Make black lives matter

Published April 27, 2015

by Hezekiah Brown, published in Greenville Daily Reflector, April 26, 2015.

As I read the newspaper and watch television news, I continue to see references to “black lives matter,” the slogan made famous by demonstrators in the aftermath of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner at the hands of police.

I am in full agreement that black lives do matter. The part that is quite confusing and contradictory to me is: when do black lives matter?

Does a black life only matter when a white policeman pulls the trigger to end it? Or is it equally as devastating when a black youth is gunned down by another black youth? It appears to me that black lives only matter to some when a person of opposite color or culture is involved in the killing.

I firmly believe that if we are sincere when we say black lives matter, then it shouldn’t matter who pulled the trigger, be they black or white. I am gravely concerned about the excessive number of African Americans being gunned down on the streets of America, regardless of whether their deaths are at the hands of law enforcement or gangs.

The unadulterated crime of this is the enormous number of young African-American males who are being gunned down on a daily basis by other African-American males. The irony is that all of this black-on-black crime goes without fanfare, almost unnoticed, without any loud outcry or protest.

When an African American is killed by a white policeman, hundreds or even thousands of individuals gather and demonstrate and demand accountability. However, when an African American is gunned down by another African American, there aren’t any significant demonstrations or demands for accountability; it’s just business as usual. The “bad cop syndrome” is being somewhat exposed while black-on-black killings continue without any viable solutions surfacing.

In fact, we have lost more African Americans on our streets in the United States than we lost in the “wars on terror” in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. In those 10- to 12-year wars, which involved some of the most sophisticated and technologically superior weapons in modern time, approximately 12,000 U.S. soldiers were killed. In that same time span, we lost approximately 25,000 African Americans per year to gang-related and other forms of violence. Also during that same 10 to 12 years, approximately 250,000 African Americans unnecessarily died at the hands of other African Americans. That’s a casualty count of more than 20 times our war dead, and all of it happened without demonstrations, investigations or special prosecutors. Do black lives really matter?

I believe that the situation is so severe that it has earned the term “epidemic.” And this is not just a problem for African Americans, because epidemics don’t stop in just one neighborhood or in one city or in one state; they spread to all communities. America can no longer sit idly by and let this disastrous detrimental activity take place. If we can spend billions of dollars on wars in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt and other countries, we should be willing to invest in combating this epidemic at home. It is time for America to address this epidemic with the same vigor and energy that we address matters in other countries. We must do so because this crime has serious consequences.

In the short term this crime perpetrates itself in the following manner: Many of the young men who are involved in gang wars and who are killed or incarcerated leave thousands of children without a father. This also leaves a large number of single female parents to raise these children, ultimately creating an enormous economic burden for society.

Keep in mind that the minimum cost to house one inmate is $25,000 per year, and that doesn’t include the cost of feeding, housing and educating those children left behind. And one can only speculate about the lost advancements in technology or the breakthroughs in medicine that lie needlessly dead on the asphalt with each slaying of a young person.

So again I ask the rhetorical question: Do black lives really matter?

Hezekiah Brown is a resident of Elizabeth City. This column was originally published in The Daily Advance.

http://www.reflector.com/opinion/other-voices/hezekiah-brown-make-black-lives-matter-2859017

April 27, 2015 at 10:17 am
Norm Kelly says:

Black lives matter all the time. None of my comments should indicate to anyone that I am in favor of police officers, of any color, indiscriminately killing blacks.

When ANY white person brings up the black-on-black crime to any black person complaining about the few white officers killing blacks, we are told we are trying to distract from the real issue. Our arguments, we are told, are pointless and that's because we are white and don't understand the plight of blacks. Who can change the plight of blacks? The WHITE liberal politicians have told blacks for decades that they care and are helping to change things. Has that worked? Nope. All that's happened is that white liberal politicians have pandered to blacks, bought black votes, and done everything they can to keep blacks ignorant and voting for liberal, darn near socialist, politicians who can continue to make payments to blacks. Blacks have been lied to for decades by white liberal politicians, and too few blacks have caught onto the lie. Even when the current unqualified occupant was elected, did race relations improve? No! Emphatically no! Race relations are worse since the socialist was elected. Whenever he opens his mouth to comment on a situation that he tells us he knows nothing about, he invariably refers to whites as stupid or incompetent. Whenever a non-black person mentions anything about the socialist, illegal policies of the occupant, we are told we hate him because he's (mostly) black! What drivel! His racist attorney general has gone out of his way to promote dissent between blacks and non-blacks. 'News' media types, just another branch of the demon party, have gone so far as to refer to a hispanic shooter as white just to further the white-on-black narrative promoted by this occupier and his AG. Did ANY news outlet investigate the 'protestors' hired by the justice department to protest in Florida? Darn few!

How can black lives matter? First, black lives MUST matter to blacks. Second, blacks must start participating in America. They do not and must not have their own 'culture'. They must assimilate into America as every other group has when coming here. Blacks actually DO have the ability to learn and speak English. Blacks actually do have the ability to work and earn a living FOR THEMSELVES! Blacks have the ability to vote ON THEIR OWN for the best candidate. Blacks can make a difference in THEIR community, if they ONLY TRY!. Even when a black mayor is elected, stup1d things like allowing rioting and property destruction happens. Will the racist justice department investigate THIS city and determine that racism is rampant? How so? They have a black mayor, the head of all departments in the city, including the police. What explains the rioting? What explains giving room and freedom to the protestors to loot, burn, destroy? Except that we need to understand that this is just part of the 'black culture'?

It's time for black 'leaders' to start leading. It's time for the Rev Buffet Slayer to stop telling blacks they are incapable. It's time for the likes of the Buffet Slayer to SHOW blacks HOW to be successful at something besides looting, shooting, rioting, being at the bad end of a gun. It's time for blacks to start standing up for themselves and be accepted instead of vilified. Currently when a black person starts standing up for themselves, saying truths like demons are NOT helping blacks, other blacks, like the buffet slayer, come out to demonize the independent black with the ability to think for themselves. It's time blacks change the 'culture' of the black community. Cuz it's obvious to anyone on the outside that the 'culture' inside the black community is a monumental failure. Kinda like everything demon, liberal, socialist. Doomed to failure just by it's nature!

April 27, 2015 at 10:18 am
Richard L Bunce says:

There is only so much that government can do to influence societies ills however government should refrain from making them worse and that is exactly what the government War On Drugs has done for decades. When government restricts/bans something for which their is significant demand in the population that creates an opportunity for criminal organizations to exploit. These criminal organizations bring other real crimes and violence as they look to expand/defend their market. The end result is far more deaths than would have ever happened if legal, quality, low cost recreational drugs were available in the US. This is not just an issue in urban and low income areas either and will get worse if the government does not just stop.