Norris: Criticism for supporting Black Lives Matters is “weird”

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In the round-up: Lando Norris says supporting Black Lives Matter on social media prompted a large number of people to stop following him.

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85 comments on “Norris: Criticism for supporting Black Lives Matters is “weird””

  1. I think the issue remains at a fundamental racist base. “#BlackLivesMatter” is a raciest statement as it is exclusively calling out that “Black” lives matter, implying that all other lives are less important. Had this call for equality been “#AllLivesMatter” it would be all encompassing and better supported by all skin tones bringing us together and would not be indictive of “Black” racism towards all other skin tones.
    While I am not prepared to state that the intent is to be racist, it still is as it has not been thought through in terms of all people being represented.
    if you support the specific “Black” focus you will undoubtedly loose the support of others. We will never progress until we stop seeing colour and simply focus on human rights and equal legal representation across the board.
    I don’t understand why people need to apologise for racism if they are not racist, you have nothing to feel guilty about or to apologise for.

    1. It’s called Black Lives Matter because the issues they are drawing attention to are the unfair and violent treatment of black communities by the state, and was created in response to violent offences against black people that saw no repercussions for the culprits. This wasn’t for a one off occurrence, this has been a recurring trend for decades (longer really) and recent events were just one more outrage that triggered the current protests.

      No one is saying black lives matter more than white lives. But if one house on your street is on fire you don’t douse the entire street with water, you douse the one house that is burning. BLM is protesting a specific issue so of course they should be clear and specific about what they are protesting about.

      And All Lives Matter isn’t a movement about equality or human rights, it’s an anti-Black Lives Matter movement that doesn’t want to see those issues addressed.

      1. @ Keith Campbell….wrong. Where were the thousands strong street protests when Justine Damond was cruelly slain in cold blood by a black Minneapolis police officer? I saw no looting, no street violence or any placards declaring that ‘white lives matter’. Hypocrisy is rampant….racism works both ways but some people just don’t want to see that.

        1. William Jones
          11th June 2020, 3:13

          Her family was awarded $20 million and the police officer was charged with 2nd degree murder. Was your point that $20 million is an obscene award, and people should be rioting over that?

          1. @ William Jones…Nice try pal but you are just so transparent. You know exactly what i’m saying and your deflection is sign of hypocrisy.

          2. @kenji
            Justine Damon’s death was newsworthy in Australia, without pause, from the first report until the resolution. To me that unfortunate incident demonstrates three things clearly: America’s police have a shoot first problem; justice hierarchy attempts to sweep incidents under the carpet whenever possible; and that tragedies that happen to perceived innocents endure.
            While the first two issues would seem to be the core of the BLM response, the tendency for people of colour to be judged not-innocent as a default appears to be at the heart of the real problem.
            Cast in the bright light currently on the issues are the deep shadows of Trump’s demonising rhetoric for anyone with a point (/isn’t a fawning sycophant) – “bad people”, “terrorists”, “rapist and murderers” etc.

          3. William Jones
            12th June 2020, 16:33

            @kenji – You avoided answering my question. What was your point, because I can’t see how your example should be triggering riots. Care to explain exactly why anyone should be rioting?

        2. Another facile argument. Innocent white guys getting killed by cops is the exception. All of these, “but black lives matters is racist” arguments are just plain ignorant and borderline racist themselves. If you can’t really see the point in BLM then you might need to dig a little deeper.

          1. @ Darryn Smith…You need to read my response to William Jones and then digest the contents. It’s obvious that you don’t have a clue as to what the meaning of the word ‘hypocrisy’ means. Ad Hominem arguments always indicate the use of false flags to deflect from having an intelligent answer . Let’s see what the courts say when Chauvin faces the full force of the law. Mohamed Noor, the black Somali Minneapolis policeman got a mere 12.5 years meaning he’ll most likely only serve 6/7 years at the most!!! I saw no protests on the street or looting as a result of what is very little more than slap on the wrist considering the gravity of the crime he committed.

