Black Lives Matter began in 2013. However, to be honest with you I didn’t even know about the movement until May of 2020. It is then when I believe the movement gained real, worldwide recognition. It is sad that this movement is the result of black people dying.
Unfortunately, it is George Floyd’s murder that brought my attention to the Black Lives Matter movement. For that reason I want to start my commentary with the actions of the 4 policemen involved in George Floyd’s murder. Here we have one officer leaning on the neck of a subdued Floyd with an additional 3 police officers there to support the officer. One would think that 4 officers with 4 guns would have been enough to subdue one unarmed man in handcuffs. However, there is another part of this story that no one talks about. These cops not only exhibited racial and criminal behavior. They exhibited just how stupid some police officers can be! We have all heard about bad cops making good cops look bad. Well, these cops most certainly did that. However, now it can be said that stupid cops make smart cops look stupid! How is it possible that these 4 cops could not realize that the videos being filmed would come back to haunt them? They had over 9 minutes to figure it out??? Its unbelievable that Derek Chauvin didn’t get an extra 10 years just for being stupid!
I am white and I am ashamed of what I seen in Minneapolis. I do believe that there are a lot of good cops in this country. However, cops come from the same gene pool that we all come from. There will be some good, some bad, some smart and some stupid. However, make no mistake about it. We need the good ones to defend all of us from the bad elements in every race.
With that said I believe Black Lives Matter is a well meaning movement. However, I believe mistakes have been made in the past that should be corrected. I understand that blacks have been persecuted more than any other race in our country. However, American Indians, Mexicans, Orientals, Irish, and Jews have also been persecuted in one way or another. Lets not forget that prejudice has many faces. We are not just fighting racism. We have to fight prejudicial behavior in general. Take the Amish and Gays for example. They are not races. However, they have been persecuted too. I believe if Black Lives Matter really wants to make a difference in the quality of their lives, they should change the name of their movement to “All Lives Matter”. As long as their movement is the blacks against the world, change will come slow. However, if they join forces with everyone else that has been persecuted, their rank and file numbers will increase to a size that cannot be defeated. The white population of America only makes up 57.8 % of the United States. That means that 42.2% are not white. Blacks only make up 14.1 % of America. What is better? 42.2 % or 14.1 %? Keep in mind these numbers are made with the assumption that all whites are racists, which they are not. These numbers also do not take in the fact that all races have their own racists. However, with that said it comes down to this. The more allies you have the stronger you are. 14.1 % will not get it done. Black Lives Matter has to get over this idea that Blacks are the only ones being persecuted. They need to recognize that others are being persecuted in this country too. Those very same people can help Black Lives Matter defeat those that are completely void of any moral character. While it might not be fair to them, I can only hope that the Black Lives Matter movement will take the high road and support the idea that ” All Lives Matter”!
Another mistake I believe Black Lives Matter made in May of 2020 is allowing themselves to get too emotional. I am not saying they were without cause. Of course they had cause. However, two things happened as a result of all that emotion being released. Emotional rhetoric inflames violence. That’s when the rioting and looting started. Unfortunately that rioting and looting gave political ammunition to Donald Trump and his White Supremist Insurrection Party. If you remember, the rioting and looting stopped when well thought out directions were communicated to the protesters. The end results were safer and more peaceful demonstrations. The second thing that happened as a result of all that emotion was that everyone took to the streets to protest in the middle of a pandemic. How many people died from those super spreader events? 100, 500, 1000? No one really knows. However, what we do know is more than one person died from those super spreader events. So, I ask you. Does it make sense to protest the death of George Floyd or any other Black person by killing even more people. Especially when it will most likely be Black Lives Matter supporters that die? Don’t get me wrong. There is no way that those protesters were going to be controlled in May of 2020. There was just too much justified emotion going on. However, now we have a new president. The riots have stopped and Black Lives Matter has the time to think about their future plans.
Black Lives Matter also has to come up with better contingency plans for when the next tragedy happens because it will happen again. I think they should strongly urge the wearing of masks for now. It is safer for all, it shows unity and it shows respect for the other person. I also believe they need to start looking at different ways to make a difference. One example would be identifying and boycotting racist companies. Boycotting works. Especially if you have a lot of rank and file members like I mentioned earlier. Show the rest of the world that there is repercussions for racist views and activities. My point is, don’t be reactive. Become proactive in ways that gets the job done without looting, violence and death.