We are living in a very tragic and intellectually bankrupt time. The Black Lives Matter movement is a clear example of this moral, intellectual and spiritual bankruptcy.
I have struggled with how to address this problem because of the clear threat that if anyone does so he will be labelled as a racist. Several actions by this organized group largely funded by leftists such as George Soros and applauded by our then President Barack Obama (who should have promoted and spoke up for racial harmony in keeping with what he promised when running for the presidency) actually led to violence and hostility to police. The very term “Black Lives Matter” raises the question as to what about other lives? Do only Black Lives matter? What about brown lives? What about yellow lives? What about white lives? These are legitimate questions in the light of those who are arguing that Black lives matter.
The tragic actions in Milwaukee and other cities during those 2016 nights of rioting, violence and murderous behavior raise another question — What matters? Not just who matters? Does the truth matter? The immediate social media rage was to push the lie that a white policeman had shot a black man. That was an outright lie. What was even worse is that it triggered racial rioting driven by the lie promoted by the social media lie. We should have held Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms accountable for what took place. The individuals who authored the lie are not the only ones guilty, the media platforms are the primary culprits in this tragic situation. This is one of the reasons that I don’t spend very much time on social media. It is good in some ways and very bad in other ways. This is an example where the social media platforms promoted a lie and that erupted in rioting, burning, looting and other criminal activity. The social media then began censoring conservatives and working to shutdown Trump and any of his followers.
So Black Lives Matter as a movement was guilty of promoting what was clearly a lie. Those leaders and members should have been held accountable by our leaders, by the police, by our then President Obama and his Justice Department. This was clearly wrong and it resulted in financial loss, physical damage and social pain, far more than the minor Jan. 6 “insurrection” that was really a hoax. One of the tragic things about this is that the businesses and individuals suffering loss were in Black neighborhoods. White people didn’t do this damage or create the suffering. It was Blacks acting against their own people. Now we need to deal with this kind of attitude and action without apology. What I’m saying is not racist. It is a statement of simple reality. Our president was silent about this situation. In the past he spoke in such a fashion as to raise questions regarding the integrity of police, particularly white police officers. Then his silence was condemning and condoning racism and rioting. He should have called for racial peace and calm, but instead he played golf and hid behind his office and the Secret Service. Perhaps he should have disarmed his officers who protected him so that he might then realize how many other people feel in the shadow of violence and hate without anyone to protect them against such violent criminals and hateful actions.
The Black sheriff of Milwaukee, David Clarke, courageously pointed out the best way, indeed the real way, to end tensions between the police and Black Americans would be to lower crime rates in Black communities — and for the mass media (news, social media and newspapers) to lose their minds. We should have turned off our televisions, refused to listen to the news(?) on the networks and shutdown our social media platforms in protest. This should have been done to express our displeasure with the media who promoted lies and big government. We should make it clear that we are backing our police, Black or white, as they stand against criminal and disorderly conduct.
The officer who shot the criminal who refused to surrender when asked to do so and raised a stolen gun he refused to throw down was an African-American. The victim of this police action was a criminal many times over and had repeatedly failed to change his behavior. Now he will no longer rob, hurt or possibly kill someone because he was shot by a Black policeman. This is the stark truth set against the tragic lie that drove the mob to destroy, ruin and riot. Not only should Black Lives Matter apologize for what they wrongly stated. They ought to be held accountable, along with the social media platforms and the funding sources that have bankrolled Black Lives Matter and other such terrorist organizations. I think this term is as wrong as the situation during and after slavery when the ethos “White Lives Matter” prevailed.
We need to stand together and insist that ALL LIVES MATTER, not just Black, yellow, brown or white. That should extend also to little babies in their mother’s womb. Politicians, judges, leaders and doctors have not valued millions of little babies. Such ethical bankruptcy is coming to haunt us. Is it any wonder that our churches are declining and dying? Who matters when racial groups, ethnic groups or political movements discount and dismiss those who differ with them on such critical issues as life, health and financial income. The kind of mentality and moral response expressed in Milwaukee and other cities is what has turned many American cities into trashed wastelands that have not been improved by big government, high-tax agendas or hateful White Americans. These wastelands are the result of Black Lives Matter movements and Stonewalling Wall Street. One columnist wrote, “Leftist philosophy has been passed along in the mothers’ milk of Milwaukee residents. No wonder one rioter explained the motivations behind the looting thusly: ‘The rich people got all this money and they not like, you know, tryin’ give us none.’” Follow the money! As evil and wrong as Black Lives Matter is the movement known as critical race theory!
— You can send your thoughts to drjerryhopkins@yahoo.com, or by snail mail to Dr. Jerry Hopkins, P. O. Box 1363, Marshall, Texas 75671. Dr. Jerry Hopkins is a historian and retired professor.
