LOLOL
It is an argument for something that didn't happen. Do people not see how crazy this is???
-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Black Lives Matter activists chain themselves to road at Heathrow Airport, UK
- Thread starter Napoleonthechimp
- Start date
- Status
LOLOL
It is an argument for something that didn't happen. Do people not see how crazy this is???
He's certainly not right, so quantum right/wrong? He's Shrodinger correct?
Did you spend £2000 on a holiday? Are you personally being affected? Why do you care?
You think this is about you or anyone else whose inconvenienced? Your missing the point entirely. This isn't about you, this is about the systemic racism and injustice plaguing black people. Apparently UK treats black people just as shittily as the rest of the world and they are tired of it.
Who gives a flying fuck that someone who could very obviously change their plans is inconvenienced by a people who cannot very easily change their persecution.
DragonSworne
Banned
It's amazing people in this topic are showing more empathy to miffed travelers than the minorities who lose their lives on account to police brutality.
You can cut the last part, the fact that the police was involved doesn't really changes much.
Finally we found a common ground between UK and mainland Europe!
Silver Arrows
Banned
What do you expect? People from Britain want something they can feel superior about, so they dump their heads in the sand and think the problem of racism against blacks doesn't exist where they are, and is outwardly visible. yet are the first ones to lambast the US for their own skeletons in the closet when it comes to racism and discrimination.
Liu Kang Baking A Pie
Member
What's giving you the authority to say this? You literally haven't said a single right thing or demonstrated having any actual knowledge of a single thing about this issue. Have you read their Twitter?
http://twitter.com/ukblm
Uh, what?
I'm not suggesting that racism isn't an issue in the U.K - I'm simply stating that it should be viewed within it's own unique socio-economic lenses (separately) from the United States. Britain profited enormously from slavery, of that there is no doubt, but it didn't actually take place in the U.K. Nor did segregation - to my knowledge.
No need for the snark.
Slavery most certainly was happening in Britain.
They didn't make the 1833 Act just for the colonies.
Considering how South Africa was segregated for so long, I doubt there wasn't something similar happening in the UK either.
You really need to brush up on your history.
GoldenCrow
Member
A non existent issue? Are you kidding? A populace of people is treated completely different than others simply because of the colour of their skin and that is a non issue? What is wrong with you.
It isn't about the US is has little to do with it and is primarily about the UK. The severity may not be as bad as it is in the US but systematic racism is well and truly active in the UK. Maybe you haven't noticed it but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Dyson Industries
Banned
No, you'll receive all the snark and then some when you specifically called out slavery in your original post. Splitting hairs on where the slaves actually were while ignoring the economic engine that those people powered is more than disingenuous, it's disgusting.
And segregation was and is still most definitely a thing here, thank you.. Your ignorance on the topic is shocking.
Sure, I'd love to more educated on this issue.
I'm much more aware of American race problems as it's been highlighted so very often
Any links?
I'm most definitely not trying to downplay the barbaric industry of slavery - I was simply saying, perhaps wrongly, that the issue of race is in the U.K is separate from the transatlantic slave trade as the people most (negatively) impacted were on another continent.
I don't have any handy but I am sure there is a Wikipedia article with plenty of citations you can use as a starting point.
You can start there or maybe there
or just take a look there.
Pretty UK centric but I guess that's the topic for today.
Not really, kinda like the US.
basically a whole population was enslaved and afterwards plenty of rationalization came to somehow make light of the situation to try to prove that the people who did this weren't complete monsters.
Basically how Japan dealt with WWII.
Skellig Gra
Member
I guess they gloss over all the bad stuff in UK schools too. South Africa is a perfect example of how things certainly did "take place"
Make that Europe, if the UK and France don't really talk about it, it's not going to be much better in Spain or Germany.
Your link is probably more important than some of mine, lol
timetokill
Banned
The mere fact that you think this is actually proof of this kind of action being needed
Most British people think that on balance the British Empire was a good thing for the people it conquered. It's nostalgic racism and a symptom of an education syllabus that spends a lot of time teaching about the Victorian era, the Tudors and sodding crop rotation and nothing about what utter bastards we were.
