For more than a month the nation has watched as social justice warriors have marched and rallied against what they say is the systemic racism inherent in the American experience. They’ve occupied public spaces, attacked the police, demeaned, defaced, and destroyed statues and other monuments, and engaged in an orgy of looting and rioting in major cities like New York, Louisville, and Seattle.
Over the same period, hundreds of people have been shot in Chicago. Over the Father’s Day weekend alone, 104 people were shot, 15 of them died, 5 of whom were children.
It was the worst weekend in many – but not by much The City of the Big Shoulders, as the poet Carl Sandburg called it, is as well-known now for its violence as it was during the heyday of the Capone mob. Only now it’s much worse.
The folks who have so much to say about “systemic racism” have little to say about the number of children dying on Chicago’s streets or on the streets of any city, big or small, due to violence. They have a lot to say about the guns being used and about the police who are trying to prevent it – or at least reduce the frequency of the killings – but not a lot to say about who is killing who.
Maybe they’re embarrassed to bring it up. Any effort to discuss it involves not just who the victims are but who it is who is doing the killing. We may not know in every case. So many of the perpetrators go uncaught and unpunished. In the most general terms, these criminals and their victims have a lot more in common, socio-economically and geographically, than what probably sets them apart.
These days, what’s more important. Pulling down a statue of a general who fought on the side of the South in the Civil War or stopping the violence on Chicago’s Southside? Should we be spending time taking down historical symbols that might trigger an unpleasant emotional response in a black teen walking through a typical American city or making the investment in time and resources to get people who have their fingers on actual triggers off the streets?
So, to challenge the social justice warriors who want to make America a better place, now and in the future, let me suggest that, rather than build autonomous zones in places like Seattle that push the police out, invite the police into your crusade. Go to Chicago. Go to the neighborhoods there that have been rendered unsafe by so many shootings. Join hands there and build crime-free zones instead of autonomous collectives like CHAZ, CHOP, and BHAZ.
If black lives matter to you, if any lives matter to you, take a stand against the violence that permeates so much of our culture and so many of our cities. One human life is worth more than a bronze statue of an outdated, possibly irrelevant figure who’s already been relegated to the back shelves of our collective national conscience. Stand up for what really matters.
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Peter Roff
Peter Roff is affiliated with several Washington, D.C. public policy organizations and is a former U.S. News and World Report contributing editor who appears regularly as a commentator on the One America News network. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @PeterRoff.
They don’t know what matters. Not a clue.
Guess the violent baby libs think monument destruction is the way to get more free stuff.
They Need to get beat down , since they have ,NO PARENTS , ALL NEED REAL CORRECTION OF THEIR ACTIONS ..AFTER PUT IN JAIL FOR MANY YEARS TO THINK ON THEIR ACTIONS ..Police grab all of them ,lock them up , and POST ALL THEIR NAMES FOR THE PEOPLE TO SEE And all their addresses (Their families can pay for ALL THE DAMAGES THEY DID ..)ENOUGH ,PEOPLE ARE DONE NOW ..
So many of these young people have been recruited & brainwashed into thinking its about Black Lives Matter. Truth is one of the 3 who started BLM is Opal Tometi. She is Nigerian born, photographed with Dictator of Venezuela, saying how much she loves that Country under his Communist Socialist regime. This movement has Nothing to do with BLM but a smoke screen for infiltration of a Commie Socialist Ideology!! Look at what happened in Venezuela, first was racial unrest, rioting, looting, violence, taking down of statues, destroying monuments, removing anyone with authority off streets, then the Socialist regime took over their Government, sound familiar??? WAKE UP PEOPLE, THE INVISIBLE ENEMY THE PRESIDENT SPOKE ABOUT IS NOT CORONAVIRUS ITS COMMUNIST SOCIALISM INFILTRATION!!!
X-rays can’t help the uninformed liberals morons who believe that socialism is the answer? This is why the liberals are trying to destroy historical sites and eradicate history. They practice maximum without understanding or the history of maximum is really about
They in brace socialism don’t have a clue about communism HISTORY
HAS SHOWN THAT THE UTOPIAN IDEAS ARE A PIE IN THE SKY AND DOESN’T WORK. Venezuela Russia Cuba ect. are extremely failure as a hole Even communist China has become a capitalist country with communist stronghold on it’ People.
The hermit nation North Korea there’s like a cornered rat and stupid American liberals want to become liberal socialist Democrats
Maybe the schools and colleges should start teaching history instead of being history
Dutsi, you hit the nail right on the head. We, the people need to rid our nation of these infiltrators. I think it was the McCarthy commission during the 1950s which was formed for addressing the Anti America Activities in America. President Trump needs to resurrect that commission and start prosecuting those who would tear our nation apart. That includes the members of the U. S. Congress in both houses.
Get a clue: LEFTISM CANNOT CREATE! These people are Marxists bent on destroying what is! It’s their stated goal.
Destroy Trump.
Destroy whites.
Destroy history.
Destroy police.
Destroy economy.
Destroy religion.
Destroy country. (See “Imagine”. . . )
Destroy the U.S.
It’s never been about black lives, it’s about power and socialism.
If it had been about black lives, Chicago would have been a top priority.
Well said, Jan! That is what the liberal democrat/socialist/communist/marxist party is all about, POWER and CONTROL!!! A vote for them is a vote against liberty and freedom itself, plain and simple!
‘Nuff said, lock ’em up.
Chicago should be No One in the BLM’s list of cities if their “cause” was really BLM!
Those who think they’re supporting BLM, are really funding Socialism & Soros is laughing all the way to the bank! He destroyed Venezuela, Norway & every country where he could set up his foundation! WAKE UP AMERICA!!!
Bravo Peter Roff – this story is spot on and keep up the good work.
No one discusses the root causes of racism against blacks. Until the following facts change, no amount of rioting, etc. will change racism. In fact they just emphasize it.
1 out of 3 black males have a felony conviction.
Most criminals shown in TV news are blacks
Most black families are fatherless
Blacks don’t have equal value for education
Blacks are the primary drug dealers, etc.