Media using the term "protesters" and "demonstrators" over "rioters"

Does anybody find this particular usage of wording to be odd? Whenever there is some divisive shit going on in the US, the mainstream media and the rest call them protesters and demonstrators. It grinds me fucking gears because we should be able to distinguish the two a lot more clearly.

How much you want to bet when the day comes when people stand up together to fight against their government that we will all be labeled "rioters." They've practically conditioned us to what we can do in terms of protesting and normalized this behavior.

The media is definitely having a field day over this incident with Floyd and don't really care. They love the bloodbath because it makes them money. They'll definitely mishandle the situation and sew more hatred into the minds of Americans.

Not at all. Media manipulates language all the time. Some media sources also calls illegal immigrants dreamers.

Doesnt really bother me though. As everyone I know still calls them rioters.

It's just...irritating. call it what it is.

@Gaming-Planet:

Why does the wording matter so much? You know what it is. Calling them something else doesn't change what they really are. Also, I don't see how or why we would all one day band together and fight the government. I don't know why anyone would even WANT something like that to happen.

You never know. Governments go corrupt. Just look at what happened in Hong Kong when they called protesters "rioters" and used fake actors in it.

@nepu7supastar7: I'd actually go as far to say that the wording is everything. Words have specific meanings, and simply changing a single word in a sentence can completely change the message. To your point, while I'd like to think most of us do know what they actually mean, I don't have nearly as much faith in the drones who tune into a dedicated "news" channel every night.

Some are protesting/demonstrating though and not rioting.

But they are protestors. They are protesting the unlawful murder of a human being at the hands of a cop who has had a history of violence against innocent people.

The police serve as agents of enforcing the will of capital on the people, they do not "protect and serve" society in the US. They have always been a means to control the working class, slaves and indigenous populations and keeping them submissive to authority. Their massive level of militarization and the massive increase in disproportionate incarceration in the last few decades has shown this.

They only serve to "protect" the privileged classes.

The only "looters" are those in positions of power.

Protesters are protesters....rioters are protesters and rioters.

It's more accurate to call them all protesters than to call them all rioters.

I think "demonstrator" is kind of a nonsense term though.

@foxhound_fox said:

But they are protestors. They are protesting the unlawful murder of a human being at the hands of a cop who has had a history of violence against innocent people.

The police serve as agents of enforcing the will of capital on the people, they do not "protect and serve" society in the US. They have always been a means to control the working class, slaves and indigenous populations and keeping them submissive to authority. Their massive level of militarization and the massive increase in disproportionate incarceration in the last few decades has shown this.

They only serve to "protect" the privileged classes.

The only "looters" are those in positions of power.

That's your opinion but there is a clear distinction between a riot and a protest. Sure it was led by protesting but it eventually devolved into a riot. A riot is violent behavior. What exactly are you protesting when you burn people's property, their homes, their local businesses. Those have nothing to do with the cop manslaughtering a dude. If anything, those people are taking advantage of the situation and simply do not care about justice.

Perhaps but maybe the media should be more clear on this when they call them protesters. The should also be clear on the particular factions involved rather than grouping everyone into one. All it did was do a disservice to the public, the actual protesters, and the black community.

I agree they should be more specific, but if you had to choose only one term I think it should be "protester".

If they want to say "protesters and rioters" I think that would be fine, even preferable. Or hell just make up a word (prioter?) or hyphenate it (protester-rioters) if both are going on. I don't care lol.

Language is such a funny thing sometimes.

Hey at least they're not kneeling. Am I right?

Murder, the word you are looking for is murder. He killed George Floyd in cold blood by kneeling on his neck for over 9 minutes. It was caught on tape. The LEO institution is doing everything in it's power to protect him and keep him from facing justice for his crimes.

This is a normal day in the US, but now POC's have finally had enough and are standing up for themselves, united against the fascist regime crushing them under their jack boots.

