Yesterday NBA players refused to play playoff games because of a shooting of an unarmed black man in Wisconsin by police officers. That is their right and their protest has meaning. The epidemic of police brutality extends well beyond the publicized shootings and killings this year.
We would support a boycott of one day of games honoring all those families whose lives have been destroyed by minimum mandatory drug sentences which disproportionally are applied to people of color and people of low economic means.
But we also (surprisingly) ask this question:
When was the last time a sporting event had a moment of silence, much less canceling an event, when a law enforcement officer was killed in the line of duty?
There are bad people and some of them are law enforcement officers. Their ability to wreck havoc on society is magnified because of the power their job gives them.
But the vast majority of law enforcement officers are husbands and wives and brothers and sisters and sons and daughters who leave home every day with the unspoken fear that they may be forced to place their life in jeopardy to do their job.
65 law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty in 2020. That is more than one a week. We do not recall seeing any headlines, any protests, any cancelations, any moments of silence for any of these officers. And yet their families wake up every day and struggle to get by without their father or mother or son or daughter that for the most part society has forgotten and moved on.
Protesting police brutality is appropriate and long overdue. So is honoring the vast majority of officers who do their job every day.
NBA players are mostly black and they're boycotting on behalf of racial kin. BLM decrees that American law enforcement represents white supremacy and racial oppression. Black people shouldn't have to mourn and protest on behalf of their oppressors.
ReplyDeleteWhat took these protesters so long? The crips and bloods killed each other by the hundreds in the 80s in LA alone. Remember? Hollywood made movies about it. If the focus is on the rare incident of racist scared cops (and they victimize whites and Hispanics) then you don't have to look in the mirror and the causes of black on black crime. Chicago! Suggestions to the new leader of the civil rights movement in the U.S., high school diploma wielding LeBron James. Learn how to speak correct English, it will a good example for the students at the school you started. Use the half a billion you have made in income from Nike which exploits children with slave wages to make a profit and Institute programs such as preventing 1.4 million children a year in the U.S.from dropping out of school. The readers of this blog make their living counting on the continued supply of criminals keeping the wheels of the criminal justice system spinning by allowing teens to drop out. So Nba, Wnba and others, how about you try to tackle the drop out numbers which is a solvable problem with unenforced laws on the books as opposed to another pointless debate about the 2nd amendment./s/ The U class 1987
ReplyDeleteGreat post Rumpole 100%.
ReplyDeleteIf the looting and chaos does not stop, unfortunately Trump will be re-elected.
What a mess.
Ok we get it. You're an "all lives" matter person.
ReplyDeleteWhere this is all going will be the good people who once wanted to be law enforcement officers will more often forego the profession leaving a void to be filled by less qualified, shorter tempered, less trained officers who will make bad decisions exacerbating this anti-cop narrative. You can also expect some law enforcement officers will hesitate in taking action to the detriment of others and even their own lives. When seconds is all you have, training and good judgment are the only things you can rely on. Otherwise, the bad guy wins.
ReplyDeleteA significant number of minorities work in law enforcement. It is hard to fathom a blanket statement that law enforcement= oppression of minorities.
ReplyDeleteI do think that law enforcement is often asked to respond to minor neighborhood events and that they are trained ONLY in making arrests. So we often see a minor dispute erupting into an arrest when there were alternatives to resolving the disputes
10:15 If you are referring to me, you are wrong. In a large sense Buddhist and most religious teachings do encompass the belief all lives matter. And I will freely admit to ignorance at the start of the BLM that I did not understand the concept of why that phrase diminishes the BLM movement. I do understand now.
ReplyDeleteHowever what I am saying is that soldiers, law enforcement, first responders, front line medical providers all lose their lives serving society. Their loss should be honored. Additionally, why wouldn't a sports team honor the death of an african american law enforcement officer in the same way they honored the shooting victim yesterday?
Unarmed???
ReplyDeleteRump, I appreciate the dialog and your position in the discussion. I see the walkout, BLM movement, and the protests generally more as a rebuke of what is seen as systemic unfairness, systemic racism, and a long history of policies and decisions made and enacted by primarily white men in leadership that have had disparate consequences on minority communities generally and the young men in those communities in particular.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone is arguing that police, first responders, or front-line workers are victims of a systemic threat or systemic imbalance against them. They are however surely victims of individual acts of violence.
