Aquanim due to some forum glitch your edit linking to this post is invisible to users, I don't expect this was your intention since you took the time to set it up (thank you for that).
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I was just trying to make the point that a reasonable, good person could still think that the protests are a net negative in the current environment. |
A person can think that the protests are a net negative in the current environment, this is expected. Let's look at the environment a bit closer though.
The protest originated in USA. This is a country where the leadership dropped the ball on COVID months ago. Workers are still getting sick in factories, their employers are not taking even basic steps to prevent it, and nobody is holding the employers accountable. The protest "isn't about COVID" but it's definitely a factor.
History has also shown what happens when people get comfortable with killing people who weren't born the same way as them. When you're entering data into your ethics computer, you may find it decides that preventing a genocide or a world war is a better path than exposing less people to COVID. Your own judgement depends on how far ahead (and behind) you look.
So from where I'm sitting thinking that the protests are a net negative isn't something a reasonable, good, and informed person would think.
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Though regarding protesting reducing racism in general: while it's easy to see a path from protesting to police reform (and thus a lot less dead Americans of all races, which would be a very good thing), it's much harder for me to see a path from protesting to reduced racism. |
Reducing racism isn't really the goal of the protest, though it has already been effective at showing everybody else who the racists are. Police reform seems to be the main talking point and is a good goal that probably has enough traction to make legislation. Prison reform is something most Americans agree on, but hasn't been a talking point for this protest yet.
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In fact, I would not be surprised if the protests indirectly lead to higher racism due to the riots and looting that follow resulting in lots of videos of black Americans looting/rioting being published. Reddit in particular seems to have gone heavily racist over the last few days (though I suspect astroturfing). :/ |
I haven't seen any videos of black Americans looting/rioting, but I have seen plenty of videos of white Americans trying to loot/riot and black Americans stopping them, as it is wise for them to do. Reddit has always been a hands-off moderation kind of place and wherever there is ground there will be astroturf. Racists want other racists to feel like they are the majority when they are not.
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Protests against racism with mass demolition. Very nice way to show solidarity and cultural level. |
Officially, most of the violence and destruction has been by opportunists, with a small amount done by extremists of both sides. Also violence and instigation by police is well-documented. In some places police have been photographed unloading bricks onto the sidewalk for people to throw.
The organizers of these protesters are veterans of Occupy Wall Street and BLM who are familiar with protest and counter-protest strategy and tactics. They are actively preventing people from looting whenever possible because they know this would discredit their movement.
The destruction of the police station in Minneapolis is in a different category. They had to burn down their own police station
before the police officer was charged with murder.
