2020 has been a scary and exhausting year. However, there’s a silver lining. The Black Lives Matter protests demanding justice for Floyd George, racial equality, and an end to police brutality have spread and they’re bringing about real change in American society.
Twitter user Emma collected a list of examples of the change that the protests helped accelerate in the United States in a viral thread that got more than 309k likes and 188k retweets. New laws regulating law enforcement are being introduced and cities are planning to take down statues that some people view as racist.
While other Twitter users pitched in and posted positive changes that the protests helped introduce or made happen faster. Emma urged protestors to keep fighting for change and to not stop just because of a handful of small victories. Scroll down and take a look for yourselves, dear Pandas.
Emma listed the positive changes that the BLM protests helped accelerate in the US and other people pitched in with their examples
This post may include affiliate links.
Ferguson is majority black population, isn't it? It's weird they haven't had a black mayor up until now
Oh, wow! Hope it works, really! Also, giving her name to such a law is a great way to honour her as well. Breonna was the "sleeping beauty" put to an eternal sleep not even the kiss of the truest love could wake up, as he probably cried her name, telling her to hang on. Breonna's life still matters, and will forever.
There have been many protests against police brutality in the US in the past. But the newest protests could be the tipping point that could lead to real change in the way that the police operate in the country.
Sean Collins writes on Vox that what lies at the core of the protests is the fear that black Americans have of being killed at any time by law enforcement. However, to change that requires reworking society. Collins states that previous protests have brought about limited change but demonstrators are hoping that this time will be different.
I believe I heard Birmingham, Alabama is going to take down one (or two?) also.
The Mapping Police Violence advocacy group found that the vast majority, 99 percent, of police officers from 2013 to 2019 weren’t charged with a crime after they killed someone. The group also states that black Americans are 3 times more likely to be killed by police officers than someone who is white.
How long the current BLM protests will continue is anybody’s guess. There are small pockets of change happening right now. However, greater change requires sustained and focused action: society won’t change in just a few short weeks.
Had to google that one up: "Blood chokes (or carotid restraints / sleeper holds) are a form of strangulation that compress one or both carotid arteries and/or the jugular veins without compressing the airway, hence causing cerebral ischemia and a temporary hypoxic condition in the brain. A well applied blood choke may lead to unconsciousness in 10–20 seconds." Sounds like a good idea to stop choking people...
A historic artifact like this is/was important, as it is a physical reminder of the atrocities that happened. Taking it away does nothing. I hope they put it in a museum, as it is a part of American history, as ugly as it is.
I think there is a difference between the statues we erect to honour people and the physical remains of the past. The slave block shouldn't automatically be treated in the same way as the statues, just because it is associated with slavery. Might have been turned into a meaningful memorial instead. (But then, I don't know the local issues in Fredericksburg).
I think it should go in a museum though so that people can learn about what happened. I don't think people need to walk by it every day, but I think forgetting the inhumanities of the past or white washing it ( as most plantation tours do) is terrible
"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Many kids today have no clue what horrible things happened in the past and need to be educated.
Too right. So put the black history in the school-curriculum.
Load More Replies...
Its not there incase white people want to start selling slaves again, itsa reminder of past s****y behavior.
That's disgusting that such a thing was kept, but good to see its taken away now
I can see this from both perspectives. It was not something glorifying the slave trade, more or less it was probably left as an educational item. We can distance ourselves from history when it's not out in the open. I would imagine that's why reminders like this still exists. With that being said, I do believe it would better serve in a museum. With it not being gated or closed off, I can assume that some family, somewhere, has a "vacation picture" with their kids standing on this. Just as there are plenty of distasteful pictures taken at Nazi concentration camps.
This made people remember what terrible things happened.Perhaps it should have stayed. it isn't a celebration it is a reminder.
I think this is amazing & wonderful! But as Truth Monster mentions, monuments of all kinds serve as reminders, both horrible and honorable. We mustn't allow our children to grow up ignorant of the horrors that have occurred, not only here in the US, but all over the world! There is disagreement over who said this, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." It is, however, most often attributed to George George Santayana.
Hiroshima maintains monuments to the atrocities of the A-bomb. England maintains statues of Washington, and I recall he lead the fight against them in the revolutionary war. The Jewish people maintain the concentration camps in order to remind themselves AND the world of what happened, and what could happen again if we should ever forget.
