Posted Jul 09, 2016 by Michael L. Brown

As America stands at the precipice of deadly, coast-to-coast, race wars, this is not the time to mince words. I would rather speak the truth in love, even if it means offending some, than avoid confrontation out of fear of offense. In return, I expect others to be just as candid with me.

I also recognize that, if racial tensions escalate in our nation and more blood is shed, the ones who are likely to suffer the most (and perhaps the longest) are Black Americans. And so, I write this column because I do believe that Black Lives Matter.

Prof. George Yancey, himself an African American, has also urged for open, candid conversations, writing, “Maybe now with people on all sides of the political and racial arguments feeling such pain, we can begin taking the necessary steps to move towards real racial reconciliation.”

It is in that spirit that I write this column, fully aware that I’m not addressing the concerns of Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, or other minorities in our midst, but that is the nature of this article. I trust all readers will understand.

Although I am a White American (more specifically, a White male, identifying more specifically as a Jewish believer in Jesus), I’m not speaking of “us” and “them” in this column. Rather, I’m addressing all of us together, letting the chips fall where they may.

Shall we proceed?

1) White Americans sometimes do not see racism when it is there; Black Americans sometimes see racism when it is not there. If we will take the time to hear one another out, filling in each other’s blind spots, we can move from perception to reality.

2) There is a real reason for Black frustration and anger. When Whites minimize the pain of Blacks or, worse still, claim that they are just being pawns of the media or political leaders, they deeply insult their Black brothers and sisters. Most Whites really do not understand what it is like to grow up as a minority culture, and they cannot relate to the historic suffering of Blacks in America, a history which is not as far in the distant past we would all like it to be.

3) All Black lives matters, not just the lives of Blacks who die at the hands of White cops. White critics have rightly asked, “Where are the rallies and protests when a three-year-old Black child dies from random, inner-city gun fire? And what about the disproportionate number of Black babies killed in the womb, not to mention Blacks killed by other Blacks?” A Black man named Richard wrote on Facebook, “We cannot pick and choose when we decide to make a stand. We're either all in (we must address black on black crime in addition to the murder of innocent blacks) or we're not in at all. We can't let these race baiting politicians further divide us; if you haven't noticed they want a race war. We must stand up and unite, both black and white and whatever other ethnicity and re-claim our freedom.”

4) All rhetoric that leads to violence, let alone that calls for violence, must be categorically renounced and repudiated. Not a few leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement need to do some serious soul searching in light of the intentional, targeted shooting of cops in several states this past week. (Yancey characterizes Black Lives Matter as “a group that pushes its own racialized agenda and expects compliance instead of communication.”) Their irresponsible rhetoric can easily lead to bloodshed.

5) Everyone must work together to address injustice and inequality wherever it raises its head, be it in the courts or on the streets. Blacks would be greatly encouraged if they saw their White colleagues standing up for their cause rather than always taking a defensive posture. Do Whites automatically give the benefit of the doubt to other Whites, assuming Black claims of injustice are illegitimate?

6) It is social suicide to launch a war against our law enforcement agents. The police to do a good, important, often thankless, frequently life-threatening job, and without their sacrificial service, our nation would descend into chaos. The few bad cops who are out there are the exception to the rule (and they must be held accountable). Law and order is a good thing, not a bad thing, and as one black caller to my radio show noted (he was a career cop), when the bullets started flying in Dallas last week, the crowds ran from the shots; the police ran towards them to try to take out the killer(s).

7) It is important today to state that All Lives Matter. I understand that if a black man is bleeding to death on the side of the road, having been shot without cause by an irresponsible White cop, it is insulting to say, “Yes, he’s dying, but let’s remember that All Lives Matter.” But when White policemen lay dying in the streets it is insensitive not to say All Lives Matter.

8) There is no comparison between a policeman overreacting and killing someone and another person intentionally targeting a policeman for death. I do not believe for a second that white cops get up in the morning and say to themselves, “I hope I can kill a black person today!” Sadly, a black man decided last week that he would murder as many cops as he could. There’s no true comparison between the two, whatever the skin color of the victims or perpetrators. An actual parallel to the evil the black Michael Xavier Johnson reportedly committed in Dallas on Thursday is the mass murder last summer that the white Dylann Storm Roof confessed to committing at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina. In each case, an apparently evil, twisted, racist young man targeted innocent people of another race and murdered them in a cold, deliberate, premeditated fashion.

9) The elephant in the room is the breakdown of the Black American family. This was stressed to me by another black caller to my show. The disastrous, generational effects of fatherlessness are well-documented, and with illegitimacy in Black America at an almost unimaginable high of 74 percent, this is not simply a Black crisis; it is a national crisis. We got into this situation together, and we can only get out of it together.

10) There is far more that unites than divides us. We are, after all, one race, with each of us equally created in God’s image and equally loved by our Creator. And all of us as Americans have the same right to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is the devil who wants to divide and destroy us and the Lord who wants to unite and strengthen us. Let us work with the Lord, not against Him.

