On social media, I see everyone posting about a video of a police officer killing a black man in custody by putting him in a deadly choke hold. The man’s name was George Floyd. I wanted to create this thread in case anyone wanted to talk about it. Some questions to start: Is this even worthy of asking for change? If so, what changes need to be made. How is social media being used to address the issue, and is it effective? What is your opinion on the Black Lives Matter movement? What are Asian-Americans’ or other minorities’ roles in the movement? What are white people’s role in the movement?
I tried to make the questions as unbiased as possible, but I do have a strong opinion about this topic. Please share your thoughts or ask questions if something is unclear. I’ll try my best to gather all the credible information as I can. Let’s please be civil and probably most importantly let’s compassionate as people have lost their lives and lost their loved ones. Thank you.
I think it's very indicative of the issue to see how the police are reacting to the whole situation. It needs to be said that not all policemen are to blame, as some publicly showed respect and support for the protesters. Still, the issue is systemic, as I've recently heard again that black people are three times as likely to get arrested by the police as white people in America. And this kind of attitude is even encouraged by people like Trump. By calling the protesters 'very bad antifa people' (not a verbatim quote, but in essence it's what he said), he focuses on a minority of violent rioters to justify equally violent reactions from the police, ignoring the justified criticism of the majority of protesters. He's by far not the first to use this subterfuge, but his threat to sic the military on the protesters chills my blood. I'm afraid of what's going to happen next.
Agreed 100%! If the issue is systemic, what are the most effective ways to make change? Like you said, a minority of protesters are being violent. It can be argued that some of these protesters aren't even protesting at all, but I think we can agree that rioting and looting are doing far more harm than good. Other than that, people are building awareness, donating, and signing petitions in order to get the movement rolling. Is protesting enough, or should we continue the fight by using our vote?
