ONLY SOME LIVES MATTER…SAY WHAT?

 The riots in Ferguson, Missouri, began as a result of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. The nation watched as the rage and violence grew. While the violent destruction of their own neighborhoods seemed senseless to many of us, the depth of the frustration with feeling targeted by law enforcement within African American communities across the nation became more obvious than ever. The unrest in Ferguson sparked a vigorous and needed debate across the United States about the relationship between law enforcement officers and African Americans in particular. Also, the militarization of police tactics and equipment and its effects on how situations are handled became central to the debate.

While the specific issues in the Michael Brown killing, the events that led up to it and the response to the riots that followed, all deserve careful examination, there seems to be little progress toward meaningful solutions. Case in point, it is widely thought the “Black Lives Matter” campaign has sparked reprisal killings of first responders. The targeted killing of police officers and other first responders has risen by 43% in 2016 alone. Many believe this rise is directly related to the way Ferguson has been reported by the media and handled by the current Administration.

In response, municipalities and states are looking for ways to stop the targeting of law enforcement officers. In addition to many new community outreach programs into As a result, police officers, firefighters and other first responders in Louisiana may now become members of a “protected class”. Under the Louisiana “House Bill 953” (referred to as “The Blue Lives Matter Bill), which passed both chambers of the Louisiana state legislature, receiving final approval in the state Senate on Tuesday of this week, targeting first responder is classified a “Hate Crime”.

I am personally grieved at the thought of any class of people being targeted with hate and violence. There is no justification for that in America. Yet, this seemingly earnest attempt to give further protection to those who protect us with their own lives was met with withering criticism by those who purport to care about a class of people being unfairly targeted. I was stunned to see a report on the most popular evening network newscast tonight, where one of the leading organizers of the Black Lives Matter Movement stated: “If everybody is a protected class, then really, no one is a protected class.” What? Isn’t the ultimate goal that there would be absolute equal treatment under the law for everyone? Why wouldn’t people who think “Black Lives Matter” (as I personally do) also think that “Blue Lives Matter”?

Wow. We really do have a long way to go in dealing with hatred in America. A song comes to mind from my early days in Sunday School: “Red and yellow black and white, they are precious in His sight”. Yes, they are. Red and yellow, black and white—wearing blue in service to us all, are precious in His sight. And mine as well.