Removing and defacing these monuments and artifacts doesn't change history... it only sweeps it under the rug.
This is about the only one I think should stay. Not to cebrate what it was but to ask for forgiveness for what it was.
Once again how did this make things better??? Getting rid of a historical past good or bad does not erase what happened. Only makes it easier to hide it.
Sorry about the repeat in Mr. Santayana's name. I also want to remind folks that there are still "flat earthers" and holocaust deniers. We CANNOT allow this to continue!
Removing the commentary that slavery existed does not change the fact that this action happened. Study all the facts of how slavery occurred. You cannot change the past. You can and should change the sex slave trade happening today. This will lead the way to making tomorrow better for everyone, not just those kidnapped into a nightmare.
I agree with Truth Monster. We do not need to try to erase history. Some of history is violent and ugly, but needs to be remembered.
trust me, we dont have any issue remembering it when certain people remind us every day!
Load More Replies...
Lets remove all evidence of the past so later we can claim that it didn't happen.
If there only was a way to preserve history so future generations could read and learn about it. ... oh. Wait!
Load More Replies...
I’m not sure how removing this is a good thing. It’s not a statue honoring slavery, it’s a historical artifact to remind people of a dark time in our past. I don’t think anyone sees a slave auction block and thinks that slaves being sold was a good thing, or at least I hope not.
Germany doesn' thave statues of Rommel or Hitler, and have banned swastikas. And they have not forgotten the Holocaust. Nor has anyoen in Europe. Without monuments to Kristalnacht. Just sayin'. BTW, YES PEOPLE THINK BLACKS ARE NOT REAL PEOPLE EVEN TODAY. OMG. Do you not watch the news? I'v'e heard people here in Virginia, in the 2000s, say that the blacks should still be property b/c Lincoln had no right to free the slaves! Are you kidding me with this naivete? In AMERICA? .... Wow. Just... Wow.
Load More Replies...
I think this is not a good idea. This should stay there so we never forget about it and with some lucky, be used as a symbol of the long way we made and the longest waiting to be made.
Disgustingly r******d as f**k move. Pathetic too how people are so offended by it
I've always thought of the Confederate flag as anti-USA, more than pro-racism. Kind of weird that the US army would allow brandishing flags of its former enemy.
People might get demotivated and the protests might fizzle out if there aren’t larger victories against police brutality. We’ll see in the upcoming months whether these protests will have a bigger effect on the US than the ones that came before them.
Change the release to "within 12 hours". Fourteen days is enough time to cover up a lot. ---- from Charlottesville, VA. Yeah. Where we had that 2017 nightmare thing.
I have long been speaking out against QI. Not only would this hold police legally accountable, it will also hold them financially accountable and allow them to be sued in civil court and have to pay the damages themselves. It will also hold prosecutors accountable for misconduct.
These men would have never been arrested without the political and social media pressure
Please, please, please support your local bookstores and libraries instead of supporting large "mega-companies" like Amazon. You can even do a quick online search to see if there are any black-owned bookstores in your area that you can help support.Many of these black-owned bookstores have created entire "recommended" reading lists on their websites that include books on ending racism and a wide range of books of all different genres by authors of colour.
Want to hear some irony. When John Brown launched his raid on Harpers Ferry to seize the federal arsenal to launch his slave rebellion, the two men dispatched to stop him were Robert E Lee and JEB Stuart. Brown was executed for his rebellion. Neither Lee or Stuart were executed for treason for their role in leading insurrectionist Confederate troops though. My guess is the difference is the cause. Brown fought and died to try to end slavery. Lee and Stuart fought to protect it
Nothing should be used on protestors. If they become violent, they are no longer protestors but instead they are rioters. There is a huge difference. One is protected by the constitution and the latter is not.
There should also be penalties for those cameras that just "happen" to malfunction or be turned off at pivotal moments!!
Why was there a confederate memorial in a Northern State to begin with? I would assume its likely built in the 1920s when the Klan became popular again in the face of immigration and Blacks demanding rights post WWI but still.
No one is using bayonets or grenade launchers. The military would love to be able to use bayonets agian. The reason your police depts are like para militaries is because of whack job right wing Christian extremists having military hardware
Yeah, so on the off chance there's something like a school shooter, it's gonna take longer for help to arrive. My school had at least one cop on the school grounds and it was actually better, not worse. He was also unbiased af which was nice
Note: this post originally had 41 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
BLM got most police officers to wear cameras (needed). That alone is changing the nature of policing and shining a light on policies/procedures that need to change. Inversely, It is also protecting police from false allegations, which is also good.
