Black Lives Matter

[Augustus]

https://www.bariweiss.com/resignation-letter

This is what happens when you cede the floor to the mob. 

[quilp]

Great that. And true on all counts. 

[Roger Mexico]

16 hours ago, gettafa said:

There is probably something in that Roger  and the - for example - Daily Telegraph front page photos of 'fruity girls' jumping for joy as they receive their GCSE results is now cliched and perennial.

But did you see the BLM march Roger? Your defence of something (I am not sure what) is admirable but hardly helpful.

It is a serious question I am asking. 

But I'm not really sure what it is.  If it's about whether I saw (in real life) or participated in the BLM march - no I didn't.  But that hardly matters as what we are discussing was the perception of the march in the media.  As to your wider question - about what you might call the demographics of the march - I've been looking at photos and videos (as I did at the time).  I think it might be possible that people are over-emphasising the femaleness of the march.  There were certainly more women than men, maybe 60-70% of the participants, but it was not as overwhelmingly so as some seem to have got the impression. 

Maybe we see demonstrations as being a 'male thing' and when it switches the other way, let the surprise cloud our judgement.  Would we comment on a demo that was 60-70% male?  We don't comment on the make-up of commentators on Manx Forums for example, but that is probably well over 80% male.

As to the reasons there may be some practical ones - it was a Tuesday, maybe more men were back at work by that stage, women may tend to have more flexible job patterns.  But I think Gladys's point that women, especially younger women, feel more able to take such action than in the past is an important one.  I think as well that social media, particularly Facebook and Instagram, which both have a slight majority of female users, are important, not just in making connections and helping organise such actions (and this one well organised) but also in empowering decision making.

As to the other demographics, the island is maybe 95%  white (you can't really tell from the Census), so it would surprising if most of the people on the march weren't, but you are allowed to care about things that don't affect you personally.  But there were certainly a lot of people marching who were from other backgrounds - more than 5%.  As for age, well marching and demonstrations has always been dominated by the young.  Maybe potential older participants were put off by the thought that if they got down on one knee they might not be able to get up again.

[Gladys]

Roger, my point wasn't that young women felt more able to take such actions, (women have been demonstrating for decades) but they have only relatively recently seen such action result in direct and almost immediate change. 

[monasqueen]

The suffragettes didn't do so badly. Where were the men in those demonstrations?

It's mostly youngsters nowadays, because they are the only people to have new ideas, and new ideals that no-one has ever thought of before. They really do need to re-invent the wheel.

[HeliX]

4 hours ago, gettafa said:

Thanks SMUJ and Max for your reasoned replies.
It's a phenomenon that is worthy of some thought. Maybe @HeliX could offer an explanation?

 

Young men are too busy playing CoD and taking ketamine.

[Gladys]

1 minute ago, HeliX said:

Young men are too busy playing CoD and taking ketamine.

Probably not too far from the truth!

[gettafa]

Which begs the question......

......ah forget it.

[P.K.]

10 hours ago, Mr Shoe said:

Peer pressure.

For example, it would be socially unacceptable if a girl DIDN'T post the black square on her Instagram a few weeks back. 

There are girls who see themselves as "social media influencers" which basically involves getting likes for revealing insta pix and shouting the loudest about the latest cultural issue. You get extra points if you are seen to pressure others to "get onboard". Bullying takes many forms. Ironic isn't it?

I tend to agree with this. But rather than peer pressure I think it's young women need to feel "empowered" and able to make a difference - for whatever reason. Whether the cause is a worthy one or not seems to be something of an irrelevance. I give you exhibit 'A' -

https://www.change.org/p/manx-radio-stu-peters-i-have-not-experienced-anymore-privilege-in-my-life-than-a-black-man

[cHarlie Grant]

1 hour ago, P.K. said:

I tend to agree with this. But rather than peer pressure I think it's young women need to feel "empowered" and able to make a difference - for whatever reason. Whether the cause is a worthy one or not seems to be something of an irrelevance. I give you exhibit 'A' -

https://www.change.org/p/manx-radio-stu-peters-i-have-not-experienced-anymore-privilege-in-my-life-than-a-black-man

Just read that. I'm disgusted. 

[gettafa]

19 hours ago, HeliX said:

Young men are too busy playing CoD and taking ketamine.

Well, we've certainly got a serious ket and CoD problem on the Island then.

[HeliX]

8 minutes ago, gettafa said:

Well, we've certainly got a serious ket and CoD problem on the Island then.

We have actually, yeah. Well maybe CoD isn't a serious problem. But ket is here.

[Max Power]

3 minutes ago, HeliX said:

We have actually, yeah. Well maybe CoD isn't a serious problem. But ket is here.

Why it's a thing I can't understand, its been here for twenty odd years alongside ecstacy, coke etc. The biggest worry is heroin which seems to have got a hold now.

[the stinking enigma]

A far bigger problem than any of these are prescription drugs. At least tenfold

[HeliX]

Just now, Max Power said:

Why it's a thing I can't understand, its been here for twenty odd years alongside ecstacy, coke etc. The biggest worry is heroin which seems to have got a hold now.

Short-acting and with not much come-down seems to be the reason. MDMA/Coke mess with your serotonin for days afterwards.

The young people I know who are pretty casual about their drug use don't seem to be mucking about with heroin, fortunately.