For far too long, the Democratic left has cried black lives matter when any sort of racial injustice occurs. Now, I’m not saying they shouldn’t have initially or that the movement at its roots is entirely ridiculous. After all, black is human skin color, just like white, yellow, brown, and red, which means they do matter.
At its inception, the movement was one to raise awareness for inequality and police brutality that happens all too often within the black communities of America. As the organization grew, it drew members from other backgrounds and races, those who noticed the injustice and wanted to do something about it.
Again, this isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it is a testament to the idea that white and black can live together peacefully with common goals and values and work towards making our world a better place together instead of fighting against one another.
But what does it say when another race begins to take over the other in their own groups?
In recent months and weeks, it’s hard not to notice that Black Lives Matter and the calls for ‘Defunding the Police’ that has become their mantra, is no longer ran, organized, or even attended by black Americans. Instead, the predominant race is white.
According to a recent Pew Research Center study, 46 percent of protesters are white, and only one in six are black.
When we see news of protests and the monument mob that follows, it is white people who do the loudest crying and screaming. It is white people who are roping historical statues, dragging them down, and then walking all over them. It’s white people who hold signs and yell at the top of their lungs that the police should be defunded.
But the truth is they have no idea what they are talking about. They have not walked in the shoes of a black American, seen what it’s like to actually live in their neighborhoods, or make a living on their streets.
And yet, somehow, they think they have a right to speak for them, to tell the world how they feel, how they want to be treated, and what should happen to make the world better for them.
Only they couldn’t be more wrong.
Ami Horowitz, a documentary film director and host of “Ami on the Streets,” knows this firsthand. He recently interviewed white liberals in New York City about the leftist call for defunding the police. Then he went to Harlem and black residents the same questions. And the differences in opinion were vast.
White liberals told Horowitz that they ultimately agreed that the police departments of the nation should be abolished. Some said, “They’re monsters,” while others said things like, “Policing in this country is about keeping black people down.” One even claimed that the police of America was formed to catch slaves and were an “occupying army,” which is highly inaccurate.
Horowitz then asked what these white people thought black people would feel about the issue. And most gave responses like this: “Probably the same way I feel about them, you know? Probably worse.”
So when Horowitz arrived in Harlem, he didn’t hesitate to ask if this were true. Let’s just say “agreement” isn’t the word that comes to mind.
One person said, “they’re full of crap.” Another suggested that the white liberals were “being somewhat ignorant.” A black man explained by saying it would be “very dangerous” without the police. “People would be just going crazy! You know what I mean? It’d be worse than what it is. Robberies, looting, raping, murder…”
Another man agreed, saying, “Abolishing the NYPD? That would be suicide! There’s too many criminals out here, man. Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t feel safe. But need you the police to police the land, man, and the people, you know?”
And science seems to back this up.
Another poll, one by YouGov/HuffPost, discovered that nearly 50 percent of black Americans “strongly oppose” or “somewhat oppose” defunding the police. Only 29 percent of blacks actually agree they should be abolished or defunded.
They know what will happen without police to serve and protect their neighborhoods. And New York City is already a living statistic on the matter of what happens when you disband anti-crime units: crime skyrockets.
White liberals, in taking away their voice, are treating them no different than slave owners of the past who considered the black race as insolent, unintelligible children who needed someone to speak for them. As it turns out, black Americans can speak for themselves. And they do it quite well.
