While “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) may be well
intentioned, they lack the proper focus, proper objectives and the skilled and
savvy leadership necessary to positively impact any meaningful change.
First, they must deal with
their chosen name; “Black Lives Matter.”
The suggestion that discrimination
against blacks in this country should be the only or primary objective diminishes
the horrors and importance of others who also suffer discrimination. Latinos, Muslims, gays, women the underprivileged
and poor, and in many cases white males are also outcasts and victims of incredible
levels of discrimination. Ending black
suffering and deaths to any meaningful degree requires fighting all forms of discrimination
and hatred. The enemy is bigotry. As long as it has any kind of a foothold in
America, on any level, blacks will be always be victimized. Therefore, the title, by its very nature, is misleading
and shortsighted. It conjures up doubts
as to the proper and the most worthwhile agenda.
The Reverend Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. and other historically successful civil rights leaders were
keenly aware of this reality. King’s
efforts extended to the horrible and disgraceful discrimination of war. He railed against the poor and underprivileged
being the primary victims of our wars, emphasizing that the privileged - as Robert
Kennedy noted – could “hide out” in college
while those far less fortunate did the fighting and dying. This correct and necessary moral high ground resulted
in King’s receiving strong support within non-black communities to help with
his fight. Populist support is necessary
to succeed against any form of discrimination.
Next is the problem in attacking
the beast at its root causes.
Let begin by affirming the
obvious. Of course, black discrimination manifests itself through
racist police officers. “Black Lives Matter” is determined to focus
on the false premise that that discrimination is the primary and only cause for
recent violent police tactics. A review
of the record nationwide demonstrates abusive and violent police behavior
toward every segment of our population.
Unarmed Alfonso Limon Jr., 21, was shot to death by
Oxnard, California police officers. He was of Spanish speaking descent.
Victor Hernandez, also of Spanish speaking decent, was
dragged out of a car, tasered and beaten by Roseville, Minnesota police as he lay
on the ground. The cops
weren’t pleased with his slow response to their commands which stemmed from the
fact that Hernandez didn’t speak English.
Then there’s Brandie Redell – a white woman – who
was beaten by two Davenport, Iowa cops.
And, of course, there
was Tampa, Florida resident Brian Sterner.
Sterner is a white paraplegic.
He was thrown out of his wheelchair by Hillsborough Country deputy
Sherriff Charlette Marshall-Jones. Three
other officers looked on without alarm or objection. Jones is a
black woman and all three of the police onlookers – two females and one male -
where all black.
In reviewing these records,
one quickly learns that some police departments and police officers are infused
with an arrogant mindset. This arrogance permeates demeaning and abusive
encounters. Records show time again rude,
condescending, disrespectable, obnoxious and intimidating police conduct. Strong evidence reveals these are just
isolated incidents but are commonplace. Because
this uncivilized demeanor and verbal abusive has gone unchallenged for years,
police have come to believe they are now also immune from acting in an unlawful
manner. All of this indifference has
resulted in the current widespread cruel and extreme violence that plagues us
today.
This entrenched lack of
civility, and NOT JUST racism, is the PRIMARY reason for the violent abuse of
power exerted by law enforcement officials.
For “Black Lives Matter” to succeed they need to expand their thinking
beyond bigotry to include all forms of abusive behavior. Their demands must center on more effective
methods in the selection and hiring of officers, vastly improved training
programs designed to instill a proper law enforcement mentality. They need to demand additional comprehensive
training for current police officers along with periodic psychological testing
to determine if their experiences have turned them bitter and revengeful toward
the public. They must insist that these
and other officers, incapable of the proper mindset and unable to adapt to the rigors
of the job, be removed from police departments.
Without this focus and agenda, “Black Lives Matter” will fail in their
quest to protect the general public, and thus blacks, from unnecessary and brutal
methods of law enforcement.
Finally, the cruel and wasteful
loss of black lives extends beyond police departments and needs to be part of
the BLM agenda.
Literally hundreds of
young, principally, black males are killed on our streets every year by those
who do not have the force of a badge behind their bloodshed.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch
Landrieu told the Aspen Ideas Festival that; “something is wrong with our country if young
African-American men are being killed in the street in huge numbers and most
Americans look away. It’s mass murder in slow motion. America
must make combating violence a national priority. If we can mobilize
to address tragedies around the world, we can do it at home.”
“Black Lives Matter” has
the potential to be an effective movement.
Therefore, BLM needs to step up and pursue these additional everyday
non-police street carnages every bit as aggressively as they pursue police
violence if they wish to be deemed credible and succeed.
Dr. King led a movement that demanded an end to
the repression of all the poor and underprivileged in our country, NOT JUST BLACKS. King’s movement included all forms of bigotry
and abuse of power. It is these realities and that mindset, along
with the proper understanding as to the exact nature of the problem and the
corrective measures needed which are crucial to BLM success. For without it, any hope to diminish the needlessly
loss of human dignity and life, to any real degree, is nothing more than a
pipedream.
