Black Lives Matter
What you don’t know.
What you need to know. © 2016
Black Lives Matters supporters deserve much credit for shining a very bright light on what rogue police officers have been doing, mainly to African Americans. Their actions contributed to the use of body cameras and other police reforms. That is a very good thing, and the black community owes them much gratitude. But, with the lofty brand name, “Black Lives Matter,” the group is getting scrutinized more.
Much of that scrutiny focuses on how the group has cherry picked which black lives matter. The black lives that seem to matter most to BLM supporters are the black lives taken by Whites or white police officers. Black lives taken by other Blacks don’t seem to matter as much.
When you think about it, there’s something strange and twisted about the group’s preoccupation with black lives taken by white cops compared to the group’s scant attention to black lives taken by Blacks. Their chants, signs and protests may claim, “Black Lives Matter.” But their actions say something totally different.
Truth is, there’s a reason why Black Lives Matter supporters focus disproportionately on what Whites and the police do to Blacks and so little to the black lives taken by other Blacks.
Consider this: When any people, such as African Americans, have been subjected to ongoing racism for years, even centuries, a fair amount of psychological damage can take place. Racism has been a major factor in the lives of African Americans. It was a basis for slavery, reconstruction and ongoing discrimination. You’re talking about centuries of toxic exposure. Given that kind of exposure to racism, it’s understandable that many Blacks would develop racism-related hangups.
The most obvious signs of psychological damage are when a people attempt to change their features, hair and complexion to resemble the very people who subjected them to racism. But there are other signs of psychological damage as well.
Enter Black Lives Matter supporters again. Without realizing it, Black Lives Matter supporters are acting out an unhealthy, twisted fixation to racism. Supporters may chant Black Lives Matter, but their actions, not their words, scream out that the only black lives that really matter to them are those that have been taken by a white person, particularly a white cop.
If a black person’s life has been taken by a black crook, BLM supporters don’t consider it important or worthy of protests. Those Blacks who are killed by other Blacks remain anonymous no matter how heinous their killing may have been. Ask yourself, when was the last time Black Lives Matter supporters protested a heinous killing of a black person by a black crook?
In Chicago last year, a 6-year-old black child was intentionally targeted and gunned down by a gang member who wanted revenge against the child’s father. In Inkster, MI, a black crook gunned down another child, this time in front of the child’s father. The crook wanted the father to witness his handiwork before he shot the father.
Certainly, these crimes are as heinous as anything the police has done that led to massive protests. But there was no outrage, and there were no protests. Those young victims were not turned into martyrs. There were no chants of “No Justice, No Peace.”
When racism has played such a dominant role in a group’s life, it’s understandable if that group became obsessed with and fixated on racism. If you’re obsessed with racists and racism, black-on-black killings and shootings will not fit into your racism obsession, angle or narrative.
If racism is a mental illness, and it is, some of us may be co-dependent. It’s as if the racist, and victims of racism, are somehow linked psychologically, each carrying its own psychological baggage.
After Black Lives Matter supporters have traveled to different cities to protest, they return to their home cities. Their home cities are plagued by daily violence. Black on black violence is an everyday 24/7/365 thing.
Black on black homicides are literally destroying us. This is serious business. This is the number one issue facing black America. Therefore, this is not a time to worry about hurting the feelings of Black Lives Matter supporters, or anybody else. This is a time for us to get ourselves together so we can do something about our self-inflicted wounds.
Black Lives Matter supporters may mean well, but they apparently don’t know or understand why they’re more eager to protest when a white person kills a black person than when a black person kills another black person. Dead is dead. A black person isn’t 10,000 times more dead when killed by a white racist cop than when killed by a black, self-hating crook.
Here’s something else to think about. Nearly everyone in the ‘hood has a cell phone with a camera. We make sure we catch the police doing things they shouldn’t be doing. Yet, given all those cell phones in the ‘hood, when was the last time you saw Black Lives Matter supporters capturing images of crooks committing carjackings, home break-ins, assaults, robberies, car thefts, etc against other Blacks? It’s something you don’t see.
If we only focus on the criminal behavior of the police and conveniently ignore the criminal behavior of black crooks, we won’t be helping our communities, we will be hurting our communities.
Some of us are so obsessed with racists and racism, we can’t see or don’t want to see what we’re doing to each other.
