This is pretty much my exact point. Charlie has said that "I don't see very much discussion of why black people in Ireland are upset and why it might, to some extent, be a reaction that's not solely based on the exact circumstances of what happened yesterday", so I've taken various views of black people being articulated across the media. None has (in my view) given any legitimate reason as to why they are upset, or why Nkencho's death is worth protesting.
I agree that the guy in the video is quite probably a minority voice - though he wasn't a lone voice; he had a dozen or more people around him listening and in agreement with him - but it's about adding up all the views expressed to try get an overall impression. In that context, this voice is definitely part of the bigger picture, along with "Black people have to try ten times harder at football to be noticed" (doesn't stack up), the disorder at the Spar and the "Die you white *******" shouts (knackers), the suggestion Nkencho "wouldn't hurt a fly" (but his family had a protection order against him), the claims it's racist to assume Nkencho is a thug (no it's not) or to say he had a machete on social media (but no complaints about those who said on social media it was just a butter knife), etc, etc. So yeah, who shared a video is irrelevant in that context.
I've looked for voices giving legitimate grounds for protest too, but there aren't any. That's not to say they're not out there - but if they are, how hard is to come out and express them?
And I've said in thread that most black people probably recognise that this was a case of a guy attacking the Gardaí with a knife, which you just can't do.
All this, to me, means that the protests - which kind of assume the Gardaí are guilty until proven innocent - are groundless and actively unhelpful, especially in the case where all the evidence (pending the GSOC enquiry of course) is that there was a potential threat to the life of the Gardaí. So for me, the answer to the question "Do you think black people in Ireland have any reason to be upset about what happened?" is "No".
And I feel the worst in all this are the media and politicians jumping on the BLM bandwagon and the consequent bias in reporting, which also simply isn't helpful. It can create a perception of racial bias when it isn't there.
While I see where you're coming from, do you not think it's a teensy bit of a stretch to compare the treatment of black people by officialdom in Ireland with that of Palestinians by Israelis or gays in, say, conservative Muslim countries? (Even in the context that I know it's not you saying it; you're just suggesting that may be the protester's view)Originally Posted by osarusan
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