Heh. And here I thought I was going crazy taking a fairly critical stance towards mass protests outside the US. Because of the current sad circumstances of Corvid the question has to be allowed to be asked what the goals of these protests are. If it is just about showing support and raising awareness of the terrible situation in the US, then there has to be a better way of working towards it that does not include putting not only the protesters but also those whom they have contact with in the next few weeks in potentialy mortal danger.
What I do believe is that there are two different conversations to be had here:
The first one is about the root of the problem, the racism (or discrimination based on gender, nationaity, religion, sexual orientation and so on) in itself: the mindset that a difference in a person be it what it may makes someone less deserving of respect, chances and well being. In an ideal world we might grow past stupid prejudices but in my opinion too many people are just too damn comfortable to fall into thought processes based on stereotypes( because they are easy, lazy and don´t require muss empathy) to ever erase the issue it completely. I also believe that while governments and administation can and should influence perception in a more fair direction (in my eyes the greatest tool for that has to be education), their reach has limits in that regard. Administrations can try to educate its citizen, but it can´t force them what to think.
The second topic is the consequenses born out of the discrimination: violence, abuse, mistreatment, fear, inequality in terms of chances, etc. This is where the political and administrative systems have to come into play and do their best to protect the disadvanted people from it.
If the protests are aimed for improvements of the second part, then that is all fair and good, but in that case they also have to be aimed towards the specific challenges their systems face. In difference to what some posters in this thread suggested the Western systems don´t completely mirror each other, but from what I gather from the protests they protest against the same things. I don´t dare to comment of the situation in the UK as I lack crucial insight to actually do so properly, but at least in Germany, where just yesterday was a 15k strong protest in Berlin, many regulations, checks and balances the people in the US are fighting so desperately right now (high accountability and entry barrier for law enforcement, extensive police training aimed for deescelation rather than intimidation, fairness in law and court, freeer education and so on) are already in place here.
That does not mean that the system is not flawed, even deeply in some areas, because it can get circumvented and abused in certain circumstances, but gathering together in masses in the midst of a pandemic to hold up signs and shout phrases is not the only way to even the playing field and combat racism and discrimination in general.
To deny that this is not an issue in Germany aswell would make me a liar, a hypocrite and a blind man. I´m part of one of the systems in question as both a public servant and educator (I oversee the apprenticeships of a medium sized German administration) and was smacked over the head with such an issue a few years ago when the political heat of the immigration crisis was still burning high. It was then when my picks for the next round of apprentices was questioned for the first and only time in my career. While a single young bright Syrian girl a year prior was seen as a great symbol for integration and the administation doing their part by my superiors, that tune changed rather drastically when on the next list more than half of the names were by Youths with Syrian background. There was no blatant racist talk in the discussion, it was more sublte and included terms like political climate, supporting (IMO less qualified) local kids and making the citizenship uncomfortable. I was first advised, then nicely asked and ultmately ordered to adjust the list. I refused which then lead to a heated two hour long discussion between me, my direct superior (head of HR) and even the Mayor which ended with me threatening to resign from a position I worked and studied for near a decade. That did the trick in shuting them up.
The reactions in my social circle to that story were curious aswell. They ranged from agreeing in principle but berating me for my stubbornes and recklessness to lifting me up to some social hero status, which weirded me out to no end as nothing I did was politically motivated but that I simply chose the people who were most qualified in my estimation. The "best" reaction came from my brother-in-law, though, a protester of for and against everything, who completely flew off the handle and accused me of selling out my integrity for staying in my position. My only response to that was that me resigning would have solved nothing and that my replacement would most certainly be a more loyal follower of orders with less of a mind of his/her own.
I apologize for derailing the thread a bit with this small personal story. It was just to show that there are many other ways to stand for things people believe in. At least in Germany there are many groups and organizations that would welcome help to help disadvanted parts of the society, be it via donations or working for them. People could actually join the system and work towards getting to positions where influences can be made, no matter how local or small they are.
In halfway normal times I would berate nobody for making their voice known in protests, but tragically we don´t live in normal times right now and even something like gathering together with a lot of likeminded people can have costly censequenses.
