Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, for example, called Black Lives Matter “inherently racist” and “anti-American”. Martin’s killer, neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, was cleared of any wrongdoing, giving rise to protests nationwide.
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Giuliani’s statements came after numerous killings of law enforcement officers in Dallas and the tragic incidents in both Louisiana and Minnesota where black men were fatally shot and killed sparking outrage nationally.
He said the movement is painting “a target on the back” of police officers by drawing disproportionate attention to the killings of black men by white cops.
A counter petition on the White House website sprung up on Sunday urging the Obama administration to not recognize Black Lives Matter as a terrorist group. He asked where Black Lives Matter was when a black 9-year-old boy was “mowed down” in San Bernardino last week by a black suspect.
Unnerved by black anger, Americans like Mr. Giuliani cling to false equivalencies. “And it pits two equally important interests against each other that weren’t against each other”. “I give no credit to that organization”.
People also shouted against “police brutality” and said “justice will not be given, it must be fought for”. “It’s such a unusual world to be in”, he said last week on the show.
As the Washington Post notes, this is not the first time Giuliani has stated such views, claiming in a 2014 interview on NBC’s Meet the Press that “93 percent of blacks in America are killed by other blacks”. But it also must seek solutions for a key cause of civil unrest: poverty, and the loss of hope in many urban minority communities.
Neither side should stereotype the other, said Gregory Thomas, president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. We have got to hear from the black communities. “I want to be treated like a human being. Asian lives matter. Hispanic lives matter”, he said. “This is where we’re stuck”.
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Errin Haines Whack covers urban affairs for The Associated Press.
