An Open Letter to my BLM friends

First, I need to state unequivocally that I am a friend to the Black Lives Matter movement and an enemy to all its enemies.  I am a white man and of an age to have grown up during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s.  At the time, I was a committed Republican (party of Abraham Lincoln, of Teddy Roosevelt and of individual rights).  I boast of this because while the landmark Civil Rights bills of 1964 and 1965 (see below) were the children of LBJ – a Democratic president from Texas – Republicans in Congress stood for them more solidly than Democrats (half of the Democrats of that time were Dixiecrats – white racists from the South – while Republicans were still the party of Lincoln.  The ground shifted immediately thereafter, and nearly all Dixiecrats dragged their nasty racist behinds over to the welcoming Republican party).  And I changed my party affiliation at the same time and for the same reasons.  I am 100% on your side.

But I have a few problems with my BLM friends.  I understand the rage and the frustration that leads to rioting and looting.  Black Lives Matter is just the latest battle cry in a 400 year fight.  BLM may trace its roots to the death of Trayvon Martin and been energized by the death of George Floyd.  But BLM is not really a new fight.  This is a 400 year struggle.  And look how far peaceful protests have gotten us.  Five steps forward and six steps back.  And I know that – if I were a black man of a certain age – I would be sorely tempted to commit mayhem with my brothers and sisters (“All men are created equal!  How much longer are we supposed to wait?  If we don't riot and loot, it's just another news day.  The man notices when we burn stuff down.”).  But.  It gives our enemies – those who hate us for our race – ammunition to argue “see, what did I tell you, they’re all unlawful savages; they deserve the treatment the cops dish out to them.”  And it does no good to counter with “we have endured injustice and brutality and murder at the hands of white men for 400 years,” because no one hears that anymore; all they see is rioting and looting.  So, I get it, I understand; but cut it out.  The Civil Rights movement of the Sixties was SO effective – yes, it even changed hearts and minds – because all the mayhem was committed by whites, most often white policemen.  And it was a big part of national TV news every night of the week for years.  Everyone saw it!

And when I hear, “all cops are racists,” I cringe inside.  Of course, you know it’s not true, of course you know that most cops became cops for good and true and even noble reasons.  And I get it that when a local police force rallies behind their bad apples – their bad cops, their murdering cops – well, maybe then it is true, all these cops are racists.  Any cop who supports a bad cop is a bad cop, a racist cop.  But, you have seen videos of police forces coming together with their black and brown neighbors, kneeling and talking and praying and crying together – in common purpose, in solidarity, in love – and then you know that “all cops are racists” is an evil slogan, even when in your community it may be true.  And the same for "defund the police."  Taken literally, it's just a pinata that they will beat the crap out of.  Although, to be honest, I can't think of a better way to say what it  means to say.  But, for the sake of robbing our enemies of any arguments against us, just cut it out.  I am personally not an advocate, as MLK, Jr. was, of non-violence as the only way.  But Martin knew – and Gandhi knew – when you are outgunned, you have no other choice but to go Non-Violent.  We are outgunned.

It is frankly stunning (to me) how many states have acted to remove powerful racist symbols, like statues of Confederate generals (and Jefferson Davis), and the Confederate flag atop state capitol buildings.  I thank the governors of those states for the courage of the conviction (of their black and brown voters).  This is real progress, even if the sheer quantity of voters of color is leading the way.  But we may wonder where it will end.  Thomas Jefferson and George Washington – to name just a couple – were slave holders.  Washington freed his slaves in his will; Jefferson freed the children of Sally Hemings when they came of age.  Jefferson was clearly “conflicted” about slavery.  Nevertheless, these American titans were OK with free slave labor and they believed black Africans to be inferior to whites.  Even Abraham Lincoln believed blacks inferior to whites (Frederick Douglass changed his mind) and he would have been happy to ship them all to Africa.  Do all their monuments in Washington, DC, have to come down?  I see NO evidence that suggests that the BLM movement has aimed its sights at these imperfect white American slave holders of our Revolutionary period.  And slave holder Andrew Jackson has more to account for with native Americans for his Indian Removal Act than with black Americans.  But BLM should not ignore the fact that their detractors will accuse them of wanting to pull down everything in sight that is white.  So, be careful, be prepared.

I applaud the Commissioner of the NFL for apologizing for being wrong ... about something having to do with race.  And I am stunned – even moreso – by NASCAR’s decision to ban the Confederate flag from all of their events: I am certain they know they will lose a huge number of their biggest Lost Cause fans.  We are making real progress, here and there.

But there is so much more that has to be done to achieve real equality.  And not all of it is on Whitey’s shoulders.  So, let’s dig in, arm in arm, together.

And, maybe, just maybe, we should approach our own local police departments to talk things over, maybe not wait for them to make the first move.  Really, it's not impossible.  Approach them, with a real desire to understand each other.  They are human, too.  Together, we are unbeatable.  Together we can walk into the future with hope, real hope.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 

• in the Senate 
• Republicans: 27–6 (82–18%) 
• Democrats: 46–21 (69–31%) 
• in the House 
• Republicans: 136–35 (80–20%) 
• Democrats: 153–91 (63–37%) 

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 

• in the Senate 
• Republicans: 30–2 (94–6%) 
• Democrats: 47–16 (75–25%) 
• in the House 
• Republicans: 112–24 (82–18%) 
• Democrats: 221–61 (78–22%) 

Addendum: Saturday, 01/23/2021

I've changed my mind.

Black people should arm themselves, those who are OK with killing someone in self-defense.  Arm yourselves and get trained in the use of firearms.  By now, it is 100% clear that there is no equal justice under law, surely not when the question is race.  If a war were called for next week between white racists and any and all black persons, I would unhesitatingly approach a black leader, offer my body, soul and firearm (I own none today), and hope that I – a white dude – would be accepted to fight on their side.   Black folks have hundreds of millions of reasons to hate white folks, white folks have no legitimate reason to hate black folks.  It is really that simple.  Never again!