Once upon a time in some parts of this country, lynching was a popular form of public expression. There were reasons for this rough style of ad hoc justice. The area of the country where it was practiced was occupied by Federal troops during the reconstruction era. Courts were under the control of enemy occupiers and were not seen as promoting community interests. In this atmosphere of distrust, vigilantism became an alternate form of justice .
With an enormous portion of their men so recently slaughtered or maimed on the battlefields of the civil war, their economy wrecked, and enduring occupation, Southerners quickly found a scapegoat for their problems. Newly freed slaves bore the brunt of Southern rage and humiliation. What followed was a hundred years of extrajudicial whippings, beatings, cross burnings, and hangings.
If you've been watching the rioting in Charlotte or similar demonstrations throughout the country since Ferguson then you may have guessed why mob action is on my mind these days. Instead of the KKK we've got Black Lives Matter. Instead of actually stringing victims up from the nearest tree we have death threats on social media ,and the execution style murders of policemen. Instead of cries of "White Power" we have " No Justice, No Peace". It's doubtful that all those swept up into this movement share the same goals or motivations. They're a pretty diverse group. On the more peaceful side you have people who are nostalgic for the heyday of the civil rights movement and see this as it's logical extension. On the more violent side you have anarchists who feed on anger and hatred and violence, and get their kicks from creating mayhem .But racism is often the underlying unifier behind the protests. I'm talking about the racism of the protesters. Assuming that Whites are guilty of racism until proven innocent is a racist assumption. It's also unwarranted. Assuming that cops are racist, or that that racism is the cause of police shootings of Blacks, is likewise wrongheaded.
I'm not suggesting there is some moral equivalence between lynch mobs of the Jim Crow era and those of today. I'm trying to make that point explicit.
I've presented the facts before that make the claims of the Black Lives Matter movement irrelevant because they are all untrue. In this column I'll summarize this argument in as few words as possible. No, white officers are not more likely to shoot black suspects more often than other races. Yes, black officers are more likely to shoot blacks than white officers are. No, police shootings of blacks is not on the rise. Video of shootings is on the rise . No, making an issue out of this phoney non-issue is not helpful. It isn't saving black lives. It's doing the opposite. Murder rates in America's largest 100 cities are growing , reversing earlier trends dramatically. Most of those murders are perpetrated by young black men, also most of the victims. This is the direct result of the Black Lives Matter movement as police are now less likely to practice proactive policing in the most troubled neighborhoods. Black Lives Matter is wrong . Each of their claims are false, apart from the one in their name.
I'm outraged by this entire spectacle. The role played by our politicians and bureaucrats is particularly despicable. Instead of refuting false claims they often validate them. As I've illustrated, debunking BLM is so dang easy . I understand that the counterargument has little chance of being appreciated coming from someone like me. I'm begging President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Loretta Lynch to do the work of debunking the myths of Black Lives Matter. That would have a positive effect. Their words would carry weight with the communities that need to hear it most. I'm left wondering why that won't happen. Most likely it's because the mob's anger is a useful tool in their hands. This is the reason race relations have gone downhill since the election of Barack Obama. Keep the population divided and angry over racial issues and you ensure yourself of their votes and undying loyalty. Power corrupts, they say. Gaining it, keeping it, exercising it ,corrupts absolutely.
Mobs love instant justice. Mobs reject rationality. They're fueled by primal passions and self righteous indignation, and seek redemption through communal violent action, a sacrament of blood and fire. Mob action is remarkably the same phenomenon wherever and whenever you find it. Every mob in history believed itself the victim of others ill will. They felt oppressed and ready to take action to settle the score in their favor. Amazing, isn't it, that the kind of rough justice once used to keep their greatgrandparents in their place has become the expression of today's mobs?
With an enormous portion of their men so recently slaughtered or maimed on the battlefields of the civil war, their economy wrecked, and enduring occupation, Southerners quickly found a scapegoat for their problems. Newly freed slaves bore the brunt of Southern rage and humiliation. What followed was a hundred years of extrajudicial whippings, beatings, cross burnings, and hangings.
If you've been watching the rioting in Charlotte or similar demonstrations throughout the country since Ferguson then you may have guessed why mob action is on my mind these days. Instead of the KKK we've got Black Lives Matter. Instead of actually stringing victims up from the nearest tree we have death threats on social media ,and the execution style murders of policemen. Instead of cries of "White Power" we have " No Justice, No Peace". It's doubtful that all those swept up into this movement share the same goals or motivations. They're a pretty diverse group. On the more peaceful side you have people who are nostalgic for the heyday of the civil rights movement and see this as it's logical extension. On the more violent side you have anarchists who feed on anger and hatred and violence, and get their kicks from creating mayhem .But racism is often the underlying unifier behind the protests. I'm talking about the racism of the protesters. Assuming that Whites are guilty of racism until proven innocent is a racist assumption. It's also unwarranted. Assuming that cops are racist, or that that racism is the cause of police shootings of Blacks, is likewise wrongheaded.
I'm not suggesting there is some moral equivalence between lynch mobs of the Jim Crow era and those of today. I'm trying to make that point explicit.
I've presented the facts before that make the claims of the Black Lives Matter movement irrelevant because they are all untrue. In this column I'll summarize this argument in as few words as possible. No, white officers are not more likely to shoot black suspects more often than other races. Yes, black officers are more likely to shoot blacks than white officers are. No, police shootings of blacks is not on the rise. Video of shootings is on the rise . No, making an issue out of this phoney non-issue is not helpful. It isn't saving black lives. It's doing the opposite. Murder rates in America's largest 100 cities are growing , reversing earlier trends dramatically. Most of those murders are perpetrated by young black men, also most of the victims. This is the direct result of the Black Lives Matter movement as police are now less likely to practice proactive policing in the most troubled neighborhoods. Black Lives Matter is wrong . Each of their claims are false, apart from the one in their name.
I'm outraged by this entire spectacle. The role played by our politicians and bureaucrats is particularly despicable. Instead of refuting false claims they often validate them. As I've illustrated, debunking BLM is so dang easy . I understand that the counterargument has little chance of being appreciated coming from someone like me. I'm begging President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Loretta Lynch to do the work of debunking the myths of Black Lives Matter. That would have a positive effect. Their words would carry weight with the communities that need to hear it most. I'm left wondering why that won't happen. Most likely it's because the mob's anger is a useful tool in their hands. This is the reason race relations have gone downhill since the election of Barack Obama. Keep the population divided and angry over racial issues and you ensure yourself of their votes and undying loyalty. Power corrupts, they say. Gaining it, keeping it, exercising it ,corrupts absolutely.
Mobs love instant justice. Mobs reject rationality. They're fueled by primal passions and self righteous indignation, and seek redemption through communal violent action, a sacrament of blood and fire. Mob action is remarkably the same phenomenon wherever and whenever you find it. Every mob in history believed itself the victim of others ill will. They felt oppressed and ready to take action to settle the score in their favor. Amazing, isn't it, that the kind of rough justice once used to keep their greatgrandparents in their place has become the expression of today's mobs?
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