You don't understand the protests? No. You don't.

I understand peaceful protests, yes.

i understand protests.

i don’t understand the looting/ destruction of personal property

As a white person living in Australia I don't understand it either BUT what I can see is the pain and misery, discrimination and unjust practices against coloured people since the first slave ship docked way back when.

The blacks in America would have to be one of the most displaced persons in the entire world. They were given no say in what happened to them. Ripped from their families, the countries and their way of life in such a barbaric way they have been fighting ever since. 

This riots and what is coming with them is not just about the death of George Floyd but about all the other deaths that have happened, all the discrimination, the poor work/living conditions - the list goes on. This is the breaking point with the community saying NO MORE. 

I think I understand. At least in terms of cause -> effect. I do not claim to understand the rage, and confluence of circumstances that has led to this moment. I have that privilege.

Am I sad for the people who have to deal with damaged property, and personal violence at the hands of rioters. Am I shocked, and frustrated that other paths weren't taken. Of course!

I am not a regular poster here, but in places where I am a regular poster I had to step away because my choice to not join their calls of indignation toward the rioters...did not go well. These people wring their hands, and say, "I don't understand. Help me understand." Then respond to the 1 or or 2 people who offer explanations with a stream of reasons why they are doubling-down on previously held beliefs. How dare people excuse violence and destruction! And then in the next post, call for violence toward these people as the solution, and label them with derogatory and inflammatory terms.

So I've been trying to think of more productive ways. The hard part is that, I am a really, really, really strong introvert. My circle is literally my DH, and my Dad that lives in FL. I have other family, in other parts of the country, but the personal relationship is acquaintance level. I've had more personal relationships with online people than in real life, but as people's lives ebb and flow those relationships have ceased. I am a lonely individual, and most of the time that's okay, but then there are situations like this, and it's hard to know where to begin, and more importantly how to be effective. I know there are places to donate, but that seems like not enough.

I see the messages about voting, which is certainly a very important part. But it's slow. Elections aren't until November, with actual handoff in January, and even political leaders with strong policy solutions then have to get it approved by their legislative body, where it gets nit-picked and watered down to once again, become ineffective if it reaches the floor at all. No one politician can implement change on his own. Look at what happened with the Obama administration. Even Department policies and Executive Orders have been systematically overturned over the last 3+ years.

I have been thinking about how corporations have responded, with the realization that it's not enough. A message on Twitter or Facebook in support of #BLM means very little when your corporate policies do not address the root causes of all of this. Not just criminal justice, but all aspects of social inequality. Not just social profiling, "shopping while black." Or even in the makeup of the employees and management. Living wage, health care, family leave, etc. So many corporations have justified their inability to provide those things. Then the pandemic happened, and suddenly "essential workers" can have $2 hour raises and sick leave (temporarily), and others can have friendlier WFH policies that might help with parental availability. These things have the benefit of being solutions for many people. Solutions that target racial inequalities, don't just help people of color. It's opened my eyes to how these roadblocks aren't really roadblocks if the will is great enough to remove them. At some point we can choose to make the choice to change, and figure out how to deal with the consequences as they arise. Not figure out the solutions to all potential scenarios first (impossible) and only then make changes. That's the way "the system" stays where it is.

Amen.  I've never understood why people got all bent out of shape. His protest was respectful.  It was peaceful.  

White people, do better.  

I appreciated seeing this today as well.  I'm not a sports fan but got the feeling that the person who wrote it was also a pro football player, at least then. Too little too late, but I'm glad whoever wrote it has expressed a change of heart.

@zingermack, thanks very much for posting this link and excerpt. I especially appreciate this bit:

"But African Americans have been living in a burning building for many years, choking on the smoke as the flames burn closer and closer. Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible — even if you’re choking on it — until you let the sun in."  

Did you hear what the National Security Advisor said today—that he does not think there is a systemic racism problem, just a few bad apples?

What
The
Ever
Living
Fuck??

But it's not just the "rich" that they are being looted.  

Its like you are upset and frustrated, looking in a mirror and the upset just overcomes you and you throw the dish soap into the mirror and shatter it. It is destructive, but the anger, frustration and sense of helplessness was overwhelming.

This is just a portion of what some of these protestors are feeling. Notice I say protestors. Some of them are just plain looters taking advantage of the situation. But I truly believe there are some who are seriously upset and outraged over the whole system that is infected with racism. They are surrounded by people feeling the same outrage and frustration and before you know it there is a police car burning, or windows broken out of a store.

Actions like this are not thought out ahead of time, or planned, but spontaneous. Many of you will find ways to discredit this explanation - like they brought tools to the protest to vandalize, or this or that happened. Frustration and anger like this never makes sense, but it happens. Perhaps it seems premeditated, but you don't know the frame of mind a person was in when they left home to attend a protest or why they happen to have a baseball bat in their hands. Perhaps they themselves don't know.

When you have tamped down the anger for generations. . . When you have shrugged off the frustration for year after year when it erupts there is a deep well of pure emotion that will not be stopped and nothing that happens afterwards will make sense. Emotions are not always sensible. Your sense of self disappears and you become the tool of the anger and frustration that is erupting around you and within you.

To the outsider, it does not make sense. Chances are to the person doing the destruction it does not make sense other than they no longer had control over the anger and frustration within them.

So quit trying to make explanations. Look within yourself and wonder how you could control anger and frustration if you had to live with racism directed at you every day of you life. Racism does not take a break, it is pervasive and everywhere. One never knows when it will pop up and destroy your life, your family, your career, or your whole mental stability.

Peaceful protests didn’t get anyone’s attention either. I just saw a pea post something along the lines of an apology to Kapernick as if it wasn’t abundantly clear even then what black people were up against. Enslaved Africans were brought back to their masters by the police. The history of police brutality isn’t a “new thing”! The optics of this makes it seem that there needs to be hundreds of black bodies dead before “enough is enough”. Why would anyone be comfortable with that? If my ignorance or inaction resulted in the death of even one person I wouldn’t go around bragging or expecting someone else to educate me.