Posted on Aug 1, 2015
What is your Interpretation of the Slogan "Black Lives Matter"?
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Posted in these groups: 
Law Enforcement
Racism
Law Enforcement Racism
Edited 9 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 155
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In its literal meaning it's true; just like any life. It seems to be morphing into a black supremacist mantra. So sad that this protest slogan has been hijacked and perverted.
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Excellent discussion topic. Everything I have read though this post is pretty spot on. It has so many meanings and I UP voted many. I blame the media and extreme organizations for trying to pervert the meaning. There seems to be more profit for these organizations in race conflict then in race harmony. One day we will realized there is only one race, the Human Race. Again, great discussion post.
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All lives matter....black, white, brown....but if youre military or veteran...only color that matters is green
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COL (Join to see)
I believe that it could imply that other lives don't. Because in reality, 'all lives matter' but in today's environment there is a perception that some lives matter more than others. That perception is based on the inequality in our daily life. There is a group that believes in equal results for different effort and another group that believes in outcomes based on effort, knowledge and luck (inequality). But, according to some, I achieved everything because of 'white privilege.'
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My interpretation is that this open season on shoot first ask questions later on young black people has to stop. This latest shooting in Cinncinnati was nothing less than an execution, I believe that all lives matter but I support #blacklivesmatter
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MSgt (Join to see)
LTC Bink Romanick - Since we do not have current data for this year from the FBI I will utilize 2013 stats as far as National Homicides, and will utilize The article provided by SPC Robert Patrick for the Police shootings.
In 2013 there were 12,253 homicides in the US.
There have been 49 shootings by Police Officers of unarmed individuals, something to remember is that unarmed does not mean not dangerous. Take Michael Brown as an example, a violent felon who attacked a Police Officer.
Couple that with the fact that approximately 98 million arrests are accomplished by Law Enforcement annually.
So 49 compared to 12,253 doesn't support the "Shoot First" mentality and "Free for all" accusation. Then compare 49 to 98 million, that really disproves the "Shoot First" mentality and "Free for all" accusation.
Have there been a few isolated instances of Law Enforcement officers not handling situations appropriately? Yes, and they should be treated accordingly. Deal with those situations rather than buying into the false and malicious attacks on Law Enforcement as a whole.
I'm not condoning any officer actions you listed but think about some things...
How long would you let someone point a weapon at you before engaging them?
Would you feel like your life was in danger if someone tried to drag you with their car?
Would many of those individuals still be alive if they had not fought Law Enforcement officers?
No I am not "victim blaming" but we as a community need to stop blaming others for our own actions.
When someone chooses to break the law they need to held accountable for their actions and if Police mishandle a situation they need to be held accountable. We cannot keep holding police accountable for the choices made by others.
In 2013 there were 12,253 homicides in the US.
There have been 49 shootings by Police Officers of unarmed individuals, something to remember is that unarmed does not mean not dangerous. Take Michael Brown as an example, a violent felon who attacked a Police Officer.
Couple that with the fact that approximately 98 million arrests are accomplished by Law Enforcement annually.
So 49 compared to 12,253 doesn't support the "Shoot First" mentality and "Free for all" accusation. Then compare 49 to 98 million, that really disproves the "Shoot First" mentality and "Free for all" accusation.
Have there been a few isolated instances of Law Enforcement officers not handling situations appropriately? Yes, and they should be treated accordingly. Deal with those situations rather than buying into the false and malicious attacks on Law Enforcement as a whole.
I'm not condoning any officer actions you listed but think about some things...
How long would you let someone point a weapon at you before engaging them?
Would you feel like your life was in danger if someone tried to drag you with their car?
Would many of those individuals still be alive if they had not fought Law Enforcement officers?
No I am not "victim blaming" but we as a community need to stop blaming others for our own actions.
When someone chooses to break the law they need to held accountable for their actions and if Police mishandle a situation they need to be held accountable. We cannot keep holding police accountable for the choices made by others.
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SSG Willis Baker
"BLM" is just another movement to separate the races and cause Black Leaders to call out to kill all white slave owners and police officers.
