4 ms·

I generally agree with that. When the same protest in the same place every single night turns to violence 100 nights in a row though, and when the violent peop

I generally agree with that. When the same protest in the same place every single night turns to violence 100 nights in a row though, and when the violent people deliberately use peaceful protests as a smokescreen for their behavior, it does start to get suspicious why a peaceful protester would show up for that kind of thing night after night.

ineedasername 6y ago
If they had another way to push back against the societal diminishment and dehumanization from subtle, and sometimes not so subtle sources. So they go out and try to keep awareness of the issue high. If others only want to destroy, and others who would seek to intimidate them and deny a problem exists-- if they show up as well, the protesters are both blameless and helpless to do otherwise unless they give up their cause. If you were the target if oppression, would you give up your cause when people with no sympathy showed up and caused trouble? Think of it in simpler terms. You're at work and someone shouts you down every time you try to say something. Are you to blame that their shouting disturbs the office? Should you stop trying to speak? Except at work, if management refused to act to fix the situation, you could at least try to find another job. Finding another society is rather more difficult, and the best way is usually not by finding another place, but by changing the one you have into the one you want.
xrd 6y ago
You are absolutely wrong that at the "same protest in the same place every single night turns to violence 100 nights in a row." The reason people like me showed up multiple times to these protests is because these issues matter and we Portlanders don't want the narrative to be that our end goal was to be violent. I've got kids that are biracial who will be impacted by police brutality, I've got relatives that have been impacted, and I have friends who have dealt with the issues we are protesting. What else should I do beyond peaceful protesting en masse? Did taking a knee for four years like Colin Kaepernik did result in substantial changes to the system? You can suspect all you want. You could consider that perhaps those causing violence are attempting to brand these protests as something else. That's not my intention nor the intention of the people I know who are there, nor the other people of Portland I know who support these protests. And, that should not be my problem to fix. You could consider that to be your problem of your perception or a problem of your understanding, and do something about that, like talk to the people protesting, instead of reading the "news" which, I dunno, could be slightly biased. Have you engaged with people protesting and asked them: why are you there night after night? You know my answer now. Otherwise, you are getting your answers from people who aren't there, or who might have an agenda different than mine.
- philwelch 6y ago
  I’m sure that you, personally, did not set any fires, try to burn down a federal courthouse or the residential building where your mayor lives, nor have you assaulted law enforcement officers, attempted to blind them with lasers, physically interfered in legal arrests of the people who did these things, or murdered any of the Trump supporters who showed up to counter protest one day. But others in Portland have committed all of these crimes, and you should be even more upset about it than I am because these criminal terrorists are the ones undermining the cause you claim to care so much about.

ineedasername 6y ago

If they had another way to push back against the societal diminishment and dehumanization from subtle, and sometimes not so subtle sources. So they go out and try to keep awareness of the issue high. If others only want to destroy, and others who would seek to intimidate them and deny a problem exists-- if they show up as well, the protesters are both blameless and helpless to do otherwise unless they give up their cause. If you were the target if oppression, would you give up your cause when people with no sympathy showed up and caused trouble? Think of it in simpler terms. You're at work and someone shouts you down every time you try to say something. Are you to blame that their shouting disturbs the office? Should you stop trying to speak? Except at work, if management refused to act to fix the situation, you could at least try to find another job. Finding another society is rather more difficult, and the best way is usually not by finding another place, but by changing the one you have into the one you want.

xrd 6y ago

You are absolutely wrong that at the "same protest in the same place every single night turns to violence 100 nights in a row." The reason people like me showed up multiple times to these protests is because these issues matter and we Portlanders don't want the narrative to be that our end goal was to be violent. I've got kids that are biracial who will be impacted by police brutality, I've got relatives that have been impacted, and I have friends who have dealt with the issues we are protesting. What else should I do beyond peaceful protesting en masse? Did taking a knee for four years like Colin Kaepernik did result in substantial changes to the system? You can suspect all you want. You could consider that perhaps those causing violence are attempting to brand these protests as something else. That's not my intention nor the intention of the people I know who are there, nor the other people of Portland I know who support these protests. And, that should not be my problem to fix. You could consider that to be your problem of your perception or a problem of your understanding, and do something about that, like talk to the people protesting, instead of reading the "news" which, I dunno, could be slightly biased. Have you engaged with people protesting and asked them: why are you there night after night? You know my answer now. Otherwise, you are getting your answers from people who aren't there, or who might have an agenda different than mine.

philwelch 6y ago
I’m sure that you, personally, did not set any fires, try to burn down a federal courthouse or the residential building where your mayor lives, nor have you assaulted law enforcement officers, attempted to blind them with lasers, physically interfered in legal arrests of the people who did these things, or murdered any of the Trump supporters who showed up to counter protest one day. But others in Portland have committed all of these crimes, and you should be even more upset about it than I am because these criminal terrorists are the ones undermining the cause you claim to care so much about.