What did he mean by this?
Member
"I was going to support black lives but they blocked a road so now I'm a racist."
Liu Kang Baking A Pie
Member
I love BLM for exposing everyone to the hidden truths within us.
Thanks guys - really informative stuff.
Should have been more clear in my original post that I wasn't trying to downplay Britain's involvement in the slave trade, which was significant and horrendous, but was referring to the topic at hand (BLM in the U.K) and the historical treatment of black people within Britain. In the segregation sense, I meant "Jim Crow" - legal separation of races in the law. Should have made that more clear, too. Segregation in the sense you are speaking of Kiddizzy is a reality in housing estates all over the country.
The British Empire was unequivocally awful for the vast majority of those it touched.
timetokill
Banned
Dude had dreams and talked about them, and he was known to walk places, which was a popular activity at the time, but he never did it when white people wanted to do something else.
Dyson Industries
Banned
Silver Arrows
Banned
Further proving my point: that Brits don't want to look at their own history with racism, and desperately want to point and feel smug about America's.
It's worth remembering that there were almost no non-white communities in the UK before the 1950s, less than 20,000 people total. The Black British experience is still an migrant experience in the way the US one isn't. It's also one shared with Asian and middle eastern immigrants in way distinct from america where black people have clearly had a unique history and are still in a unique situation.
Other have touched on the slavery issue, so on to segregation.
It is true that there was no official segregation in the UK but there was plenty of unofficial stuff.
Hell the conservative party 50 years ago ran a local election with the catchphrase
"If you want a nigger for a neighbor, vote Labor"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/15/britains-most-racist-election-smethwick-50-years-on''
EDIT: Hah I see Kidizzy covered this while I was doing other stuff
You can probably scour British laws to get segregating laws.
You can bet they had them.
I don't think anyone was as blattant as the US's Jim Crow laws were though, and downright lynching people as a family venue seems downright barbaric for Europeans sensibilities...Then again you take a look at pogroms and you wonder...
I'm not really sure about that, if the UK empire functionned in any close to the French Colonial Empire it meant that the colonies were a part of the country like any other.
Then again it depends if the colony was meant to be a place to live or just exploit its resources.
For example Algeria for France was pretty much a part of the country like Lyon and its region were.
Still the case for the overseas departments for France.
the mainland probably never saw them as anything but the cheapest workforce ever with no rights and only duties.
Well, Ireland was the only colony that was really treated as an integral part of the British state. Outside of that it is much more of a hodge-podge. The East India Company still ruled India until 1857 for example, which wasn't separate but was still distinct from the British state in a certain sense. Some places were not formally part of the Empire even if they were in practise, Egypt from 1882-1914 was like this iirc.
FunkyPajamas
Member
Fucking hell this thread. I'm so sorry some might have been mildly inconvenienced by people protesting about wanting to be treated like people.
There is racism and systemic oppression of minorities pretty much everywhere in the world. The issue isn't only relegated to America. I can't believe the lack of empathy on some of you.
There is racism and systemic oppression of minorities pretty much everywhere in the world. The issue isn't only relegated to America. I can't believe the lack of empathy on some of you.
Whatever you do, DO NOT read the thread.
Holding up traffic to an airport is a dick move, but holding up traffic within a prominently Black and Asian area, under the guise of BLM, is utterly retarded.
Yup - I'm sure all those black and Asian folk had to good long think about their prejudices when stuck in that traffic jam, good going.
smh
They are the majority in Birmingham, and the second largest majority in London. They are not protestors, just attention seekers using the BLM banner to give themselves something fun to do.
Yup - I'm sure all those black and Asian folk had to good long think about their prejudices when stuck in that traffic jam, good going.
smh
They are the majority in Birmingham, and the second largest majority in London. They are not protestors, just attention seekers using the BLM banner to give themselves something fun to do.
