So, what is this going to achieve then?

[Diddums]

This popped up on my Nextdoor app. It was posted by a middle aged white lady whose profession is listed as "babysitter" and her profile is all hidden and top secret. I've come to my own judgements based on this info but I'd rather others come to their own conclusions.

Anyway, the post:

I'm not dismissing the BLM movement at all, in fact I think that with the appropriate actions and ideas it could change our society in many positive ways, but this white knighting, self serving, "look neighbours, I'm doing my bit without actually achieving anything or contributing anything" attitude needs to stop. I did a bit more digging on this kneeling rubbish and found a few people commenting that all the people participating are all white middle aged people, supporting my beliefs that this is just a pointless, stupid waste of time which black people don't need.

Being black isn't a disability, these people didn't lose limbs or loved ones due to conscription, they were treated crap by largely white societies in history which is something we all need to put behind us and move forward, learning from the mistakes of the past and celebrating this new way of life, encouraging those of have suffered at the hands of persecution to be their best, discover their untapped talents and become successful.

But no, let's patronize these people and "take a knee", that's going to make a difference isn't it.

I despair, honestly. It's getting harder and harder to bite my tongue, I'm well aware that if I speak out against these people I'll be told I'm the problem and I'll be vilified on social media by all the unemployed, time rich, terminally offended, uneducated, brainless idiots that inhabit it. It's literally a case of "go with it or be the problem", you can't say anything anymore, it's ridiculous.

I wonder how many of these people have actually done something to make an actual difference. I'm gonna have a guess and say none.

 

[Diddums]

Still can't quite get my head around the fact that in the second decade of the 21st century people are still bothered about the colour of someones skin. Just crazy.

Maybe this is why it baffles me so much, because I don’t see it much myself. From where I’m sitting these people are trying to generate awareness for a situation which isn’t even close to the country it originated in.

What a weird and confusing time to be alive

 

[Diddums]

Was it really essential for you to do "a bit more digging" on what you dismiss as "this kneeling rubbish" in order to confirm a view which I suspect you had from the word go?

As has been very sensibly and constructively suggested above, "Why not speak to her and suggest some of the things you’ve done which have had a positive affect? You might be surprised."

I’ve never been part of the problem though, so for me it’s just a waste of time.

I was raised in a country where racism has a whole different face, so that might skew things too? Idk.

 

[Diddums]

I assume it's something along the lines of... Someone on a PC forum posts something from Nextdoor where a single individual has suggested a communal taking of the knee which hasn't gained any traction whatsoever because it's a daft idea and all of a sudden many of the usual suspects are here getting all English Braveheart about NOBODY MAKES ME KNEEL!!

The level of triggering would be funny if it weren't a decent sign that there is indeed a problem.

I've generally ignored your posts so far because anyone involved with this discussion can rather clearly see you aren't really contributing anything worth reading but now you've triggered me by using the word triggering which is my trigger word that triggers me. So, let's have a go then, shall we?

I'll start from the top:

As a statement against systemic entrenched racism? Not many I suspect.

The suggestion in the OP is daft, but only just dafter than what you just said.

Explain how the suggestion is daft. Explain what he said is daft. So far what you've said is akin to "lol dumb post amirite guise kek" and nothing else.

Oh well that's it then...

Shut it down guys, shut it down.

What's this? More random words? Or is there some kind of justification?

I get some people are OTT "woke" it was the "take everything from you" bit.. nobody is taking anything by suggesting you show some solidarity albeit it in a cringy way.

I'm fairly sure the thing we're supposed to worry about being taken away is the ability to say, do and act however you want without the fear of being told you're a rude ****.



Totally agree, mental. Always the same people on here who get all paper thin white skinned about it too. To complete the circle they're generally the usernames who were properly vocal on the brexit threads..

Who knew?

Context? Who's being rude here? I'm not sure if you are being deliberately vague as to not single anyone out or if you're just monumentally bad at writing, but again, this post can be interpreted in a million different ways and about a million different people.

I assume it's something along the lines of... Someone on a PC forum posts something from Nextdoor where a single individual has suggested a communal taking of the knee which hasn't gained any traction whatsoever because it's a daft idea and all of a sudden many of the usual suspects are here getting all English Braveheart about NOBODY MAKES ME KNEEL!!

You do read the news, right? Your assumption that this is "a single individual" is slightly off, given that players were doing it in a Premier League game last night. And what's with this English Braveheart rubbish? Again zero relevance to this discussion unless it's an attempt at humour which fell flatter than Keira Knightley's rack?