          2. kenji a great many people around the world think it obvious that, because al llives matter, but it has been clear for decades that in many of their countries, black lives don’t seem to matter as much, the BlackLivesMatter moniker refers to that inequality, as uses by those who want to address that problem. Yet, here you are, clearly not finding that so obvious. Perhaps you too might consider that your truth is not as obviously truth and valid for others as you think it is.

            PS. If “Let’s see what the courts” do had in the past been clearly just and fair, this would not actually be an issue of inequality, hence people protesting to make sure that does not happen again. William Jones was facetious in asking you to clarify what you mean, as while we might argue what’s a just and fair punishment (and what’s effective punishment), in the case of police violence especially, there have been many cases where the officer(s) in question hardly got any consequence at all.

          3. @darryn & @bosyber

            Fact is that black Americans are no more at risk of being killed per police interaction than white Americans, but the former have more police interactions (although black Americans also commit violent crime much more often, so more police interaction is in itself not strange).

            Fact is that the black Americans that are killed by the police, are disproportionately killed by black cops.

            People getting killed by the cops is the exception in general. In particular, black Americans are way, way more at risk of being killed by other black people than by the cops.

            I do agree that the American police is too violent and get away with crimes too often (although the former matches the violent nature of non-police Americans), but it’s frankly absurd how the elites speak out in favor of people breaking the corona regulations to have protests (where credible estimates suggest they cost hundreds of lives due to corona per day the protests go on), while people are forbidden to comfort their dying relatives.

          4. I will not get into a statistics on who kills whom more in the US there @aapje, since we could easily fill hundreds of pages with slightly different statistics showing different figures.

            But I will say that 1. it is only VERY rare that an officer actually gets even charged with a case. Let alone convicted. Especially so when the victim is a black person. And even in other cases of a black person being shot by white people, we have 2 clear cases (Floyd and Aubry) at hand where the killers were only prosecuted AFTER footage came out and got people calling for action. In both examples the police or first investigator presented “facts” in the case that turned out to be false, to avoid having to prosecute the officer (or ex-officer in the Aubry case). It was also what happened in many many more cases. And who knows how many we have never hear of.

            Black people in the US regularly are afraid, even of their lives, when they are stopped by police. Do you wish to imply that is normal or right?

            The cases above point to the fact that while statistics may say one thing, the reality might not be the same. If police regularly give false description of cases to hide their guilt in killing people, how often do they do so in cases where they arrested, roughted up or just stopped a black person? How reliable are their reports. This uncertainty is a structural and important issue for all of us.

          5. @aapje

            being killed per police interaction

            And who do you think initiates the vast majority of these “police interactions”? Why, the police.

            This metric is a neat maths trick that hides targeting by police of any given community by normalizing by the targeting itself.

          6. @bascb

            I agree that police officers should be prosecuted more often and should use less violence. On the other hand, there are a lot of cases where I’m being told that the police misbehaved, where it turned out that the initial news story was false and the police behaved well (like the shooting of Michael Brown, that resulted in huge protests).

            > Black people in the US regularly are afraid, even of their lives, when they are stopped by police. Do you wish to imply that is normal or right?

            No, but if it is a largely irrational fear that is fed by media propaganda, rather than by facts, then the police is not to blame for that.

            @markzastrow

            It’s their job to interact with people. You can call it targeted, but others call it being protected. Take the police away & those communities will be ruled by local warlords (like they sometimes are already).

            Fact is that people with traits that correlate with criminality get scrutinized more. Do you consider it sexist that the police interacts with men way more often than with women (a far greater disparity than between black and white Americans)?

      2. Why is that so hard for people to understand? It’s like the “good people on both sides” malarky. These snappy little phrases are DOG WHISTLES.
        If you can’t find appropriate empathy or any desire to improve our societies then have a close look in the mirror.

    2. Sorry, but based on this response I have to assume that you’re a racist yourself, using a disingenuous smokescreen to try to make Norris seem like yourself.

      But in case you’re not, I’ll explain.

      There is nothing about the statement ‘Black Lives Matter’ that implies that others lives do not. The statement carries the implication only that society currently acts as though black lives do NOT matter.

