zlacker

I mean, the United States is predominantly white. It's nearly certain that most people on video will be white, as a result. Also, the presence of white people does not negate that the protests are about black lives (not COVID). I won't engage with the statement about bricks because another user has that covered.

Many of my black friends don't like the idea that the protests are about COVID tensions (even if income inequality and unemployment obviously contribute). It's felt like an erasure of their struggle. I'm Hispanic and have been profiled a few times in my life. While I cannot pretend to know the full spectrum of the black experience in the US, I'm inclined to agree that I feel similar, too.

Edit: no clue why this keeps getting downvoted. The protests are (1) not only about COVID and (2) implying that they're only about COVID feels like erasure to Black (and Brown) people. Unless I'm missing something, here. Perhaps I need to be more detailed?

The entire point of this protest is to be heard. There is a population, long silenced, that has a message to convey. Today that message is BLM - and it is incredibly taxing to convey that message. To then look that movement in the eye and completely miss the message, returns us to square one: the problem of being unheard. That is what I mean by "a feeling of erasure."