I just
listened again to Liberal Redneck’s take on the Minnesota riots
published in my last blog post. My
first impression was: Yeah Trae, you nailed it.
But since then I have had time to think about it.
When the
outrage against police systemic violence against Black men, and the murder of
George Floyd, moved from a protest to a riot, we should step back from our
knee-jerk reaction to be the politically correct liberal snowflakes ready to
support Black Lives Matter in every instance,
and draw a line at arson and looting.
Being
righteously mad and being outraged is not an excuse to riot. And just because the riot is done in the name
of the victim of a vicious murder, and years of systemic racism injustice,
should not give it cover.
Where do you
draw a line: I am outraged because of racial injustice so I should be able show
my anger by looting a store; I am outraged so I should be able to burn down
this building; I am outraged so I should be able to use a car in an attempt to
kill a police officer; I am outraged so I should be able to participate in a gang rape; I am outraged so
I should be able to open fire at a music concert; I am outraged so I should be
able to set off a bomb during the Boston marathon; I am outraged so I should be
able to hi-jack an aircraft and fly it into a building?
Looting is a
crime. The store owner had no hand in
the murder of Floyd. Arson is a crime and
the building owner had no hand in the crime. A man leaving a trashed store with a computer
under his arm, or a new skate board on his shoulder, is not protesting
injustice, he is stealing – and setting fire to a building is arson in any
culture.
We have the
right to protest. We have the right to
assemble and the right to speak out, and damn well have the right to fill the
streets with protest for as long as it takes to raise awareness and demand
social justice. But when the protest accelerates
to rioting, looting and arson we have transgressed that right. Burning down a city is not protesting, it
is terrorism.
People that
hit the streets after dark are wilding.
They are guilty of using a brutal murder of an innocent man as cover to
party, and do the things they would not do in the light of day.
My attitude
toward this protest has changed. The
death of Mr. Floyd was appalling, and all four police officers should spend
years in jail, but I no longer have any respect for the protest on the
streets. This protest needs to disband,
and the lawless faction should be apprehended and prosecuted. This protest and this cause have lost its
high ground.
Dr. King called
for peaceful protest and brought segregation to its knees. There is nothing that has happened over the
past four nights that is worthy of Dr. King's legacy.
It is sad
The Ol’Buzzard
I totally agree with you!
ReplyDeleteYes of course -- goes without saying. But Martin L. King also said that riots are the voice of the unheard.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that if the police would not have killed George Floyd there wouldn't be any riots and looting.
ReplyDelete