Censuring art is a dangerous road. If the local populace thinks its horrendous/in bad taste/ want a gigantic statue of a Waffle Cat, then they should vote on it. Destroying historic art, even ones no longer in fashion, should be put in a museum or park for posterity. Not to glorify the Confederacy, but because they are priceless works of art and ingenuity. Make a national museum of Retired Statuary and have placards explaining why they were removed and when and by who.
I think that's why most of the towns removed the statues on their own, so they wouldn't be destroyed and could be moved to a museum where they belong.
Load More Replies...
These are all good news. Hopefully the so called "American Dream" will no longer be just a dream. The America I perceived as a child (before becoming aware of the real world), was a beautiful place of variety and freedom and it looked so cool. Hopefully it really achieves this image, by becoming the real country of freedom, as it claims to be. Change takes time, though. Good luck, folks!
Does anyone else find it bizarre that every inch towards decency and basic equality for all people has to be fought for with tooth and nail? It has to be a flaw in humans themselves. Because it is apex of stupidity to treat any person differently merely due to color.
I'm glad to see that slowly, but surely, protests are working. This seems like a really positive step in the right direction. I just wish that the mainstream media would pay more attention to these great happenings and the amazing people responsible for them rather than the violent anarchists out just to watch the world burn. It's attention that they want, and the do not deserve it. All this does.
I think all of these actions are good but I would suggest to make a museum dedicated to this kind of monuments and also to find ways to stop gun violence especially in schools
And there be is, John Smith and his b******t, b******t. Always the racist, talking bollocks, trying to stir up c**p. Go eat s**t and die
They are not legalizing crime. Just so you know. Police reform is only half the battle. People need to stop committing crimes. If nobody broke the law, the police would no longer be needed.
While I'm glad that people are taking action, I'm worried that there would be more black deaths to come in the following decades. That's because a persistent and growing white supremacist sentiment within the police force, and the US government's reluctance to confront this problem that blacks (or any non-whites) will continue to live in fear of the police. More information in this article if you're interested: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/13/how-us-law-enforcement-is-failing-to-police-itself
20+ people have already been killed because of the 'protests'.
Load More Replies...
It’s kind of sad people just assume anyone associated with the civil war is bad rather than just read a history book or read about that individual. Robert E Lee was granted slaves and freed them. He was anti slavery. He wanted to work with Jefferson Davis, the president of the confederacy, and free the slaves in a systematic way rather than free them without a plan. This truth always gets overshadowed and the hatred is so strong reason and truth go out the door.
Read more. Lee felt blacks were inferior, his one comment about the races is taken out of context (read the whole letter in which that famed anti-slavery remark allegedly occurs), and he wanted the slaves freed to ENLIST them in his army and to hope that would make the US forces go away. Dunno what sources you're reading, but they aren't authentic primary sources from the Lees *themselves*. It's called *real* research.
Load More Replies... Nothing quite like stupidity and racism that encourages racism to fight said racism
I am from a country very new to the ban of white over black. I live in South Africa, i agree apartheid was not good in most aspects, but very recently it has turned the other way around. I see why BLM but in real respect to all. All lives matter, if the one is supported more then the other surley this is a fourm of racism?...
The problem with the whole “all lives matter” thing is that it’s very clear that black lives DO NOT matter as much as white lives. We have a long way to go for that to be the case. We therefore need to give this extra support and attention so that one day the statement “all lives matter equally regardless of colour” will be true and we’ll no longer need to fight to make BLM. Also, the phrase “all lives matter” has been coined by bigots to belittle the BLM movement and to basically say that black people have nothing to complain about - to announce that America does not have an issue with race (an easy stance to take as a white person). An innocent phrase with a dark connotation.
Load More Replies...
This movement has been happening for years, George Floyd was just the last straw. If you think it's only over the "poor decision" of a police officer I suggest you pay more attention.
Load More Replies...
You complete idiot. Neither BLM or Antifa are actually official groups. They are concepts, a word which undoubtedly is beyond your understanding.
Load More Replies...
That's a very long post for something that is basically b******t. I see your points are at -2733 already, so won't bother with you.
