Should I Stay or Should I Go

Anyone notice there was no tear gas, no cops in riot gear, few if any arrests, no barricades, no suspicious smash and grabs of stores and suchlike? In fact, police presence wasn’t really much at all.

Jim Urquhart

Compare with Black Lives Matter and George Floyd protests. Hmmmm, I wonder what the difference could possibly be.

Protests don’t become violent when Black and Brown people are in the lead, they become violent when cops instigate violence. 

Saturday’s demonstrations were predominantly white. They were peaceful because the police weren’t unleashed and kitted out in militaristic regalia on middle-aged, mid and upper class white folks.

In the U.S. (in 2020), there were well over 7,000 public demonstrations for racial justice across more than 2,400 locations in all 50 states, arguably the largest protest movement in the nation’s history. An overwhelming majority (an estimated 93%) of racial justice demonstrations in the summer of 2020 involved no violence, property destruction, or road blockades. However, police responses to protests varied widely, ranging from no presence at all to mass arrests, indiscriminate use of projectiles and chemical weapons (e.g., rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray), and driving police vehicles into crowds of protestors. Those types of police responses served as yet another example of the very police violence that protestors were calling to end.
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We found striking disparities in police responses to protests in the summer of 2020. At racial justice demonstrations, police were more likely to be present, more likely to have an escalated presence (i.e., riot police, state police, or national guard), and more likely to escalate their response to include arrests, projectiles, and chemical weapons, compared to similar demonstrations unrelated to racial justice. (source)

The Soiling of Old Glory—Stanley Forman

A friend who was at a protest wrote of an overhead convo snippet. Two men talking about starting a chant—one suggests to the other “kill the rich.” The other responds with “murder Musk.” Before they could start up, those who heard, shut it the fuck down—chastised the dickheads into silence. The thought is/was that they are/were police, feds or MAGA plants trying to start some shit.

Maybe they were just frat boy types—too stupid and inexperienced to understand the danger of setting off fireworks in a crowded theater?

Which brings to mind the young mother who brought her toddler to a protest. You’ve probably already read about the Bouncy Castle mom. She obviously didn’t know the difference between a rally and a protest march and gathering.

Rally:
   A mass meeting intended to arouse group enthusiasm.
This often involves speakers and music.

Protest:
   An organized public demonstration of disapproval.
These also often involve speakers and music as well as marches

Over the course of a few Thread posts, it became clear that Bouncy Mom was young, inexperienced, raised in privilege and leads a sheltered, comfortable, incurious, white adult life. Apparently, in her set, there are bouncy castles at every event. I guess she thought Hands Off was going to be a party.

Just motherfucking WOW. I get it though. She’s young and astronomically unknowledgeable of the world around her (I don’t think I was ever this young and naïve). She said it was her first protest. Fine, cool BUT wouldn’t it make sense to read up, find out what a protest IS before taking your toddler to one?

Jim Urquhart

Hopefully she can learn from the enormous ratio she earned for this ultra oblivious, entitled post. I don’t hold out much hope though—on her Threads profile she claims to be a “life coach.” She’s in her late 20s and obvs limited in her understanding and experience of life outside her narrow world. What’s she gonna knowledgeably coach on? Choosing the right nail polish color for a birthday party at the yacht club?

To be fair to this neophyte—kids WILL find protests boring or scary. Probably both. Given how potentially dangerous demonstrations can be, it would be grand to set up a play area (well away from the action). With her own money, she could rent a bouncy castle and hire child minders. In doing this she would make it possible for more parents to take part in the protest.

Jim Urquhart

Showing up at a protest and expecting there will be entertainment for your kid is…clueless in the extreme.

Saturday’s protests were peaceful because riot cops weren’t automatically unleashed on white folks.

Black and Brown people mostly stayed home and I don’t fault their choice AT ALL. The riot squads aren’t going to break out the water cannons, sting-ball grenades, beanbag rounds, teargas, etc. for 60 year old white people. The ICE assholes aren’t going to be out snatching white protesters and trafficking them off to concentration camps in El Salvador. It’s highly unlikely that martial law will be declared when white people exercise their First Amendment rights.

At least for now.