Speaking now as a White American to my Black American brothers and sisters, I say from the heart: America cannot be great unless you are thriving, and my own life will not be full if your lives are not full.

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Comments

Royce posted a comment · Jul 17, 2016
Overall a good article with many great points. I would submit however that the two greatest, most significant forces behind the unrest are #1) the continued move away from God in this country and #2) the continued rise in apostasy amongst the churches. Part of that apostasy is the rise in so-called Black Churches which preach Rebellion. Rebellion to all forms of Authority. At the root of it all is a lie and ultimately it is rebellion against God Almighty demonstrated by a lack of faith and surrender. There is a fundamental different between the theology that says "I deserve..." and "Thank God I don't get what I deserve!"
Nicole Caraccilo posted a comment · Jul 14, 2016
I don't like how you speak of Americans. You know nothing about what it's like to live as a black person in America. That's it. Actually as a white male you know it nothing about racism. Black people can't be racist, minorities can't be racist, it's called retaliation, from all the times we've faced discrimination and people get away with it comma and nothing ever happens to the people who oppressed because the white man is always going to be at the top to put you back down where he thinks you belong. I can tell you from my own personal experiences and that of my children of Injustice is done every single day now I am only18 Black coming from my grandmother on my dad's side I put my children are of mixed race and I'm a woman and what you would call low class in America although I don't consider myself poor by any means, and I could tell you story after Story of me and or my kids being oppressed and depressed again and again, I cannot begin to imagine even myself, how it might be being a black man or a black woman whose skin is of chocolate, or as they say darker than a paper bag, note you failed the test apparently. So please think about before you start posting on issues like this acting like you know something about the matter. Speak for yourself if you must, but don't speak what it's like to be black please. Otherwise, you're maken yourself part of the problem. I don't say this in Anger either just so you know, but if you don't want to fuel the fire, then listen to what I'm saying! Either you understand what it's like, or you don't. There's no in-between. Also just because one black person supposedly called you and told you something about their experience or something they think you might want to hear or whatever who knows if they're even black? Even if they are, that doesn't mean just because you talk to one or two black people about something, that everybody of the whole race thinks the same way! Does every white dude have the same thoughts as you? Well likewise every black individual, keyword, INDIVIDUAL-has different experiences. I could call you on the radio and tell you how I feel too, but it's going to be a much different account than one of my friends who is of a darker complexion than I. So that shows your bias right there how are you don't even see black people as individuals. Think about that for a second. Once again, I refer you to the, "are you darker than a paper bag test" If you don't know, ask somebody.
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RHMann posted a comment · Jul 12, 2016
I agree with everything written in the article, but I think there’s an important elephant in the room that is missed, and that is the destruction in the Black community – especially the Black underclass – that the Left has caused over the past 50 years. And instead of apologizing and repenting, they continue to inflame the current situation. At the elite level, the Left has little interest in solving racial problems, they are only interested in power, and are very skillful in hiding their goals from often well-meaning followers. Consider LBJ’s famous comment in the mid-1960s: “You pass this [Great Society program] and we’ll have those [African-Americans] voting Democrat for the next 200 years.” The incentives launched then for breaking up the family with welfare and other entitlements have crippled the Black underclass, and that continues to this day. In addition to this strategy of buying votes is their use of sophisticated victimology, combining white guilt with Black fears. Consider BLM chants: “Hands up, don’t shoot” (never happened), “There is only one solution, communist revolution” (really?), “Tear this system down” (anarchy). Any objective person knows that “Hands up, don’t shoot” was a lie, so why chant it? Answer: to ensure the victim mentality the Left needs to stay in power. George Soros seems to have nearly unlimited funds to transport demonstrators from one city to the next, and to train them to maximize what is best for the Left, NOT for the Black community. If they really cared about Black lives they’d spend most of their time in the South Side of Chicago and similar. No, the unholy, anti-God, anti-family, pro-promiscuity, profoundly racist Left is the enemy of ALL Blacks. The answer can be found with Black Conservatives such as Thomas Sowell, Walter E. Williams, Star Parker, Allen West, Mason Weaver, Stacy Washington, David Webb, Deneen Borelli, Afonzo Rachel, Kira Davis, Shelby Steele, etc.; most of these are Christian. And the important characteristic that defines them all is that they have transcended victimhood, and have rational answers which are based on sound logic and Judeo-Christian principles, and not Marxism.
Ash posted a comment · Jul 11, 2016
Number 8: Murder is unjust in any form that it comes. I respect police officers, God willing I will become one some day soon. The job is to protect and serve all, not fear and over react to some. Over reacting is not murder, it is negligence, or manslaughter. The question is in view of the history of our nation and the current American system inconsistencies that negatively effect back Americans and the black family, this along with other factors result in certain mindsets from police towards black Americans. These systems are purposely upheld by the economicly elite (in most cases whites), why not say intentional blood is on their hands as well?
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words2yz posted a comment · Jul 11, 2016
When we lose respect for authority (law enforcement); we become lawless !+!