This group has been a problem since its inception. It is a leaderless, anarchical mess. Their juvenile shock tactics have dismayed established civil rights leaders, and their constant drumbeat of hostility towards law enforcement has now inspired outright murder.
That’s it. We need to be done with them as a country.
It’s hard to write that because I’m well aware of the sources of their anger. The unconscionable killings of Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, and countless other black men by law enforcement are unacceptable. The disproportionate prosecution, ridiculous mandatory sentences, and deficient legal representation black men receive in our justice system is a travesty, and it is utterly unAmerican.
Of course, to hear representatives of Black Lives Matter tell it, I don’t get to have an opinion because I’m white. That’s preposterous and dishonest. I don’t need to be abused by a rogue police officer to tell that there are elements of our system that are terribly broken and in need of reform. The implication that I somehow lack compassion because of the color of my skin is, succinctly, racist.
And that’s the paradox. Who’s in charge of the movement? Poor, inner-city folks? Nope. Their founders are well-heeled, suburbanite intellectuals who probably enjoy a higher standard of living than I do. They can shut the hell up about that.
In fact, they can shut the hell up, period. They have screwed up in every possible way a fledgling activist group possibly could. They came to prominence by hyping the “hands up, don’t shoot” meme following the Michael Brown shooting. That very slogan turned out to be an utter lie, the “eyewitnesses” supporting the narrative were shown to have perjured themselves, and the physical evidence overwhelmingly supported the officer’s version of the event.
The result? The officer’s life is ruined, and Ferguson burned in subsequent riots. And it only got worse from there.
Besides media attention and social media validation, exactly what is it they want? I couldn’t tell you. Their message is muddled and seems only to unify around hatred of law enforcement. They have no professional spokespeople in the media. They have no competent litigators. They have no lobbyists to propose or guide legislation. They’re a hashtag that inspires people to break things.
In short, they exist to gripe about the problem and assign blame, but they have no solutions. The issues they’re protesting are real, but these are not the right people to address them.
I would wholeheartedly support a professional, civilized group wishing to address these issues, but that isn’t Black Lives Matter. The brand is too tainted at this point. They have only themselves to blame, and they deserve only our scorn.