While the Blake shooting is an individual act of violence, the debate is not over that one act but should focus on how society and the systems society has put in place respond to that of violence and how society and the systems society has put in place increased the likelihood of violence being the result of Blake's interaction with law enforcement that day.
It's only my opinion, but I think trying to equate demonstrations including moments of silence in honor of victims of systemic racism with demonstrations for victims of individual acts of violence misses the point. This discussion, if actually engaged in by all stakeholders should reduce violent confrontations with police and thus reduce violent acts taken against police as well.
You don't think those losses are honored? At every sporting event and Bar function, we're asked to stand for the anthem or recite the pledge of allegiance. We have national holidays to mourn remember and mourn these losses. Our fallen soldiers and others are constantly being remembered - and rightfully so - with memorials and remembrances. We even name roads and streets in their honor. Stop pandering.
ReplyDeleteThis is all the media picking and choosing what to run. They choose what to run based on narratives they seek to fulfill, where those narratives drive ratings. And no narrative is better for ratings that white racism. Of course im not saying that racism doesnt exist, just that the media is breathlessly trying to turn everything to racism, no matter the facts. Good example is Michael Brown and the hands up dont shoot myth. Never let the facts get in the way of a good narrative.
ReplyDeleteSo when a white police kills a black it is headline news. Presume racism. Police killed? Not news, except in a rare case if the officer was black (i.e. dorn). Then we are allowed to care a little. Black man kills a white police, never news, and racist to even point out the race of the killer. Police kill unarmed white? Even thats not news, even though many more cases of those than blacks!
Total media manipulation.
Do you know what which other professions have large numbers of fatalities? Roofers. The people who literally put a roof over our heads. Fisherman. The people who help catch the food we eat. The logging industry. The people who help build our homes.
ReplyDeleteThose people are serving society as well. Their salaries may not be paid by taxpayers but as we've seen recently, what we consider an essential job is not always what we would have thought.
Being a police officer is a a job someone has chosen. It is not something they are born into. It is not on display 24 hours a day like the color of their skin.
We do have memorials to fallen officers. Every year a ceremony is held at Tropical Park to honor them. We name youth centers after them and pass laws in their honor. And we usually don't hesitate to arrest and prosecute their killers.
Good points all. I hope my position doesn’t diminish the protests. I am in favor of protesting brutal police officers and what they do.
ReplyDeleteI just know a law enforcement officer’s’ job is harder than we acknowledge.
Are you kidding me? Police officers get killed in action and the news ignores that? That's asinine.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, your opinion on this blog cannot possible diminish the protests. It's much bigger than you sir.
"A significant number of minorities work in law enforcement. It is hard to fathom a blanket statement that law enforcement = oppression of minorities."
ReplyDeleteSure, and a significant number of minorities work as jail house informants who snitch on other minorities. Come to think of it, some minorities worked in the slave trade as slave catchers or informants who ratted out on slaves trying to escape. The fact that minority people work within an institution does not exonerate it of racism.
Whether you agree with it or not, the BLM and its academic wing have decreed that American policing has been racist from its inception (being founded on "slave patrols") and that racism remains its mission to this day.
https://theconversation.com/the-racist-roots-of-american-policing-from-slave-patrols-to-traffic-stops-112816
https://plsonline.eku.edu/sites/plsonline.eku.edu/files/the-history-of-policing-in-us.pdf
https://www.vox.com/2020/6/6/21280643/police-brutality-violence-protests-racism-khalil-muhammad
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/7/7/21293259/police-racism-violence-ideology-george-floyd
"Protesting police brutality is appropriate and long overdue. So is honoring the vast majority of officers who do their job every day."
ReplyDeleteSorry, but BLM has decreed that "what about the good cops" is not a valid defense to allegations of structural racism. Just like "not all men" is not a valid defense to #MeToo's allegations.
And if you try to invoke the "good cops" defense, then you're a racist.
https://theconversation.com/how-to-understand-police-violence-not-a-case-of-good-cop-vs-bad-cop-140039
https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/6/2/21276799/george-floyd-protest-criminal-justice-paul-butler
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/good-cops-bad-cops-and-self-fulfilling-prophecy-police-protest-movement
1:56 I beg to differ. Have you seen the hit count? PLUS 7 MILLION yowza! We are quoted with approval by courts and opinion makers across the nation. we are regularly viewed in our new home from Europe. In short we are the vox populi. We can move markets, influence elections and with a snap of the fingers have protestors out in force. Be careful where you tread ignoring our power. Consider us....the Death Star of blogs. And we all know what happened to the death star. You might just be Alderon.
