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Riots Silence Black Voices

(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
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FILE – In this Nov. 25, 2014 file photo, police officers watch protesters as smoke fills the streets in Ferguson, Mo. Clark Ervin, a Washington lawyer monitoring the consent decree involving the St. Louis suburb that has been under Justice Department scrutiny since the fatal 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown, said Ferguson missed deadlines in crafting new policies and procedures on basic policing practices. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

When it comes to the state of the black community and their relationship with law enforcement, I think there are some very valid points to be made and they should be listened to.

To ignore the idea that there is a cultural divide between the two groups is to ignore reality. It’s undeniable that a gulf exists between the two that needs to be bridged. It can be argued and debated who is to blame all day, but scorekeeping isn’t going to get us anywhere in fixing this relationship in the same way it doesn’t fix private relationships.

The problem is, when these valid voices with valid points do show up to protest, they’re soon drowned out by the violence and destruction of those who don’t know how to reign in their emotions or who don’t really care about making the point, just resorting to violence and destruction in order to get away with doing things they wouldn’t normally be able to.

This muddies the waters and whatever legitimate point that was being made by legitimate voices is drowned out by the illegitimate reaction.

One of the groups constantly responsible for this is Antifa.

Antifa is known for showing up to protests and attempting to escalate the situation through the aforementioned violence and destruction. They set fires and bring weapons to hurt people.

Suddenly the story shifts from being about the issue at hand, to how the issue is being handled. Arguments begin arising about why riots should be excused and why they shouldn’t. The attention is turned to those whose lives were damaged by the riots and the care and comfort go to them instead of the people or issues at hand.

In this case, with the unjust killing of George Floyd, Antifa arrived on the scene and began to try to get rowdy. Thankfully, due to a group of peaceful black protesters, Antifa was immediately shut down before their antics could get off the ground. Sadly, the damage was done before Antifa had even gotten there.

It’s sad that we’re in this situation now. I think that a legitimate message needs to be heard by the black community here with Floyd’s death, and I think many are willing to jump up and side with the black community. Many people on both sides of the political spectrum fear a police state in some form or fashion and despise the idea of injustice.

Now the fight is over the riot, and while Floyd’s death is still central to the issue, it’s now been more or less relegated to being an excuse for the actions of the destructive. Businesses are burning and people are leaving stores with new televisions, and we’re supposed to somehow pardon that because Floyd died. The reasoning is monumentally stupid and now we’re all fighting about how stupid it is.

Meanwhile, the black community is still getting shafted with their voice being drowned out by the reactions to reactions to reactions.

If people really cared about the problem, rioting and looting would be the furthest thing from their minds, but it’s the first thing for too many, and what’s more, the leftists in the media are only too happy to amplify the noise.

If that’s their first reaction, then I doubt they actually care about solutions too.

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