We need to speak out or we are just as guilty
In the past two days, I, like many of you, have been subject to rhetoric claiming that Barack Obama and #BlackLivesMatter are responsible for the violence against police due to "hate" words against cops, especially in Dallas Thursday. For example:
Heather MacDonald via Washington Free Beacon:
On November 24, 2014, President Obama betrayed the nation. . .
. . .To claim that the laws are applied in a discriminatory fashion was a calumny, unsupported by evidence. For the president of the United States to put his imprimatur on such propaganda was bad enough; to do so following a verdict in so incendiary a case was grossly irresponsible. . .
. . .This kind of misinformation about the criminal-justice system and the police can only increase hatred of the police. That hatred, in turn, will heighten the chances of more Michael Browns attacking officers and getting shot themselves. . .
John Lott Jr. via NY Post:
Obama and others inflame passions, but take no responsibility, instead use events to push for more gun control. Yet, shouting racism can endanger the lives of police officers. The Dallas Police Chief tells us that one of the shooters "wanted to shoot white people, especially white officers."
And William Johnson, the Executive Director of the National Association of Police Organizations, said:
I think [the Obama administration] continued appeasements at the federal level with the Department of Justice, their appeasement of violent criminals, their refusal to condemn movements like Black Lives Matter, actively calling for the death of police officers, that type of thing, all the while blaming police for the problems in this country has led directly to the climate that has made Dallas possible . . .
. . .It's a war on cops . . .And the Obama administration is the Neville Chamberlain of this war.
For this whole week, since I heard of the murder of Alton Sterling, I have had a rap playing in the back of my head:
Don't trust the Police, no justice, no peace.
They got me face down, in the middle of the street.
There are many more lyrics to the song, but I am not much of a music lover. I like music, but never enough to really learn the names of songs, bands/groups, or albums. And so that rap has somehow permeated my brain but I never knew from where it came . . .
Until this morning. In the wake of so much vitriol expressed to the President and #BlackLivesMatter, I decided to find out who wrote those lyrics and when. It turns out that those lyrics come from . . .
"Pork and Beef" by the Coup as part of their "Party Music" album. . . first published in 2001.
Our African-American brothers and sisters are not causing violence against police when they call out injustice in our criminal justice system. To suggest otherwise is mendacious and wilful blindness.
For FOUR HUNDRED YEARS, our African-American brothers and sisters have been subject to violence from the state.
For ONE HUNDRED and SIXTY YEARS, our African-American brothers and sisters have been subject to racial oppression, Jim crow, state-sponsored terrorism.
For ONLY FIFTY YEARS has it been the policy of the federal government to ensure that equality under the law meant equality for all citizens of all races.
Many here and elsewhere have demonstrated how the establishment of police forces coincided with the enforcement of oppressive laws based on racial attitudes. That is true and it further illustrates that it is no myth that African-American and Latino people are treated differently by police than White Americans.
For those on the right to blame PBO and #BLM for the violence perpetrated against police is to completely invert the facts on the ground. Doing so will only lead to absurd results like the conclusion that there is no racial discrimination in law enforcement. For the right to claim otherwise while DeRay McKesson and over 100 others are still in jail for obstructing a highway with no sidewalk is imbecilic.
And all of this is made even more ridiculous when you consider that violent rhetoric against police (which is not what PBO and #BLM has used) has existed for decades as the Coup's "Pork and Beef" demonstrates. Nor is it limited to the black community or artists as we can see from Rage Against the Machine. Violent rhetoric does not necessarily correspond to violent actions nor is it just to ignore the real-life consequences of racial bias because of violence perpetrated against others.
Therefore, the cry of ALL Americans should be:
No Justice, No Peace
No Racist . . . Police!
