July has been a tragic month for the Black Lives Matter movement. The killings of two black men by police officers have been filmed by cell phone cameras and spread across The United States faster than a funny car can do a quarter mile. To add insult to injury, five police officers were killed in Dallas by a military trained gunman. It doesn't really seem like it can get much worse, but at this point anything seems possible. Black Lives Matter protesters continue to take to the streets where even more people are doing idiotic things.
I've written about police brutality before with an idea for a solution. I don't really know if my idea is the right way to go, but anything is better than doing nothing at this point. However, this isn't what I wanted to talk about here. What I really want to talk about is the tactics taken by both sides of this argument.
The Black Lives Matter movement started because of the overwhelming inequality of excessive police brutality against black citizens. They believe that racism and profiling is the driving force of this inequality. This isn't a poor assessment of the problem, in fact I would be one to agree with the fact that there are too many members of the United States police force who have strong prejudices toward minorities who spread their views to other members of their police force. Many advocates for the Black Lives Matter are also advocates for second amendment revision. Are there extremes to their opinions? Sure there are: Some want all out gun bans but the majority want laws such as more thorough background checks and less extreme weapons available to the public. Even though these opinions are valid, it doesn't mean it is appropriate to go out rioting in the streets and upsetting the peace. These people need to learn from their Civil Rights predecessors and move forward in a peaceful fashion, and resort to violence if it is a last resort.
This is where the opinions of the All Lives Matter people come in. These are the same folks who go on Fox news and proclaim that America needs Jesus, a gun on every person, and a register of every Muslim. I read just today that Newt Gingrich thinks we should quiz every Muslim and kick them out of the country if they believe in Sharia Law. These All Lives Matter people think that the Black Lives Matter people only appreciate black lives. As if they believe the white folks live's don't mean a thing. This is kind of silly and cowardly. The Black Lives Matter platform is based on a fear of profiling that may lead to the death of a black person. Not that black people are more important than white people. There isn't much that can be done about these sorts of people. They will witness a change in society while stirring a climate of hate and prejudice. Like many times in the past, they will certainly be upset by the changes that, ultimately, will ensue.
My point is that neither side really seems to know what they are doing. We have faced issues of hatred toward groups of people in the past, but solved them in a way that does not mirror the actions taken by protesters today. In order for these issues to be solved, the men and women of the United States should study the pioneers of Civil Rights like Malcolm X who once said: "I believe in the brotherhood of man, all men, but I don't believe in brotherhood with anybody who doesn't want brotherhood with me. I believe in treating people right, but I'm not going to waste my time trying to treat somebody right who doesn't know how to return the treatment."
