“In the post you made about Black Lives Matter and not calling them a hate group because of the ones you talked to. I don’t see how you can say that. They are a racist organization. Why do JUST black lives matter? I’m not a racist by any means. I support ALL LIVES MATTER! And if black lives really matter, they need to stop killing each other in the large numbers they do. The blacks commit more violent crimes than any other ethnicity. Black murder rate of blacks by blacks is higher than blacks killed by another other ethnicity. Like I said, they need to clean up their own acts… ALL LIVES MATTER!”
Dear xxxxx,
Wow! We have a lot going on in your message to me. You have presented a cornucopia of condemnations against Black Lives Matter, African Americans as a whole, and supported your own lack of racist views.
I must say, I am impressed. It isn’t often that one criticizes an organization and movement, entire racial class of people, and then defends themselves for not being racist. Don’t get me wrong. I do not by any means consider that your views or opinions are atypical than a large segment of the population. However, I am impressed that you voiced them all in one fail swoop.
Ok now let me see if I can go through and address all of your concerns.
The initial concern you expressed was referencing why I said that I did not condemn Black Lives Matter as being a hate group, considering I was so vocal in my criticism of Nazi and White Supremacist groups.
In reference to why I said I personally didn’t label Black Lives Matter a “hate group,” honestly, I felt like I was pretty clear in my post. I said I had made a concerted effort to reach out to members of a local BLM chapter and met with some of the leadership of BLM in Washington DC in February of this year. I expressed that I wanted to try to gain my own personal understandings of the organization or the movement. Additionally, I said that with 100% confidence, the individuals I spoke with did not support sentiments hateful ideology or anti-police beliefs.
Now I did stipulate in the post that the lack of overall governing controls was problematic for the institutional association with the formal Black Lives Matter organization. However, I consider that to be similar to a Confederate history advocate that flies a confederate flag and a member of the KKK who flies a confederate flag. Are these individuals identical or should they be viewed the same based on similarity in the link between the confederate flag? My opinion aside, I assume the overwhelming majority of people would say no considering 54% of people polled in an August Ipsos opinion poll say that Confederate monuments “should remain in public spaces.” I mean let’s all hope and pray that 54% of people wouldn’t support Confederate monuments on display if they considered the Confederacy to be synonymous of the KKK.
Ultimately, when it comes to what I said about not classifying BLM as a hate group, it was based on my personal interactions. Frankly, I don’t know what to tell you. I mean we aren’t supposed to believe “fake news,” however are we still afford the ability to believe real life through personal experience?
Ok next, I would like to clarify a position that was expressed to me by the supporters of Black Lives Matter. At no point and time has anyone suggested that only black lives matter or that black lives matter more than anyone else. Rather, the name of the organization and movement should be perceived as Black Lives Matter…Also. Essentially, supporters of BLM are trying to express that they do not feel as if Black lives are held in the same regard as other lives in America.
Which brings us to the next point. You expressed a sentiment that “if black lives really matter, they need to stop killing each other.”
Here is the issue, Black Lives Matter, at no point and time has expressed that they were an anti-violence community organization. Rather, they have very clearly expressed their message isn’t merely about the loss of life, which those in the organization and movement have said is always terrible. Instead, Black Lives Matter was formed to highlight the lack of consequences when black lives are taken by the police.
Does Black Lives Matter have a legitimate claim in regards to the concerns over black lives being lost disproportionally to other races?
Well in light of the fact that lots of various social media info pics have been shared to dispute the number of individuals killed by police and their racial identities. I can tell you with confidence that no civilian or government organization maintains any database on individuals who are killed by the police. With the exception of the Washington Post Police Violence Database.
The Washington Post’s database was established in 2015 by Wesley Lowery. A man that I was fortunate to meet in April of this year in Washington D.C. Wesley is the lead national law enforcement journalist for the Post. Frankly, I would say that arguably he is one of the top law enforcement journalists in the country. Something he has won a Pulitzer Prize for in 2016.
Based on the actual legitimate data collected in the Washington Post’s database, Black Americans are 2.5 times more likely to die at the hands of police than White Americans when adjusting for population. When unarmed, the data showed that Black Americans were five times as likely to be fatally shot as white ones.
Now, I didn’t make this data up. I would gladly say otherwise if indeed the actual factual data said something different. But it doesn’t. Those are the cold hard facts and anyone is welcome to verify it for themselves.
Ok, let’s discuss “Black murder rate of blacks by blacks is higher than blacks killed by another other [sic] ethnicity”
First of all, indeed 90% of African Americans are murdered by African Americans. Important to note, 83% of all White Americans are murdered by White Americans. Guess what? The Bureau of Justice Studies and FBI Uniform Crime Report has shown that 80% of all murders are committed by offenders known to their victims. Basically, we all love to kill people we know, regardless of what race we are.
Maybe that should be a topic of conversation amongst us White people. Why are we committing so much white-on-white crime? Why are Whites killing so many other whites? What’s wrong with us? Are we just self-loathing murders who aim to try to set back out our entire racial identity? I mean if we really think about it, I have heard of many organizations, groups, or events aimed at stopping black-on-black crime. However, I cannot ever say I’ve ever even heard the term white-on-white crime before. So do we really just not care about murder regardless of one's racial identity in White America?
