Americans and people worldwide are protesting for justice for George Floyd and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. In a recent article, BuzzFeed compared BLM protest signs to anti-lockdown signs to show what white privilege looks like.
This has started a discussion online and there’s no one way that people are reacting to the comparison. Some people came out in support of BuzzFeed stating that this is exactly what white privilege looks like and the anti-lockdown movement is ridiculous, in their opinion.
However, others said that it’s unfair to compare the two protest movements because they’re completely different events that happened at different times. But what do you think, dear Pandas? Share your thoughts in the comments below. And read on for Bored Panda’s interview about the BLM protests and reforming the US system with writer and concerned citizen Zariya Grant from New Jersey.
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Reopen protests:
Image credits: AP
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: AP
Reopen protests:
Image credits: AP
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Reopen protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Reopen protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Reopen protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: AP
Reopen protests:
Image credits: AP
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: Photo Access
Reopen protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Reopen protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Reopen protests:
Image credits: AP
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Reopen protests:
Image credits: AP
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: AP
Reopen protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Reopen protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: Photo Access
Reopen protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Reopen protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: AP
Reopen protests:
Image credits: AP
Black Lives Matter protests:
Image credits: AP
Reopen protests:
Image credits: Getty Images
Some internet users chimed in that just because somebody participated in the anti-lockdown protests doesn’t automatically mean that they don’t support BLM. While others accused BuzzFeed of “race-baiting” and trying to sow discord among Americans in a difficult time when everyone should be united. To be fair, it’s not just BuzzFeed who touched upon the topic of protests and white privilege. Over a month ago, Vox wrote an article about how anti-lockdown protests are “ignorant, privileged, and racist.”
Pro-BLM protests have occurred in Germany, Italy, the UK, New Zealand, Canada, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Israel, Sudan, Brazil, and other countries. More protests are planned in the upcoming days.
“It’s not ‘black people vs. white people,’ it’s ‘everyone vs. the racists’”
“I think the protests are just what the world needed. Our voices clearly weren’t being heard. And it’s not ‘black people vs. white people,’ it’s ‘everyone vs. the racists,’ and the protests are a great visualization of how many people are standing with the black community. I think the looting is where things got irrelevant to the cause, however,” Zariya spoke to us about the BLM protests.
Zariya feels like the police are neither protecting nor serving Americans, even though they’re supposed to do both.
“I’ve seen so many videos of police beating up innocent people behind walls when they think no one is recording, I’ve heard one too many stories of people getting pulled over because the officer said it ‘looked like they were going to speed,’ men and women are getting abducted by police officers, not even arrested. As a black person living in America, it really makes me wonder ‘if someone were to break into my house, can I even call the police?’” she shared her fears.
“No loopholes, no favoritism, no free passes”
But how should the system be reformed to ensure justice and safety for black Americans? Zariya has some ideas.
“To reform the system, we need to listen and understand the oppressed people. We need to make sure that the people we’re giving the job of ‘protecting and serving’ to are actually going into this field with that intent,” she said.
“And if they’re just using the title as a way to abuse and murder innocent lives, they face the same punishment that is written by the judicial system. No loopholes, no favoritism, no free passes. As someone who considered going into law enforcement and was a law major in college, I learned that the police are trained to ‘one-up a threat,’ so if someone draws a knife, they draw a gun for example. If we stopped this ‘one-up’ teaching, I’m sure a lot would change. The argument ‘I thought he had a gun, so I shot him’ would no longer be valid in any sort of way.”
Some people said that the anti-lockdown protests didn’t show white privilege while some denied that it even exists
However, other internet users said that it was right to compare the BLM and anti-lockdown protest signs
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