Posted on 11/30/2015 4:20:12 PM PST by Starman417
I remember once hearing a question posed by some would be philosopher: "If you could do something that cured all of the ills of the world, but only if someone you despised would get the credit, would you do it?" It's an interesting question with a number of elements to it. Are you really a humanitarian or do you just want to be seen as such? What's more important, your legacy or the lives of others? Are you able to overcome petty jealousy for the "greater good"? Of course as it's a hypothetical question you can answer and gain all of the approval without actually having to do anything.
I couldn't help but think about that question when I read about a group of Black Lives Matter protesters shutting down Chicago's Magnificent Mile shopping district on Black Friday. The protests were in response to the killing of Laquan McDonald by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke. Shouting "No Justice, No Shopping" the protesters were demanding the resignation of the mayor, the police commissioner and the prosecutor. Their crimes? Not releasing the dashcam video earlier and taking too long to charge Van Dyke. He had been charged earlier in the week. Whether there was obstruction somewhere, we will see. Justice may be moving slowly, but the system is working.
But of course that doesn't matter to the BLM protesters. The goal of the BLM movement is not to save black lives but rather to give protesters a feeling of making a difference while actually doing nothing. If the goal of the BLM movement was to save black lives, they would be protesting the murder of 9 year old Tyshawn Lee by a black gang member who targeted him because his father was in a rival gang. If the goal of the BLM was to save black lives they would be protesting the murder of another 9 year old, Jamyla Bolden, who was doing her homework at home when she was killed by a black man with a history of violence. If the goal of the BLM was to save black lives they would be protesting the drive by shooting of 10 year old Marlon Eason by two black gang members. But of course they're not. We don't see attempts to close down highways in Washington or restaurants in Atlanta to protest those killings.
Why? Because focusing on those kinds of things would take courage, would require more than facile sloganeering. The thing that distinguishes the BLM movement from real civil rights heroes of the last century is that men and women like Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, John Lewis and thousands of others did what they did in the face of real racism and threats of real violence… when police were spraying them with fire hoses, siccing 100 lb dogs on them and beating them with clubs. And those were just the government officials in front of the cameras. With the killings of Medgar Evans, Wharlest Jackson, four little girls in a Birmingham Baptist church and many others it became clear that it wasn't only racist police that had to be feared but Klansmen and others seeking to stop the march of civil rights at any cost. Despite all of that, there were tens of thousands of people across the country who marched and sat in and sued for equal rights. That was courage. And it made a difference.
What we see today from the BLM movement and much of the left is not only not courageous, it's nonsensical… in addition to being a disgrace to the memory and history of real civil rights heroes. It's easy to picket a store where people are just trying to do their Christmas shopping and few are going to bother trying to cross your lines when they can simply choose Amazon. It's easy to sit down in a bucolic Ivy League library and spew epithets until the targets simply go away. It's easy to go on strike if your football team is so bad it doesn't have anything to play for in the first place. While these are all courageous “civil rights†actions in the eyes of the lefties, most importantly, they can get activists seen on TV, pretending to make a difference. But make no mistake… They're not making a difference. They're not fighting for the right to vote. They're not fighting for equal access to schools and universities. They're not fighting to remove Jim Crow laws. No, these “civil rights†activists are fighting for “safe spaces†where they won't get their feelings hurt. They're fighting for “justice†for Michael Brown, an 19 year old black man who was killed while attacking a police officer after he had committed a robbery. They're fighting to take names off buildings of men whose lives did not comport to modern values.  They're fighting to remove flags they find offensive.
Which brings us back to the initial question… Do BLM protesters truly want to do things of consequence that might actually help improve the lives of black Americans or do they simply seek glory? Count one for vanity. Picket gangs who are killing hundreds of young black men and women and children each year? Nope. Organize voters to dump leftist Democrats whose progressive policies have victimized urban communities across the country and saddled them with failing schools, high taxes, staggering crime and stultifying unemployment? Nope. Fight to repair black families where 72% of all children are born to single mothers? Of course not.
(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net...
Affirmative action?
Quotas?
Set-asides?
the ability to use an accident of genetics as an excuse to not perform as well, to steal, to assault, to escape punishment for a host of offenses?
To have lowered expectations?
Just WTF more is there to concede?
Eff that!
Same rules for everyone.
Abolish quotas and set-asides and preferences based on anything but military service.
Everyone gets graded on the same scale.
You want reparations? Okay, every living slave owner has to pay every living former slave. Done. End of story. Now get to work!
They are embarrassed that 50 years after MLK they still cannot do algebra problems. They hide their embarrassment with loud screams accusing others of racism.
Doan matter whatchoo do cause the gubmit chekcs cash jus the same anyhows.
STOP HATING OBAMA BECAUSE HE IS BLACK AND GAY!
Remember occupy wall street?
A year from now it will be remember BLM?
Excellent post. If every white person in America got down on their knees and apologized for being awful racists, and the gov. awarded every black person 100,000 dollars, it wouldn't change black America one smidgeon. In short time, most of them would have wasted the money, and they'd be back to living their old lives.
In short, they have to save themselves. Evil Whitey isn't causing their problems. They are.
to them, getting out of bed and tying their own sneakers is an accomplishment
I agree, but the problems are much more basic than algebra. English itself is fairly limited for far too many.
I don't even hate him because he is half white and gay.
His policies, his treachery, his treason against my country are enough to earn my contempt. Nothing else need enter into the equation.
They know that come next year, there will be a new sheriff (Trump or Cruz or Trump/Cruz) in town.
bkmk
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