Black Lives Matter

[Letters]

Why can’t we have a female Dr Who? Stop being a bigot!
Why can’t we have a black James Bond? Stop being a bigot!
A white actor voicing a black character?! You racist bastards!

Right...

[Letters]

Pie

[Xhaka Can’t]

Why can’t we have a female Dr Who? Stop being a bigot!
Why can’t we have a black James Bond? Stop being a bigot!
A white actor voicing a black character?! You racist bastards!

Right...

You sure are getting strangely worked up. For those of us who actually want to help, voting for those who are serious about implementing actual policy, changing laws, and organising the community to fill in economic and social gaps is key to actually making lasting change, not getting worked up over woke signaling.

Just about policy now is concentrating on tackling low hanging fruit about things you can say or express but does nothing to solve the inequality and subjugation that clearly does exist.

If you want to simply focus on the numpties and work yourself up over the things that don’t matter, knock yourself out.

And yes, Black lives do matter. Nothing in the statement that Black lives matter takes anything away from the value of anyone else.

[Letters]

Who is saying that black lives don’t matter?
Who is that statement arguing against? The racist fuck who killed George Floyd? Ok, but these incidents are incredibly rare and what that did is already illegal.
What laws or policies need to change?
EDIT: And who could I have voted for who would have done so?
Attitudes arguably need to but there is no quick fix for that.

[Letters]

I get annoyed by the woke signalling by the way because it does nothing to address the problems which actually exist, it’s focussing efforts where they don’t need to be focused.

[The Wengerbabies]

The racist fuck who killed George Floyd?

There is absolutely no evidence it was racially motivated.

[Xhaka Can’t]

I get annoyed by the woke signalling by the way because it does nothing to address the problems which actually exist, it’s focussing efforts where they don’t need to be focused.

Well you’re getting annoyed by the petty things rather than the real problems.

Why focus on the woke?

They aren’t the problem, they don’t have the power, they don’t impact you. Or anyone else.

The problem lies with those that have the power and who facilitate a system that has led to unbelievable inequality that is accelerating in the wrong direction.

It is undeniable that the system is rigged. Yapping about the woke won’t change that. Reserve your anger and the barbs for the people who really impact on your life.

[Letters]

I disagree. It is this sort of thing which affects me most.
The system may be rigged but it isn’t rigged against me. I grew up in a fairly well off family. We weren’t rich but I didn’t want for anything. I have a pretty decent job so I have a reasonable standard of living.
I agree that it’s ridiculous that I earn more than, say, a nurse. But I don’t know what to do about that.
There is too much inequality, the difference in wages between the CEO of an organisation and the average worker has grown and is far too big but, again, I don’t know what to do about that. And it doesn’t really affect me.

But this woke stuff...that affects the language I use, the opinions I hold, the things I can watch and listen to.
People can be sacked for having the “wrong” opinion and expressing it in the wrong way on social media.
I actually preached on political correctness a couple of years ago and in that sermon I did say we need to be careful about the language we use. We shouldn’t go out of our way to offend. But we are living in an era where people increasingly go out of their way to be offended. And that sort of thing affects me more than fat cats earning too much.
Again, I don’t know what I can do about it, but it annoys me more because it potentially affects me more.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Language and the meaning of words is constantly evolving. Are you equally as upset about not being able to refer to people with afflictions as retards and spastics?

Freedom of expression and freedom from consequences of our words and actions are two entirely different things. The advent of social media platforms amplify our words and rightly or wrongly amplify the consequences associated with them.

However, focussing just on words and symbols are the low hanging fruit that provide the illusion of actually doing something. It is not enough. We need to change the structures that are the foundation of the inequalities that permeate every access of our society, right down to the chances of individuals from the day they are born.

[Letters]

I covered that in the sermon I mentioned, some of the words we used when I was a kid are no longer appropriate.
I'm fine with that, if it's offending people then yes, we shouldn't go out of our way to offend. But increasingly it feels like we have to tiptoe around people who are just itching to be offended at everything.
Things like the Dixie Chicks changing their name...really? Is that really solving a problem that exists? Stuff like that just feeds into the perception from old bastards like me that "You can't say anything these days, it's political correctness gone mad, I tells you!"
The older you get the more resistant you are to change so I'm certainly open to the idea that I'm just getting old and grumpy (ok, grumpier).

How do you think we can change the structures you talk about? My view is that I'm sceptical how much "white privilege" I've enjoyed. Obviously it's impossible to know but my guess is my advantages in life - and I've definitely had some - have mostly come from growing up in a reasonably well off home with a stable family. I had good family support, went to a decent school, my way was paid through Uni, dad made some investments for me which basically paid the deposit on my first place. If I grew up with all those privileges but my skin colour was different then would it have seriously affected my life? I might have suffered some racist abuse, but I have certainly suffered from "shortist" abuse! Impossible to know but people treat each other differently for all kinds of reasons. Race may be one but so is nationality, age, social class, gender. I don't think it's possible to remove every stereotype. The laws already exist which should mean that people, in theory, have equal opportunity. But I'll never have the opportunities that someone who went to Eton had. I don't think it's possible to completely level the playing field. Attitudes have got better in my lifetime and younger people are noticeably more "woke" than my generation, but these things take generations to change.