Could you post some evidence of actual protestors setting fire to local businesses and homes? Because what I've been seeing so far is police provocateurs are trying to incite them into greater amounts of violence and destruction by doing that, but they (the protestors) are sparing everything except the corporate chains who are all entirely insured, and what they take is being redistributed to the community.

Yeah, I think this is reflective and fair.

Still think those antifa folks are borderline terrorists though; nuttier than a can of bolts.

So you think fascism isn't something worth fighting against?

Sorry Fox, the crab people have already executed complete dominion and control. Why fight it?

Fascist regime? Wtf are you talking about?

Whites are actually killed by the police more then any group in the US. So perhaps we should stop trying to make it a race issue.

So the police were the ones raiding target completely empty, then taking hammers to the cash registers. Got it. You're off the deep end.

What happened in Germany in the 1930's is happening right now in the United States. The only thing missing is the crazed megalomaniac seizing absolute power and initiating the purges of minorities (which is already happening to a degree with the ICE detention centres).

And moderates all over the country buy into the propaganda they've been sold over the last 15-20 years to write off legitimate struggles as "riots" and surrendered any empathy for others, and instead of standing in solidarity as allies, they both literally and figuratively toss them to the gutter to fend for themselves.

It's just media narratives. Like "Unarmed black man".... I guess black men cannot legally carry protective weapons?

I have the perfect example too in how the media exploits words to form the message they want to convey. 2 years ago I woke up to a ruckus outside. My neighbor locked himself inside his house and set it on fire. (later it came out that he thought he was possessed by demons and wanted to rid them aka: mental issue) At some point I heard "get back, get back" an officer ran away from the house backwards as I heard at least 9 or so gun shots fired rapidly in succession. So an officer nearly unloaded an entire clip at this guy as he was running away like a coward. The local newspaper reported that "an officer fired a shot wounding the suspect"....just a slight change of wording made it sound like a much different scene than what I witnessed. Any officer running backwards while repeatedly firing his weapon doesn't seem like much of a professional to me and if anything is potentially hazardous to innocent people nearby. You don't fire a gun while running away like a lil b**ch. I think the newspaper just wanted to make it all nice and tidy sounding for the local police.

People that were upset over what happened to Floyd were absolutely justified in their outrage and nobody should be surprised that they wanted to protest and demanded the arrest of the officer involved.

That outrage does not justify looting and burning down stores to include attempting to beat cash registers open with hammers. The media downplaying these actions because of an agenda is not helping the situation. They aren't honoring Floyd's memory by stealing a flat-screen TV or a PS4, nor are they honoring it by burning down a police station days after the offending officer was already fired.

Lol not even close. You want to talk about propaganda? Over 90% of the media leans left. And no regime is wiping out PoC.

As a whole, yes.

But per capita....per demographic, not the case.

Remember that white people are like 60+% of the population in the US, so all things being equal it's natural for more white people to be killed.

More importantly, this is not just about who gets killed by who...it's about who is more prone to experience police brutality.

And in either case, are you seriously playing the victim card as a white person right now? C'mon bro.

Not sure if serious.

Had he been armed, the entire situation would be changed.

It is important to specify he was unarmed because you have millions of people that see the would-be title pf "Black man killed by police" and they'd roll their eyes and go "He probably deserved it" or "He probably was an armed gang member".

If your society tends to stereotype, you can't really leave anything to chance, so you need to specify "unarmed" to remove any opportunity to stereotype.

They are killed more per a capita because they commit far more crimes per a capita. Blacks make up just under 13% of the US population yet make up nearly half the homicide suspects each year. This is a statistic that conveiantly gets left out.

And how is naming basic stats playing the victim? You want people to fight for your cause? Don't peddle false narratives.

It's your opinion. They are protestors, because they're demonstrating against injustice. Rioting doesn't apply here. :D

Indeed. They would have just shot him 37 times in the chest and all claimed they "feared for their lives".

