Is it me or is looting like the black man's Achilles heel? Looting for black people is like landing on a snake in a game of Snakes and Ladders, only this snake has left them on a square which is 5 squares before the starting square!
I'm being a bit crude here just to help me think out loud so don't be alarmed, but as soon as footage of a bunch of black guys robbing microwaves and XBox 360s from Argos starts doing the rounds on social media and the news, then no matter how cruel or unjust or plain wrong the initial incident was which sparked the outpouring of collective shock, anger and then solidarity, which by now had resonated sympathetic onlookers worldwide - it had all been for nothing, because some black youths were caught on camera making off with some white goods.
Don't get me wrong, taking anything which isn't yours is always wrong but it would be great if that also included black lives.
It's almost like the continued sight of watching goods being stolen from a shop hurts more than seeing black people's lives being stolen every day, despite the latter being physically more difficult to experience.
Once good quality footage of looting exists and is in the hands of the ruling party, ruling power, ruling ruler - it gets circulated relentlessly to blunt the fury and dilute down the spirits of those who had become incensed and inflamed watching George Floyd's life end like hadn't meant a thing.
Once protests become violent and start attracting arsehole vandals, thieves and opportunists happy to hijack any cause to get some free shit, the zeal in moderate folk begins to wane, and the desire to see justice be done this time round (because it may be the last chance we get), gets downgraded in priority on today's 'to-do' list, until the flame that was burning so brightly for a brief moment is extinguished once again.
Apologies if this is upsetting you by the way, but you know what I'm like! 😁
But on a positive note, proportionally in mainstream news I don't see as many instances circulating whereby black protesters with integrity, staying true to why they are on the streets protesting, form barricades to prevent stores from being looted. Maybe if more videos of this kind were transmitted then it might encourage others to follow suit, because it's the kind of thing most people can agree is a good thing to see.
The protesters who are out risking their lives each day, who possess the integrity not be swayed away, but stay focused upon the cause for which they are fighting, for me, are next level human beings, whose courage I'm hoping can help reignite hope within people who might be feeling disillusioned, conflicted or just numb by all of the chaos happening in the world right now.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/gtziuh/a_group_of_people_forming_a_human_barricade_and/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
No comments:
Post a Comment