ALL Life Maters – Shame on the African American Community

It must be clear that I am not one for tolerating abuse of power on anyone.  It does not matter if they are Black/African-American, LeTs Bi Gay, Hispanic, Asian, or even white.  No police or military organization should abuse their power any more than political leaders.  With that said, I must also say “Shame on the African American Community!”

  

While they want to protest the abuse of power by the police department, in what mind set are they saying that for a police officer to not defend themselves against people who are resisting arrest not right?  During all of the protest for reform, I have yet to hear a single protest for the 12 year old, Tamir who was shot by the police.  He is the only one who in the past 6 months has been shot by a police officer when he was NOT resisting arrest.  He is the only one who had not shown any hostility, anger or verbal abuse against an officer.  That is where abuse of power is shining the brightest.  This is the only incident that the police failed to protect the community as a whole.  And yet, where are the protest for him?

Instead, it appears the Black community has latched on to three people who were in the process of resisting arrest, one even pulling a gun on the arresting officer.  One physically fighting with an officer, and the third, while struggling to resist being arrested,

From those three people rites have erupted, and recently the death of two police officers have been committed by a person moved by the protest.  There have been businesses looted or burned down.  Physical violence against other protesters has happened.  All from the cries of the Black community leaders who demand change, but don’t guide their community to do it in a positive way.  What happened to learning from Dr. King, or Gandhi?  What happened to do peaceful protest as happened 50 years ago in Selma?  These leaders would rather continue to protest when they have been asked to show support for the fallen officers by not protesting for a short time. 

Joo-Hyun Kang, executive Director of Communities United for Police Reform, said halting the protest would be misguided.  Seriously?  When all hell breaks out and another protest destroys businesses and homes who is Joo-Hyun going to call?  Why is it misguided to show respect to the Police that are trying to protect the community? 

I had asked once before in another blog post, “Why is it ok to protest for people who were resisting arrest and not for the 12 year old boy killed in a park?”  Where are the calls from the Black community leaders to change the mindset of their community members to stop committing crime? 

Crime is not a race issue, ALL races do it!  It is up to ALL of us to teach that breaking the law is wrong, and that if you do it and are caught or even suspected of doing it, don’t resist arrest.  Don’t put yourself in that position of losing your life.  And yes, I realize there have been a lot of people who have been wrongly convicted of a crime, and thankfully, many of those people are getting their day in court and are being proven innocent.

There are many core issues in play here, and for any community leader to not acknowledge it, and to not guide protesters in a positive life affirming way to correct the issue, then they should be held accountable for their actions or lack of actions.  Two police officers were killed, is this enough blood to satisfy the community leaders, or will there be more?

I thank Mrs Garner, mother of one of the victims to have come out against the violence against the two officers.  And yes, while Mr. Sharpton was present and made a statement, his lack of guidance to the protesters from day one added to the fuel of protesters that created crime during the protesting, including the deaths of these officers.

I sincerely hope that the leaders of the Black community come out and protest wrongful deaths such as Tamir, the 12 year old shot in a park, and not for those who were in the process of resisting arrest.  Be clear that if you want changes to how abuse is seen, then select the cases that are truly abuse of power and not just the result of criminals acting out.  Until then, change will not happen!

The Dismissal of “The Interview” from theaters is a blow to Freedom

I’m going to be very honest here and say that I was going to wait for “The Interview” to be on DVD before I watched it.  I believe, based on what little I saw of it, that it was a movie to be enjoyed at home with a beer, glass of wine, or even some Mary Jane.  With that said, I find the whole Sony/North Korea situation to be a very alarming aspect in today’s society. 

I understand that from a legal perspective, the theater chains crumbled under the threat of violence.  I cannot blame them for taking safety precautions, and limiting their legal exposure, but by doing so, they also succumb to the bullying effect of a foreign country.

When I heard of the threat against the theaters, I was furious and determined to attend a theater that had “The Interview” showing at its location.  I was not going to buy a ticket for the film for the reason I stated above, but I was not going to be scared off because of verbal threats by some hacker.

Americans continue to fight for freedom here at home and abroad in many different ways.  By not standing up to North Korea and leaving the film to show, is a travesty.  Because of our Freedom’s, we are not safe.  Any lunatic can shoot and blow up anything they want, and for any reason they want.  Our police and other agencies do their best to limit those outbursts, but let’s face it, a lunatic is a lunatic and there is little to stop someone from going off the deep end.  But, for us to bow down to a foreign country wither it’s North Korea, China, Russia, or any other country is NOT acceptable!

Each of us has the Freedom to decide if we want to take a risk and walk into a theater that has been threatened, to live our life the way we want to.  When that right is taken away, another aspect of our Freedom is also taken away.  It is sad that Sony and the theater chains have allowed for a foreign country to take away another bit of our Freedom.

There is really no right answer on how to protect the citizens of this great nation with a threat like this.  I do, however, hope that someone with connections and money can get the film to show somewhere on Christmas Day.  It can be a park, a single standalone theater, or a bar.  But for us to not show the film anywhere where the public can view it, shouts out loud and clear that we are scared and willing to bow down to a foreign country.  That is not acceptable!

Help me understand…Why Protesting Brown/Garner and Not 12 year old?

Since Michael Brown was killed while resisting arrest, the Black/African American (B/AA) community has been in protest mode.  The overall claim, as I am understanding it, is police brutality.   In these cases, a young Black man was unarmed and was shot by a white police officer.   A few months later, an older Black man was killed by white police officers.  Shortly later, a very young Black male was again shoot to death by a white police officer.  Ok, so I can see some outrage at the fact that the deaths of three Black people where at the hands of white police officers.  What I can’t understand, and this is where I need help; why are there protest for two Black men who were resisting arrest and not for a young Black man who was playing at a park?  What am I missing here?

Is the Black community telling the rest of the world that they can commit a crime, resist arrest and not have anything happen to them?  Yet, a young boy who is playing in the park can be shot to death and that’s ok?

I am a white male, now in his 50’s who has broken a few laws over the years.  Each time I have been arrested, I have not resisted.  I know that I broke the law, and that I have to pay for the crime.  Thus, the police officer is only doing their job by arresting me.  Those arrests have been from waking me up from a dead sleep, to being pulled over in a car, and even a simple knock on the door.

I thought it was common sense that if you break the law, don’t resist!  If you didn’t break the law, but you are still being arrested for suspicion, don’t resist!  By resisting you are creating more problems for yourself, no matter if you are White, Black, Hispanic, pink or purple. 

So again, I must ask this question:  Why is it ok to be protesting the death of two people who were resisting arrest and not to be protesting the senseless death of a young boy who was playing in a park?

The only answer I can think of, is that a group of people would rather cause more harm by getting people all worked up for the wrong reason, then to deal with an issue that has many layers to it.  A young boy is bored, and playing at a neighborhood park.  An officer wrongfully shoots him. A parent gives a young Black boy a play gun, that in itself considering that there is a false perception about Blacks and guns should not have happened.  So why is no one protesting this wrongful death?

I want to understand, so please feel free to leave comments free of hate and help me better understand.