Forum Topic

Candace Owens

https://www.facebook.com/realCandaceOwens/videos/confession-i-do-not-support-george-floyd-and-i-refuse-to-see-him-as-a-martyr-but/273957870461345/This is worth listening too

Jayne Thorburn ● 2336d20 Comments

It's extremely powerful - but I fear there will be outrage in some quarters when this outstanding piece of passionate oratory is more widely seen and heard.  Many people are already saying 'Candace Owens for President'!

Jane Martin ● 2336d

Spot on Candace. She’d get my vote.

Richard Kay ● 2336d

Jane, what struck me is a black women who is passionate about saying it how it is, she is bang on, I wonder what the reaction would have been if a white person had said exactly the same thing!

Jayne Thorburn ● 2336d

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb9_qGOa9Go&t=152s&safe=activePlease watch to the end. The language gets quite strong but it is incredibly powerful - it has moved most people I know who have watched it, to tears. Candace Owens is a Trump  activist and not someone I'm a big fan of.

Birna Helgadottir ● 2336d

I am not a fan of her politics either but she has made a powerful & passionate plea to not glorify criminals whatever their colour I totally agree with that, it is shocking how little it took to bring out people onto the streets in the middle of a pandemic to support a criminal shocking! I fear it will gather momentum and violence will follow

Jayne Thorburn ● 2336d

Behind her logic and statistics about high levels of black male criminality in the US is the next question. Why is this so? Is it because of poverty and lack of opportunity caused by racism in society? Or is it because black men are intrinsically inclined to be criminal and are inferior by nature? If Candace is implying the latter, then she's toying with the same colonial attitudes that justified slavery and racial repression and segregation in the first place, albeit alongside her calls for the black community to sort itself out and get its act together.

Peter Evans ● 2336d

Peter unfair to put your own spin on what she said, her point was about glorifying criminals and that the black American community tend to do this. Living in a democracy people of any colour have choices, you can choose to be a criminal or not. It don’t think colour comes into it in the deprived areas whether you are black or white it’s just as hard for kids, pressure to join gangs which is probably where a lot of criminal behaviour starts.

Jayne Thorburn ● 2336d

Point of interest - how many of us discussing this issue on here are actually black?How many of us have had a poor education?How many of us never had a father figure in our lives?How many of us live in poverty?How many of us do not have a voice?It is extremely difficult for white people to discuss these issues because we are coming from a position of white privilege. All we are doing is looking at it from a white perspective as though it is something we can fix. It isn't. I like Candice Owen's passion but I fear that she is not held in very high esteem among African Americans, however I absolutely agree with her that it is up to people of colour to aim higher, something they can only do if we (white people) enable them to do so. Systemic racism runs deep (especially in the USA) and it will be a hard journey.

Chris Blackwell ● 2336d

Regardless of colour, many Americans don’t hold Owens in high esteem since she was named as his main inspiration by one of the New Zealand mosque shooters.  I would be wary of passion that leads to terrorism.

Kerry Chandler ● 2336d

Fair point Kerry, but I would also be aware of passion leading to riots and possible spreading of the virus through mass gatherings under the current circumstances.

Richard Kay ● 2336d

Good post Chris. I agree it is difficult for white people to discuss these issues but it shouldn’t prevent it happening. One question though - what do you mean when you ask “how many of us do not have a voice”. What does not having a voice mean?

Richard Kay ● 2336d

Candace Owens has openly said Hitler would have been fine if he'd just kept it to Germany and thinks COVID is a marxist conspiracy theory, its beyond me how people can take her seriously

Jonathan Oppe ● 2336d

I don’t necessarily take the woman seriously In everything she says per se, but I agreed with what she said with regards to this particular issue. The two can go together. For example, I don’t agree Everything with Kier Starmer (sp), but I agree with what he has just said as reported on the news.

Richard Kay ● 2336d

Hi Richard - having a voice means speaking up and being listened to. Many African Americans do not have this luxury and often the only way they can be heard is through civil disobedience.

Chris Blackwell ● 2336d

Thanks Chris. I tend to agree in America, but everyone at least has a vote.  But do you think this is the case to the same extent in th UK, albeit there is a lot of room for improvement here as well?

Richard Kay ● 2336d

I think there absolutely is, yes!

Chris Blackwell ● 2336d

Candace Owens is a vile woman. I am not surprised that she is being lauded by certain people on this forum. Articulate she is, but is obviously unhinged in her stated view that Trump is the saviour of western civilisation,And as for her comments on Hitler and Nazis......

Stewart Jones ● 2335d

I could not access either of the suggested links (I don’t do Facebook and I don’t know what the problem was with the second). However ... this conversation is ridiculous. It’s focused on George Floyd’s criminal past. Does any of you, hand on heart, genuinely think he should have been killed, murdered, assassinated, executed (you choose your word) in the gutter by a policeman who had absolutely no authority - absolutely none - to do that? Really? Truly? I’d be interested in your arguments in favour of that. My choice of word would be murder, for the record.There is a further twist. Apparently, George Floyd and the killer cop knew each other: they worked together at a nightclub.

Beryl Wall ● 2335d

Beryl - you need to have seen Candace Owen's video in order to put this conversation in context.

Chris Blackwell ● 2334d

Ok - I’ve just managed to watch it. I’ll watch it again tomorrow and note her stats. In the meantime, three points:a) I didn't realise Floyd was a martyr. I’m sure he’s not. I thought he was a victim of police brutality - sorry, execution - caught on camera. b) because Floyd had a record does not in any way mean that a policeman  can kill (KILL) him at the roadside (I know that was mentioned in the clip, but it really was a bit “by the way”)c) the fact that the policemen were eventually charged (it most certainly was not immediate) showed an unwillingness to bring any charges against the police.It’s a question of how the police behaved, not how Floyd had lived his life.

Beryl Wall ● 2334d