Until All Lives Matter, Black Lives Probably Won't

Republicans have basically made themselves a political nullity in presidential politics by consistently taking hard stances on social issues that most Americans no longer support. The Southern Strategy and the Silent Majority tactics worked for awhile, but there aren't enough racist or conservative Christian white people left to make that work. The GOP is taking a long time to catch on though. The Democrats should be able to take advantage of this and ride to easy victories for the foreseeable future, just as President Obama did in 2012 over Mitt Romney despite the fact that the economy was not doing well (almost always a death sentence for a presidency), and he was a black man named Barack Obama. However, on Saturday, the Democrats (or more precisely, a segment of their voters) showed hope to the GOP at the Netroots Nation event (basically the liberal version of CPAC).

Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley were speaking before what should have been a friendly audience when the event was disrupted by Black Lives Matter protesters who, as is their custom, demanded that the candidates only say that black lives matter. They booed and jeered when O'Malley said, "[b]lack lives matter. White lives matter. All lives matter." One of the activists shouted to the crowd that if she dies in police custody, everyone else should "burn everything down. That's the only way you motherfuckers listen." Then, the protesters disrupted Bernie Sanders' portion of the event and wouldn't let him speak. He became exasperated, and after pointing out that he'd been fighting for civil rights for fifty years, told the Black Lives Matter activists that if they didn't want him there, he'd leave. In the aftermath, Martin O'Malley has apologized for saying that all lives matter and called his remarks insensitive. So in one afternoon, a bunch of black people lived up to basically every negative stereotype that white people have of them (being loud, rude, and disruptive in public spaces and inciting riots), and a candidate (who has no chance of winning but still) for the Democratic nomination apologized for saying that white lives matter too. Awesome.

I want to make it clear that I sympathize with the grievances of the Black Lives Matter groups. There is no question that in any interaction with the police, it is far better to be white or Asian than it is to be black. That is beyond dispute. If you work in criminal justice in any capacity, you've seen how the system is slanted against black people. To the issue here, black people are much more likely to be viewed as dangerous than are white people. Police, consequently, are more likely to shoot a black person who is unarmed than a white person who is unarmed. So I am not writing to discredit the claims of Black Lives Matter people. However, their message is counter-productive, and their methods of disseminating that message are even worse.

Here are a few realities, political and otherwise, that we need to come to terms with because, as usual, reality is important. Any political change in America will always have to happen with the consent of at least some white people. Whether or not you think white people are the scourge of humanity, they dominate American politics and will do so for a long time. This isn't South Africa.

Yes, there are a lot of Hispanics in America, but many of them are white, and the fact that their last names are Spanish isn't going to matter to them when they are fifth generation anymore than it matters to me that my last name is German. Additionally, Hispanics are not necessarily known for their brotherly love towards black people. So bottom line, if you are black in America, and you want the system to change, you have to rely on people who are not black to help you. Additionally, while it is true that black people are probably killed by police at a higher rate relative to their share of the US population, unarmed white people get killed by police too. So there is a bridge to reach out to the broader population. If the issue is framed as a battle to get the police to stop killing American civilians who are unarmed, then everyone will be more willing to help, and if the police stop shooting every unarmed citizen, that will help the black people too.

However, that help will never be forthcoming on a large enough scale so long as white people continue to see black people as different, as "other," and the issue of police shootings is seen in the public eye as a "black problem." The reason these structural problems exist is because we have chosen to arbitrarily separate ourselves based on the color of our skin. Martin Luther King's most famous words in his "I Have A Dream" speech specifically addressed this problem. His dream was to live in a world where his children weren't judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Modern critical race theorists would call him a "colorblind racist" for saying that (if he were white). If we all see each other as people first or even as Americans first, we would indisputably be in a better world (unless you are a critical race theorist or profit from identity politics).

Well, that's never going to happen if people insist on saying that black lives matter and getting mad if someone says that all lives matter. Instead, it makes white people feel like they are the enemy. If you are black in America, you do NOT want white people to go back to having racial pride and identifying primarily as whites on a large scale. You aren't going to win that fight. You make up less than 15% of the entire population, and a significant chunk of that 15% can't vote because of GOP chicanery and the ridiculous war on drugs (another problem that needs to be framed as one that isn't only about black people). If inequalities in the justice system are seen as black problems, the hard reality is that most people are just going to ignore them (for reference, see the pathetic state of public schools where the majority of students are black).

If Republicans can succeed in portraying the Democrats as the party of angry black people who just want to "burn this place down," then their anemic electoral chances will be revived. Bernie Sanders is the best candidate in the field if you want criminal justice reform and a better country for black people to live in. There can be no question about that. Hillary Clinton is a milk-toast moderate, at best, and the Republicans, well, I don't think I have to go into detail on them. So if you really want to get some change in the system, do not shout down the only realistic chance you have for that change, and stop trying to win people to your side by telling them that they are racists. That just isn't going to work, no matter how good it might make you feel or how much your critical race theory professor convinced you that you are in the right. Yes, it sucks that black people are still getting the shaft in America, but if the majority of people cared about that, we wouldn't be where we are now.

Finally, the President of the United States has very little to do with local police shootings anyway so when you go to a campaign event for a presidential race and make a scene about police shootings (unless you are mad at the FBI), it really feels like you are doing it more for yourself than for your cause.