#BlackLivesMatter, White Guilt, and the Marketing of Racism

blacklivesmatterI can’t breathe.

I’m literally fighting back tears as I write, again, about this prevalent injustice. They don’t see us as individual human beings, but a group to be exploited, separated, and judged based on our pigmentation.

I’m talking about mainstream media and their manipulation of all Americans, corralling us into our respective color zones. They have a narrative to peddle. And we see it with every tragic account of black Americans killed by those tasked with the extremely dangerous job of serving and protecting. I’m repulsed by a news media that is hell-bent on fomenting a racial war.

I’m angered by the seemingly impulsive and irreversible actions of overzealous police officers whose punishment (if that even happens in court) will never bring back these precious lives.

Many of us can recall the names: Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Alton Sterling. Regardless of guilt or innocence, we know their names. But who can recall one single white person killed by police officers? Go ahead. Ask your friend, your co-worker, your FB followers, your #BlackLivesMatter activist. The answer will be the same. Silence.

Whites are killed by cops, according to a database created by the Washington Post twice as much as blacks. Out of a total of 990 killed, 494 (or 49.9 percent) were white and 258 (or 26 percent) were black. Seven hundred eighty-two of those killed, or 79 percent, were armed with a deadly weapon. But hey, let’s only report when unarmed black individuals are victims of police brutality. This is a deliberate and despicable attempt by mainstream media to color the issue.

Just to put things into perspective, Planned Parenthood kills more unarmed black lives in one day than police are accused of killing in one entire year. (These Planned Parenthood-caused deaths of black unarmed lives in the womb amount to 266 a day, which is 30 percent — the percentage of the nation’s abortions among blacks — of the 323,999 abortions that generate over $200 million annually for the abortion chain.) The hypocrisy of #BlackLivesMatter leaders screamed loudly as they recently announced solidarity with the pro-abortion movement. Apparently, black lives matter only some of the time.

So, armed with the one-sided reporting, #BlackLivesMatter leaders (who have no use for the facts) declare there is an epidemic of cops killing innocent black people. There are 45,672,250 black Americans (including those who are biracial); I’m one of them. The 258 police-caused African-American deaths in 2015 amount to 0.000006 percent of the black population. It’s tragic but not an epidemic. But if you tweet it a million times and mainstream media reports on it daily, how can you blame people for thinking this is widespread?

Every agonizing death is one too many. Last night I heard from those who’ve lost loved ones to senseless violence, which were mostly the result of black-on-black crime. Yes. Black homicide victims’ biggest threat is not those in blue, but those with black skin. Of the 3,021 blacks murdered (single victim/single offender), 90 percent of the murderers…were black.

In a shocking episode of rhetoric-turned-reality, [five] cops were assassinated in Dallas because the “pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon” BLM crowd and liberal news media waged their war. Now, they must own the casualties. This isn’t the first time cops have been targeted and killed by BLM rhetoric and gun violence.

But, sure, Jesse Williams. Let’s blame “whiteness.” Let’s pretend “police somehow manage to de-escalate, disarm and not kill white people every day.” Guess those 494 white people killed by cops in 2015 are just imaginary. Williams, like many other #BlackLivesMatter celebrity activists, simply sticks to the script. There is just rich irony in a biracial man (from a black father and white mother), blaming “whiteness” for the violence and oppression of black Americans, being given the BET Humanitarian Award by State Farm (a company run by white executives with only one non-white, black Board member) and Viacom (a network run by white executives).

Which brings me to the epidemic that is happening in this country — Whites Accepting Guilt Syndrome, or WAGS. Just stop it. Stop crying on Facebook about your complicity when you ignore the context. Stop blaming your “privilege” for someone else’s actions. I’m tired of seeing fellow evangelicals mistake capitulation for compassion. We can rally for racial justice…any kind of justice, without embracing a fundamentally dishonest political movement. We will never defeat injustice, when and where it really happens, by the unjust power of a lie.

