witnessed many acts of selflessness and charitable acts that have been inspiring and leaves me to think we are not beyond redemption.

Ultimately William I guess one's reaction comes down to the degree to which one tolerates injustice at the lower end of the scale to fascism at the other.

I wonder how many truely selfless people there are out there, much less than 1% would be my guess.

Modern culture is built on a capitalist system, so it's 'winners or losers'.

The system is to blame for people being selfish.

I don't accept the "system "is to blame,we are all individuals have our own values, integrity and ability to make informed decisions blaming the system is a cop out.