      ‘All Lives Matter’, on the other hand, is a statement that means nothing except expressing your unwillingness to declare that black lives do in fact matter. It has been taken up as a rallying cry by open white supremacists.

      1. Many celebrities are on record stating that “All lives matter” before they were viciously attacked. For example, Janet Jackson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Brown, RZA, Becky G and Jennifer Lopez. Are these white supremacists?

        Why do and did leftists wage this terror campaign against “All lives matter” if they actually believe that all lives matter? They could restrict themselves to protesting against actual white supremacy, rather than objecting to a statement with no inherent racist meaning. Why don’t I see people of all races brought up by leftists when discussing police violence? Why is there so much lying at the protests (hint: the slogan “hands up, don’t shoot” is based on lies about how the Michael Brown shooting happened).

        1. It’s possible that in the past ‘All Lives Matter’ had an innocent meaning. It has now been appropriated by white supremacist groups, and anyone expressing that sentiment should probably find a different phrase.

          In counter to your point, why are people on the right so scared of saying that black lives matter if they believe that all lives matter? If you truly believe that all lives matter, that’s great — but black lives are the ones at threat from the systemic police brutality in the United States. If you find a cause where white lives are being disproportionately threatened, go ahead and raise that issue.

          Native American lives are being lost at an alarming rate in the current COVID-19 situation. How about that for a cause? Mexico is being torn apart by drug violence, but the answer from the right is to shut our borders and make it not our problem. By contrast, the opioid epidemic — which affects predominantly white people — was treated as a national crisis, unlike the vilification of drug use in the black community.

          The rallying cry Black Lives Matter exists because many of the institutions in this country act as though they did not. All Lives Matter is a meaningless sidestep; at best, it’s feel good posturing that takes no actual stance while trying to appear supportive of everyone.

          1. @exediron

            No, activists have manufactured the belief that ‘All Lives Matter’ is racist.

            For example, where does your belief come from that it is used by white supremacists? Is that what you’ve been told or what you observed yourself? Because I’ve only ever seen it used by people who are not white supremacists. Just because the media is in a bubble where certain dogma is treated as true regardless of fact, doesn’t actually make it true.

            Also, who cares if it is used by white supremacists? A statement or thing is right or wrong in itself, not because it is used by anyone. If white supremacists drive cars, does that means that driving a car is white supremacy?

            > In counter to your point, why are people on the right so scared of saying that black lives matter if they believe that all lives matter?

            Because it is part of a larger racist campaign, where some victims are worse than other victims and some perpetrators are worse than other perpetrators, based merely on the color of their skin. It is claimed that white people are racist and need to be replaced with black people to fix racism. Facts are lied about to support this false narrative. At the far left, a common solution that is proposed is racial segregation.

            I don’t want Apartheid, neither from the left or the right.

            The rest of your comment is a gish gallop, that I can’t realistically all address. Suffice it to say that you are wrong. For example, drug use in the black community was seen as a national crisis by Bill Clinton and black leaders, who focused on trying to stamp out drug use among black Americans, in a way that the left now often sees as racist and in a revisionist move, blames on the right.

          2. @aapje When you write about bubbles on the internet, has it ever come into your mind that you yourself are in such a bubble?

            How many people do you actually observe who argue in any way that “white people are racist and need to be replaced with black people to fix racism.” In contrast with white racists CLAIMING that this ever happens?
            From everything I have seen in my decades on this planet, there IS widespread racism, there IS a huge systematical bias against people of colour in the US, but also in the whole of Europe. But nobody in any of these places who has any credibility has ever promoted “replacing” white people, or really anybody. They just want to stop finally the bias from hurting & holdnig back people of colour.

        2. @aapje Really replying to your other comment above but there’s no reply button available there. Not going to fact check all of your claims but on a quick search fatal police shootings of unarmed black people averaged 30.1 per 10 million of the population compared to 7.3 for white people. That’s over 4 times more likely for unarmed black people to be shot by police, so you cannot say that black people are less at risk of being shot by police than white people – the stats don’t back that up.