We can mourn the loss of innocent lives — white, black and every hue in between. We can work to improve communities ravaged by daily violence with our prayers, our presence, and our partnerships. We must defy the destructive narrative spewed by a reckless and irresponsible media establishment that regurgitates a black nationalist worldview in the guise of a new civil rights movement. Let’s move beyond a hashtag that has been used to bludgeon and use words that speak life and affirm our equal, and irreplaceable, worth as human beings who happen to be beautifully adorned with different pigmentation.

Photo credit: By Fibonacci Blue from Minnesota, USA – Black Lives Matter protest against St. Paul police brutality, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

RyanBombergerRyan Bomberger is the Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of The Radiance Foundation. He is happily married to his best friend, Bethany, who also happens to be the Executive Director of Radiance. They are adoptive parents with four awesome munchkins. Ryan is a creative agitator and international public speaker who just loves illuminating that every human life has purpose.

The views expressed in opinion articles are solely those of the author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Black Community News.

Check Also

Larry Elder: Kamala’s Closing Argument — ‘I’m Obviously Not Joe Biden’

Late-night comedian Stephen Colbert to Vice President Kamala Harris: “Polling shows a lot of people, …

11 comments

  1. Gilbert Miranda

    Thank you for writing this. I enjoyed your commentary. May God bless you.

  2. Charlotte Fiorillo

    I’m white. Some of my grandkids are biracial. I don’t care about skin color. I’m a pastor and I look into the eyes of a person to view their soul. God loves color; just look at the beauty around us and our colors are part of His beauty. So I look at each person I meet and look for their beauty. Thank you for writing this eloquent article. In the eyes of God, all lives matter.

  3. Thank you for your clarity. This is exactly what is happening. It is very sad indeed. I really appreciate the attitudes expressed in Dallas. Unity among all people is evident as grief is shared by all. We must support our police or no one will not have their protection. No one is perfect and mistakes will be made, but 99.9% of the time justice is served.

  4. Thank you. I pray your article goes viral & America hears your voice & listens. Bless you.

  5. Amen brother, spreading these words of truth.

  6. I won’t identify black & white in my family. We HAVE to move beyond this or they will use this against us. LOVE each other. It is not a black white issue. THEY are trying to make it so.

  7. Patricia Briggs

    My heart is racing as I read this article. If only people would turn to God the author and finisher of our lives.
    Some of my best friends are black, I don’t notice their color, my grandchildren are bi-racial, my son-in-law is so precious as he hugs, kisses me and calls me: mama. I have a nephew who is in law enforcement, as I was watching Dallas I started crying and called him on the phone to tell him that I loved him so much and to be careful. PLEASE GOD HEAL OUR NATION AND PEOPLE.

  8. Love it! Thanks brother….

  9. ‪#‎BeTheSolution‬

    Suggestion for the next couple of weeks:
    1. pray (it works wonders)
    2. if you’re a supporter or even a partial supporter of BLM, then contact the local sheriffs, constable, or police department and ask them if you can do a civilian ride along. Go and actually sit and talk with a peace officer who is off duty. Talk about your concerns, your fears, and your feelings.
    3. If you’re not a BLM or even partial BLM supporter, go and meet with people who are BLM supporters. Talk to them. I would start the conversation by going to the church where minorities live.
    4. For all — actively schedule some time to go and listen to points of view of others in the next few weeks. I can almost guarantee that you will have many more things in common than you have differences. Talk music, talk movies, talk TV shows, talk about football, baseball, whatever and find the things that you have in common.
    Many have created enclaves where we are comfortable and where we sit and listen and all agree with one another. It is time to talk to the other. Listen first. Don’t prepare your response while the other person is speaking. Listen, reflect, then speak.

    #BeTheSolution

  10. Thank you for your frank honesty and willingness to state the facts. Hate begets hate; there is not one positive thing that can come from Black Lives Matter. Not for blacks and not for whites. We have to come together, not promote more polarization.

  11. Thank you for your profound wisdom and insight~God
    Bless . . .