We should all be able to agree on this premise: Shoot-first, rogue police actions against a non-threatening African-American are beyond intolerable. From Staten Island and Baltimore to Chicago and Ferguson. This is, we are too often reminded, decidedly not “post-racial America.”
We also know this: Given the “Black Lives Matter” movement, there is inevitable hypocrisy because of cherry-picking. An unconscionable number of black youth die from black-on-black violence, often the by-product of a dysfunctional sub-culture rife with weaponry access. That tragic, blunt reality is not, however, a focus of BLM’s agenda. Not even, inexplicably, in Chicago, a city now synonymous with black gang-related homicide.
But guns and gangs and no-snitch cultures need to be as acknowledged as much as police profiling and racism–especially from within the black community. That’s why the real-world perspective of the Tampa Tribune’s Joe Brown and the Tampa Bay Times’ Bill Maxwell are so needed. As black journalists, they know what’s up; they have forums; and they call it both ways. We’re fortunate to have their invaluable input. And that’s why Spike Lee’s latest movie “Chi-Raq,” a graphic portrayal of black dystopia, is so important. Context must matter.
This can’t be the white establishment knee-jerk reacting to current events and ad hoc, societal anger. And it can’t be a black community playing nothing but the victim card. That’s what we always do–and we’re still here: seemingly teetering on a Watts sequel.
This has to be all stakeholders, i.e., all Americans, in the conversation–and involved in a resolution. That doesn’t happen until we all agree that there’s plenty of societal blame to be shared, too much societal benefit to leave unrealized and not much time to finally fix it.