A lot of the young black males carrying the stomping around starting fights are doing that because that is their way of communicating. Some people need to be working or doing physical activity. They aren’t protesting, they’re going round finding the odd white man saying or doing something that either is out of order full stop or this week deserves a kick in from 10-20 pairs of feet on your head. That isn’t protesting for a purpose. It’s just mindless violence. All the highly intelligent civil rights protesters would agree and have said so. That is fact. That is history. The talking points and changes will provide those with talent, ability, hard work and endeavour the opportunities to climb. Those that rely on violence and intimidation won’t.

If you couldn’t understand that I’ll make it clear that plenty of talented or smart black people can and will prosper now and with some changes in society. I’m not going to say much more but there have been issues for some black people of black people near them prospering, of school and gang culture and their community control holding people down so nobody is perfect or free from criticism over recent decades.

Not many people have come out of this well and loads of people need to do some soul searching of what they’re doing or have been doing.

Earlier I had someone talking about black people being slaughtered everyday. You just can’t engage with this kind of garbage.

Edited by Rudi Hedman (05 Jun 2020 10.45pm)

COYP

The whole subject is an emotive one. It's evidentially the case that all being equal or close to it, young black people, do get harsher sentences for the same crime. This isn't news. It shouldn't really shock anyone and is an injustice. People are blinkered or disingenuous if they claim otherwise or that it's all one big positive and advantage being black and that any and all problems faced are exclusively of a persons own making.

At the same time though, there are aspects that people are able to fix within their own communities which aren't anyone elses problem in any sense. And George Floyd level events that have happened to white people, which haven't become such flashpoint events. That's partly due to the history of the country and policing, but also partly political. Lots in life isn't fair for countless people, black or white; that's where these movements sometimes lose people. If a white working class guy is on minimum wage and struggling to make ends meet, it's not much use telling him that he has "white privilege", because he doesn't. In the US democrats lose support by checking off a laundry list of minority groups, while not really ever mentioning the average joe. On the other end of that equation the republicans, while more aspiration orientated, often give a nod and a wink to those with racist outlooks. It's an unfortunate political set up really.

We don't precisely mirror the states though, even though it might look like it sometimes. Things are far from perfect but as a whole we tend to get on with things more compared to some of the hysteria over there. It's often said that Americans need a little more hope than we do. Sometimes that hope brings expectations and problems along with it.

Edited by BlueJay (06 Jun 2020 2.34am)

The Scottish Labour Party is in a tricky position in this age of personality politics - most people are hard pressed to name it’s leader.

Social liberalism has been in charge for the last sixty years or so.

Everything you see before you has been its result....it has some good aspects but where it has been bad....it's been very bad and will continue to be so.

Edited by Stirlingsays (06 Jun 2020 6.06am)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

A man got beaten up in the street
That’s bad
He was a Trump supporter
Oh, then it’s good
But he was gay
Oh, then it’s bad
But he doesn’t support Climate change
Oh, then it’s good
He might be transgender
Oh, then it’s bad
He’s white
Oh, then it’s good
He’s a nurse
Oh, then it’s bad
His family are well off
Oh, then it’s good
He’s a vegan
Oh, then it’s bad
He’s a religious person
Which religion? This could go either way.

Out of interest Bill, looking at your user name, are you a Kurt Vonnegut fan?

"It feels much better than it ever did, much more sensitive." John Wayne Bobbit