Fascism died a long time ago in the west. It's so diverse in the west that no fascism can be implemented with such a mix of cultures and ideals. You can, however, get a kleptocracy, oligarchy, or technocratic system.

When people say they are fighting fasicsm, they are really fighting for another authoritarian ideology that conforms to their way of thinking.

@Gaming-Planet:

"There is a clear distinction between a riot and a protest."

- Even if there is, it doesn't really have any effect. It's just a narrative. Say if I'm one of those drones you said who tunes in to one source for news. What am I going to do with this slight misinformation? Am I going to start a protest of my own? It's just news. People decide how they want to take it. Thinking that changing a small word in an article is going to have any lasting effect on the viewers is just hyperbole.

Fascism is alive and well, friend. Just remember that if you don't stand up with those fighting against it now, there won't be anyone left when the fascists come for you.

They going after CNN on Atlanta? Lol..

Please don't speak for us or generalize. Also if you paid attention to the news today you'd see people standing together to say they are fed up.

Media wants to make this a racial black vs white issue, when it's more of a police brutality issue really. They will probably never solve the issue this way if they keep doing this. They just love stirring the pot though. Change the narrative, this is about police brutality.

Um....there is racial problems with police. Conservative?

It's not polotics to me and by the way I'm a Democrat. It's a police brutality issue. The media wants to make everything policical and a black white racial thing and about cops and blacks. It's like with Mexicans all they report on is things on the border. Your'e just so used to that you from media you think it's normal. I'd love to see more peace between races, but doing things this way it won't happen. Your statement was much more racist than mine. I was trying to bring race out of the equation and focus on the police brutality and the fact that all races can get brutalized by police. Or harassed, or deemed suspicious, picked on, given the spanish inquisition, or even murdered. It's not hardly just a black issue.

Where? Seems like a vocal minority in the west. Fascism is sure alive in other countries where they aren't western.

More people protesting than rioting.

Well your opinions are not facts. My statement is NOT racist. Learn what that word means. Sanitizing issues makes them less important and frankly police brutality is directed toward minorities. Your argument fails on every objective measure.

As if anything you are saying here is facts. Police brutality goes around. I have several white friends who have been brutalized by police. I've been tazed and jumped on by them and put in jail for no reason myself. You have no idea what you are talking about it. You actually believe this media narrative they give you?

Ah the old anecdotal card. That doesn't work. Come back to me when you can link verified studies.

If you can't see it, then how am I going to explain it to you?

The US is currently checking 14 of 14 on this list.

Look up the statistics yourself. I've seen it with my own eyes. You would rather play the whites are cops , blacks are robbers game. I'd rather not and just speak on police brutality. What the media should have done was say another man was killed by cops, instead of playing the race card and insiting riots.

@foxhound_fox said:

@Gaming-Planet said:

Where? Seems like a vocal minority in the west. Fascism is sure alive in other countries where they aren't western.

If you can't see it, then how am I going to explain it to you?

The US is currently checking 14 of 14 on this list.

These are all the things that most Americans hate.

Don't hold a match to close to your straw man there. If that's how you're reading posts there is no point in the discussion because you can't understand what's in front of your face.

@Gaming-Planet: And yet trump veers along those paths and his base cheers. So not all Americans hate it when their boy does it. Just the patriots hate it. Not his base.

Speaking generally, and violence aside, I guess it helps to have an agenda and specific demands if you really don't want to get dismissed as a riot.

@virusvaccine21:

As soon as anyone to the left or right of you starts rioting, it becomes a riot and you become directly responsible for not either immediately leaving the "protest" or attempting to stop it directly. A crime was commited and all "peaceful protesters" took part in it.

I don't even know what were argueing about anymore with all this legaleeze. Are you saying that police brutality only exists on blacks?

Once again that is not what I said. You seem to want to paint facts in your favor though and avoid what contradicts that.