ReplyDeleteWhat I love about Rump is that he tweeks those who take themselves too seriously in such a wonderful way. we could use him at 1600 Penn Ave.
ReplyDeleteTotally meaningless move by the NBA players. With the exception of brown from the celtics and perhaps 1 or 2 others, these guys arent out protesting in the streets, at the courthouses, the police stations, all the logical places you protest police brutality. Instead they kneel for the national anthem and put slogans on their shirts, and now boycott a measly 1-2 games. No sacrifice whatsoever. I dont see lebron, Kawhi, KD, anybody out there putting their brand on the line. Pathetic. If you care about the issues, leave the national anthem out of it and pick up a bullhorn and hit the streets!
ReplyDeleteFlorida Supreme Court gives paper victory to Renatha Francis' enemies, ruling Francis ineligible for appointment to Florida Supreme Court, but refusing relief because petitioner asked for the wrong relief. In short, an ineligible person will take the bench on 9/24/20 unless someone can convince the court to change it's tune.
ReplyDeleteFla Supreme Court issues opinion on Gov selection of Judge Frances.
ReplyDeleteRump ... influence elections? Didn’t work so well with Aponte.
ReplyDeleteAponte? Small potatoes.
ReplyDeleteAsk Biden if we help. Clinton. Obama.
Boris Johnson; Angela Merkle; Nicola Sturgeon; We are big in Scotland actually- ask Ian Blackford; Kristy Blackman; Alan Brown and Ian Murphy to name a few.
Hey 4:59- don't you know when you are being made fun of?
ReplyDeleteThis whole Aponte situation is rebullshit.
ReplyDeleteBLM except to other Blacks.
ReplyDeleteBOY OH BOY. YOU'RE EITHER A RACIST OR APATHETIC TO RACISM. I SAID IT. YOU'LL LOOK PAST IT INSTEAD OF LOOKING WITHIN. WHATEVER. YOU NEED TO SIT DOWN WITH ALL THIS 'ALL LIVES MATTER BS'. STOP EQUATING A JOB WITH A RACE OF PEOPLE. THESE OFFICERS HAD A CHOICE TO WANT TO PICK UP A GUN AND TELL PEOPLE WHAT TO DO.
ReplyDelete60 SOMETHING PEOPLE DO NOT EQUATE TO THE THOUSANDS OF BLACK BODIES THAT LAY IN THE STREET BECAUSE OF THESE FOLKS. IT DOESNT EQUATE TO THE FOLKS FOUND HANGING FROM TREES IN AN AREA FULL OF EMBOLDENED SKINHEADS BECAUSE THEY, LIKE YOURSELF, AREN'T TAKING OTHER HUMAN BEINGS LIVES SERIOUSLY ENOUGH. YOURE PROBABLY ONE OF THE PEOPLE THAT SAID THEY MUST OF HUNG THEMSELVES TOO. YOU AS WELL AS ANYONE THAT THINKS YOU ARE COMPLICIT IN THESE DEATHS. PLEASE STICK TO REPRESENTING COPS IN THEIR STRUGGLE.
Let me tell you how you can resolve the issue of cowardly back shootings of minority men and maybe get a little gun control while you’re at it. The millionaires who care about this issue should kick in some money to arm responsible black men with long guns, as is permitted by the 2nd amendment, in order to observe the interactions between police and citizens in their communities on a volunteer basis. I’m pretty sure that there will be a complete reduction of back shootings and stranglings right off the bat and then a race to the legislatures to pass responsible gun laws. You don’t need to see anything other than the way those white terrorist murderers were dealt with by the police to know there is a deep structural racism in law enforcement. A unarmed black man is shot in the back because he is perceived to be a future danger while a white double murderer holding a big murder weapon is passed by as if he didn’t exist. The truth is that the color of the skin not the access to a dangerous weapon is what determines wether the cops kill you or not.
ReplyDeleteFriday, August 28, 2020 3:42:00 PM,
ReplyDeleteFolks don't know that there was a group who believed the black community should engage in armed self defense. They were the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.
The Black Panther Party's core practice was its open carry armed citizens' patrols, which the called "copwatching." The purpose was to have armed citizens monitor the behavior of officers of the Oakland Police Department and challenge police brutality in the city.
Your racist government crushed them, but, did nothing to discourage police brutality.