Protestors fill Downtown Seattle to call for racial justice
May 31, 2020
Carl Smith leads the demonstrators at Westlake Park in a chant. The names of dozens of black people who have been killed by police violence were written in chalk on the ground.
Editor’s Note: This gallery has been updated to minimize harm in compliance with the NPPA and SPJ Codes of Ethics.
Mark Thomson • Dec 10, 2020 at 7:19 pm
It troubles me to see how these protests in seattle and around the country have been portrayed. The protesters would have a lot more credibility with me at least if the outrage about unjustified killings by police existed with regard to the black on black killings which is far and away the biggest problem. The idea that there is a pervasive issue with police murdering black people is a total myth. All you have to do is look at the hands up don’t shoot gestures some of which are portrayed in these photos. That started with the Michael Brown shooting which was ruled justified. “Hands up don’t shoot” is a myth. Never happened based on multiple eye witness accounts. Seems to me this whole BLM movement and the “white privilege” narrative feeds a victim mentality.
I’m an SPU alum and it’s sad to see what appears to me to be a drift to the left.
I would also caution you all to be careful about using the “black lives matter” slogan because most of the time there’s an implied association to the Black Lives Matter organization. If you haven’t read what that group stands for and what it’s goals are I would suggest doing so.