Black Lives Matter, Big Brother’s bad example (op-ed)
Angelo Dundee was Sugar Ray Leonard’s trainer during the championship fight against Thomas Hearns. Down on all score cards Leonard returns to the corner after another round won by Hearns. Dundee knows the victor makes history. He offers no boxing advice to Leonard he flat out says: You’re blowing it, kid. You’re blowing it!
Last month Former President Bill Clinton got into a shouting match with Black Lives Matter activist at a campaign rally for the Democratic front runner.
Clinton said, “I like protesters, but ones that don’t let you answer are afraid of the truth. That’s a simple rule.”
Another simple rule of any movement engaged in protest is to speak truth to power, not have power or a former President dismiss the movement as untruthful.
Now the current President recently spoke to young activists in a town hall meeting in London. During the discussion period this question was asked: Which social movements changed your mind and inspired you while you were in office?
The President stated: The gay marriage movement was the fastest set of changes in terms of the social movement. The gay activists were successful in convincing Americans to accept the redefinition of marriage by saying same sex marriage promoted family values, stability, and commitment.
At this moment President Obama could have taken another question, but he didn’t. Without being asked he brought up Black Lives Matter.
I wonder why?
In February President Obama met with civil rights leaders and representatives of the Black Lives Matter movement. But a co-founder of the Chicago chapter declined the invitation and wrote an op-ed that stated, “I could not, with any integrity, participate in such a sham that would only serve to legitimize the false narrative that the government is working to end police brutality and the institutional racism that fuels it.”
The President credited Black Lives Matter for being effective in bringing attention to problems in America’s criminal justice system.
But the President also said, “One of the things I caution young people about, what I don’t think is effective, is once you’ve highlighted an issue and brought it to people’s attention, and elected officials or people who are in a position to start bringing about change are ready to sit down with you then you can’t just keep on yelling at them. And you can’t refuse to meet, because that might compromise the purity of your position. The value of social movements and activism is to get you at the table, get you in the room, and then start trying to figure out how is this problem going to be solved … You, then, have a responsibility to prepare an agenda that is achievable, that can institutionalize the changes you seek, and engage the other side, and occasionally take half a loaf that will advance the gains you seek, understanding that there’s going to be more work to do, but this is what is achievable at the moment.”
After the Bill Clinton incident Black Lives Matter supporters dismissed Clinton as an irrelevant philanderer, maybe, but in the 1960’s no sitting president would have traveled overseas and pointed out their predecessors as people not to emulate.
Why does this matter?
Because history is always in the making and these kids are
blowing it.
First published in the New Pittsburgh Courier 5/4/16
***
Last month Former President Bill Clinton got into a shouting match with Black Lives Matter activist at a campaign rally for the Democratic front runner.
Clinton said, “I like protesters, but ones that don’t let you answer are afraid of the truth. That’s a simple rule.”
Another simple rule of any movement engaged in protest is to speak truth to power, not have power or a former President dismiss the movement as untruthful.
Now the current President recently spoke to young activists in a town hall meeting in London. During the discussion period this question was asked: Which social movements changed your mind and inspired you while you were in office?
The President stated: The gay marriage movement was the fastest set of changes in terms of the social movement. The gay activists were successful in convincing Americans to accept the redefinition of marriage by saying same sex marriage promoted family values, stability, and commitment.
At this moment President Obama could have taken another question, but he didn’t. Without being asked he brought up Black Lives Matter.
I wonder why?
In February President Obama met with civil rights leaders and representatives of the Black Lives Matter movement. But a co-founder of the Chicago chapter declined the invitation and wrote an op-ed that stated, “I could not, with any integrity, participate in such a sham that would only serve to legitimize the false narrative that the government is working to end police brutality and the institutional racism that fuels it.”
The President credited Black Lives Matter for being effective in bringing attention to problems in America’s criminal justice system.
But the President also said, “One of the things I caution young people about, what I don’t think is effective, is once you’ve highlighted an issue and brought it to people’s attention, and elected officials or people who are in a position to start bringing about change are ready to sit down with you then you can’t just keep on yelling at them. And you can’t refuse to meet, because that might compromise the purity of your position. The value of social movements and activism is to get you at the table, get you in the room, and then start trying to figure out how is this problem going to be solved … You, then, have a responsibility to prepare an agenda that is achievable, that can institutionalize the changes you seek, and engage the other side, and occasionally take half a loaf that will advance the gains you seek, understanding that there’s going to be more work to do, but this is what is achievable at the moment.”
After the Bill Clinton incident Black Lives Matter supporters dismissed Clinton as an irrelevant philanderer, maybe, but in the 1960’s no sitting president would have traveled overseas and pointed out their predecessors as people not to emulate.
***
Why does this matter?
Because history is always in the making and these kids are
blowing it.
First published in the New Pittsburgh Courier 5/4/16
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