          You say black people are killed disproportionately more by black police officers than white officers. Not going to check if it’s true because it’s irrelevant. The race of the officer isn’t what matters, it’s the race of the people they are targeting. If police act more aggressively towards black people then there is a training, profiling, or cultural issue that is causing it, regardless of who is pulling the trigger.

          You also say that black Americans are way more at risk of being killed by other black people than by the cops. This is also irrelevant. Violence between non-police is not the issue being discussed or protested about.

          On your All Lives Matter statement – yes, many celebrities repeated that line but then withdrew it once they realised what it stood for. It’s ok to make mistakes if you are willing to own up to them and learn to do better. While All Lives Matter as a statement seems quite innocuous and inoffensive, context is important. And this movement originated strictly as a counterpoint to the Black Lives Matter movement. So the statement All Lives Matter will always be associated with an anti-BLM stance.

          1. @keithedin

            Again, black Americans have more police interactions, but the risk per interaction is similar. That means that the police are not more aggressive when they encounter black people, but that they interact with black people more.

            The reason is probably at least in part because black people far more often live in far more crime-ridden neighborhoods and tend to commit more crimes. Do you think that the police should spend as much time in low-crime as in high-crime neighborhoods?

            > The race of the officer isn’t what matters

            If black officers kill black civilians more often, is it then logical to call this racism? Do you really think that black cops hate black people?

            > You also say that black Americans are way more at risk of being killed by other black people than by the cops. This is also irrelevant.

            It is irrelevant if you don’t actually care about saving lives, but have a bias where it matters who does the killing, so a death caused by a cop is considered worse than a death caused by a civilian. Isn’t this just discrimination?

            > So the statement All Lives Matter will always be associated with an anti-BLM stance.

            So what is wrong with that if the BLM stance is incorrect and/or racist? Increasingly, people on the left are intolerant of disagreement, trying to get those with different points of view fired or worse.

            In California, some universities are cleansed not only of those who disagree with Social Justice views, but those who are not far-left activists.

        3. The Nazis claimed that there was a conspiracy for Jews to replace them, and that’s part of the justification they used for murdering millions of them. Have you seen neo-Nazis marching in the streets chanting ‘Jews will not replace us?’

          Now do you realize you’ve put yourself in the exact same ideological position by claiming there’s a conspiracy to ‘replace’ white people with black?

          Look at yourself in a frikkin’ mirror, man. You’ve been brainwashed.

          1. @exediron

            That’s not actually what the Nazis believed. Their leader believed in social Darwinism, where the strong are destined to rule and procreate. He very explicitly regarded the Jews as inferior, regarding them as a disease that weakened the German people (both genetically, morally and by backstabbing Germans). He wanted to ‘cure’ Germany by getting rid of Jews, handicapped people, gays, gypsies and others he considered to be like a disease. The current right (and not just the far right) is concerned about the effects of large-scale migration, but this was not a Nazi concern (or those of center right German politicians at the time), because there was no mass migration to Germany.

            My own claim is that there is quite a bit of support among SJ people to replace quite a few white people in positions of power or in good jobs with people of other races, often with discrimination. This is what they explicitly say. My claim was not at all what you allege, that there is a grand conspiracy to replace all white people with blacks, but much more specifically:
            – Social Justice people commonly argue that only white people can be racist or are much more racist than others (against the scientific evidence)
            – That replacing white people in power with non-whites (and men with women) will reduce racism (and sexism)
            – That we need to hire/promote/etc people purely by the color of their skin (or what it in their pants), where white people get discriminated against in favor of non-whites (and men in favor of women).

            And it is not just the far-left that supports this. There are discriminatory left-wing laws & policies in various countries.

            There is also a belief by some, including those at the highest level, that white majority culture needs to be destroyed, by demographic replacement. Joe Biden support this. He has said in the past that: “Whites will be a Minority in US by 2017 and that’s a good thing.” The former UN migration chief, Peter Sunderland, has said that the EU should undermine the homogeneity of the member states through migration.

            I know that the media claims that only far-right people believe this, ignoring left-wing proponents, like Joe Biden, but if you actually think (and find the facts) for yourself, you see that the media lies to you.

