The Black Lives Matter movement gets more and more cloudy as times goes on. Do black lives only matter when they are taken as a result of interaction with white police officers? Why don't black lives matter when a 91-year-old woman is brutally beaten, sexually assaulted and robbed or when a 9-year-old is shot in a drive-by shooting or when our young men are gunned down execution style? I thought they did, but since there are no demonstrations, signs or protests being held, I am not sure.
It does appear convenient for the Black Lives Matter leaders to only come out when there are news cameras or high profile events. Why don't the lives of everyday African Americans matter? The focus on the Freddie Grey trial has protesters in front of the courthouse demanding justice for what happened to him and the media conducting interviews after the verdicts and showing protesters yelling at the family of Officer Edward Nero when he was acquitted, yet almost every week drug dealers and gangbangers are found not guilty of murdering innocent young men and women, but there are no protests, signs or people yelling at them when they leave the courthouse.
Why don't the suspects in the incidents videotaped have a large responsibility for their encounters with police ending the way they did? Had they not resisted, the police would not have had to use force, and they would not have been hurt or killed. The police did not start the chain of events that ended in tragedy — had these suspects just cooperated and then let the courts sort out the charges, the events would have been routine.
As for the Freddie Grey case, why doesn't Freddie Grey share in any responsibility for what happened to him? He had been in police vans several times before and was familiar with any type "rides" he was given. The other person in the van with Freddie Grey was not injured at all, so if the ride was so "rough," how could that be? The whole situation is tragic, but the police are not bad guys here. The police have a tough job to do and while they do need guidelines and oversight, so do citizens who are interacting with police. Just as you would want the police to treat you with respect and be professional, you should be respectful and cooperate with them while they do their job.
There does not have to be movement to show that Black Lives Matter — any God-fearing person knows that all lives matter and life is precious. They put blame on the police for what is happening when so many are not addressing the real issues. Why would police officers want to walk a beat in a community where rocks and bottles are being thrown at them?
It is time for the communities to take control of their own destiny. When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, I am sure that this is not what it looked like!
Gary Hornbaker, Severn