A tragedy occurred this past weekend when a gunman shot and killed Harris County, Texas sheriff’s deputy Darren Goforth. While the shooter’s motive is unknown, he is black, and as a result conservative media like Fox News and local law enforcement has jumped to the conclusion that the real culprit in all this is the Black Lives Matter movement, which is ridiculous.
“We’ve heard black lives matter, all lives matter,” Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said at a press conference following the shooting. “Well, cops’ lives matter, too. So how about we drop the qualifier and just say lives matter?”
Fox News’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck later wondered aloud on air why Black Lives Matter isn’t considered a “hate group.” Bill O’Reilly was more blunt, concluding the movement was indeed a “hate group.” And Megyn Kelly characterized the movement as violent and anti-police in another segment.
If you consider a hate group an organization that nonviolently fights to reduce the racial disparities in the criminal justice system, then yes, we’d put BLM right up there next to the KKK.
Team Blackness also discussed Campaign Zero and updates to the Freddie Gray case.
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rikyrah
That killer was a career criminal. I doubt he had a conversion like Malcolm Little. I doubt he grew a social conscience.
But, you’ve been Black longer than three days…you know which way is up, Elon.
They are desperate to blame Black Lives Matter, which is being effective. The decentralization of BLM makes them uneasy, They want a LEADER so that they can go about trying to destroy him/her.
We had a murder of a policeman near where I live in FoxLake, Ill.
My rule of thought is if it’s 6 hours and I don’t see a picture on tv – I know that the suspect is White.
Sure enough, turns to be 2 White and 1 Black person – so that they can’t blame Black Lives Matter on it.
Origuy
Of course, cops’ lives matter. When one gets shot, there’s a huge manhunt; when a suspect is caught, he’s locked up and gets a trial and usually a long prison sentence. When a cop shoots someone, there’s no manhunt needed, the police department does an internal investigation, the district attorney pretends to seek an indictment, and a grand jury pretends to think about it.
Elon, if you want to do a segment on a less depressing subject, you might consider one on Outdoor Afro, a group that works to bring African Americans closer to nature.
benw
I was really bummed when the BLM protesters shot and killed Bernie Sanders. They are so violent! SANDERS LIVES MATTER!
Anyway, if you stick a target on someone’s picture, and shortly thereafter she’s shot in the head, you can’t blame the rhetoric – it’s just words! But if you point out that police are killing a disproportionate number of black people with impunity, those words are directly responsible for a police officer’s death. Got it.
redshirt
It says so much about these racist losers that they would try and label BLM a hate group. It’s ridiculous and outrageous, and you know a significant percentage of the American population believed it immediately.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Because, after all, blocking rush hour traffic and interrupting a politician when he’s making a political appearance is JUST LIKE burning a cross on someone’s lawn. If you’re a fucking idiot like Hasselbeck, that is, who was too stupid to make a go of it on “The View,” fer chrissakes.
boatboy_srq
@rikyrah:
That’s PRECISELY it. A movement with a leader is easier to a) dismiss as the creation of that leader (smacks of hubris, makes for easier targeting, etc etc) and b) crush by crushing the leadership (no leader means no movement). A mass movement is far more frightening because there’s no single person or small group of persons to attack, and obtains some legitimacy simply from being popular (as in originating from the people). They’re not prepared to deal with popular movements with anything but teargas and rubber bullets, and it’s the more personal (and more fatal) versions of that which BLM is denouncing, which only makes this worse: by employing riot control methods they vindicate everything BLM is saying.
A guy
Dunno whether its a hate group or not. Nor do I care. But the pigs in a blanket chant from the Minnesota fair certainly didn’t do much to help their cause with the general public. Somebody like Ben Carson serving as the face of the movement would help them.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Interesting Oscars note: the producers of the 2016 show will be David Hill (a Brit with a background in both sports and film) and movie producer Reginald Hudlin, who most recently was one of the co-producers of “Django Unchained.” Sounds like last year’s complaints had at least some effect (though I still think the root of the problem lies with SAG’s powerful voting block, not specifically the Academy),
sparrow
@A guy: you are hilarious
redshirt
@A guy: dumb ass troll.
SenyorDave
@A guy: Somebody like Ben Carson serving as the face of the movement would help them.
Why not? While we’re at it, how about La Raza hiring Donald Trump as their spokesman.
redshirt
Elon, do you have any links showing the number of murders of African-Americans at the hands of the police over time? I’m curious to know if there’s been a recent increase, or has it always been so high.
agorabum
BLM is against police. Well, the full line is, against police shooting or killing people when unnecessary.
But that is against current police practices.
benw
@redshirt: here are some numbers from the first half of 2015 from The Guardian. Sounds like there’s no complete effort to track police homicides, least of all over time.
A guy
I would think that Ben Carson would be a role model for anybody, black or white.
A guy
The lack of reply confirms I am correct. Now how do u reconcile it?
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@A guy:
The lack of reply means people are ignoring you. Take a hint once in a while.
A guy
No it means I’m right
Plantsmantx
@A guy:
It’s interesting that Trump continually mocks Jeb Bush for being “low energy” when Ben Carson makes Bush look like The Flash.
A guy
Ben Carson is an accomplished man. Considerably more accomplished than the folks on this blog
Plantsmantx
Imani said the Harris County sheriff told the press that there is no evidence that BLM had anything to do with Darren Goforth’s murder. Actually, he said that AND STILL blamed the cop’s murder on BLM. So did the DA.
rikyrah
@A guy: ‘
Ben Carson got everything he has in life BECAUSE OF A GOVERNMENT PROGRAM.
and, if he were growing up in today’s
‘zero tolerance’ world..
he’d be firmly ensconced in the school-to-prison pipeline.
He was given numerous changes and helping hands when he was a youth…but, now wants to take away those ladders from young people in the same position that he was in as a youth.
that is the reason for contempt towards him.
Paul in KY
The person who murdered that police officer should be executed, IMO. Of course, once found guilty in court of law, etc. etc.
Howlin Wolfe
Black lives matter, all lives matter, but police lives matter most of all, according to these asshats. Criticism of the police = hate group rhetoric shows a total incompetence in logic, but it sure gets the current troll all wet and hot.