A car dealership burns after being set ablaze by rioters in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Earlier this week, the New York Times – not Fox News – reported that voters in Wisconsin were beginning to tilt right. As the Times put it, “As residents see fires and looting, some worry that Democratic leaders are failing to keep control of the situation.”
Yes, the shooting of Jacob Blake was yet another unspeakably horrible act of racism and the black community is understandably out of patience waiting for long overdue police reform. As a white man, I will not pretend to feel anything close to the same sorrow, fear and outrage as black Americans. That said, “when you talk about destruction, don’t you know that you can count me out.”
I am sure that the rioters and looters in Kenosha are multi-racial. I am not interested in the breakdown of how many blacks and whites are engaged in criminal behavior. Even if I cannot feel the depth of their pain and anger, I can empathize with it and I do. I also understand that the chaos in Kenosha, Portland, New York and other cities is happening in Trump’s America and that Trump is the cancerous tumor that must be removed from our body politic. And yet…
When buildings and cars are set ablaze, when your hometown becomes a war zone, when there are shoot-outs on the streets, when black-owned businesses take to putting signs in their windows begging to be spared, what is the message being sent?
Blame the police, blame the protestors, blame outside agitators, blame whoever you want. What is beyond dispute is that the situation is combustible and getting worse by the day. The new Civil War is upon us, a series of violent confrontations between cops, social justice protestors and Trump’s “Second Amendment people.” More often than not, it is hard to know who is instigating who.
All this said, as long as Black Lives Matter is perceived as turning a blind eye to the pain and suffering caused by rioters who support the cause, it will be diminished and enable Trumpism.
Michael Moore recently tweeted, “Kenosha, Wisconsin. USA. I see now this will never end. Black America, over to you. You have a 2nd Amendment right to defend yourself. White America – seek redemption before it’s too late. End the madness. Defund. Dismantle. Demilitarize. Dismiss.” I respect Michael Moore, but I don’t know what he is talking about. In his tweet, he certainly isn’t speaking to swing voters in the key states that Biden needs to win.
Setting a building on fire after a white cop unjustifiably shoots a black man makes as much sense as burning down a MacDonald’s to protest cartoons of Muhammad in a Danish newspaper, or invading Iraq after Saudi terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers. Burning down a MacDonald’s didn’t help Muslims, invading Iraq didn’t help America, and rioting in Kenosha won’t help African Americans.
No one benefits from anarchy, except Trump. No doubt you have heard – only he can fix it. Anything that benefits Trump hurts people of color – and women – and the LGBTQ community – and the poor – and the environment – and on and on.
I stand with Black Lives Matter, but not with those who refuse to condemn the violence and looting in the streets, some of which is being instigated by supporters of the movement. Speak out against it, or prepare for four more years of you know who.