(06-19-2020, 09:30 PM)Lucky2Last Wrote: Just to be clear, I don't think people are using the black on black crime argument to justify police brutality. The argument is that, at a national level, black lives only seem to matter when a white man (or person that can be portrayed as white) kills a black man. We can have the discussion about reform, but that is not the narrative that is really being created.

Black Lives Matter is an accusation. Inherent in the name is the accusation that black lives don't matter. Most people don't believe that. There is an accusation in the narrative that white people murder blacks indiscriminately. That isn't true, and why you get the black on black crime rebuttal. There is an accusation that a black man has a higher chance of being shot than a white man by the police. That is not true, either. There is no evidence to support this narrative.

I believe there is evidence that suggests blacks are incarcerated at a higher rate, and bias almost certainly plays a role there. There is evidence that police hand cuff or shove blacks more frequently than their white counterparts, and some bias probably plays a role there.

Are there bad people within the BLM movement who's intent is to cause more damage than good? Yes and that is clear without doubt. 

For the record, there is internal strife, conflict within the Black community in regards to our responsibilities. That includes government dependence, accountability, in-fighting, killing, mental stability, etc. I, along with many others have boots on the ground voicing this message in the community and have held hundreds of workshops addressing said issues.  

The reason BLM exists in the first place is to address inequality not just with law enforcement, but also the criminal justice system, housing, health care, education, income inequality, independent business, etc. When pulling up obesity, and other health care data, African Americans and Latinos leads in deaths from Covid-19, High blood pressure, diabetes, prostate cancer and many more. People then say eating habits and poor exercise is something Black people can control....I tend to say yes, but Black people do not have extra income to spend on more expensive healthy food and participate in health clubs, etc. Those are not excuses those are reality. 

Using black on black crime has a defense to denounce BLM, and everything else I just mentioned above is a poor rebuttal to open dialog. Many African Americans acknowledge it.

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