Load More Replies... BLM got most police officers to wear cameras (needed). That alone is changing the nature of policing and shining a light on policies/procedures that need to change. Inversely, It is also protecting police from false allegations, which is also good.
Censuring art is a dangerous road. If the local populace thinks its horrendous/in bad taste/ want a gigantic statue of a Waffle Cat, then they should vote on it. Destroying historic art, even ones no longer in fashion, should be put in a museum or park for posterity. Not to glorify the Confederacy, but because they are priceless works of art and ingenuity. Make a national museum of Retired Statuary and have placards explaining why they were removed and when and by who.
I think that's why most of the towns removed the statues on their own, so they wouldn't be destroyed and could be moved to a museum where they belong.
Load More Replies... These are all good news. Hopefully the so called "American Dream" will no longer be just a dream. The America I perceived as a child (before becoming aware of the real world), was a beautiful place of variety and freedom and it looked so cool. Hopefully it really achieves this image, by becoming the real country of freedom, as it claims to be. Change takes time, though. Good luck, folks!
Does anyone else find it bizarre that every inch towards decency and basic equality for all people has to be fought for with tooth and nail? It has to be a flaw in humans themselves. Because it is apex of stupidity to treat any person differently merely due to color.
I'm glad to see that slowly, but surely, protests are working. This seems like a really positive step in the right direction. I just wish that the mainstream media would pay more attention to these great happenings and the amazing people responsible for them rather than the violent anarchists out just to watch the world burn. It's attention that they want, and the do not deserve it. All this does.
I think all of these actions are good but I would suggest to make a museum dedicated to this kind of monuments and also to find ways to stop gun violence especially in schools
And there be is, John Smith and his b******t, b******t. Always the racist, talking bollocks, trying to stir up c**p. Go eat s**t and die
They are not legalizing crime. Just so you know. Police reform is only half the battle. People need to stop committing crimes. If nobody broke the law, the police would no longer be needed.
While I'm glad that people are taking action, I'm worried that there would be more black deaths to come in the following decades. That's because a persistent and growing white supremacist sentiment within the police force, and the US government's reluctance to confront this problem that blacks (or any non-whites) will continue to live in fear of the police. More information in this article if you're interested: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/13/how-us-law-enforcement-is-failing-to-police-itself
20+ people have already been killed because of the 'protests'.
Load More Replies... It’s kind of sad people just assume anyone associated with the civil war is bad rather than just read a history book or read about that individual. Robert E Lee was granted slaves and freed them. He was anti slavery. He wanted to work with Jefferson Davis, the president of the confederacy, and free the slaves in a systematic way rather than free them without a plan. This truth always gets overshadowed and the hatred is so strong reason and truth go out the door.
Read more. Lee felt blacks were inferior, his one comment about the races is taken out of context (read the whole letter in which that famed anti-slavery remark allegedly occurs), and he wanted the slaves freed to ENLIST them in his army and to hope that would make the US forces go away. Dunno what sources you're reading, but they aren't authentic primary sources from the Lees *themselves*. It's called *real* research.
Load More Replies... Nothing quite like stupidity and racism that encourages racism to fight said racism
I am from a country very new to the ban of white over black. I live in South Africa, i agree apartheid was not good in most aspects, but very recently it has turned the other way around. I see why BLM but in real respect to all. All lives matter, if the one is supported more then the other surley this is a fourm of racism?...
The problem with the whole “all lives matter” thing is that it’s very clear that black lives DO NOT matter as much as white lives. We have a long way to go for that to be the case. We therefore need to give this extra support and attention so that one day the statement “all lives matter equally regardless of colour” will be true and we’ll no longer need to fight to make BLM. Also, the phrase “all lives matter” has been coined by bigots to belittle the BLM movement and to basically say that black people have nothing to complain about - to announce that America does not have an issue with race (an easy stance to take as a white person). An innocent phrase with a dark connotation.
Load More Replies... This movement has been happening for years, George Floyd was just the last straw. If you think it's only over the "poor decision" of a police officer I suggest you pay more attention.
Load More Replies... You complete idiot. Neither BLM or Antifa are actually official groups. They are concepts, a word which undoubtedly is beyond your understanding.
Load More Replies... That's a very long post for something that is basically b******t. I see your points are at -2733 already, so won't bother with you.
Load More Replies...