DragonSworne
Banned
This act of protesting helped raise awareness to the race issues that are occurring in the UK in this thread alone.
How is it counterproductive?
perfectchaos007
Member
Yikes locking arms with other protesters on a tarmac is pretty dangerous. Planes have the right-of-way there, just like cars do on freeways. Hope no one gets hurt.
Messofanego
Banned
You need to sort yourself out if a protest leads you to such anger. A strike from unions could happen at any point at an airport or other public institution and that can be a regular thing such as RMT strikes (one is already planned for next week). If you can handle that, handle this.
yanipheonu
Member
They're confusing the message. There's a difference between a protest of a very specific symbol of oppression and just protesting wherever you'll make some noise.
Poor BLM desperately needs their own MLK. The leadership is just questionable. A lot of the protests seem poorly thought out.
They gotta stick with stuff like the million man march and the bus boycotts of old, clear symbols against clear oppression.
Blocking airport roads and gay pride parades confuses the message. Makes it more about the noise, not the message they're trying to say.
Trying to invalidate the protesters and their actions because they protested in an area with a large minority population? Nice.
Yikes locking arms with other protesters on a tarmac is pretty dangerous. Planes have the right-of-way there, just like cars do on freeways. Hope no one gets hurt.
Is the second gif a crime? If you slowly roll through locked arms?
Why would it be a crime? There might be a trespassing or jaywalking crime in the second gif but that's it.
think he was talking about the driver
This, most of the UK probably didn't realise this protest was happening and few cared, a ten second news report that was met with rolled eyes and quickly forgotten. Without actively searching out the groups twitter which you wouldn't bother doing if you didn't care then this was just a daft stunt simply to annoy people.
If you have only heard of 'BLM' when linked to US police killings you would struggle to see the associations to the UK as police killings are immensely rarer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_..._Kingdom#Multiple_deaths_in_a_single_incident
Any group are annoying travellers and commuters for a reason they really need to make it very clear so when that 10 second news report comes round people know what they are protesting about.
That's true, although as a Pakistani I sometimes wonder how different my life would have been if not for colonization- probably living as a farmer in my home village or something, so as someone on the receiving end of that colonization, I have to admit a part of me acknowledges the spread of higher modes of thinking and secular thought that came out of colonization. I am surprised to hear that the UK does not dwell on its colonization (and associated atrocities) as much though, here in Canad we go through middle school constantly reminded of the plight of the Native Americans as a result of our British forefathers, and likewise in Germany a lot of emphasis is placed on educating the populace on the evils of its past.
CyclopsRock
Member
The number of ethnic minorities killed by the police in the UK is less than their relative population in the UK. Interesting fact.
Those "higher modes of thinking" included western homophobia and transphobia, evils that India/Pakistan have yet to recover from. Maybe you would have been a farmer but until we can visit a parallel universe where India wasn't pillaged, ruled with an iron fist, its people made to fight and die in Britain's wars and then split in two by the British we'll never know!
India was the second largest economy in the world before the British conquered it so I think you are selling your ancestors short.yanipheonu
Member
It was the key flaw in the Toronto Pride Parade BLM protest.
If you read into it, you understand it was a specific grevance against the parade managers. I understand the reasoning.
But if you're just a guy watching the news or standing there at the parade, you're thinking "why the hell is BLM protesting oppression at a Gay Pride parade?"
Whether or not thats fair, it shows a lack of consideration whether their message is coming out clearly.
There needs to be better leadership. There are plenty of people, it seems, willing to protest all the bullshit that happens to black people, but a lack of focus in concentrating that action into the right places does a disservice to the whole movement.
Have a major protest in front of a major police or government building. Pick a place symbolic due to perhaps historical significance or on a specific day that can better send a message. Do everything possible to make sure your message is as clear as possible, not just as loud and disruptive as possible.
Theres a difference between a million man march in Washington, and a million men clogging the streets near an airport.
- Status