What is important to consider when people like to drum up the numbers on black-on-black crime is that people are often trying to over simplify a very complex socioeconomic issue.
The most significant contributing factor for violent crime is correlated with one's socioeconomic status. Poor white Americans experience violent crime at rates exactly equal to that of poor Black Americans. That is a fact that has been substantiated by a study published by the Department of Justice in 2015.
The reason that there is a disproportionate number of African American homicide victims has to do with the fact that 1 in 4 Black Americans lives in areas of extreme poverty. Conversely, 1 in 13 White Americans lives in similar areas. Statistically, speaking in relation to socioeconomic status the percentage of violent crime mirrors the rate of crime committed by White and Black people.
Look, I understand that some people consider actual legitimate verifiable facts and science to be a tough pill to swallow, however, I’m not making any of this up. Every bit of it can be validated both mathematically and through numerous peer reviewed scientific research studies.
In the end, what is probably, for you, the cruelest thing you’re going to need to accept… is the truth. You said, “they need to stop killing each other in the large numbers they do” and “The blacks commit more violent crimes than any other ethnicity” or lest we forget, “Black murder rate of blacks by blacks is higher than blacks killed by another other ethnicity.”
Well, let me ask you xxxxx, what are you really trying to say? Do you feel that Black People are biologically hardwired to be more violent? Do you feel that Black persons have some sort of inherent psychological affliction that causes them to commit more violent crimes? What exactly are you trying to say is the reason that more African Americans commit murder than other races?
Because while we have substantiated the actual socioeconomic basis behind what contributes to the commission of violent crimes regardless of racial identity. Yet, you have presented this as if it is something that you feel is somehow not the exact foundational concern amongst Black Americans for the last 241 years.
Essentially, why the hell aren’t you questioning why is it that 1 in 4 African Americans lives below the poverty line or in impoverished areas? Why do you think that is? Because African Americans just love it? Twenty-five percent of an entire race of people just revels with glee at living in a disadvantaged socioeconomic state?
Basically, if you aren't willing to except the socioeconomic influence on violent crime rates, or that a disproportionate number of African Americans live in poverty compared to other races; then what reasoning do you have left other than to suggest some pseudoscientific belief in a biological influence that is associated with Black people. Now, when you say that out loud does that sound like something a person who is "not a racist by any means" would say?
Now, you didn’t mention it, but let’s be honest the word “Chicago” hasn’t come out of more people’s mouths than when the musical bearing the Windy City’s name premiered on Broadway in 1988. “But What About Chicago!” People love to bring it out as if it is some kind of episodic evidence to support the American equivalent to Nazi Germany’s T4 eugenics program.
With that in mind, let’s use Chicago to close this whole thing out.
First of all, right in line with what we already mentioned about poverty and its contribution to increased violent crime rates, 2/3 of all African Americans in Chicago live in what is considered “deep poverty” or an annual income of less than $5,885 a year for an individual and $12,125 annually for a family of four.
In terms of the dramatic increase in violent crime in Chicago, there is another factor that contributes to increased crime rates. The public perception or actual organizational integrity of a city’s police force. Chicago Police Department was blasted by the Department of Justice in January of this year. In fate the first sentence of the DOJ report says, [The DOJ] “found reasonable cause to believe that the Chicago Police Department (CPD) engages in a pattern or practice of using force, including deadly force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.
When a community views its police force to be corrupt and unethical, violence and chaos within the community ensue. This can be seen in Baltimore in the early 1990’s and within the last two years. The same in Los Angeles during the mid-1980’s to early 1990’s. Yet another example would be New Orleans in the mid-1990’s. In fact, the pattern is very consistent. So with that in mind, does it actually seem all that crazy that an organization like Black Lives Matter would focus on concerns with law enforcement and the correlation to its influence on violent crime in the community? Lastly, you said not once but twice, you support that “All Lives Matter.” Additionally, you expressed a concern that there are more violent crimes in the Black community. Well, we have a saying in the south, “Sweep your own porch before you worry about your neighbors.” Basically, if indeed all lives matter to you, why are you worried about what Black Lives Matter, is or isn’t doing? Instead, WHY THE HELL AREN’T YOU OUT THERE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE? Honestly, if it upsets you because you feel like Black Lives Matter isn’t focusing on the real problems facing the Black community, why the hell isn’t your all-lives-matter-self out there demonstrating in action, not words, that indeed you believe all lives matter?
You’re literally acknowledging a social issue that involves the loss of life by human beings and saying that all human life matters, however, you’re not actually doing anything to help that social concern or demonstrating you actually give two shits about anyone’s life except your own. Now, I’m not saying you have to go out into the Black community and try to help reduce violent crime. In truth, this would seem to line up with the Neo-American era we live in. “Home of the somebody else needs to be brave and the land of the me.” However, if you aren’t willing to actually do anything, how about spend your time on something else besides criticizing others who are.
Anywho… I hope that answered all of your concerns or questions. Take care and God bless.