General Discussion

gollygee

(22,336 posts)

25. What people really mean when they complain about 'Black Lives Matter' protests

Tue Apr 21, 2015, 04:50 PM

Apr 2015

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/15/black-lives-matter-protest-complaints_n_7071788.html

much more at link

WHAT THEY SAY:

"I'm fine with protesting, but why don't they protest in front of a police station or another approved location instead of blocking traffic?"

WHAT WE HEAR:

"I'm fine with protesting, as long as I'm not forced to see it, hear it, acknowledge it, be at all inconvenienced by it or challenged to do anything about it."

WHAT THEY SAY:

"I agree that 'Black Lives Matter,' but disrupting my commute will only turn me against these protests."

WHAT WE HEAR:

"I agree that 'Black Lives Matter,' but every little piece of my daily life matters more."

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I think some protest tactics like blocking walkways hurt more than help progressive causes. [View all] alp227 Apr 2015 OP

The point of a demonstration is to take an overlooked problem and put it in peoples' faces. HereSince1628 Apr 2015 #1

Police brutality does far more than inconvienience our lives. It kills us. bravenak Apr 2015 #2

At least people could go to other restaurants if they didn't like the sit-ins. alp227 Apr 2015 #6

You are full of it right now. bravenak Apr 2015 #12

"There are not businesses damaged" Explain what happened in Oakland then. alp227 Apr 2015 #15

Not every protest has property damage. bravenak Apr 2015 #37

Tell that to the people stuck in riot worn Detroit. romanic Apr 2015 #82

That riot is not every riot. bravenak Apr 2015 #84

That riot romanic Apr 2015 #89

What has that to do with the black lives matters protests? bravenak Apr 2015 #90

You brought up property not me. romanic Apr 2015 #93

What obnoxious display of bigotry? bravenak Apr 2015 #95

Preventing students from going to class. romanic Apr 2015 #96

And that's bigotry? bravenak Apr 2015 #97

For instance romanic Apr 2015 #98

White flight was happening before those riots. get your facts straight Quayblue Apr 2015 #110

How many riots does it take to irredeemably piss-off the people whose lives were trashed? Nuclear Unicorn Apr 2015 #99

Seriously, WHY do you use the Anarchy symbol as your avatar? Erich Bloodaxe BSN Apr 2015 #101

I would invite you to gain a deeper understanding of anarchy. Nuclear Unicorn Apr 2015 #115

This is ridiculous. The protests are not riots. bravenak Apr 2015 #106

You said, "That riot is not every riot." The word "that" was used in the determining sense. Nuclear Unicorn Apr 2015 #116

Uh, yeah, because the poster I was talking to wanted To talk about riots. bravenak Apr 2015 #120

Errr my gawd a sidewalk was blocked... giftedgirl77 Apr 2015 #7

Yep. bravenak Apr 2015 #39

I saw more romanic Apr 2015 #83

This message was self-deleted by its author jen63 Apr 2015 #104

+1000! jen63 Apr 2015 #107

I wish you would watch the American upaloopa Apr 2015 #3

Discomfort is one thing, ruining lives is another. alp227 Apr 2015 #4

What about the dead unarmed black men? bravenak Apr 2015 #8

I wish people cared, too. alp227 Apr 2015 #14

When the peaceful protests are ignored then violence upaloopa Apr 2015 #19

At what cost though? alp227 Apr 2015 #21

At that point at what cost doesn't matter upaloopa Apr 2015 #24

On what objective measure are you basing your cost-benefit analysis/guess? LanternWaste Apr 2015 #27

Right up to the point SwankyXomb Apr 2015 #70

America is changing. bravenak Apr 2015 #26

America is always changing. cwydro Apr 2015 #64

That was not a discriminitory remark. It was a reminder that the same stuff was said about the bravenak Apr 2015 #68

Boomers are involved in current protests. cwydro Apr 2015 #78

Nobody said we weren't. bravenak Apr 2015 #80

Finally some young people join us! peace13 Apr 2015 #109

I wish we were there too. bravenak Apr 2015 #113

The two are unrelated.... Oktober Apr 2015 #61

There is no way to know that is going on. upaloopa Apr 2015 #18

What about the lives ruined by police brutality? bravenak Apr 2015 #5

I have nothing against you. But why put words in my mouth? alp227 Apr 2015 #9

A protest does not ruin their lives. bravenak Apr 2015 #16

Fair enough that people can call work if the commute is unexpectedly blocked. alp227 Apr 2015 #20

I think we should block everything, myself. bravenak Apr 2015 #31

How does that help justice? Travis_0004 Apr 2015 #60

>Thanks 840high Apr 2015 #79

Definitely. romanic Apr 2015 #86

"as those poooor inconvenience folks who never have to deal with racism and shit..." oberliner Apr 2015 #10