      2. You can say what you want but Black lives matter is a racist statement. It excludes others

    3. GtisBetter (@)
      11th June 2020, 6:29

      For some reason there are people making the weird logic that because black lives matters, then non black lives don’t matter, but there is no reason to arrive at that conclusion. It’s also not racist to support one cause, I have no idea how people reach that conclusion, have people forgotten the definition of racism? I mean you can just look it up.

      1. @passingisoverrated

        OK, so then by that logic, ‘white power’ is not racist either, right?

        1. @aapje They are by no means the same thing. “White power” suggests superiority, saying that black lives matter doesn’t suggest any form of superiority over other races. It just means that the lives of black people matter, if the statement was “Only Black Lives Matter”, then you would have a point.

        2. You really, really need to stop posting. You’re embarrassing.

          1. GtisBetter (@)
            11th June 2020, 20:42

            Not really.

          2. GtisBetter (@)
            11th June 2020, 20:44

            Was not meant at you Jules

    4. Ten people are eating at a table. The eleventh has no food.

      He has: “I deserve food!”

      All the others look up, say “We all deserve food!” and continue eating.

      That’s what “All live matters” means.

      1. I think you sum it up quite nicely but people don’t want to see the issues and rather focus their attention on a all lives matter argument that is meant to bury reality or try to hide the sun with their hands.

        1. I think the other perspective just wants you to look beyond the current terrible situation that has unfolded. It is not the long term constructive way out. Inclusion of all is. I live in a very mixed community and soms people feel genuinely left in the cold since they are “somewhere inbetween” when it comes to tone

    5. It’s about privilege – not in a money or success way, but how being white automatically gets you basic human rights that are denied to so many minority groups in so many countries.

      BlackLivesMatter is the slogan because of the inequality.

    6. Jose Lopes da Silva
      11th June 2020, 8:57

      “I don’t understand why people need to apologise for racism if they are not racist, you have nothing to feel guilty about or to apologise for.”

      Do you think Norris apologised?
      Do you think Norris he feels guilty for something?

    7. Odd, because to me and most I know the slogan says BlackLivesMatter (as well). But its easy to miss the point when you don’t agree with it, isn’t it?

    8. petebaldwin (@)
      11th June 2020, 9:41

      What you say makes sense and I can see your reasoning but it’s based on a misunderstanding on your part – ““#BlackLivesMatter” is a raciest statement as it is exclusively calling out that “Black” lives matter, implying that all other lives are less important.

      There is no implication that other lives are less important. The whole movement is arguing that black lives matter just as much as all other lives. There is no threat to anyone by BLM other than people who believe they should be in a more privileged position due their skin being lighter than someone else’s.

    9. Black Lives Matter doesn’t mean Only Black Lives Matter. It means Black Lives Matter As Well. It’s hard to argue when you understand (or want to understand anyway)

    10. Fábio Rodrigues
      11th June 2020, 15:03

      Black Lives Matter isn’t implying that others are less important. It never meant that! It’s basically saying that Black Lives deserve to matter, not more than others, but equally. It’s not excluding the importance of all other lives. Saying All Lives Matter is taking away the focus from the struggles of black people. They’re just standing up for themselves.

      Unfortunally, racism towars black people is not the only type of discrimination, and if you want to stand up for all the others cases, you’re doing great, but create your own slogan, don’t take away the right of a specific group.

    11. What incredibly [insert choice adjective] thinking! When your issue is about a slogan one’s got to wonder why that’s paramount to you instead of the actual message.

      When someone pushes for breast cancer awareness, does that mean all other cancers or ailments aren’t worth bothering about?

      It’s easy to say we won’t progress until we stop seeing color – what convenient drivel. How about you say that to the police since color seems to matter to them in how they do their job.

      If racism and police brutality isn’t enough to bring you to care, nothing else would. Just own it!

    12. So do you agree that Black lives matter too?

    13. Nikhil Patel
      12th June 2020, 13:20

      If my house was on fire, you could turn round and say all houses matter. But my house is burning right now….no use saying all houses matter if the ones being destroyed are predominantly the ones with flames tearing throughout.

