Those of us who can walk and chew gum at the same time, should be able to support the police, appreciate who they are and what they do, and still imagine how unfair it would be to drive while black. To constantly be pulled over for every ridiculous rolling stop and turn signal malfunction, and to generally be regarded as an armed robbery suspect by default.
I and every other white person should be asking ourselves how well or how long we’d put up with it if the roles were reversed.
Time for all Anglo Americans and Europeans to join the Black Lives Matter movement. Defending the right for blacks to live isn’t just a role for blacks, it’s the role for all of We the People, including white / Europeans, who know injustice and have compassion for those being targeted, even if it isn’t myself / whites / Anglo Americans. remember, the FBI is threatening to shut down Black Lives Matter protests at the GOP convention. Let’s try to have the Black Lives Matter protests be at least as many Anglo Americans in those protests as there are black Americans. The FBI wants to target blacks. Let’s make them target all of We The People, we who stand together as humans, apart from the police / FBI / Obama’s regime and his cowardly Attorney General who refuses to indict police who murder (including Eric Holder, the last coward in that position).
Don’t hold back now, tell us what you really think!
And, I think we do, for the most part.
Perception of policing in America is pretty much at its nadir (I hope) right now. And we all feel for the slain officers and their families. But here’s the deal:
Until police unions stand up to the NRA;
Until there is a massive shift in policeman’s us v them mindset;
Until there is universal body cams on policeman;
Until body cam footage is released upon request;
Until there is on-going human-sensitivity training for all police;
Until there is actual community policing,
Nothing will change.
Nothing.
Do gun laws or cultural norms matter more? Finland is pretty armed, http://www.npr.org/2014/06/13/321668585/could-finland-teach-the-u-s-a-lesson-on-guns
but the emphasis is not on handguns as in the US. More importantly, guns are not a normal part of conflict resolution in Finland. In the US, they are.
If that’s your stance then you just lost me as a supporter because each side pushing the other side away and seeing them as an “other” is largely why we have the issues we do.