IF I SEE ONE MORE COMMENT LIKE THIS RE: THE RIOTS. Why is it so hard for people to understand that the lack of jobs and opportunities are maybe contributing to all the anger people are feeling? Of course there’s a lot of opportunism and people jumping on bandwagons, but there’s a reason this sort of mood has risen up in this country. It’s not EASY to find a job these days. I actually see, on Facebook, a lot of these people complaining about the lack of work themselves - why do they seem to think it’s a different case for other people? Especially when you look at some of the areas the rioting is in, they’re not especially well off places. Maybe I get oversensitive about it because I can’t even find unpaid work right now, but I have 3 As and a B at A Level and am two thirds of the way through getting myself a degree. If it’s this hard for someone who has had the opportunities I’ve had, particularly with regards to education, to find work right now, what about the people who haven’t had the same chances, who don’t have that to offer them any kind of advantage?
THINK, people. I think that’s why I like this cup of tea thing. Get off the streets and have a cup of tea is a far more reasonable message!
maced:
London: Racist vigilantes on the loose
nervousgnosis:
Here comes the calvary:
This is terrifying. I did tell you the Right was going crazy. Now, the racists have an opportunity to go on the rampage. In Enfield, dozens of white men aged between 30 and 40 were out earlier, chasing down Hertford Road yelling “Get the p**is”. Paul Lewis reports:
It was only a minor skirmish, but a potentially bad sign for community relations. Police, who have flooded the streets, were quickly on the scene when about 70 men started chasing local youths. I wouldn’t mention their ethnicity, but it seemed to be relevant. The men were white - in their 30s and 40s - and shouting that they wanted to get the “blacks” and “pakis”. Lots of them seemed drunk. One man being held back by police shouted: “They’re rats, they mugged my Auntie the other night.” Jay Bradley, 30, a witness, told me: “What happened here? What I just saw - everyone from this area aren’t gonna have any looting. What I saw was a couple of ethnic lads, if you can call them that, black lads, and they chased them away. A lot of it is alcohol - I don’t think the kids were doing anything. They were just on bikes and in masks. But no-one around here is going to stand for any looting. What are we supposed to do. The Co-op is closed and we’re running out of food.”
I don’t believe that this is just a spontaneous response to looters. When the BNP membership list was leaked, it emerged that there were a number of members scattered around the lower middle class areas, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they, along with local EDL supporters, were among those out tonight. The emergence of racist vigilantism is not unique to Enfield. It’s also emerged that racist Millwall fans are supposedly ‘protecting’ Eltham tonight. Apparently, the EDL have been marching through the area. This is why we urgently need a political response to these riots that organises communities around the issue of justice for victims of police violence. The IPCC have said tonight that Mark Duggan did not shoot at police officers. This, to me, suggests that his death was an execution, and that the bullet in the police radio may have been post-mortem framing. Either way, the police certainly lied about the circumstances of Mark Duggan’s death, and this is a major cause of the anger in black communities, as it should be everywhere. There urgently needs to be an intervention on this by anti-racists and the Left.
(Source: hyperbody, via rimmingway)
droppingthefbomb:
It is possible to simultaneously condemn the riots and try to understand why they took place
love,
A londoner
(via turningintofairytales)
1732: The IPCC says the Forensic Science Service has also confirmed that the bullet lodged in a police radio was police issue and consistent with being fired from a police gun.
1729: The Independent Police Complaints commission says ballistic test results so far show no evidence that a handgun found at the scene of the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan had been fired. It says the Forensic Science Service is carrying out further tests to confirm this.
(via BBC)
"The action has changed things. People have said they woke up this morning feeling fear, but they now feel optimistic. There’s talk of reclaiming the streets from violence just by being there and talking. The broom, raised aloft, and cups of tea carried on riot shields have become today’s iconic images. How British. How beautifully British. And how very, very London. People have even produced “Keep Calm and Clear Up” posters. It’s a movement."
— Dan Thompson, the man behind the #riotcleanup movement on twitter (via alysian-fields)
(Source: thren0dies)
staringdownthebarrel:
Can we just admire the fact that despite how disheartening these riots are, and how much they make you lose faith in humanity, things like this really help to restore that faith you’ve lost:
Seeing people come together to help clean up the mess these rioters and looters have left is really heart warming. Idk man, there’s still some good in the world.
(Source: joshfranceschistinyhands, via thren0dies)