I bet Dr. Martin Luther King is going crazy in the grave. Have you forgotten what he said and what he stood for? If "BLM" is so important, then stop rioting and senseless killing.
I bet Dr. Martin Luther King is going crazy in the grave. Have you forgotten what he said and what he stood for? If "BLM" is so important, then stop rioting and senseless killing.
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MSgt J D McKee
MSgt (Join to see) - I agree with your comment that unarmed don't really matter. Some people are big and strong enough that they ARE a damn weapon. I don't care how bad-assed one thinks one is, if you are giving away a foot in height, 50 pounds of muscle and perhaps 30 years in age, you are not gonna win without a weapon. Which is probably lethal.
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SSgt Lawrence Good
Michael Brown probably provoked getting shot, but he wasn't a felon. Precise facts matter when arguing these things.
It also isn't a few isolated cases. There is a definite pattern of police militarization, increasing us against them attitudes by the police. But it's not really along racial lines. they're pulling white women out of cars and tazing and beating them for "attitude". It may have started with minorities, but like any rot, it has spread.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/brown.asp
It also isn't a few isolated cases. There is a definite pattern of police militarization, increasing us against them attitudes by the police. But it's not really along racial lines. they're pulling white women out of cars and tazing and beating them for "attitude". It may have started with minorities, but like any rot, it has spread.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/brown.asp
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When people say Black Lives Matter, there should be understood to be a 'too' at the end of that. The perception from us is that black lives don't matter..... and I see blacks as the only ones being told "Clean up your own". Basically, the attitude is that as long as any black acts the fool, no black has the right to complain about the treatment of any black. I say bullshit.
I act right, if I get mistreated by the cops, I'm going to say something. Granted, I'm an INTELLIGENT black man, so I'm going to say something through my lawyer, in court, and not during the traffic stop..... but if you're butt hurt about that, too bad. That's your problem, and I refuse to own your problem.
I act right, if I get mistreated by the cops, I'm going to say something. Granted, I'm an INTELLIGENT black man, so I'm going to say something through my lawyer, in court, and not during the traffic stop..... but if you're butt hurt about that, too bad. That's your problem, and I refuse to own your problem.
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MSgt Marvin Kinderknecht
I would say you are smarter than the average bear. (old saying). But if you feel you are being mis-treated, call for his supervisor or keep your mouth shut. I had to take my glasses off for and eye check. When he put the light on my eye he asked me if I was wearing contacts. Dumb &^^##
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All lives matter. There should be no differentiation based on anything. This is what's wrong with our country. At the beginning and end of the day we are all Americans!
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Don't know why I haven't seen this before now but here is my response. I personally don't like it at all. To me it is a racist and divisive statement..it has turned into a White on Black thing versus a comment that lives matter and addressing the issue of violence. I truly believe that if MLK were alive today (who by the way I look up to) he would be saying stop the rhetoric. His words were "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." By using BLM it goes against what he says about the color of ones skin. He was looking for and marching for equality among all races. BLM is used as a catch phrase now and it causes more violence, which MLK was also against. Have we gotten where this nation needs to be with regards to racism...NO! Have we made great strides in the past several decades...YES!! Is there still a lot of work to do...YES!!! As the bible states, and I am paraphrasing, unless we believe as a little child (meaning innocence) we will never see each other as equals because things like the KKK and BLM and skinheads and Black Panthers etc continue to divide we have to realize we are all created equal and with mutual respect for each other we can become what we need to become as a nation with all races...Quick story.
My cousins son was at a ball game recently, he is 4. The UPS man had a son playing on one of the teams so he showed up to watch. My cousins son said to his momma, hey mom...look my friend Reggie came to the game...except it wasn't Reggie. This was in another town and his normal delivery man was black and this guy was white. My point is this. All he saw was a man in a uniform...not white or black but a man that he thought was his friend. It all starts with dropping the skin color and looking at the heart of a man or woman. If we can become like kids and drop this rhetoric, maybe we can make some strides. IMHO
Maj Marty Hogan
Lt Col Charlie Brown
1stSgt Glenn Brackin
Cpl Craig Morton
SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth
COL Mikel J. Burroughs
SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4"
LTC Stephen C.
