Streets protests in the USA

May 2024 Forums General discussion Streets protests in the USA

Viewing 15 posts - 91 through 105 (of 241 total)
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  • #203742
    ALB
    Keymaster

    I hope they are not going to use all these empty plinths to put on statues of William Wilberforce. Yes, he opposed chattel slavery but was all in favour of wage-slavery, to the extent of opposing the Factory Act, thus acquiring a merited notoriety in the working class movement.

    This extract article from the Socialist Standard of April 1909 (not yet on our website) explains why wage-slavery apologists like Wilberforce wanted to end chattel slavery:

    “It is well known that free labour is often far more profitable to employers than slave labour. Mr. Brassey in “Work and Wages” cites some interesting cases, and informs us on authority that prior to the emancipation of the slaves in Jamaica, 18 cwt. of sugar per acre was thought excellent, while under free labour it averaged 1 ton. He further attributes to the British Consul at Pernambuco a detailed statement of the comparative cost of work done by slave and free labour, which shows that sugar costing £4,251 to produce by slaves, would have cost only £1,080 by free labour. To further emphasize the point that free labourers, or slaves with the opportunity of earning their freedom, are more profitable than ordinary slaves, he says of some coffee-carriers in the Brazils, carrying bags of coffee weighing 2 to 3 cwt., that they worked with intense vigour in order to earn a sufficient sum to purchase their freedom, and generally succeeded in accumulating the amount in three or four years—an effort which too often broke their health. It was the knowledge of such facts as these that caused the abolition of chattel slavery, and not the sentimentalism of moralists and alleged Christians.”

    #203753
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    If these protests stay within the concept of racism and knocking down statutes, and a fight between white and black and vice versa,  the movement will die, like the antiwar movement vanished because the rulers are going to issues several reforms to calm down the protesters and they will be pleased with the reforms. Some leftwing organizations are calling the protest a socialist revolution, but it is not a revolution, and it is not a movement either,  it is a revolt for reforms,( similar to the one which took place in Germany and France after the Bolshevik revolution )  most peoples involve are young and they do not have a clue of what socialism really is, that is not their objective either

    #203761
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Black Lives Matters organisers said they had decided to call off a planned protest at Hyde Park at 1pm on Saturday, warning that “many hate groups” were threatening the safety of those planning to come.
    “We want the protests to be a safe space for people to attend,” a post from the BLM LDN organisers said. “However, we don’t think it will be possible with people like them present.”

    There are fears among anti-racist campaigners that marauding gangs of hooligans will seek out BLM protesters around London with the intention of confronting them.

    However, it is unclear whether BLM protesters will heed the call to stay away because other protests are still currently listed as going ahead. Another event – “Antifascists support Black Lives Matter” – is also due to take place on Saturday lunchtime. This event is supported by the Labour pressure group Momentum, among others

    Far-right groups, with the support of extremists such as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who calls himself Tommy Robinson, plan to hold a “defend our memorials” event at Winston Churchill’s statue on Parliament Square, where considerable numbers could be present. The extremists claim they intend to prevent the landmarks from being targeted after Churchill’s statue was daubed with graffiti. Several far-right groups were continuing to push their “patriotic unity” event on extremist channels and chat groups as an opportunity to stage a show of strength.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/11/blm-organisers-call-off-london-event-to-prevent-clashes-with-far-right

    #203762
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    We may need a separate thread for this topic if it continues

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/11/scouts-founder-robert-baden-powell-statue-poole-storage-petition

    “A council’s plans to remove a statue of the founder of the Scout movement amid fears that it would be targeted by anti-racist activists were thwarted when it was surrounded by dozens of locals refusing to allow it to be taken away.”

    As an aside, in Scotland there was a religious bigotry issue. Catholic youth usually joined the Boy Scouts, the protestants always joined the Boys Brigade.

    #203763
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Update on Capitol Hill Free Zone as it hits the mainstream media’s radar

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/11/chaz-seattle-autonomous-zone-police-protest

    Meanwhile Trump blames it all on “ugly anarchists” and “domestic terrorists”, instructing the mayor of Seattle and governor of Washington state  to “take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will…”

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/11/trump-seattle-threats-protests-twitter-complaints

    Elsewhere, statues continue to be targeted. In Virginia, Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy and four other confederate statues . In Miami, Christopher Columbus and conquistador Juan Ponce de León.

    #203786
    james19
    Participant

    Was Belgium’s King Leopold II a mass murderer on a par with Hitler or a greedy despot who turned a blind eye to a few excesses? A new book has ignited a furious row in a country coming to grips with its colonial legacy. Stephen Bates reports..
    The hidden holocaust

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/12/belgium-forced-to-reckon-with-leopolds-legacy-and-its-colonial-past?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    Warning ⚠️ distressing images

    People  are complaining that his statue has been taken down in Antwerp?
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/12/belgium-forced-to-reckon-with-leopolds-legacy-and-its-colonial-past?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    • This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by james19.
    • This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by james19.
    • This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by james19.
    #203808
    ALB
    Keymaster

    It looks as if the protests have been hijacked by the ‘anti-fascist’ mob so that they can indulge in street scuffles with Tony Robinson’s mob this weekend. Fat lot of good that will do.

    #203809
    Bijou Drains
    Participant

    It looks as if the protests have been hijacked by the ‘anti-fascist’ mob so that they can indulge in street scuffles with Tony Robinson’s mob this weekend. Fat lot of good that will do.

     

    I think you’ll find that’s Tommy Robinson. I can’t imagine Baldrick is up to much in a ruck!

    #203810
    ALB
    Keymaster

    Yes sorry. That what automatic spelling prompts bring about! Tony Robinson is a bit of leftie, isn’t he?

    Just checked. Sir Anthony Robinson was a  long-standing Labourite even sitting in its National executive committee.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-politics-48152475

    • This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by ALB.
    #203812
    Bijou Drains
    Participant

    Yeah, I don’t think street brawling is his game, I think even I could take him!!

    #203821
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    James, some of Leopold’s relations are still in denial about the atrocities

    A member of Belgium’s royal family has defended the role played by King Leopold II in the exploitation of the colony that became the Democratic Republic of Congo. Prince Laurent – brother of the present King Philippe – acknowledged in an interview with the Sudpresse newspaper that abuses were committed in the Congo colony but not by his ancestor.  He said King Leopold could not have hurt people there because he never went to Congo, though he owned it as his personal estate.

    With that logic, Hitler is absolved of the Final Solution because he never went to Buchenwald

     

    #203822
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Meanwhile in Canada…

    #203824
    Bijou Drains
    Participant

    Can’t imagine the police reaction had anything to do with this (spoiler alert, the previous statement was intended to be ironic)

    https://www.nationalobserver.com/2015/11/04/news/allan-adam-wins-re-election-chief-athabasca-chipewyan-first-nation

    #203842
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    CHAZ

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/seattle-project-cop-free-world-200612213944832.html

    But there are no leaders in the zone. Problems have been addressed as they come up, and regular “town hall” meetings are beginning to give structure and rules to living there.

    The “No Cop Co-op” grocery store doesn’t charge for its food or drinks, yet stock remains plenty.

    “The goal of this zone is to set an example for the world, that we do not need the current police system to maintain order. We do not need a man with a gun to show up at our door every time we have a problem and call 911”

    #203875
    james19
    Participant

    Seems Statues of slavery benefactors sparked protests more than 100 years ago?

     

    https://app.independent.co.uk/1970/01/01/statues-of-slavery-benefactors-sparked-protests-more-than-100-years-ago-this-isnt-a-new-debate/content.html

    • This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by james19.
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