I guess the end question is: did you kneel?


If you're gonna try and have a decent discussion, you need to engage people and actually contribute something which could provoke thought and encourage discussion. What you've effectively done so far is emulate that kid at a party who tried to hang with the cool kids and just ends up yammering random words. Not a good look

 

[Diddums]

An overly-sensitive man or boy who is easily upset or offended, especially one upset about loss of male privilege.

Can I be a broflake? I wanna be a broflake, it sounds so cool

 

[Diddums]

Be what you want to be...

Thanks mum

 

[Diddums]

Appropriate username is appropriate lol.. maybe you should go back to bed for a bit?

This thread started with a suggestion on the Neighbourhood app. Now you can conflate that to things like what happened in the premier league if you like but I was addressing the point that a bunch of people on here have gotten all blotchy about a suggestion someone would make them kneel etc.

My personal take is whilst that specific suggestion seems to me OTT and pretty empty as a gesture, things like sport taking a stand etc really do make a difference because it sends the message that racism in all it's forms, explicit, implicit, casual etc is unacceptable and that the victims of it are the ones who get to decide if it's happening or not and that more than just the directly affected communities agree. Some call it virtue signalling which at the extremes certainly does happen but it could also be described as agreeing/supporting depending on the specifics.

Beyond that, the rest of your rant....

It was stupid asking how many black people would kneel for a white guy because that totally and deliberately misses the point.

The shut it down comment was me poking fun at the chap who mentioned a black person saying something that was on the face of it racist, it's whataboutism at best, the alternative is it's totally irrelevant other than to sooth his own conscience and prove to himself there's no problem because some black people are also awful.

The context on rudeness was a point about the thin skinned who are getting super triggered (I DID IT AGAIN!) about the BLM movement because they themselves don't see an issue with their behaviour. I would have said racist but that seems to set people off. Can't think why. The "take everything from you" thing was so hyperbolic as to be borderline hilarious.

Then yeah, the bit about the news.. you've either wilfully missed the OP/my references to it or you're hard of comprehension. Lots of people are spontaneously taking the knee or whatever, the only suggestion that I've seen that it should be communal is the OP and even that was a suggestion that people join together to do it voluntarily and then all of a sudden we've got (many of the usual suspects) with the "I kneel for nobody".. ooh.. you're hard. But the closing analogy.. classy, you must be proud

And no I didn't because as I've said repeatedly in here I think it's a daft idea to turn it into some sort of community action. That is entirely compatible with thinking that public figures/sports folk etc do whatever they feel necessary to show solidarity because why the **** not?

And I'm happy to engage in debate, to be frank in this I came to see if the sorts of responses I expected to be here were here and for the most part they were. As I've said in other threads this sort of thing is like catnip to certain members who IMO deserve a bit of stirring.

That said, I think my opinions and views are clear and I'm happy your post confirms that.

Oh so you do know how to communicate properly. I see the rest of your post is just clarifying your misunderstandings and conclusion jumping so now that I understand that I'll leave you to it

For me, this is where you've missed the point. The fact is being black has a large detriment on your quality of life, opportunities and choices today, in this country. It isn't something that we put behind us, it is something that we need to fix. Be that overt racism, or unperceived bias. It is incumbent on us, the white, power holders, to remove this and give an equal opportunity to those who are white, black, yellow, brown, whatever. For you to say that blacks are no longer treated crap by largely white societies unfortunately shows your ignorance and I'm somewhat surprised. They absolutely are still treated like crap, or at the very least less than whites and it is our responsibility to help change that.

The thing is I'm not disagreeing with the whole movement at all, I'm well aware of the various issues people of colour face in today's society and I agree 100% that something needs to be done. My point was that this kneeling stuff is achieving absolutely nothing other than a self-serving pat on the back. The textbook "I helped" to show others that you care whilst not actually doing anything. as a mate of mine said, "I wonder how many of these people did this in the rain" (I saw none, and I looked). Another good one was "if nobody sees you doing this, does it count?". If I was in the position to help make the change I'd be all over it like a rash. I am very firmly of the belief that these council estates full of black folks are a vast untapped resource of skill and talent that could benefit society immensely whilst also helping these families break this awful cycle of poverty, council dependency and crime (which I am also of the belief is exactly how the establishment wants it).

I just think that kneeling for this is absolutely pointless and quite distasteful. If it matters that much to you then do something that actually counts.