Some Lives Don't Matter

Recently a black writer whose column appears every Sunday in my local newspaper gave a very narrow definition to the term, Black Lives Matter (BLM). I guess readers had been asking why so many black on black crimes don’t seem to matter. He wrote,

That includes the slogan Black Lives Matter, which confuses many people when they witness black on black crime. But one has nothing to do with the other. BLM is about police brutality against blacks. Period.

In other words, some lives don’t matter (SLDM). In Chicago in the last 12 months about 300 black men were murdered in the streets. Why don’t they matter? Is it because their lives were of little consequence? 

Despite all the tributes to George Floyd, I suspect that most of those protesting in the streets after his death would not have even given Floyd the time of day while he was alive. They often live in exclusive, even gated, communities usually off limits to black strip club bouncers.

Or is it the fact that black on black gang murders in cities like Chicago are so common, that they no longer are newsworthy? In comparison, a statistically rare killing of a black man by a white police officer is big news especially after the video goes viral. 

Ultimately, I believe the real reason the deaths of 300 black young men in Chicago did not matter is because their deaths do not fit a convenient racist narrative? Political correctness does not admit that blacks can be racists. Only whites can be racists. Why is the systemic racist narrative so important?

Despite the protests and the outpouring of articles lamenting racism and police brutality, systemic racism has nothing to do with reality. When I was born in 1939 racism was so much more prevalent in the USA than it is today. Any fair minded person should be able to see this obvious fact. 

The lamentable recent removal of “Gone with the Wind,” a 1939 film classic, from the HBO line up harks back to an era when blacks could only portray maids or porters in main line American films. Actually, in 1939 there were separate black theaters showing all black films made by black producers and directors. A similar situation existed in baseball, the American pastime. Only after world War II did the situation begin to change with the result that today blacks play important and lucrative roles in all areas of American life.

In reality neither George Floyd nor Derek Chauvin, the policeman who killed him, matter. The narrative cannot just be about them. It cannot just be about indicting the police officer and bringing him to justice. The whole Minneapolis police force must be indicted as riddled with racism. But it can’t stop there. Police departments all over the country must be seen as permeated with racism and prone to brutality. But more than that, the very idea and need for police must be called into question.

But it must go even further. All blacks must be seen as victims or at least assume the mantle of victimhood. Even privileged whites like Nancy Pelosi must pose as victims. The police are just a sign of systemic racism that has marked America from the beginning and that 70 years of civil rights legislation has failed to eradicate despite the success of the many black Americans who feel the need to complain of racism despite their success.

At dinner the other night a friend of mine who emigrated to this country 25 years ago complained of an incident where she had been bullied by a policeman. When I asked how many times that had happened to her, she admitted that it was the only incident. She had lived in this country for 25 years and 99.9% of the time, she, like most law-abiding citizens, black or white, had not been bothered by the police. 

Today, the papers are full of people offering such anecdotes but these anecdotes do not come close to systemic racism. Nevertheless, protestors call for structural reforms not only in the police but throughout society. Some are even demanded de-funding or even eliminating police. 

The recent riots and looting in Minneapolis and elsewhere demonstrate vividly what happens when that occurs. When police stand down, the looters and the burners turn out to pillage and destroy. 

They say one picture is worth a thousand words but this short video from the end of the 1950 film classic, the Asphalt Jungle, is worth a million. It is as relevant today as it was then. Like many of the films of that era it is a story of a crime by a gang that eventually goes deadly wrong. A corrupt police lieutenant was involved in the crime, and in this scene reporters ask the Commissioner what will happen to the bad cop. It is as good a summary of the role and importance of the police as I have ever seen. Click on this link or view the clip below.

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