  2. Jack (@jackisthestig)
    11th June 2020, 2:18

    Stan Collymore taking the moral high ground… hmmm?

    1. He’s not wrong though, is he?

  3. @Paul Thanks mate, at least some people get it.

    1. @ MCG….more than a few people get it and i’m one of those. These issues have no place in F1. I personally couldn’t care less if all the drivers were entirely different colours. I am only interested in all things F1 and driver colour isn’t one of them.

      1. @kenji Yes Mate, I know you got it from other blogs, Good on you and all others that see the bigger picture.

        1. A global movement calling out racism is getting some legs, and yet you are concerned about the hashtag name.
          Don’t even pretend that you “see the bigger picture”, MCG.
          And whilst I believe your intentions are good, it is worrying to see the weirdos coming out of the bush to support you.

      2. And yet the way that yourself and MCG have acted gives the impression that, in claiming to be promoting good for all, you are diluting the call for reform down so widely that there is no focus on changing anything, resulting in no reforms occurring and the same situation that we have now.

      3. Kenji, stop fooling yourself. You’ve been rambling about this topic for over a week now! If only you would stick to just talking about F1, we finally might hear something sensible!

    2. Some people do indeed get it, unfortunately you aren’t one of them.
      The thought that we can all live in a world where nobody sees race is a noble one, however the reality of it is that we’re a very long way from that.
      It’s gone on for far to long and by continuing this “all lives matter” campaign you are directly contributing to it, by downplaying and disregarding the injustices that black men and woman face everyday.
      Whilst you may not yourself be racist, or have racist thoughts, your denial of the issue is still incredibly harmful to progress
      Of course all lives matter, but right now our focus needs to be on those who are suffering the most.
      Once we have managed to remove these issue from society and we can say, truthfully, that people are no longer being victimised for no reason other than colour of their skin, then we can start the parade for all lives matter

    3. GtisBetter (@)
      11th June 2020, 6:30

      You are both wrong though.

    4. You don’t get it at all. Not even close. You plainly don’t understand the first thing about Black Lives Matter, and for you to pretend otherwise is laughable. Numerous people have tried to point out where you’re wrong, yet you persist in your messianic belief that you are right and everyone else is wrong.

      Your evident lack of self awareness and humility are disturbing.

  4. norris perhaps people didn’t want to get a lecture from you. And then there is the alllivesmatter folks.

    1. Jack (@jackisthestig)
      11th June 2020, 3:59

      I do like Lando but would struggle to take him seriously talking about any big issues like this. It would feel like a lecture from a ten year old.

      1. some times ten years old kids voices matters :)

    2. Where’s the lecture? Perhaps some people are so ignorant and prejudiced they need it spelled out in 1000 point Comic Sans.

  5. Just lets us say all racisme is wrong ! If we see the racing world we can see that this world (racing) is mostly populated by very rich persons. Persons of social low status you will not find here or he/she and their family has to work very hard for it.
    Maybe we can take Lewis as a positive example.

  6. I think there is a bit of naivety in what Lando has said but not from an “All Lives Matter” perspective. There is a clear distinction to be made about the Black Lives Matter sentiment and the Black Lives Matter organisation.

    You will find it very difficult to find people who disagree with the sentiment but you will find plenty of people that disagree with the organisation’s aims. Since when you look into it in more detail you find they have very similar aims to other far left groups such as abolition of police and overthrow of capitalism. I am sure that Lando is not referring to this in this article.

    It is perfectly possible to have a differing position on both and if someone asked me to support BLM then I would ask them to clarify what they thought they meant by that.

    There will be better ways of achieving racial equality and reducing discrimination that don’t involve supporting a cause that fundamentally wants to destroy Western society.