What you don’t know.
What you need to know. © 2016
Black Lives Matters supporters deserve much credit for shining a very bright light on what rogue police officers have been doing, mainly to African Americans. Their actions contributed to the use of body cameras and other police reforms. That is a very good thing, and the black community owes them much gratitude. But, with the lofty brand name, “Black Lives Matter,” the group is getting scrutinized more.
Much of that scrutiny focuses on how the group has cherry picked which black lives matter. The black lives that seem to matter most to BLM supporters are the black lives taken by Whites or white police officers. Black lives taken by other Blacks don’t seem to matter as much.
When you think about it, there’s something strange and twisted about the group’s preoccupation with black lives taken by white cops compared to the group’s scant attention to black lives taken by Blacks. Their chants, signs and protests may claim, “Black Lives Matter.” But their actions say something totally different.
Truth is, there’s a reason why Black Lives Matter supporters focus disproportionately on what Whites and the police do to Blacks and so little to the black lives taken by other Blacks.
Consider this: When any people, such as African Americans, have been subjected to ongoing racism for years, even centuries, a fair amount of psychological damage can take place. Racism has been a major factor in the lives of African Americans. It was a basis for slavery, reconstruction and ongoing discrimination. You’re talking about centuries of toxic exposure. Given that kind of exposure to racism, it’s understandable that many Blacks would develop racism-related hangups.
The most obvious signs of psychological damage are when a people attempt to change their features, hair and complexion to resemble the very people who subjected them to racism. But there are other signs of psychological damage as well.
Enter Black Lives Matter supporters again. Without realizing it, Black Lives Matter supporters are acting out an unhealthy, twisted fixation to racism. Supporters may chant Black Lives Matter, but their actions, not their words, scream out that the only black lives that really matter to them are those that have been taken by a white person, particularly a white cop.
If a black person’s life has been taken by a black crook, BLM supporters don’t consider it important or worthy of protests. Those Blacks who are killed by other Blacks remain anonymous no matter how heinous their killing may have been. Ask yourself, when was the last time Black Lives Matter supporters protested a heinous killing of a black person by a black crook?
In Chicago last year, a 6-year-old black child was intentionally targeted and gunned down by a gang member who wanted revenge against the child’s father. In Inkster, MI, a black crook gunned down another child, this time in front of the child’s father. The crook wanted the father to witness his handiwork before he shot the father.
Certainly, these crimes are as heinous as anything the police has done that led to massive protests. But there was no outrage, and there were no protests. Those young victims were not turned into martyrs. There were no chants of “No Justice, No Peace.”
When racism has played such a dominant role in a group’s life, it’s understandable if that group became obsessed with and fixated on racism. If you’re obsessed with racists and racism, black-on-black killings and shootings will not fit into your racism obsession, angle or narrative.
If racism is a mental illness, and it is, some of us may be co-dependent. It’s as if the racist, and victims of racism, are somehow linked psychologically, each carrying its own psychological baggage.
After Black Lives Matter supporters have traveled to different cities to protest, they return to their home cities. Their home cities are plagued by daily violence. Black on black violence is an everyday 24/7/365 thing.
Black on black homicides are literally destroying us. This is serious business. This is the number one issue facing black America. Therefore, this is not a time to worry about hurting the feelings of Black Lives Matter supporters, or anybody else. This is a time for us to get ourselves together so we can do something about our self-inflicted wounds.
Black Lives Matter supporters may mean well, but they apparently don’t know or understand why they’re more eager to protest when a white person kills a black person than when a black person kills another black person. Dead is dead. A black person isn’t 10,000 times more dead when killed by a white racist cop than when killed by a black, self-hating crook.
Here’s something else to think about. Nearly everyone in the ‘hood has a cell phone with a camera. We make sure we catch the police doing things they shouldn’t be doing. Yet, given all those cell phones in the ‘hood, when was the last time you saw Black Lives Matter supporters capturing images of crooks committing carjackings, home break-ins, assaults, robberies, car thefts, etc against other Blacks? It’s something you don’t see.
If we only focus on the criminal behavior of the police and conveniently ignore the criminal behavior of black crooks, we won’t be helping our communities, we will be hurting our communities.
Some of us are so obsessed with racists and racism, we can’t see or don’t want to see what we’re doing to each other.