George Floyd, like so many Blacks and their legitimate
grievances before, has become nothing more than a pawn – a tool to be used by
others for their own political power agenda.
After my blog post yesterday (LINK) suggesting more “conversations on race”
are not going to change anything and perhaps make things worse, someone asked
me “well then, how do we change the system?”
Therein lies a large part of the problem.
I don’t want to, do not think we need to “change the system.” Improve it, yes – always – but change it? NO.
Change the system to what?
Socialism? That seems to be the
choice of the day. That would not do
anything to address or improve the legitimate grievances of people of color.
And what "system," exactly what aspect of the "system" needs to
be changed to such extent that it merits total destruction?
George Floyd was murdered by a police officer. That officer was arrested and charged with
murder. He will be tried and likely
convicted. Seems to me the system is
working. Yes, Floyd was murdered and
that was clearly wrong and a seemingly completely evil act on the part of his
murderer. The system did not kill George
Floyd, one man did. That man will face
judgement for his crime.
Not to diminish the horror of Floyd’s murder or the sincere
pain it has caused, on the same day he was murdered others across America of
all background and color were also murdered.
Some were murdered by friends or family or those of the same race. Others were murdered by strangers and those
of a different race. Some murders were
random; some were personal. Some may
have been committed by individuals wearing uniforms. The “system” will address these murders
too. There will be investigations,
people will be charged and tried. Our
justice system seems to be alive and well.
(Not perfect, there will be errors, but the system is working albeit
always open for improvement).
Black Lives Matter demands defunding of the police. I read this demand as asking for the end of
police as we know that term, for if the police are defunded then they will
cease to exist. The BLM petition reads:
Enough is enough. Our pain, our cries,
and our need to be seen and heard resonate throughout this entire country. We
demand acknowledgment and accountability for the devaluation and dehumanization
of Black life at the hands of the police. We call for radical, sustainable
solutions that affirm the prosperity of Black lives.
The rhetoric sounds good, but what does it mean, is there
really a foundation for this demand, and is it really connected to George Floyd’s
death? Clearly, the pain of Floyd’s
death legitimately gives rise to cries of anguish that can and should resonate
with us all. But, the murder by one man
who happened to be and should not have been a police officer does not indicate
a “devaluation and dehumanization of Black life” at the hands of all police. That “devaluation and dehumanization” occurred
at the hands of one man. To paint all
law enforcement with such an overbroad brush does nothing to improve a system
that indeed has allowed a variety of bad actors into its fold. It simply furthers the hatred toward and
implicitly the destruction of the entire system. This is not going to fix any legitimate
grievances that might exist toward that system.
Another “system” that is attacked is the “criminal justice
system” which, as the claims go, treats Blacks or people of color differently
and worse than Whites. Clearly, many
prisons contain a greater number of people of color. But it does not necessarily follow from that
fact that those people of color are treated less fairly or differently than are
Whites. Life is far more complex than
making such a simple jump to such a conclusion.
There are many possible reasons behind the numbers, some of which
probably do stem from some sort of unfair or biased treatment but also many
others that do not.
The further implication is that these are “mass
incarcerations.” They are not. Each was the result of an individual trial that
called many “systems” into play. Not
just race, but economics, education, and individual choices are but a few of
the many factors that likely affected each of these individual trials.
However, making such simplistic jumps from just one data
point – number incarcerated - serves well the purposes of those who do indeed
wish to destroy (not simply improve) our systems. It is a good, strong starting point for
fomenting hate from one identity group against another. That hate does not serve the identity group,
but rather the one fomenting the hate, the ones who are not letting this personal crisis go to waste.
Thinking about prison reform, let’s remember that the Left
demanded that, told people of color they had to elect them in order to have this
problem rectified. They got the votes
but did not make the changes. It was their
hated President Trump who enacted prison reform, something which they fail to
note or if they do then they simply argue it was not enough and not soon enough and
continue to focus on the problems and destroy the system rather than work
toward further improvements to the existing system.
Really the “system” that needs to be changed in the eyes of
those who have co-opted Floyd’s murder to their own ends is the system of
America itself – its government – its form of Democratic Republic. Why?
Loss of the freedoms we now hold, loss of the systems that allow us to
speak out and to work to improve our society will be destroyed. That does not help those demanding “change.” The people that it helps are those who would
hold absolute power for themselves.
A former member of Antifa notes that the group uses its
anti-fascist name to hide the fact that it is really a conduit for far-Left
activism. This violent group is fighting
for Socialism and a part of that fight includes the destruction of America as
we know it. There are other groups and
individuals on the far edges of political ideology who believe that America as
we know it – the “system” – must be destroyed.
They are more than happy to use moments of racial tension and identity
divides to further their cause. But, be
very clear, their cause is not the cause of Black civil rights. It is not the cause of George Floyd’s
family. It is not the cause of Americans
of any color.
The problem here is that we have people who are not
thinking. The Left, the Democrats, the
anti-Trumpers, the media all condemn our President for simply enforcing the
laws of our country – for supporting our system and our way of life. Indeed, many would destroy him along with the
buildings and the “system.”
There have always been people who hate America. There always will be. But this group, with the help of the media and
a lack of solid education in critical thinking (yes, our education system could
definitely use improvement), this group of people bent on the very real
destruction of America seems to have gained a critical mass. Using George Floyd’s murder as their match,
these people have begun to set America on fire.
They are co-opting the legitimate grievances of sincere people and
groups and using them to fan the flames of that fire. And many, out of lack of understanding about
what is going on, are letting themselves be used and are indeed standing by if
not encouraging the destruction of our country.
Some will cheer and say this is a good thing. I will not.
I do not know which side will win.
But I do know that this hatred, this destructiveness, this lack of
respect for all that is not you, this need to have every hurt one suffers
blamed upon another who then becomes a target for hatred, revenge, and
retribution, this is in large part the result of identity politics.
It does not look like it today, but we are indeed one
America with far more in common than not.
We all know that our form of government is great but not perfect and if
we were not urged to perpetuate our hatred we could work together to improve
rather than destroy our “system.” But
first we must see people as people. We
must see individuals and not mere cardboard cutout representatives of some
group we have been taught to hate.
And that is the long answer to how I would “change the
system.” I would not. And I would not let individual issues with our
“system” be co-opted for its destruction.
In essence we need to reset ourselves.
We need to say NO I am not and you are not simply a one dimensional label
of one or another identity group. You
are a human being and I am a human being and we each may fit within any number
of identity labels, but we are yet more beyond that. And we will not judge and hate because of
some label that is placed upon you or me.
More importantly, we must not allow others to co-opt our identity and
our individuality to fuel the fires of hatred started to further someone else’s
power. We must all proclaim: I will not destroy but I will work to improve
– my life, your life, and the “system.”