    1. Jose Lopes da Silva
      11th June 2020, 9:10

      You’re absolutely right. The thing is we need a strategy to fight polarisation, to fight the mutual feeding of extremims, and to fight the appropriation of these questions by the far-left.
      The ALM slogan is not a good strategy for Americans to achieve this because nowhere in that country white people feel the police can be biased against them. No segregation laws ever existed against them. The ALM justification is rubbish.
      People say that BLM asks people to apologise and feel guilty and I don’t understand that. I’m an European white like Norris, I never apologised nor felt guilty and I don’t Norris said or felt that way. I would like to understand what takes people to think that they should apologise for something. They should simply state that yes, everyone should have equal opportunities no matter what their colour is.
      Downplaying BLM and ignoring the issue is driving people to the far-left. We should assume BLM and then ask what does that have to do with the overthrow of capitalism, when millions of African people continue to ask for green cards to go to America.

    2. Big quality input, @chimaera2003! Worthy of a CotD.

  7. Can we just get along with each other please?

    1. Unlikely @brickles. Remember, this is the internet – home of rabidly opinionated people who believe their opinion matters :)

      I’ll get my coat.

      1. @ahxshades – Yep… it’s a shame so many people use the internet as a weapon.

        1. Indeed @brickles, much of the social side of the internet is unusable now really – oh well, take care mate

  8. Honestly if someone gets upset because you’re posting a message of support against racism. They were never really worthy of your attention to begin with.

  9. tony mansell
    11th June 2020, 10:06

    Nascar had already alienated their heartlands by getting in bed with the ‘yanks’ which had a catastrophic effect on attendances. You take the confederate flag away and you might just kill it for good.

    The Union Jack is just as tainted as any flag on the planet but i’m guessing Lewis will still use it when he wins, particularly at Silverstone but theres plenty of time for that to be thrown in the drink as well. That BlackLivesMatter and needs addressing globally is beyond reproach but we have to be careful we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water, if you alienate people trying to create more equality, you create more division, not less.

  10. My fundamental objection to the BLM movement is that is generalizes and oversimplifies, it overlooks the complicated character of the events and makes everything, ironically, black and white. Chauvin had, according to some, a history of friction with Floyd, they were working at the same night club and there could have been a serious animosity between them. The motive of the murder could have been very personal, nothing to do with the race. However, most of the people don’t think in the scope of a specific case, instead they just ideologically divide themselves and scream – Oh, you don’t support us, you must be a racist. Not at all. I just don’t understand how can they be so sure that this was racially motivated and how exactly does the “systematic racism” or institutionalized racism” work, because no one was able to specify it to me, apart from their conviction that it exists. There are ethnically enclosed communities where gangs and criminal acitivities are serious problems – are we going to pretend that they don’t exist and don’t contribute to the statistics? How exactly is dealing with the crime in such community racist? You can try being an officer in such districts, instead of just spewing your morally right presumptions which have very feeble connection with reality – and all from the comfort of your living room.

    1. The guy who said that retracted it, ‘mistook him for another black man’ @pironitheprovocateur

      The precise lead up it to this tragedy however is not so much the thing, it is a distraction, unless you believe that a police officer killing someone, apparently expecting to get away with it because he was police and the other guy was not, and black, is less important, for society, than exactly why he was killed. That’s important in the trail, that thanks to the attention, this suspected killer might now get.

      The protests are not due to the one action of killing him, but his death being the next in a long line, and the way it happened, that there was video of it to register and show, and likely, the current pandemic which also hit black people (not just in USA, clearly also in UK) harder (yes, that might at least partially be about class more than race, except that disproportionally, coloured people end up in lower classes) it made that a catalyst for a wider protest.

      But that’s all nothing new, is it? Unless you refuse to look at it.

      1. So you think this police officer is going to be tried because of the protest and riots?
        That’s a fantastic outcome.
        Here is another outcome.
        All those racist police officers in the force (actaully, all those racists out there) are now going to become non-racist…uh no, they are watching the violence and looting, only seeing certain people doing it and using it to justify their racist views and potentially swaying those on the fence – counter productive, this action is fuelling racism.

