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A sex education program causes controversy in Belgium. Schools are burning, the country is worried (apnews.com)

submitted 1 year ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/world@lemmy.world

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[-] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 35 points 1 year ago

Wtf Belgium, you’re not the United States. Chill out.

[-] DacoTaco@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

We arent the us, no worries :')

The problem is that extremists are everywhere and with the easy access of information, things from other places are happening here too, even if they are not applicable ( like police voilence or blm protests ). That said, fuck those extremists, whatever their background is :')

Also, this article sucks. It doesnt even explain what the new sexual education is about

[-] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm sorry... you don't think police violence and BLM are applicable in Belgium?

Police violence is endemic wherever the police exist, and I find it hard to believe that racism against black & brown people isn't a problem in the place that ruled the Belgian Congo until 1960.

I wonder if I just google "belgian police racism"...

Oh. Oh no.

[-] tchotchony@mander.xyz 10 points 1 year ago

Oh we definitely have racism. It's just less "black lives matter" and more "only my skin colour matters". And yeah, this definitely extends to the police too. But given they're very, very scrutinised every time they dare pull their gun in public, at least we don't have the "police raids wrong unit and shoots owner" happenings.

What is happening is still far from OK, any instance of racism is one too many, but the problems here are a bit more nuanced than what is in general shared on a public, overly-Americanized forum.

And in case you are American/Canadian/Australian, can I please point back to whatever is still happening to your native population? Not a single country is free from blame from what they did to other or their own nations. Call me butthurt, but I'm getting quite a bit tired of getting called out on the Congo on every single thread mentioning Belgium while that was mostly, originally one man's doing. Again, nuance, I know more stuff happened afterwards, but it's not relevant to this thread.

[-] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I don't care about your personal level of culpability or whatever. This isn't a nationalistic game of finger pointing, you know that, right?

Like yeah, my country did genocides too. That's just reality. I'm just not so small minded that I think it reflects on me personally. The ruling class is always the numerical minority. Fuck Australia. Fuck every state. The difference is that I'm not out here trying to pretend like my dominators are any better than the rest.

Like if you don't want to have people constantly pointing out your country's violent racist crimes both historical and present, maybe stop trying to downplay them. Maybe people wouldn't say this to you so often if you listened for once and stopped volunteering that your country is actually pretty good in comparison. It. Is. Not.

You completely ignored the fact that your police are racist, and it's not against white people. Your "only my skin colour matters" line sounds one step away from the reverse racism crap that white supremacists love to bang on about. It's the most American thing you've said so far.

[-] smosjoske@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago

I think they meant "with only my skin colour matters" that Belgium has a higher rate of racism against other skin colour than just black people. As a lot of the bigotry is also cultural, so more against where you from specifically, instead of which colour is your skin. As it is in most of Europe. The North African and Arab community has got it bad since they are Muslim and brown and the biggest group of immigrants. So he definitely didn't ignore it. He only pointed out that there are some policies in place, so that the actions of racist cops at least cannot lead to the slaughter of innocent people.

Pointing out the differences is not as bad as you think. It high lights what policies and changes can at least minimize the effect of racism. Just saying everything and everyone is racist, independent of the impact of bad and good policies, will just create a hyper cynisme that it is all shit and any change doesn't matter.

[-] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

even if they are not applicable ( like police voilence or blm protests )

"Not applicable" then got walked back to "at least we don’t have the “police raids wrong unit and shoots owner” happenings" when I showed that it definitely is applicable. Like congrats, you don't have the absolute worst police in the world in your country of extreme wealth that was garnered through plunder and genocide along with the rest of the colonial powers.

And BLM isn't just confined to advocating for black people specifically, they have solidarity with other victims of police violence, especially the racialised ones. The idea that the banner can't be used for advocacy in other places makes no sense. It absolutely is "applicable".

As for the cynicism, it's right to be cynical about the police. They are a cynical organisation. The moment the ruling class comes under threat the gloves will come off and they won't give two shits about scrutiny or paperwork. It's a thin veneer of civility, not actual safety.

[-] DacoTaco@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Thing is, you will have the problem everywhere and forever that humanity exists, but it is in a way lower number of cases and police is just a way less hostile environment then in some other places...

[-] Ubermeisters@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 year ago

Not my police

[-] SeramisV 1 points 1 year ago

I mean, we, Belgium, are basically the US of europe. We've got: federalism, secessionism, shitty prison system, rising extreme right and police brutality. We're a bit more lucky on the lgbt and racism side though

this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2023

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