I was dismayed this week, or maybe I shouldn't have been, that a Fox News Reporter asked why the Black Lives Matter group had not yet been classified as a hate group largely citing one video of some young protestors holding up a BLM sign and chanting, "Pigs in a Blanket, Fry Em' Up Like Bacon," which came on the heels of suburban Houston officer Darren Goforth being gunned down at a gas station by a black man by the name of Shannon Miles.
We must all demand transparency and truth if such statements are to be made. To date, no murder of a police officer by a black person has ever been linked to the Black Lives Matter movement. In the case of Shannon Miles, it was documented that he suffered from mental issues but so many people have disregarded this fact and just assumed because of this reporters statements that that was the reasoning behind the murder without even a drop of the investigation being presented to the press. Some of the same people who so easily agreed that a white man walking into a movie theater and gunning down an entire theater of people had mental issues, cannot for some reason believe that one black man can shoot an officer 15 times and suffer from the same amount of mental illness simply because he's black. Does mental illness only affect white people? Obviously the answer is no, but again we are in the same boat we've always been in about guns and those with mental illness. We refuse to take on either issue, and again, the pattern continues.
The main message of the BLM movement and the majority of protests have been about the disparities in the legal system, documented mistreatment of blacks by some officers, advocating for body cameras to protect both officers and potential suspects, and for more training of police officers when it comes to dealing with minorities. The focus in the media from nearly the beginning of the movement has been to focus on the outlyers and fringe members of the group, some who may not even be a part of the group, who are angry without real purpose, who do show up to rallies to simply start drama or incite violence. How is it that the BLM group can have multiple whole days of peaceful protests, but one person, 10 people "step out of line," and all of a sudden everyone is classified as a violent criminal, a rioter, and a thug? The media of course feeds off of sensationalism and blood and gore because that's what gets more viewership and feeds into race baiters who want to claim that everyone in the movement is just out there beating people up and trying to kill officers because God forbid the focus should be on the message that so many people are trying to get across. It is wholly unfair, as police are so quick to point out, to punish an entire police force for the actions of "some" individuals becuase you will always have those that are going to do the wrong thing but the majority of officers are doing their jobs and protecting and serving. Does that sound familiar. Replace the word officer with BLM and I feel the same way that they do. It's like that teacher you had in elementary who would always threaten if the entire class isn't quiet or standing in line straight, there will be no recess, and so because of one or two people, the whole class had to stay inside. The irony is both groups, officers and BLM protestors want the same exact thing, for those that do the wrong things to be punished and not the condemnation of the whole of a group.
And why can't Black Lives Matter movement be labled as All Lives Matter? For some of the same reasons we have Breast Cancer Groups, and Teachers Unions, and Football Associations and Gay Rights Organizations. All of these groups want to bring attention and awareness and focus to a specific issue, group of people, or cause. No one yells at Breast Cancer groups and tells them that it should be about all Cancers because all Cancers Matter or a Basketball Association should cater to all sports around the world. To believe in one, doesn't mean you can't or don't believe the fact that say, All Cancers matter. When you broaden the scope to include so many topics and issues that pertain to so many different people and facets of society, the message becomes murky, convoluted, confusing and unclear and soon many would simply drift off or disengage because of lack of message or purpose.
As a black person, with police officers in her family who also believes in this movement, I have never condoned violence of another individual and subscribe to the notion that you will never win over a crowd or change the hearts and minds of the people if you are violent and don't treat others the way you want to be treated. I don't want to see another officer die for obviously very personal reasons and never more has that hit home then seeing the blue lights, and blue ribbons, and flags around the neighborhooda and seeing the outcry of support for Goforth and his family, but I cannot also condone the actions of those who would abuse their position to protect and serve. I want officers in my city to have bodycams because it protects them from the same lies and abuse that it would those on the opposite end of the spectrum. We live in an age where we believe it only when we see it as evidenced by recent videos which have shown both officers not doing their jobs and citizens making false claims and reports on good officers. I want there to be a day when the signs can be tossed in the trash, and we have programming to help officers and communities work together, but we aren't at that point yet as we still have some people who think that chant would help their cause and improve anything and we still have some officers who shoot unarmed individuals in the back.
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