    2. I’m going to have one last go at my message for those that have not understood.
      Somewhere above there are insinuations that I am racist, somehow my comments have been twisted this way, there are further comments explaining what #BlackLivesmatter actually means, things like they matter “too” or “as well” etc. I’m no idiot, I can and always have read that into it myself thank you!
      but then the tag should be that #BlackLivesMatterToo or #BlackLivesMatterAsWell this way it says what it means and is clear that other lives also matter.
      I get what it is probably intended to mean, but reality is that there is a lack of trust between races, from all sides of the skin tone range.
      If we continue to make statements that are biased in their wording (intent or otherwise) we will continue to fuel the distrust, people will and do read them as written, maybe consider the intent, but don’t trust.
      My comment through out is not about the intended meaning, it is about the actual meaning of the written words.
      “It’s ok to be White” means it’s ok to be white, it does not mean ‘It is not ok to be black’ it also does not mean ‘It is ok to be black’, but at risk of repetition, by its wording it only means “It is ok to be white”, ditto for “#BlackLiveCount”, sorry, but these terms are not acceptable to me as they say what they say and add fuel to the fire.
      Yes, I know “who cares what is acceptable to me”, but then we can all say that about everyone’s views and perspectives. So be my guest.
      You can read this as my lack of trust and you are right, I do not trust either of these slogans or similar slogans as being non racist.

      Let’s go racing👍🏻 And let’s forget this concept of Human division

      1. MCG, I’m convinced that you’re not a racist, but you stubbornly try to defend your original comment. Instead of ‘this last message’ you should have gotten a mirror to see “those that have not understood”.

        And you can now claim:

        My comment through out is not about the intended meaning, it is about the actual meaning of the written words.

        Yet, at the start of your original comment you wrote “implying that all other lives are less important” bold added for emphasis).
        Do you see the inconsistency between what you write now versus your argument this morning?

        1. I think that was just a misuse of the word imply.

        2. My point exactly, the actual meening is “Black Lives Matter”, nothing else, but it will be interpreted as “others don’t”. Implied, suggested, inferred…whatever.

  11. I’m just here to follow racing and escape the racial tension and global pandemic for a few minutes. Would it be so wrong to move this discussion to a different forum? Can’t wait to see real machines do battle this weekend!

    1. Mate, I think this is a great forum for this discussion, we have varying views and opinions and we have common ground in our F1 interest.

    2. tony mansell
      11th June 2020, 16:01

      Theres plenty of other articles if you want to ignore whats going on. No need to let us know, just post there

  12. Interesting responses.

    “BlackLivesMatter” neither says, nor implies, that “BlackLivesMatter…More”.
    An overwhelming majority of protestors acted non-violently.
    To protest an injustice is not to imply that there are no other injustices.
    Many white people are racist, many Black people are racist. To say you should not protest acts of White racism because there are also acts of Black racism is to reach an illogical position.
    We, also, all suffer from “selective perception”; which is to say, we tend to see, or validate, what we hold to be affectively true or important. So, it is important to ask ourselves….is my cognition simply validating my emotions, or, am I seeing a question from an unbiased position? Self-examination is always difficult, and often unpleasant.
    Most of our ideas and beliefs are structurally tied to our identity, and that is why we are loath to alter them, as it will, in our minds, result in a collapse of the self…….thus we defend our positions adamantly.
    Perhaps, in the end, it should be about one’s heart, not one’s head.

  13. Folks, with reference to my comments in this forum:
    Some of you have seen them for what they are and agreed or disagreed, that’s cool.
    Some of you have not understood, that’s unfortunate.
    Some of you have interpreted and twisted them to suit you personal agenda, that’s sad.
    Some of you will feel the same about your comments.
    Regardless, I wish you all Love, Peace and equality.

    1. William Jones
      12th June 2020, 16:56

      You wrote :

      ” “#BlackLivesMatter” is a raciest statement as it is exclusively calling out that “Black” lives matter ”

      You also wrote:

      ” the actual meening is “Black Lives Matter”, nothing else ”

      Con you not see why you got called out?

  14. It saddens me deeply to see that the completely unnecessary death of a man sparks so much animosity, even here – whilst we should actually be looking to find common ground.

    You all have access to a computer, you can write and you are able to watch F1. I reckon that means you all had some form of education and are -to whatever extent- privileged. That, in turn, suggests you all were taught manners and learned how to listen or argue in a civil way. Please prove me right and show some mutual respect. Noblesse oblige.

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