Did I say that? bravenak Apr 2015 #13

You wrote that the people being inconvenienced never have to deal with racism oberliner Apr 2015 #30

You misunderstood. bravenak Apr 2015 #33

Fair enough oberliner Apr 2015 #44

C'est la vie! bravenak Apr 2015 #47

I respect your point of view oberliner Apr 2015 #52

The goal is not to change minds. bravenak Apr 2015 #55

I'm going to respectfully disagree oberliner Apr 2015 #56

Two different movements. bravenak Apr 2015 #57

No doubt, the first world convenience of many people was disrupted on August 28, 1963. LanternWaste Apr 2015 #11

The March on Washington was 20+ years in the making, and was part of a large and multi-faceted Chathamization Apr 2015 #28

Then objectively measure the righteousness of the two protests for us LanternWaste Apr 2015 #34

How about effectiveness? Do you think the Days of Rage and the March on Washington were equally Chathamization Apr 2015 #40

Bush had the right idea with free speech zones. Gidney N Cloyd Apr 2015 #17

I agree with you. A bunch of people holding signs and marching draws attention. A bunch of people okaawhatever Apr 2015 #22

The 99% zipplewrath Apr 2015 #23

What people really mean when they complain about 'Black Lives Matter' protests gollygee Apr 2015 #25

Glad that a white guy can set everyone straight on Black Lives Matter oberliner Apr 2015 #36

You being a snarkbucket seems a little off. bravenak Apr 2015 #41

I meant Nick Wing - the guy who wrote that piece oberliner Apr 2015 #48

I'm fine with white folks writing about black stuff. As long as they're not being assholes. bravenak Apr 2015 #50

Fair enough oberliner Apr 2015 #53

Regardless of the cause, it comes down to one question: is the tactic effective? arcane1 Apr 2015 #29

Organize, get behind a progressive candidate, and... Mike Nelson Apr 2015 #32

I cover this shit nadinbrzezinski Apr 2015 #35

There are plenty of middle class and rich white people protesting oberliner Apr 2015 #38

I am talking of my local experience nadinbrzezinski Apr 2015 #42

Gotcha oberliner Apr 2015 #45

I just observe and report nadinbrzezinski Apr 2015 #51

Thanks for sharing that oberliner Apr 2015 #54

Nonsense. Daemonaquila Apr 2015 #43

What you've written is definitely not true oberliner Apr 2015 #46

Hell yeah! Everything you just said! bravenak Apr 2015 #49

Hmmm but that was such an inconvenience to tea drinkers. gollygee Apr 2015 #58

Like making it impossible for a person in a wheelchair to get to their job? oberliner Apr 2015 #62

I did not post it, but we have had nadinbrzezinski Apr 2015 #63

Can exceptions be made? oberliner Apr 2015 #65

And who is telling you that this is not happening? nadinbrzezinski Apr 2015 #67

From the OP oberliner Apr 2015 #69

A lot of it is media management nadinbrzezinski Apr 2015 #72

Thank you for sharing that oberliner Apr 2015 #73

You welcome nadinbrzezinski Apr 2015 #74

What exactly would you have people do? guillaumeb Apr 2015 #59

This is the same complaint made about labor strikes. Starry Messenger Apr 2015 #66

What if a bunch of anti-abortion activists shut down the freeway at rush hour? Throd Apr 2015 #71

Shhhhhhh... linuxman Apr 2015 #87

They have a right to protest gollygee Apr 2015 #114

"((((((inconveniencing people)))))))" 99Forever Apr 2015 #75

So an inconvnience to the people that use that gate is worsre than police murdering an unarmed Agnosticsherbet Apr 2015 #76

You're kidding, right? Have you ever publically protested anything yourself? Hekate Apr 2015 #77

I have protested, most recently here. alp227 Apr 2015 #81

Also.... peace13 Apr 2015 #118

The people defending this shitfest romanic Apr 2015 #85

Welcome to DU. peace13 Apr 2015 #119

I'd like to say these types of linuxman Apr 2015 #88

I don't have a problem with it. joshcryer Apr 2015 #91

But does it change anything in the long run? romanic Apr 2015 #92

Not very much if at all. joshcryer Apr 2015 #94

I agree with you. I also think people who fast as a protest are ridiculous. Vinca Apr 2015 #100

And make sure that you are voting on a black box....not! peace13 Apr 2015 #105

Only New York state held out on HAVA until we got paper ballots. Bohunk68 Apr 2015 #111

Sounds like a good one. peace13 Apr 2015 #112

people who have been comfortable allowing their public officials to kill and injure with impunity bigtree Apr 2015 #102

Who said the general public were "comfortable" with police brutality? romanic Apr 2015 #108

Thanks for this bigtree. peace13 Apr 2015 #117

If not the sidewalk, where then? peace13 Apr 2015 #103

in Ferguson bigtree Apr 2015 #121