CPL Dave Hoover
PO3 Bob McCord
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
Sgt Wayne Wood
PVT James Strait
SGM Erik Marquez
MSgt David Hoffman
MSgt Stephen Council
SGT Elizabeth Scheck
PO1 H Gene Lawrence
My cousins son was at a ball game recently, he is 4. The UPS man had a son playing on one of the teams so he showed up to watch. My cousins son said to his momma, hey mom...look my friend Reggie came to the game...except it wasn't Reggie. This was in another town and his normal delivery man was black and this guy was white. My point is this. All he saw was a man in a uniform...not white or black but a man that he thought was his friend. It all starts with dropping the skin color and looking at the heart of a man or woman. If we can become like kids and drop this rhetoric, maybe we can make some strides. IMHO
Maj Marty Hogan
Lt Col Charlie Brown
1stSgt Glenn Brackin
Cpl Craig Morton
SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth
COL Mikel J. Burroughs
SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4"
LTC Stephen C.
CPL Dave Hoover
PO3 Bob McCord
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
Sgt Wayne Wood
PVT James Strait
SGM Erik Marquez
MSgt David Hoffman
MSgt Stephen Council
SGT Elizabeth Scheck
PO1 H Gene Lawrence
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First off let me say this. Downrange I had a battle, he was black, we made fun of the whole him being black and me being white and us being such good battles thing by he called me Forest and I called him Bubba (after the Forest Gump movie). When it came down to it, I did not see him as black, I did not see my driver as white, I did not see my gunner as...ok I don't remember what race he was (bad TBI day). All I saw was the fact that we all got in the trucks, test fired our weapons, went out, got blown up together, got into TICs together, walked the streets of Iraq together, hung out at the JSS together. He is out now, I am in still, when I talk to him now, I still call him either Battle or Bubba. I don't see him as Black, or anything. I see him as the dude that survived alongside me. The point of this rant? In the Army that saying DEFINITELY has no place. I HATE that saying.
I personally cannot STAND people like AL Sharpton, because they claim to want to unite people, yet they are the biggest dividers of everyone. I have all kinds of races in my recruiting station, so what about their lives? Why do Puerto Rican lives not matter? What about Mexican lives? What about White lives?
You see I am not trying to start a race thing. I am pointing out that this saying is a divisor not a unifying statement. It DEFINITELY has no place in the military. My battles lives matter to me NOT because of their race or sex, but because they could be downrange with me and we very well could be shooting the shit out bad guys and that is what matters. We are an Army of One, PERIOD. My battles are my battles, we have to get past all of this. This is not the EOL in me talking this is the reality of me talking.
I personally cannot STAND people like AL Sharpton, because they claim to want to unite people, yet they are the biggest dividers of everyone. I have all kinds of races in my recruiting station, so what about their lives? Why do Puerto Rican lives not matter? What about Mexican lives? What about White lives?
You see I am not trying to start a race thing. I am pointing out that this saying is a divisor not a unifying statement. It DEFINITELY has no place in the military. My battles lives matter to me NOT because of their race or sex, but because they could be downrange with me and we very well could be shooting the shit out bad guys and that is what matters. We are an Army of One, PERIOD. My battles are my battles, we have to get past all of this. This is not the EOL in me talking this is the reality of me talking.
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All Lives Matter. Black, White, Yellow, Brown, Plaid, Green, Military. Why does color have to differentiate any one.
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SN Earl Robinson
SGT Michael DeLaGarza, yes all lives matter. The point being made is that Black lives matter JUST LIKE the White, Yellow, Brown, Plaid, Green, and Military lives. That is the point of that statement. The perception is that all those other lives matter and black lives don't matter.
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SGT Michael DeLaGarza
I believe that makes it a bit more racial. We are all created in GOD'S image. Not Black or White lives matter. Being a an American Latino, I never put color on anything. A person defines themselves. Hands up in the air or T shirts with slogans is demeaning.
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