“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love.
Witnessing the suffocating demise of George Floyd, the vast majority of us do not simply react with horror. We look and conclude, here’s a real problem. How does one man, prone on the ground, surrounded by four police officers, require submission by a nine-minute neck compress? How does he not receive respite as he begs for the right to breathe free of airway constriction? How do three other police officers tolerate that use of force?
Such is the story of George Floyd.
Yes, there are deeper issues of violence in the black communities of many of our cities than police misconduct alone. But what makes Floyd’s fate so outrageous is the fact his death took place at the hands of state authorities sworn to protect and serve all our citizens. And so striking is the video of this injustice that many have found purpose in making something better out of it. Many, but not all.
Based on the past two days, it’s clear that idiots on the far-left want to ruin the better opportunity.
Yes, last week also saw the arrest of three individuals in Las Vegas. Who are they, you ask?
Well, these three have been charged with plotting a white supremacist-motive attack on those protesting Floyd’s fate. But let’s be clear, these arrests were predicted. The far-right was always going to see the mass mobilization over Floyd’s death as an opportunity to regurgitate the moral and intellectual wreckage of Nazism. To use this moment to spark the new race war that will see them soar to power over the world — or some stupid crap.
Unfortunately, even as they are the obvious worst of the worst, these wannabe Himmlers aren’t the only ones to try and undermine the righteous protests of Floyd’s demise. Albeit with a less violent edge and less nihilistic agenda, something they do deserve credit for in contrast to the Nazis, elements of the far-left are nonetheless undermining the moral cause of racially blind justice in America.
This weekend, we saw the city council clowns in Minneapolis who, with their veto-proof majority, are disbanding the city’s police force. In its place, they’re promising to introduce an alternative public safety framework — whatever that means. To his credit, Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has openly rejected this call to turn his city into criminal-in-wonderland.
Still, the police disbandment movement is full of fanatical fervor. As my colleague Tiana Lowe pointed out, Frey was forced out of a protest in a manner strikingly similar to HBO’s Game of Thrones — the shouts of “Shame! Shame!’ included.
We might put this extravagant idiocy at the feet of the Minneapolis far-left alone.
Except that some protesters in other cities are echoing the same call. In the nation’s capital, a righteous mural of “black lives matter,” now finds the addendum: “defund the police.”
There’s an arrogant self-immolating quality to this politics. Reform is critical. But the idea of eliminating police departments is not an idea, it is idiocy. Or, as Blackadder once assessed one of Baldrick’s more “cunning ideas,” it is the equivalent of addressing a mother’s complaint of a low ceiling by cutting off said mother’s head. Put another way, it is a political inculcation of insanity and a civic invitation to criminality. And it is a choice that most jeopardizes those who can least afford it. Those least able to pay for private security or resist the intimidation of a gang. Put simply, it is a betrayal of the first responsibility of any government: to keep its people safe.
Yet, it is not only the American far-left who are endeavoring to collapse the better cause of racial justice and isolate others who otherwise share sympathy for robust police reform.
In Brussels, protesters have been attacking police officers and looting Belgium’s capital city. In Britain, protesters have been debasing the statue of the leader who saved Britain from fascist racism — Winston Churchill. Having neglected their history classes, these fools forget that Churchill was not a racist. An imperialist, yes. A provocateur, yes. But a great leader, such as Lord Nelson, forged of his time. A leader, also, who was always determined to set a better mark on the course of human events. Side note: Churchill surely deserves some credit for being a hate figure both for white supremacists of the Las Vegas arrestee kind and for far-left fools in London. But disdain the honor of a national hero, and you do not induce a people to perceive you as the banner bearers for your better future. Rather, you appear to be opportunist attention seekers unworthy of trust and confidence.
My ultimate point here is simple. How on Earth does the far-left intend to honor Floyd’s memory and build a better society by using his demise to order everyone else to jump off the ledge of logic?
This is not complicated. Reform the police to ensure they serve citizens with accountability, and you serve the people. Take away the police, and you take away the rights of law-abiding citizens to preserve their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You thus leave those citizens few other choices than the choice of emotive and immediate self-defense.
Do not take my words as callous. Two black teenagers have been killed in multiple shootings on my block in the past nine months. Based on who turned up to try and save those teenagers, I feel I can speak with some authority in saying that without the police the body count would be higher. Of course, with better police-community relationships, perhaps one of those victims might still be alive. The same principle would likely mean many more black Americans alive across America.
In short, the better learning of Floyd’s legacy matters.
Striving to see justice, we are all heirs to our nation’s better future. But let us stay true to the cause. Making ourselves idiot jesters for the fanatical fringes, we fail our neighbors, Floyd, and our nation, in any honorable or positive service.
